Don Meyer, author of several novels and the Vietnam War memoir The Protected Will Never Know, was recently interviewed by Tyler Tichelaar. Meyer’s latest novel, The American War, recently received the 2012 Tyler R. Tichelaar award for Best Historical Fiction. An excerpt from the interview appears below. To read the full interview see the original article.

The American War is published by Two Peas Publishing and available for purchase in both paperback and ebook editions.

Excerpt

Tyler: Before you wrote “The American War,” you wrote your memoir “The Protected Will Never Know.” What made you decide to write your memoir? Was it cathartic for you?

Don: The Vietnam memoir was actually written back in 1977-on an old Black Royal Manual Typewriter! Starting from a short story I did in a college English class, I had the basis for the idea. In addition, I had a bunch of letters home, notes I salvaged, and of course, my memories that were still fresh, and very raw. It was very emotional to get that all out… and down on paper. From all that material, I started to compile those pieces into what would become a working manuscript. However, as the ’70s came to a close, everyone was done with Vietnam and all the publishers and agents that I sent the manuscript to decided to reject it. I threw that manuscript into a box and forgot about it. Quite a few years later, my daughter found that manuscript and took it to school for a show and tell, and even though I was through with all that, she nagged me to “get it out there,” which I finally did about ten years ago. It was quite interesting to revisit that work so many years later.

Tyler: Do you feel like people are now no longer “past” Vietnam as you said but ready to revisit it? Do you feel the view of it has changed a lot since the 1970s?

Don: Truthfully, I think it is old news, occasionally mentioned when there is an event of some sort. Sure we may have more recognition than we did back then and I’m certainly glad that has translated into better recognition for our current soldiers, but at the end of the day, for most people, it is just a time and place in history. I think you also have to look at the events of the day-not only was there an unpopular war raging, but the county was racked with violence in protest. For many there are lingering wounds, both physically and emotionally, that is best left alone.

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Two Peas author Don Meyer recently won First Place in the ReaderViews 2012 Literary Award in the category of historical fiction for his novel, The American War. Set both in the American Civil War and in Vietnam, the reader follows Sam Kensington as his soldier duties mysteriously shift between battles in Vietnam in 1969 and Shenandoah Valley in 1864.

In addition to the ReaderViews historical fiction category, Meyer’s novel won the ReaderViews Tyler R. Tichelaar Award for Best Historical Fiction.

The American War is available in both print and ebook formats from Two Peas Publishing.

My Name Is Walter

“I love drawing, I love books, and I love dogs,” Laura says of her work on the project. “Put the three together and you get My Name is Walter.”

Illustrated by Laura and written by Paula along with her husband James, the book is intended to teach children about responsible pet ownership.
“We wanted to do something to help,” Paula adds. “It just seemed natural for us to use our creative gifts in this way.”

Named Walter in honor of Nashville Councilman Walter Hunt, the man who saved him from the street and turned him over to rescuers, the cockapoo was soon placed into the care of Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue, from where veterinary care was coordinated. Out of that came a WKRN Channel 2 news story, the close involvement of film and television star Ashley Judd, and a massive Facebook following that eventually made Walter a worldwide symbol of the outcome of animal cruelty.

In spite of the outpouring of support from people all over the world, which included children’s drawings, cards, and letters that were taped to the walls of the dog’s room at Animalia Health and Wellness in Franklin, Walter succumbed to his abuse on May 11, 2012, exactly two weeks after he was discovered by Hunt. His struggle has inspired his following, known collectively as Team Walter, to take up the cause of strengthening laws against animal cruelty.

“Walter touched people’s hearts in a special way,” Paula explains. “Together, we can make sure his story leaves a lasting legacy of change for other animals.”

My Name Is Walter (ISBN: 978-1-938271-12-0, Two Peas Publishing) is available in paperback format from twopeaspublishing.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other online retail outlets. Laura, Paula, and James are donating 100 percent of the author profit from sales of the book directly to Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue.

Timecast

Based in part on the speculations and published conjectures of theoretical physicists past and present, Timecast (ISBN: 9780983761082) is a novelette that explores the nature of humanity, companionship, and the individual’s relationship to the universe through one man’s desperate need to set his life on a different path.

An ornery lawn-mowing neighbor and a confused, but concerned, English teacher become the old man’s first experiment and sounding board as he struggles to regain that which he believes his own youthful foolishness robbed him of twenty years before.

Can he set things right? Time will tell.

Timecast is now available for download on Kindle, Nook, and iPad. It will also soon be available as a Google eBook and for Kobo.

The Little Toad and the Big Flood

It isn’t the first time Little Toad has seen heavy rain, so he has little trouble falling asleep in the comfortable home he has made for himself under the basketball goal. In fact, the sound of the rain lulls him into a dream in which he finds himself comfortably adrift on a boat, rocking gently back and forth on the waves.

When Little Toad awakes, he discovers that the pleasant dream in his head was kindled by a nightmarish reality. The heavy rain has poured for so long that his home under the basketball goal is flooded. His leaf bed is floating atop the muddy brown water.

Frightened, Little Toad flees his home for the safety of a tall tree. From there, he watches his comfortable basketball goal home float away.

Where will he live now? Where can he go to hide from bigger animals who might eat him?

The Johnsons hope that the story of Little Toad can be used to help child victims of natural disasters cope with the reality of the situation. The Little Toad and the Big Flood (ISBN: 978-0983761075) is now available to booksellers from Two Peas Publishing and to the public from Amazon.com and other retailers.