Friday, May 3, 2013

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.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7681880

Filed under: Don Meyer, Fiction, Media, Memoir, News, Time Travel

Sunday, April 7, 2013

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.

Filed under: Don Meyer, Fiction, News, Self-publishing, Time Travel

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Twelve-year-old Laura Rozelle Bagnall and her mother, Paula Rozelle Hanback, stared in horrified disbelief at the Facebook images of a starved cocker spaniel/poodle mix who was thrown from a moving vehicle in the White’s Creek area of Nashville earlier this year. Once her outrage about the abuse of animals set in, the next thing Laura felt was an urgent need to help. She and Paula then combined their creative forces on the development of a children’s book that tells the story of the cockapoo named Walter. The mother-daughter team are donating all profits from the sale of the book to Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue, the organization that tried to save the dog’s life.

“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.

Filed under: Children's Books, James Hanback Jr., Laura Rozelle Bagnall, News, Paula Rozelle Hanback

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

In the summer of 1969, elements of the 101st Airborne went back to the A Shau Valley in South Vietnam. In the summer of 1864, the 10th Vermont, part of General Ricketts’ Third Division, marched into the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Sam Kensington was at both campaigns.

Sam, who is the creation of author Don Meyer, is a Vietnam-era soldier who ultimately finds himself fighting two very different campaigns in two very different wars: one in his present day and one nearly a century in the past. In The American War (ISBN: 9781938271014, Two Peas Publishing), Meyer follows Sam as he fights alongside fellow soldiers in both wars while desperately trying to come to terms with what’s happening to him.

The American War is available from Amazon.com and other retailers in both paperback and eBook formats.

Filed under: Don Meyer, Fiction, Self-publishing, Time Travel

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Haunted by guilt and loneliness after a car accident that left the love of his life indefinitely comatose, an aging high school physical science teacher schemes to restore his wife to health and vitality by using the advanced space-time theories of quantum physics to change history.

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.

Filed under: Fiction, James Hanback Jr., News, Paula Rozelle Hanback, Science Fiction, Self-publishing, Time Travel