Paul O'Connell

I wasn't much of a student in grade school, thus I don't remember writing much at all back then. If we can call writing letters, writing, then I could say I started writing in 1968 when I joined the Marines and started writing letters to my family--my mother, father, brother, two sisters, and Tiger Lil, the family pet cat. Actually the letters I wrote, which continued right through my tour of duty in Vietnam, became the basis of what we would really refer to as my writing--writing about my letters, and what they really said, and what they didn't--writing my book, Between the Lines, which I began writing around 1994, but I actually started writing in 1990 after taking a creative class at UMASS-Boston.

I'm trying to get my mind back into gear. I have started three different projects. Maybe even four, but nothing seems to have longevity.

One book, or story is about a Vietnam veteran who goes on a road trip to visit the grave of his friend who was killed in Vietnam. I have toyed with this story off and on for fifteen years, but right now I have shelved it because I'm not sure I want to write about Vietnam again.

Another book I have started is based on my career in the fire service. I had gotten off to a good start, but that is back burner too, although I have thirty-two years of stories to tell. It's just that I'm not sure I want to expose the sick humor that was expressed in the fire houses.

A third book is another Vietnam book. A story about a reunion, and the relationship between a group of veterans and how they recall the past in their own ways. Again, not sure I want to go back to that subject matter.

Finally, I have a fiction piece about the voice inside my Garmin GPS. It is a scary thriller. The book is blowing my mind as I explore the minds of my characters.