I take a lot of notes. Little ideas come to me when I'm walking my dog or taking a shower, and eventually the pieces put themselves together.

While we should all avoid judging a book by its cover, I think that most of us do (myself included). The cover needs to give potential readers an honest and interesting idea of what to expect. For BOMBPROOF, I assembled a variety of items (medals, identity discs, etc.) that were all important to the story. Hopefully the cover will interest you enough to read a few pages.

Whatever is handy, but generally military and/or historical fiction.

My desktop computer - I know, I'm a Neanderthal.

I don't know how old it is, or what kind of wood it is made from, but it was my grandfather's. That makes it special.

The Great War is two years old and shows no sign of ending soon. The revered “Originals” of the Third Battalion are becoming a rarer breed with each passing day. As new replacements fill the spots of their fallen comrades, they must decide whether to remain with the battalion, or accept a safe “bombproof” job away from their friends, obligations, and identities as Originals of the Third.

BOMBPROOF is a novel in three parts and takes place over one year in 1916-1917. Parallel stories set after the war provide glimpses into the lives of the survivors and how the decisions they made and hardships they endured continue to affect their lives long after they have returned home.

1 part vanity, 1 part ambition, 3 parts beer; mix thoroughly.

Seriously though, there are a few reasons. The big one is that I am inundated with ideas; plotlines, dialogue, and scene descriptions come to me constantly. If I didn't get them onto paper, I would probably explode, and that would be messy. I am also regularly displeased with current military fiction. As an historian, former soldier, and lover of literature, I felt that I could produce a higher quality work of military fiction than generally available.

We'll soon find out!

Having that "eureka moment" when stray ideas coalesce into a cohesive scene or plotline.

A sequel to BOMBPROOF that will take place from August 1917 to November 1918.

I'll tell you once I get some!