Writing a Vet - How My Character Led Me to Take on the Plight of Our Returning Veterans

Here's a little insight about being a writer: Sometimes a character can surprise its author.  She can turn out to be someone more powerful than the author imagined, drive the story in new directions, grab hold of the writer's imagination and not let go until she's completely fleshed out and satisfied.

photo by Scukrov via Dreamstime.com

This is what happened with my character Devon Keane, Aerin's mom in my young adult novel Swim Season. Veteran’s Day is a great day to tell you about Devon, an Army Reserve nurse, who demanded I tell her story because it’s the story of many women who serve in our military.

The story: Devon was on duty in the ER at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City the day terrorists struck down the Twin Towers. This hospital, just outside Ground Zero, was the first stop for victims and recovery workers in need of medical care. Deeply affected by the events of that day, Devon volunteered to work double shifts during the rescue and recovery effort. When the US went to war with Afghanistan, she enlisted in the Army Reserve, against her husband's wishes,  to provide care to the troops. 

On her second tour of duty, she participated in a mercy mission to help locals in a nearby village and was caught up in a suicide bombing. Shrapnel ripped through her right hip, requiring surgery resulting in complications, infection, chronic pain issues, an addiction to narcotic painkillers, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  She returned to her family as so many other veterans do: broken in body and spirit. Her drug addiction eventually led her to steal narcotics from her employer. She was caught, took a plea deal, and is serving a six-month sentence with rehabilitation during her daughter's last high school swim season.

I didn’t know Devon too well at the start of the story.  She’s absent other than being referred to in conversations and letters and doesn’t come on to the stage until page 170. The funny thing is that as I approached the scene where Devon enters the story as a full character, I found myself excited to finally meet her. She intrigued me, and I lingered over the writing of it.  I grew attached to her, and when I finished the chapter I was unable to go on with the story for a few weeks because I didn’t want to leave her behind. She only makes two more appearances in the book, but is present in other ways, including letters and email, and her love for Aerin pervades the entire novel.

I have no military experience and don’t know any female vets or soldiers personally, so I did my research for this character through literature.  I spent the summer of 2014 reading a number of different memoirs to learn about women’s experience in war, the work of military nurses, and coming home.  Some of the best I read were Love My Rifle More Than You by Kayla Williams, Soldier Girls - The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War by Helen Thorpe, and Ruff’s War, by Cdr. Cheryl Lynn Ruff, USN and Cdr. K. Sue Roper, USN (Ret.) All of these provided great insight and answered a lot of questions.  Studying these soldiers’ stories gave me a great appreciation for their service and sacrifice.

Characters can lead us into new worlds, teach us new things, and take us places we didn’t plan to go.  I would not have researched these military women were it not for writing the story of Devon Keane.  This research has enabled me to be a better nurse to the veterans I serve in my role as a campus nurse at a community college.

I’ve decided to write a sequel to Swim Season, and this will be about Devon and her recovery and re-entrance into society after she's released from her incarceration. As I go on to write this story, I will continue to read the literature and reach out to veterans for personal interviews to deepen my insight.

As our veterans return from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and from other hot spots around the globe, it’s important we recognize their dedication.  Parades and platitudes are great, but our vets deserve a health system that meets all their needs – physical and mental – without delays and with the best medical care possible.  Politics should not be a part of this equation.  Our soldiers deserve the best.  After all, that’s what they give us.

Learn more about Swim Season.

Authors Supporting Our Troops 2015 Puts Books into the Hands of OurTroops Serving in Remote Areas

Last year I wrote about ASOT2014, but it’s such a worthy cause and effort I want  to give it a little more ink as it enters its second year.

Authors Supporting Our Troops is a small but dynamic operation to put author donated/author signed print books into the hands of our troops (all military branches) serving in remote areas (Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait) where days can be long and diversions difficult to find. Books are in such short supply that one single copy can make the rounds throughout the entire base, some soldiers reading it two or three times. ASOT sends boxes of books to individual soldiers to share with his or her comrades, offering a variety of genres and hours of entertainment.

Launched January 1st and continuing through May 1^st, ASOT2015 hopes to exceed the accomplishments of ASOT2014, when authors and publishers donated 2,900 books, all of

which made it to our troops.

“Our goal this time is to put 3,500+ print books into the hands of soldiers in remote areas of the world like Kuwait and Afghanistan,” says event organizer Armand Rosamilia. “If a soldier is stationed in Germany or San Diego, they can easily buy a book or have access to TV, games, e-readers, etc. This event is for the men and women of the military who don’t have easy access to read. It’s something for their downtime between hostile situations.”

What types of books are accepted?

 “Everything but blatant porn,” says Rosamilia. “Nothing taboo or racist, nothing pushing the

envelope. Antimilitary books might not be so popular. Last year many authors didn’t think their romance books would fit, but they did. Soldiers will read anything if it’s the only book around. They like to read a good paranormal romance, you know.”

How do you get the soldier’s addresses?

“From you,” Rosamilia says. “We don’t work with a company or the military. We rely on family and friends of soldiers overseas to get in touch with them to make sure they’re interested in handing out the books. Then we need their COMPLETE address (including their name and APO/FPO) to ship to them. That’s it. The goal is 35 soldiers in 2015 or more.” Right now, the project is short on names, so anyone who knows a soldier serving in these areas is encouraged to contact him at armandrosamilia@gmail.com.

How are the books shipped?

 ASOT2015 relies on the good old United States Postal Service. “No other carrier is as cheap or easy as the USPS,” says Rosamilia. “It costs about 25 dollars to ship a box of books (about 50 books per box.)”

How  can I help?

Authors and small publishers interested in donating books can reach out to Rosamilia via email at armandrosamilia@gmail.com.

Many people have come forward to help with shipping costs, donating money directly to the cause. Email Rosamilia to make a donation, any amount helps.

ASOT2015 also has T-shirts and hoodies available in a variety of colors and styles for purchase via TeeSpring to help defray costs. They’re simple, inexpensive, and available to anyone, author or not.

Also, Rosamilia asks authors to spread the word about this event. “Even though we hit so many authors the last time around (about 325 or so), that is such a small blip of the writers and publishers out there. If you belong to an author’s organization, let them know about it. Ask your publisher to get in touch. Many of them sent us boxes of books last year, which was great.”

For more information please visit and LIKE the ASOT2015 Facebook page.

About event organizer Armand Rosamilia

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's written over 100 stories that are currently available, including a few different series: "Dying Days," extreme zombie series; "Keyport Cthulhu," horror series; "Flagler Beach Fiction Series," contemporary fiction; "Metal Queens," non-fiction music series. He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. He's a proud Active member of HWA (Horror Writers of America) as well. Visit his website where you can find not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes. E-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal at armandrosamilia@gmail.com

Follow Armand Rosamilia on Facebook, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter

Book links:

Rymfire eBooks

Amazon 

SmashWords
 

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