Thank you so much for reading along and supporting my effort. This novel is thirty years in the making and has been a journey of remembrance, blood, sweat, and tears. Most of the characters are based on real people. Tom’s and Sam’s Susanna was my girlfriend when I was stationed in Spain; yes, she died. Aida was a girlfriend in the Philippines. Lek was an acquaintance in Thailand. Sasi, Sam, Frank, and Marie are fictitious.

The specific events in the story are loosely based upon my observations of things that occurred around me overseas. I didn’t tidy things up to make the story presentable for the era in which we find ourselves living. I don’t do trigger warnings. Truth is truth and can’t be shaded for the sake of feelings, sales or acceptance. I’d rather shelve the story than revise it for the sake of an agent’s or publisher’s concerns.

I’ve scheduled five more chapters from the novel for posting then that’s it. You’ll have to wait for the published book to read on 🙂  As some of you will note, I’ve rewritten the novel in first person. I should have done that from the beginning since the story is semi-autobiographical, but…rookie mistake.

I have 13 chapters left to rewrite in 1st POV then I’ll begin querying agents again. Wish me luck; after 33 rejections of the original 3rd person POV manuscript, let’s hope agents like the personalized version better.

I’d love to hear your feelings about the story. Feedback, positive and negative, can only help me feel more confident in my writing and make the story better. The story explores the development of love between men and women, expectations between couples, and the affect of environment on relationships. It’s come a long way from my initial draft where the novel opened: “Tom Nelson was a pig.” What was I thinking? Tom was never a pig. He was a man consumed by grief and unable to cope with new relationships. Several drafts later I finally found the novel’s purpose and here you see it. I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

The featured photo is me while stationed in the Philippines in 1983, just before beards were banned. That’s okay; I have much less hair now anyway. Spain and the Philippines both had profound impacts on my life. That’s why I had to write this story.

Will