Hello and welcome
Remember that mountain of books you helped us collect for our Books for Soldiers project?
Last month, we loaded out—filled a trailer—with more than 7,000 books. Most will go this month with the soldiers of the Hartford, Wisconsin, Army National Guard unit when they ship out for a year's hitch in Afghanistan.
Operation Homefront, which is coordinating the transport of the books for us—us being mystery writers Allan Ansorge, Deb Baker, Bill Rapp, and me, and Martha Merrell's Bookstore owner Norm Bruce—has placed some of the books at Mitchell International Airport's USO kiosk, for any soldier, sailor, or airman to pick up as they pass through Milwaukee.
Additionally, Homefront has placed some of the books at Fort McCoy, for the soldiers of any Army unit to pick on their way to overseas duty.
In the photo, that's Eric Holmes and Rick Cheroni of the Military Order of the Purple Heart—Vietnam vets—loading out the last box of books.
If you helped us, if you sent us books for the soldiers, hey, a mighty big thank you.
Meet Chris DeSmet
Click on our Featured Writer tab and meet fellow Wisconsin writer Chris DeSmet.
She writes film scripts, television scripts, novels, short stories, mysteries . . . a really prolific writer.
And she does it all outside the office.
Inside the office, at the University of Wisconsin, Chris teaches the craft of writing, often one-on-one, shepherding novice writers toward publication.
After you've gotten acquainted with Chris, click on our Short Stories tab. There you can hunker down around the campfire and read along as James Early and his old friend Mose Dickerson swap lies.
© Jerry Peterson. Web site by interbridge.
