Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Blog: Phyllis Zimbler Miller Author, page 17

Interview With Award-Winning Fiction Author Bonnie Bartel Latino

I interviewed military spouse author Bonnie Bartel Latino on the award-winning novel YOUR GIFT TO ME she co-authored with Bob Vale.

Please briefly describe your milspouse experience.

I pinned my husband’s second lieutenant “butter” bars on at Mississippi State University after he completed ROTC and graduated. We were engaged at the time. Six months later I married 2nd Lt. Tom Latino while he was in pilot training at Reese AFB, Texas.

Tom served in the Air Force for 30 years, retiring as an 0-6. We were stationed in many places, including assignments to Germany, Greece, Guam and Great Britain, plus Hawaii and numerous stateside bases. We moved over 20 times.

Honestly, the three decades I spent as a military spouse were years I often loathed and loved in equal measure. It’s not an easy life; all are not suited to be camp followers.

But for those who know the importance of working to make their spouse their best friend, it is a rewarding life. If, every time you move, you take your best friend with you, everything becomes easier and makes the adventure much more rewarding.
What was the impetus for writing a novel featuring a military spouse?

Within one 24-hour period, I endured three traumatic deaths, including my father and two close family friends. In the following months and years, I learned about the compounding effects of grief and felt compelled to share my experience through my writing.

I have been a journalist my entire life. “Write what you know” is a well-worn cliché, but it’s what writers do. I know about the military lifestyle, and I know Southern women, so that’s what I wrote about. (Think “Top Gun” meets “Steel Magnolias.”)

As compelling as TV dramas like “Army Wives” may be, I wanted to portray the character and values of the majority of the men and women who make the military their profession. It’s not simply a career; for many it is a true calling. Lord knows they don’t do it for the money!
How much of your novel YOUR GIFT TO ME is based on your own experience and how much is imaginary?

YOUR GIFT TO ME is an inspirational love story and a military mystery. My co-author, Bob Vale, is a civilian, an award-winning graphic-designer, writer and photographer from New Jersey. We “met” online in a professional military forum.

I joke that Bob is the only male I know who went to Woodstock rather than Vietnam, but it’s not his fault that he had a high draft number. We wove unique ways to survive deep grief into our story, and I used some settings with which I was intimately familiar from past assignments.

Although my co-author had no military background, he was fascinated by stories I told him about the life of a senior officer and spouse. He convinced me that avid readers would find compelling insight into military life. Bob is also blessed with a richly layered imagination, which is obvious in our novel.
Do you find it uncomfortable reliving some of the more tense moments of a being a military spouse?

Not at all. Plotting the novel and writing it were a cathartic event. That healing continued after we published the book and I was invited to speak to military and civilian groups, book clubs and libraries. I’m not sure I would have mentally or emotionally survived the tragedies I endured had Bob and I not written YOUR GIFT TO ME.
What advice would you give new military spouses today — women or men?

For those fortunate enough to have children, I would say, “Pay attention to what your child loves to do. It may, one day, become their profession.” And should a child be interested in writing, if they have vivid imaginations, steer them toward creative writing classes. If they are meticulous about facts, put them in journalism classes.

I earned my first money by writing when I was about 10 years old. I collected gossip around the neighborhood, one-finger typed it and sold copies for a dime until my mortified Southern mama learned of my entrepreneurial endeavors and stopped the press!

I edited my sixth grade and high school newspapers, and wrote for the local newspaper during my teen years. I double majored in college in journalism and speech. Eventually, I became a columnist for “Stars and Stripes” newspaper in Europe and occasionally freelanced for “Air Force Times.” Had I taken creative writing courses before Bob and I began our novel, it would have been enormously helpful.

What are you proudest about your novel?

It would be easy to say that we’re proud that YOUR GIFT TO ME has won four literary awards in three genres, Inspirational and Healing Fiction, Adult Fiction, and Military Super Romance. Two of the awards came from organizations with military affiliations and two from civilian groups.

But what Bob and I are most proud is the number of Amazon reviews we have received from widows and widowers, civilian and military, who have known deep grief and who say YOUR GIFT TO ME has given them hope that they might find love again someday.
Where can your book be purchased?

YOUR GIFT TO ME is available on Amazon in eBook and paper. It can also be purchased by special order from any bookstore.
Do you have plans to write any other milspouse fiction or nonfiction?

Bob and I are working on a book of non-fiction stories about interesting people from Alabama. Many but not all are about people who have served in the military.
Where are the best places to find you online?

Contact me on Facebook by searching for Bonnie Bartel Latino or for the novel at “Your Gift to Me 2012.” My Twitter user name is @BonnieBLatino

Note from PZM: YOUR GIFT TO ME is on Terri Barne’s wish list post on “Stars and Stripes” of stories about military life. Click here to see that list now.

Uncle Sam Wants You

On the DoD’s Bloggers Roundtable discussion on December 4, 2014, Major General Allen Batschelet, U.S. Army Recruiting Command commanding general, spoke of the recruitment issues facing all U.S. military branches and especially the all-volunteer U.S. Army.

Only three young men and women in 10 in the targeted age group of 17- to 24-year-olds currently meet the eligibility requirements (morally, cognitively, physically). Soon, due to issues such as obesity, only two in 10 will be eligible.



In addition, U.S. Army recruitment is hampered by unfamiliarity with the career opportunities in military service or a military career. Serving in the U.S. military is becoming somewhat of only a family tradition.

Currently 79% of recruits have family members who served in the military. General Batschelet explained that this could be troubling as it is not as representative of the U.S. as it should be. This is especially true if the Army is to remain a volunteer institution rather than one with a draft.

The general also explained that an adult influencer is the key. Currently 80% of a recruit’s decision to enter the military is influenced by a trusted adult person.

When it was my turn to ask a question of the general, I brought up what I consider a key issue in overall U.S. military recruitment for an all-volunteer Army:

There is a huge American population that has never had any connection to the U.S. military. Most of these Americans do not have the required knowledge to advise potential recruits.

Yes, it was different during World War II when most able-bodied men served and the population was daily aware of what the U.S. military was undertaking.

Today U.S. military humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts worldwide are not top-of-the news. Because of this lack of awareness, many Americans no longer understand the need for a capable all-volunteer Army.



Outreach efforts to expand awareness

The military, including the Army, has a tremendous advertising budget to encourage recruitment. I believe that a small part of that budget needs to be invested in innovative projects that can expose the general population in a variety of positive ways to the U.S. military.

I have sent a proposal to General Batschelet for a project based on this urgent need to spread military awareness throughout the general U.S. population. I do believe that, especially thanks to the Internet, there are many innovative options available for a forward-thinking military recruitment effort based on educating the entire American population.

I look forward to hearing back from the general.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

Thanksgiving Gratitude for Our Military and Our Way of Life

Day after Thanksgiving 2014: The top photo on the front page of The Wall Street Journal is headlined: “Thanksgiving Cheer for Troops Far From Home” and the caption reads: “HOLIDAY IN AFGHANISTAN: Military members celebrate Thanksgiving Day at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.”

And while our troops in that part of the world may be the ones we hear about the most, there are American troops and their families stationed all over the world, some in nicer places than others.

Sometimes we Americans may forget about the real meaning of Thanksgiving and gratitude. A poignant reminder of the meaning of this day is in the film THE BLIND SIDE. The teen boy who will eventually be adopted by the family sits alone at the dining room table eating the takeout meal because he has seen a picture of the famous Norman Rockwell painting of a Thanksgiving family dinner.

When the mother of the family sees what this stranger is doing, she gets her husband and two children to leave off eating in front of the TV and join the “guest” at the dining room table.

If you are following the news of Russia’s encroachment on the Ukraine, you may be reminded of the news stories from the years when the Iron Curtain prevented people from reaching freedom in the West. The stories of people who died trying to cross from East Berlin to West Berlin and the other accounts of people’s desire for freedom.

I have written a Cold War memoir that recounts the period from September 1970 to May 1972 when my husband and I were stationed with the U.S. Army in Munich. Mitch was an officer with the 18th Military Intelligence Battalion and I eventually got a security clearance and worked as a civilian for the 66th Military Intelligence Group.

Now there is talk that a second Cold War is about to happen.

(You can read the entire memoir for free on Wattpad at http://budurl.com/TAintro)

This Thanksgiving weekend, while people are busy shopping, we should be grateful that we live in a democracy, and we should remember that a strong democracy requires protectors.

We should give thanks to the men and women and their families who serve now or have served in the past.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

Fiction Marketing Site, Amazon Author Central, and Other Book Marketing Tips

If you are an author, have you within recent memory checked all your book website pages and your book presence on other sites for how accurate the information still is? If not, perhaps it is time for a little fall cleaning.

I’m in the midst of this undertaking, and while it is time consuming, the deeper I get into the task the more I realize this has to be done. (My tasks include replacing an email address that is no longer active and inserting the new subtitle for the original subtitle on my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT.)

Fiction Marketing Site

Award-winning author Carolyn Howard-Johnson and I created a shared site Fiction Marketing (www.fictionmarketing.com) several years ago. As we both became busier and busier, we let our attention slip from this site. Now we are re-visiting the site and updating the information because we realized there is good info on the site for other authors. (Particularly note the excerpt with information about blogging for authors.)

Amazon Author Central

While working on the fiction marketing site, I happened to visit my three Amazon Author Central profiles (for fiction, YA, and nonfiction). Lo and behold, Amazon has changed the format of these pages — and for the better! No longer is the bio info at the top and the books lower down on the screen. The books are now top and center.

This is particularly advantageous for me so that, because of the different titles top and center instead of the same bio, people can immediately tell whether they are on my fiction, nonfiction, or YA Author Central profile.

(If you are an author with books on Amazon and have not yet signed up for your free Author Central profile, do so now. For authors based in the U.S. go to http://authorcentral.amazon.com/)

Other Book Marketing Opportunities

These are exploding around us all the time. For example, Amazon has been rolling out more and more Amazon country sites that now offer the unlimited monthly book borrowing subscription service — Kindle Unlimited — in addition to the one ebook a month Amazon Prime members can borrow. (Note that not all ebooks on Amazon are enrolled in either or both of these programs.)

If you don’t yet know about this monthly subscription program, click here to read the blog post I wrote when Amazon first introduced the Kindle Unlimited service in the U.S.

Meanwhile, in the updating of my book information pages, I’m adding an offer for a skype call with me for any book group or high school class discussing one of my books. Thanks to all the available tech options, we authors can now engage in meaningful ways with our readers around the globe.

For my Vietnam-era novel MRS. LIEUTENANT: I include book group discussion questions and a high school lesson plan on my book website at www.mrslieutenant.com — and I’d also love to speak with high school classes who are reading my teen book HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE. Email me at pzmiller@gmail.com to arrange skype calls.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

Thoughts on the 25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall, built by the Soviets in 1961 to keep the East Germans and East Berliners from traveling to freedom in the West, fell on November 9, 1989.

(My husband Mitch and I have written a screenplay that takes place in Berlin right after the fall of the Wall and is inspired by historical incidents. You can read the pdf of the screenplay on Amazon Studios at http://studios.amazon.com/projects/34025)

Perhaps ironically, that day of November 9th in 1989 was also the anniversary of the infamous Kristallnacht, the night of November 9th in 1938 when the Nazis arranged a “spontaneous” demonstration throughout Germany and annexed Austria to burn synagogues, vandalize Jewish cemeteries and places of business, and kill and arrest Jews.

The Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, eventually led to the defeat of the Third Reich and the division of Germany into four zones, including the Soviet Union’s control of East Berlin and East Germany.

That division into American, British, French and Soviet zones resulted in my husband and I being stationed with the U.S. Army in Munich from September 1970 to May 1972.

U.S. Army troops and their families have been stationed in Germany since the end of WWII — originally to both keep the two parts of Germany from uniting and to keep the Russians from invading Western Europe. Today only the latter of the two missions is still relevant.

I have written TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY, a memoir of Mitch’s and my time in Munich during this Cold War period (for which I’m seeking an agent and publisher).

On this anniversary of the fall of the Wall, I’d like to share an excerpt about Mitch’s and my visit to Checkpoint Charlie, the American checkpoint between West and East Berlin. (Because of Mitch’s security clearance and because of my own security clearance, we could not go into East Berlin.)

Chapter 24: October 23, 1971




U.N. General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to admit Communist China and expel Taiwan from the U.N. — October 25, 1971

… I glanced again at the itinerary for the next day, with the optional tour (for an extra Deutsch Mark charge) to East Berlin that Mitch and I could not take. The tour would pass through Checkpoint Charlie and visit such places as “the site of Hitler’s wartime headquarters and bunkers, the famous Reichskanslei.”

The itinerary noted:

“Those civilians eligible to attend the optional tour to East Berlin must bring passport without Stauss Stamp. Military personnel must wear A-Class Uniform (green) PLUS be in possession of a valid Identification card. Cameras are permitted on the Eastern Sector tour and members are allowed to photograph most items of interest.”

The next morning when our fellow tourists embarked on the optional tour, Mitch and I went on our own to Checkpoint Charlie, the American-controlled crossing point into East Berlin.

Mitch snapped a picture of the warning sign in four languages: YOU ARE LEAVING THE AMERICAN SECTOR; then the same in Russian; then the French VOUS SORTEZ DU SECTEUR AMERICAIN; and then the German SIE VERLASSEN DEN AMERIKANISCHEN SEKTOR.

From the checkpoint’s viewing stand Mitch and I peered into the dismal city on the other side of the Berlin Wall, erected by the Soviets in August 1961. The emptiness of the dark streets did not tell the story of years of Soviet occupation in the way that the exhibits in the small museum next to the checkpoint did.

The exhibits described how the Soviets built the wall in August 1961 and then the exhibits illustrated the desperate measures people took to escape from behind the Wall. Tunneling, jumping from East Berlin apartment windows before they were boarded up, trying to hide underneath the frame of a car as it drove through the checkpoint and other attempts that usually ended in capture and/or death.

The razed ground before the Wall on the East side consisted of barbed wire, tank tracks, hidden mines — all deadly traps for anyone trying to escape the workers’ paradise.

Part of me felt badly for the East Germans trapped in a Soviet nightmare. The other part of me remembered that many of these East Germans eagerly embraced Hitler and rushed to do his bidding in killing Jews, homosexuals, protesting clergy, Gypsies, and anyone else considered a blot on the master race.

Afterwards Mitch and I ate lunch at the Berlin Jewish Community Center — located at the site of the main Berlin synagogue destroyed on Kristallnacht.

Then we went to the Berlin Museum for the special exhibit “300 Jahre Judische Gemeinde zu Berlin” (300 Years of Jewish Community in Berlin) running from September 10 to November 10 this fall. How interesting that the exhibit’s closing date was the 33rd anniversary of Kristallnacht.

The exhibit barely mentioned the years of the Nazis and World War II. Instead there were paintings by German Jewish artists such as Max Liebermann’s “Self-portrait with Family in Wannsee.” The German Impressionist artist had the good fortune to die of natural causes in 1935, but his wife Martha committed suicide in 1943 just hours before the Nazis came to arrest her.

Of course displayed were Jewish ceremonial objects: menorahs, Torah covers, Torah crowns, Torah pointers, shofars, seder plates, kiddish cups, Havdalah spice boxes, tzedakah (alms) boxes, Shabbat candlesticks. Remnants of what Hitler planned to be an extinct civilization.

I reminded myself that, instead, the Nazis had been vanquished while the American, British and French military now occupied West Germany to prevent both a renewal of Nazi ambition due to a reunited Germany as well as to block the Soviets from driving their tanks further into Western Europe.

You can read my entire Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY for free on Wattpad at http://budurl.com/TAintro

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

TV Drama BLUE BLOODS Warns of Social Media Risks

In the October 24th episode “Loose Lips” of the CBS drama BLUE BLOODS, the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube all “took it on the chin” with a subplot of NY Police Commissioner Frank Reagan’s father Henry and Frank’s granddaughter Nikki getting stung by their social media activities.

In one scene, Nikki’s mother Erin runs into the Rutgers admissions person who interviewed Nikki for college. Pressed by Erin for feedback on the interview, the admissions person reveals that Nikki’s social media activity will prevent her from being offered a place at Rutgers.

Thanks to the same cruel tweet on Twitter about her history teacher, Nikki’s classmates are then subjected to an in-your-face lecture about the dangers of inappropriate comments anywhere on social media.

In addition, Commissioner Reagan’s father Henry, over a few drinks at a fundraising dinner, makes some remarks privately to one other person. But a nearby waiter records on his cell phone the ill-advised comments connected to police brutality and uploads the video to YouTube. Can you say viral in record time?

While TV dramas are fiction, these social media warnings are extremely important for students, job seekers, campaigning politicians, or people anywhere whose ill-considered social media activity can be held against them.

At the beginning of each of my three HOW TO SUCCEED books for teens and young adults I have a full-page warning about the risks of social media postings. As the episode of BLUE BLOODS demonstrated, these warnings should be taken very seriously.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

Using Lego Models to Promote STEM Careers for Women

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics — careers that women in the U.S. substantially lag behind men in pursuing.

Recently my husband and I have been building Lego models of famous buildings available in the Architecture series. And when our model of The White House arrived, an idea for improving female statistics in STEM careers occurred to me.



Imagine Lego Architecture models used as part of U.S. and world history courses starting in elementary school. Girls and boys in elementary classes would each year build the models that fit with the history curriculum being studied. (For the U.S. think Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Washington Monument, etc.)

While these building projects would help make history more “real,” this activity would also help encourage the interest of girls (as well as boys) in the kind of building that can lead to an interest in STEM careers.

In terms of school expenditures, the models could be rebuilt each year by the next class of, say, third graders. And if Lego became a partner with schools (increasing the interest in Lego kits overall without spending money on advertising), the potential expenditure for the models could be lowered.

Of course, Lego would have to expand its Architecture series to include more historical U.S. and worldwide buildings. And for a company that wants to increase demand in its products, that would be a good thing!

If you like this idea, do share the post with others who might be able to turn this idea into reality.



P.S. For book authors — click here to access a new free resource list for authors. (Yes, my author site is included on that list.)

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

Front-Page Wall Street Journal Article re Coping With PTSD

The September 13-14, 2014, Wall Street Journal front page carried the article “Coping With PTSD: Vets Try New, and Unproven, Ways to Heal the Wounds of War” by Michael M. Phillips and Shirley S. Wang.

The headline of the September 12th online version of the article states: “War Veterans Try Yoga, Hiking, Horseback Riding to Treat PTSD: Pressure Builds on Department of Veterans Affairs to Expand Range of Treatments Beyond Drugs and Talk Therapy”

As many of you know, I often write about PTSD, and I have a proposed reality TV series HEALING OUR HEROES designed to showcase innovative PTSD treatments being done in the greater Los Angeles area. Whenever I meet with people who might be interested in this project, I do “pitch” it.

The Wall Street Journal article includes these two paragraphs:

The therapies may sound far-fetched. But vets and alternative-medicine advocates are pressuring the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand the range of treatments for those who can’t find relief in the standard regimen of drugs and talk therapy.




“We are greatly saddened because we know how to help” said Dick Tomlinson, the former head of business development for Brain State Technologies, an Arizona firm seeking congressional help persuading the VA to try its so-called brain-wave optimization technology, which uses sounds to soothe patients. “But accessing the federal government is an enormous challenge, even when our vets’ lives, and those of their families, are at stake.”

A main objective of my proposed reality series HEALING OUR HEROES is to help spread information on innovative PTSD treatments to encourage other areas of the country to consider offering these treatments.

I do hope that this Wall Street Journal article will help speed up the process of making innovative PTSD treatments available.

Click here to read for free on Wattpad my PTSD short story SOLOMON’S JUSTICE. (The story is an adaptation of a pilot TV drama script for a show of the same name.)

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

6 Free Web Apps to Help Organize Your Life

I was recently asked to research and write about six free web apps that could make life easier for a freelancer, and I compiled a list of apps that are free not just for a trial period, although these apps may charge fees for additional features.

Indie book authors can certainly be considered freelancers, so I am sharing this list here of free web apps that you could use to help organize your writing life. (Note that so far I personally only routinely use PayPal and Google Docs of the web apps on this list.)



PayPal.com — getting paid:

You can add the PayPal option to your author website. Then use the PayPal web app to track payments to you as well as sending money to others. (Although PayPal takes a processing cut on transactions, the setup is free.) When you order at www.paypal.com/here you can get the card reader for free for iPhone, iPad and most Android phones, which can be used at book signings.



Brightbook (mybrightbook.com) — accounting software:

This web app has free features that include the ability to create invoicing in any currency. And perhaps more importantly, this app can help you keep track of accounting and banking. Having free tools to do this can be a valuable timesaver.

MailChimp.com — build your email marketing list:

This web app has a free version that allows up to 2,000 subscribers, and you can send 12,000 emails to these subscribers for free. Great for keeping your book fans updated on your activities.

Pixlr.com — photo editing:

This is a web app for Windows and Mac as well as an app for iOS and Android. Whether you’re creating photos for your writing projects or for promoting yourself via social media, you’ll want a program that can help your photos shine.



Google Docs (drive.google.com) — simultaneous content creation:

You can create and edit documents online while collaborating with other users in real time either as a web app or as a mobile app for Android and iOS. Google Docs can be a great timesaver and eliminate the frustration of sending docs back and forth so many times that you risk confusing which version is the newest. (This could be very helpful for co-authors of a writing project.)

WeTransfer.com — large file transfer:

Send big (up to 2GB in the free version) or small files from A to B via this web app or via Android or iOS. This free app could be very valuable for delivering your book manuscript to someone.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com

September 1, 1939 — The Day the Gate Closed on Europe

September 1, 1939, is the day the Nazis used a staged “Polish” military incident as the excuse to invade Poland and start World War II, closing the gate of freedom for millions and millions of people.

This year of 2014, the date of September 1 is also Labor Day, a traditional Monday holiday for Americans.

It seems appropriate, therefore, to take a moment to think about our military personnel and their families as well as veterans and their families. These active duty personnel and veterans have labored to serve our country to protect our freedom, and their families have also been asked to make sacrifices.

Sometimes we Americans take for granted both the people protecting our freedom as well as that freedom itself.

I’ve been working on a family history project recently about my husband’s paternal grandfather. Jacob Miller came to this country from somewhere in Eastern Europe as part of the mass migration in the early years of the 20th Century. Sometime after the beginning of WWI (and the centennial of the start of this war was this summer) and before the U.S. entered the war, he joined the British Army.

He had responded to a call from the British to Jewish young men in the U.S. to go to Canada and join up in order to fight for liberty. Somewhere in France he was gassed and never recovered his health, although he married and had two sons.

His older son Martin, my husband Mitch’s father, fought in Europe during WWII. Mitch and I were stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army, while my own father Albert Zimbler (see the accompanying photo) had been stationed in the U.S. during WWII.

My father-in-law and mother-in-law were married during the war and separated for several years. They had the triumphal experience of visiting Hitler’s retreat Berchtesgaden with Mitch and me on their anniversary of October 31 in 1971. My father-in-law had physically survived the brutal fighting, although he had some mental scarring from his experiences.

It seems fitting on this date of September 1st that I am preparing to submit my Cold War memoir TALES OF AN AMERICAN OCCUPYING GERMANY to the Naval Institute Press. I am hoping for a publishing deal for this memoir, and the Naval Institute Press could be a good fit.

Many Americans today do not realize that there have been American occupation troops (and their families) stationed in Germany since the end of WWII — to keep the Russians from invading Western Europe and originally to also keep Germany from uniting and starting another world war.

I have all my original documents from that time, some of which I envision including in the book. (This includes the card that we were to carry in order to recognize a certain Soviet license plate and report that car.)

Given what is happening in Ukraine right now, this memoir seems particularly timely.

And what is equally timely is remembering how the European powers allowed the Nazis to take over other countries until the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, was finally too much.

Let’s hope that in 2014 we remember the consequences of appeasement in time.

© 2014 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com