Making the Most of Wartime

I spent ten months and fifteen days at the Royal Thai Air Force base in Udorn, Thailand during the Vietnam War era. My stay, from October 11, 1973 to August 26, 1974, was during the oil crisis, which started around that same time, so we were flying fewer jets, even for reconnaissance. This meant that GIs assigned to the base had less work, and our hours were cut considerably.
During the time I spent in Thailand, I kept a notebook of my writing (a lot of poetry at that time), but also wrote a lot down on my return to the U.S. I remember many of the stories about other GIs, events that went on around me at the time, and things that I experienced first hand.
Make no mistake, “Ten Months in Wonderland” is fiction, but the best fiction is often based on real life events. And, every novel should read as though the story actually happened. So, when I decided to write a book about GIs in Thailand, I had a lot of information to pull from. But there’s one more element to confess.
Before writing the novel, my daughter and I went to Thailand on two school trips, two years in a row. The time I spent there — so much different from my first time as an airman — was wonderful, and reminded me of the sounds and smells so much that I wanted to write about it.
Novels need drama, or character development (or destruction) in order to be interesting. But, a grasp on the environment where the novel takes place is essential, too. I was able to combine my memories and stories with the senses of the place freshest in my mind to create a story that I believe works on several levels.
Writing novels is something I’ve been doing for many years now, and knowing how to pull in the real world just enough to add validity and reality to the piece has become second nature. I loved writing “Ten Months in Wonderland” and hope that readers enjoy it equally as much.

**
Terry Persun writes in many genres, including historical fiction, mainstream, literary, and science fiction/fantasy. He is a Pushcart nominee. His latest poetry collection is “And Now This”. His novels, “Wolf’s Rite” and “Cathedral of Dreams” were ForeWord magazine Book of the Year finalists in the science fiction category, and his novel “Sweet Song” won a Silver IPPY Award. His latest science fiction space opera is, “Hear No Evil”, his latest fantasy is “Doublesight”, his latest mainstream/literary novel is “Ten Months in Wonderland”. Terry’s website is: www.TerryPersun.com or you can find him on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Terry%20Persun&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank