I was recently contacted by a writer for the Military Times. He's a really nice guy named Jon Anderson, and he interviewed me for over an hour.

The article ran in The EDGE magazine, which is an insert to the Military Times. The magazine is geared towards military personnel transitioning out into the civilian sector, and this article is focused on my journey over the last couple of years - from  soldier/blogger to full-time freelance writer.

You can also check out the article online by clicking here. 

My next piece on the New York Times Home Fires blog should be up soon. I'll keep you posted...

As always, thanks for reading!

My collection of essays is finally complete! Please use the links below to get your copy today ...

Amazon 

Create Space

To all of you who have supported me in so many ways since I was deployed in Iraq, and to all of you loyal readers who continue to follow my adventures as a single Dad and freelance writer, THANK YOU.

You can also click here to read the first review of my book, by the President of Military Writer's Society ofAmerica (MWSA)

My first new article as a guest blogger on the New York Times Home Fires blog is live!

It's basically a "catch-up" piece, telling readers what I've been doing since the last time I wrote in this forum.

You can read the article by clicking here.

Some of my next articles will discuss what I've learned about life, being a single parent, and starting my own business.

I am both honored and humbled to be writing alongside my fellow veterans for the third time now in the last three years.

Please take a minute and read about all of our similar and yet utterly different experiences ...

My book, Fire in the Night: Creative Essays from an Iraq War Vet, has been reviewed for the first time.

You can read the official Military Writer's Society ofAmerica (MWSA) review here.

Also, the New York Times has contacted me again, and I am excited to be writing for them starting in October. I will post about it with links when it begins, but for now here are some links to my NYT articles over the last few years:

 2005 articles

 2007 articles

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."   Dr. Wayne Dyer

A couple of nights ago I was sitting at my desk doing some writing for a client in Iraq. Though I probably looked quite serious, a smile played across my mental mood as I wrote. I am no longer in the military, but I am lucky enough to make a living as a creative freelance writer. I write for a lot of military or ex-military people, and I enjoy the interaction. It's very rewarding to help them out in my own way. After all, I don't regret my decision to end a promising military career, but I do miss certain aspects of the military, and my role as an Army Captain. My military memories are crisp and starched like one thousand soldiers standing at attention in a freshly mown field at a Division change of command ceremony in the morning, in April, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

I picked the kids up from daycare at 4pm, hung out with them for a while, made dinner at around 5:30, and then gravitated back to my computer. I had been writing for an hour straight, and I was on a roll, but I needed to get the kids ready for bed. I stood and walked down the hall and into the kitchen to grab some water. I passed my son's room. He was lying on hs back with one foot crossed over the other leg for a spot to balance his Gameboy, on which he was playing Galaga. Old School from back in my day when I was maybe twelve and playing Galaga because it was new and I was good at it, and hey, I was at Skate Country on a Friday night and there were lots of cute girls around and what else was I going to do?

"Hey Dad. What's up?" he said, without one single filament of worry or doubt or fear in his voice. He's a little zen master, and at that moment, with the light coming in through the plantation shutters in thick swatches, and his pet turtles floating in the bog of a habitat next to his bed, the world revolved around those little alien insects dropping bombs on his fighter ship. He's really good at Galaga, but not good enough to beat his dad. At least not yet.

"Nothing, buddy."

I then knocked on my nine year old daughter's door, because knocking is the new opening. She's serious about the knocking before entering, and I respect that. It's her brother that seems to forget. "Lee, if that's you then you can't come in," she said. I opened the door and mocked her brother's voice, "Why not, Chloe? I'm your brother..."

"Daaaaad," she said, blowing my cover before I even walk in.

"Hey. Bedtime is in one hour, little lady. Watcha doing?"

"Nothing."

"Are you having fun doing nothing?"

"Yes Daaaad."

"I think we're about all done with the TV for tonight." 

She smiled, because she already knew the answer to her next question. "Five more minutes?" 

"Okay." I started to walk out. "Hey Dad?" She wanted something.

"Yes?"

"Will you pay me five dollars to clean my room?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because cleaning your room is automatic. You only earn money when you do extra chores, not normal chores. You know that."

I walked out again, leaving her only half smiling. Lately she's been saying that she wants to start saving her money to buy an mp3 player.

As I exited her room, I noticed that the ambient light in the house is golden brown, the light of a rusty sun exhaling one last creosote sigh across the desert before making room for the energetic moon. I am 37, and some of my memories from childhood still seem so immediate. So fresh in my mind like a song I just heard. The light sends me back. Effortless.

When I was still a kid, (as opposed to just feeling like a kid, which I do almost every day lately), I was a gifted participant in every game of hide and seek I ever played. Don't ask me why. I just knew the places to hide. They called to me. The bushes. The curtains. The deep shadow behind a tree. I also had a keen ability to move silently between hiding places undetected. In my family, I have a bit of a reputation for sneaking up on people and startling them. Also known as scaring the shit out of them. 

I am still me. I walked across the room and squatted behind the recliner in such a way that I couldn't be seen. I called my son's name, cupping my hand to throw my voice, as if that realy works. I stayed there quietly, looking a the walls from an angle I'd never noticed before, and heard my son come out of his room. I heard him walk into my room, where he expected to find me working, writing, at the computer tapping my fingers to some low music, and leaning back and smiling as I always do when he enters the room ready to give him some direction like "I need you to get your pajamas on and brush your teeth, okay little man?"

I then heard him walk into the kitchen, not far from where I was hiding. He's sharp. His footsteps got faster. He ran and checked the garage and when he didn't find me there me immediately opened his sister's door without knocking. She, of course, said, "What are you doing? I told you to knock!"

"Chloe, I think Dad is hiding," he said.

Though she is nine, and growing up too fast, and even though she made me take down all of her princess posters about two years ago, she let out a joyful laugh and started whispering to her brother, but I can still hear her:

 "Okay, we have to split up. I'll go that way and you go that way."

"Where is he hiding?" my son asked. I think I heard him clapping his hands as he said it.

My left foot was going numb, but it was worth it. I had to maintain the integrity of the games of hide and seek I played when I was a kid. Up to twenty of us would gather in my front yard for a group briefing on the rules of the night. Hide and go seek in the dark. You can't leave this block. Only green cars are safe bases. If you get caught you have to help catch the others, until there is only the one.

On this night I didn't have my mojo about me. Outdoor hide and seek is so much more liberating. I was stuck inside my living room and they had split up and I could not move from that hiding spot to another without being seen. I stayed perfectly still, as he moved a little closer. Chloe was in the same room by then, but just standing there looking back down the hall, thinking of where I might be. Yes, it's true, they had the master cornered.

I cut my losses and jumped up, barking like Cujo. They both electrified in primal fear, eyes wide, hands in the air, leaping backwards while yelling "Aaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhha ha hahahaha ha ha." Yelling quicky fell into laughter. "Do it again, Dad. Hide again," they said as soon as the initial scare wore off.

In the next round, my hiding place was so creative, so perfect that they never did find me. I have a dresser in a corner of my room and there is a small space behind it. If I crouch down, I fit in it perfectly. Not too comfortable, but it's worth it. The kids walked right past me. I eventually had to come out of my hiding place and sneak up on them like a ninja, putting an end the impromptu hide and seek so I could get them to bed and get back to my keyboard.

Life gets complicated, and like most I certainly have my own private sorrows and regrets. But I am grateful for so much, and just thankful to be here, at home, raising my children. All things considered, our little game marked the end of a very fine day.

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." - Tom Stoppard

DELRAY BEACH, FL --

The Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation, Inc. has secured 90 percent of funding needed to break ground on the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial (AVDLM) in Washington DC, announced the Foundation's Co-founder and Chairperson Lois Pope. With the final phase of the fundraising campaign now kicking into gear, Pope added that $5.9 million must still be raised through corporate and individual donations before the Memorial can become a reality.

Unlike other war and veteran memorials, the AVDLM will be dedicated to both living and deceased disabled veterans, including army, navy, air force, marines and coast guard. The focal point of the Memorial design will be a star-shaped reflecting pool, its surface broken by a single eternal flame. A grove of trees will stand sentry beside the pool, symbolizing the persistence of hope. Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, Ltd., of Alexandria, Virginia, designed the Memorial following a national invitational design competition.

“When Congress approved the Memorial for Washington DC and President Clinton signed it into law, one of the stipulations was that 100 percent of the money needed to design, build and maintain the Memorial had to come from private donations,” said Pope. “And the Foundation, which was created to raise these funds, must have all the funds in place before construction can begin. We're almost there.”

The Memorial will command an impressive two-acre site between Washington Avenue SW (Canal Street), C Street SW and Second Street SW, in Washington DC. It will be within full view of the United States Capitol, adjacent to the National Mall, and across from Independence Avenue and the United States Botanic Garden.

“It is important to remember that of the 26 million American veterans living across the world today, three million are permanently disabled from injuries suffered in our nation's defense,” said actor, director and musician Gary Sinise, the Memorial's national spokesperson. ”It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to recognize the sacrifices that our country's disabled veterans have made on behalf of us all.”

The Foundation anticipates breaking ground on the Memorial in 2010. The Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit and donations are deductible to the fullest extent of the law. To make a donation, or for more information, visit www.avdlm.org.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill and Military-Friendly Education -

The Post 9/11 GI Bill application process started at the beginning of this month. It provides increased funds for veterans looking to attend college, including tuition costs, a book and supply fund, and housing stipends. It also provides several subdivisions of financial support that were lacking in the old Montgomery GI Bill, including the Yellow Ribbon Program, which grants increased tuition support for participating private colleges.

In order to be eligible for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the military personnel must have been in active service for a minimum of 90 days after September 10, 2001 and meet one of the following additional criteria: Be honorably discharged from the Armed Forces; or Be released from the Armed Forces with service characterized as honorable and placed on a retired list, temporarily disability retired list, or transferred to a Reserve; or Be discharged or released from the Armed Forces for EPTS (Existed Prior to Service), HDSP (Hardship), or CIWD (Condition Interfered with Duty); or Continue to be on active duty.

Military-friendly colleges like American Sentinel University are eager to participate in the new financial aid available to prospective veteran college students. With the Post 9/11 GI Bill granting college funds beginning the 2009 fall semester (August 1, 2009 is the earliest start-up date), they are two of many military-friendly universities that have been avidly participating in the new program.

Prospective military students that would like to learn more about the Post 9/11 GI Bill can visit the Veterans Benefits GI Bill Blog,  which follows the latest in military education.

Photographer and extremely creative individual David Levinthal has just published a book called I.E.D. : War in Afghanistan and Iraq

Alongside these compelling images of actual "war toys," David has included some selected text. My writing is featured with four of the photographs.

Click here or here for more details about the book.

Also, click here or here to purchase a copy for yourself.

As always, thanks for your support!

I'm in another anthology called "War Is... Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk About War," and pages 118-135 are mine!

It's being published by Candlewick Press, and is available at local bookstores everywhere. Here are some links to by the book online ...

Amazon

Tower Books

Text from the back cover:

"Is war noble? Or is it delusional?  Should it be obsolete? Or is it inevitable? Respected commentators Marc Aranson and Patty Campbell have commissioned and edited nearly twenty pieces of nonfiction and fiction - essays, a milblog, stories, interviews - as varied and complex as war itself. From Christian Bauman's striking "Letter to a Young Enlistee" to Margo Lanagan's dystopian guerilla story "Heads," from Bob Dylan's classic "Masters of War" to Chris Hedges's startling What Every Person Should Know About War, this volume is a must-read for all young citizens living in a dangerous world."  

It's been an absolute pleasure working with Marc Aranson, and I'm proud to be involved with this project. Please purchase your own copy and tell your friends! 

Thank you all very much for your ongoing support, and please know that my own collection of essays about my Iraq experiences is forthcoming ...

For now, here are links to the other anthologies I'm in:

Blog of War

2006 Writer's Blog Anthology

Doonesbury.com's the Sandbox 

SHAMELESS PLUG: Please visit my company website Desert Sun Wrting and Editing to see how I can help you or someone you know....

 So, I’m really good friends with an awesome lady in California named Maria Edwards. She is a true “soldier’s angel” and goes to great lengths to support men and women in uniform and overseas – especially those who don’t have strong family support of their own. As if that wasn’t enough, she’s also a dedicated mother, educator, marketing expert, and the President of American Author’s Association.  

Maria is also the wife of award-winning novelist Jeff Edwards. Please visit his website (link below) for more about Jeff and his forthcoming second novel, “The Seventh Angel.”  His first novel, “Torpedo,” was critically acclaimed and won eight awards, including the AAA’s coveted American Author’s Medal. His new book is sure to be even better. 

Jeff has been in the media a lot, and this month is no exception. On Saturday August 30, 2008, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, he’ll be the headlining author at the Fine Arts Festival of Elk Grove, Laguna Town Hall, Elk Grove, CA.

Here’s what some other people had to say about Torpedo:

“Torpedo kicks ass!  Smart and involving, with an action through-line that shoots ahead like its namesake — fast and lethal.  I read it in one sitting.”— PAUL L. SANDBERG, Producer of ‘The Bourne Supremacy,’ and ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ 

“Torpedo scares the pants off the reader.  One scene scarcely ends before the author throws another that is even more riveting at the reader.  Even more worrisome is the fact that everything in Jeff Edward’s book can actually happen.  The author’s descriptions are vivid and believable, making the book a real page turner.”— Alton Pryor, author of ‘California's Hidden Gold’ 

“Awash with excitement, Torpedo by Jeff Edwards is the sort of debut novel that holds one attention from first word to last.  The characters are rich and complex.  The plot is not only full of surprises but also is delivered with an unerring eye for detail.  The dialog crackles, and the prose is often lyrical.”— GAYLE LYNDS, Bestselling author of ‘The Last Spymaster’  

Put simply, Jeff and his family are REALLY good people. If you’re a fan, and especially if you’ll be in California this month, please show your support and put the Fine Arts Festival of Elk Grove on your calendar! 

On Independence Day 2006 I had been home from Iraq for only a couple of weeks. Things have changed a lot. This year, I spent the 4th being appreciative of so much, surrounded by family, and watching dueling fireworks displays.  

As the holiday weekend comes to an end, life is filled with joy, gratitude, fulfilling work, 105 degree desert summer days (I actually like it when I can wear flip-flops instead of combat boots), and lots of swimming.

The kids have been home with me for the three day weekend, and they have officially worn me out! I'll be back to work in the morning. At home. At the computer. Seeking more jobs. Writing my heart out.

I'm happy to report that the writing jobs are rolling in and referals are already starting to happen. If I can keep this pace up, I'll be matching my old salary in no time!

My buddy David Stanford over at Doonesbury.com has re-posted one of my pieces on The Sandbox military blog.

Please click here to check that out.

Also, I was asked to respond to some questions about blogging for an article that ran in Stars and Stripes magazine.

Sitting there in the grass watching the fireworks, fully content and relaxed, I could't help but think of the men and women serving in the Middle East, and specifically in the Sunni Triangle, where I spent the majority of my time.

The kids fell asleep in the truck on the way home after the fireworks, and I was left to shine my own thoughts over this glistening city and the lights on the interstate. After I carried them in, one at a time, and put them in their beds, I spent some time on Google Earth.

I zoomed in on my old base, my old office, my old room. I smiled at my monitor because there I was looking at satellite imagery of the place, while I remembered exactly what it felt like to be there, in the darkness, looking up at the satellites.  Back then, I'd go back into my room, climb into my bunk, and lie there thinking about my family.

I'm okay now. I came home. My kids are asleep mere feet from me as I write this. Safe and sound. What more could I ask?

"Every man's memory is his private literature." Aldous Huxley

Shameless plug: Please check out my freelancing website at Desert Sun Writing. Maybe I can help you or someone you know? 

The title of my blog can be deceiving, because I've been home from Iraq for two years. I am no longer the 1st Lieutenant that friends called "wordsmith" and I am no longer at war. Actually, I'm now a Captain who has gone inactive.

 My focus (in life and blogging) has changed completely. I'm not wearing the uniform any longer, but I am very proud that I did. I'm not training with the Army anymore, but lots of my good friends are.

Why, you might ask .. do you still have this blog?

Good question.

First of all, I love this blog and the access it gives me to such supportive, incredible people from all over the world. I don't want to let it go silent because I might lose some of those relationships, and a little part of myself.

Secondly, I enjoy blogging, but not enough to maintain two. 

So I'm a vet now, moving on to new experiences and adventures... Why can't this blog be about everything else in my life?

I still identify with this blog and apparently people still want to read what I'm writing here, so I'm keeping it up ... in fact, I'm takin it to a whole ... nutha ... level!

If you keep visiting (and I hope you do) you'll find a whole spectrum of writing - essays, articles, poetry, opinion and fact, mindless rambling and focused prose on some of these topics:

• Building my business DesertSunWriting.com
• The incredible transition from soldier to civilian to freelance writer
• The transition from happily married man to single Dad
• Being the best parent that I possibly can
• Any progress and updates about my non-fiction books
• Any progress and updates about my novel/screenplay projects
• Book Reviews
• Music Reviews
• Any other topic that I think is worth sharing (not necessarily about the military) 
• Finding inspiration and synchronicity in all that I do
• Being the "eternal optimist" (read my post from Iraq here)

So ... please bear with me as my blog evolves to be more aligned with the course my life is taking. 

To my long-time readers who have been with me from the start: thank you, as always, for your continued support. And for new visitors ... welcome!

"IT'S EVOLUTION, BABY!"  Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam

Two years ago today I stepped off of that airplane in Salt Lake City. No cliches about "time flying by" seem fitting at the moment. Life is too colorful, too much of a grand adventure to taint its description with an overused play on words.

I remember everything as if it were yesterday, and yet I've learned and grown so much in the last two years that it's like watching someone else in my mind - some other soldier, some other father, some other soul.

I still maintain this blog, even though I am inactive with the Army right now. I am still "Captain K" for at least a while longer, until I  make some more decisions about my career. Right now I'm enjoying my days more than ever before, writing full-time, and working hard to build my company Desert Sun Writing and Editing.

Many of you know that my hometown is New Orleans, but I've been living in Salt Lake City, Utah (on and off) for the last 12 years. Well, after 1/3 of my life there, I have now moved my little family to an absolutely gorgeous town in southern Utah where I'll be closer to family. It's actually a desert climate not so different from the deserts of Iraq. Do I smell irony?

I still receive almost 30,000 hits a month here at Wordsmith at War, which is both humbling and exciting at the same time. Thank you all for your continued support.

BOOK UPDATE: I have wasted some valuable time dealing with an agent who simply wasn't the right one for me. Then I've become preoccupied with life and work (and moving!), so I put the book project on the proverbial back burner.  Recently I've been thinking about it again, and even considered a print-on-demand service so that I can get the book out to my readers (and hopefully get some new ones) once and for all. Just as I started researching print-on-demand, I received a letter from a university press I queried a while back. So.. I'm playing the waiting game again with my non-fiction book about Iraq. Here's what I know for sure: I've decided to publish 44 of my most popular essays from the last three years in a collection. The book is complete and ready to go. I'm simply need to decide how exactly I'm going to publish. As always, I really appreciate you visiting my blog, and ask you to keep an eye out for my forthcoming collection. If you have any thoughts or questions about the book, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or e-mail me.

Finally, in the name of my anniversary and the inspirational, exciting changes in my life, I'm going to re-post something I wrote two years ago, when I was flying back and forth across the Atlantic on emergency leave because my mom was very sick and Hurricane Katrina had recently struck. I saw soldiers walking around my hometown with loaded weapons, but I had to go back to Iraq. Each time I flew back, I felt frustrated and wondered if I should be serving in New Orleans or the Sunni Triangle. I questioned my own path and sometimes grew cynical and philosophical about the way Americans were supporting their troops. We are still a country at war, and I still have soldiers in Iraq who I sent there personally as their company commander. And yet very few people that I meet in my little microcosm of America seem too concerned. This is a bit of generalization, but I don't know... is it just me?

A Letter to the Republic for Which We Stand

I got an e-mail from David Stanford recently. He's the duty officer over at Doonesbury.com, and also a great guy who is editor of The Sandbox anthology.

He asked if I wanted to be on a local call-in radio show here in Salt Lake City called K-Talk. The host is a really nice lady named Sethina. She had actually been reading the book at the library and found David's contact information in the introduction. She wanted to interview him on the show and wondered if he had any of the authors available. Well, as luck would have it I'm in Salt Lake City too.

I said yes. I was on the air with Sethina and David for the full hour. There were several callers, and she even asked me to read one of my pieces on air. I really appreciate being recognized for my service and being able to speak my piece. Among other things, I said that browsing military blogs is the best way to get your news from Iraq. I really believe that.

You can download the entire broadcast here, but it will only be available for 5 more days. 

Sethina mentioned that she had read some of my essays from The Sandbox, and found me to be a very "nostalgic guy."

When it comes to the writing in the book, I think she's right. In Iraq I was always nostalgic, sending my thoughts back home to the life that was changing in so many surreal and overwhelming ways, and it came through in everything I wrote.

Dusty sentences. Mortared mornings. Superheated life. Pallette bridges. Plastic bathrooms.

Today it's all back. I'm thinking about veterans, which leads me to hi def memories of everything that happened to make me a veteran. I smile at the proud fact that I survived to return home and take care of my kids, and at the work we did over there.

I remember writing for the New York Times and blogging from Iraq. The reader support was inspiring.

Yes, the vastness and nostalgia are back upon me. I sense the weight of a long fight across the Atlantic. I feel the long miles between Salt Lake City and the Sunni Triangle. I remember the taste of Iraq's dust in my mouth, and that cranium-baking sun.

Memorial Day. Memory Day. Soldiers. Military. Veterans. Combat. The United States of America. Five years of war in the new millenium. Soldiers fighting right this very minute in the desert. Some soldier in my old room. Midnight here. Morning there. My old office.

Hundreds of thousands of us home now, re-building lour lives at every level of society.

Whatever happens, I'm proud of us.

THE SHAMELESS PLUG:

DESERT SUN Writing and Editing is officially open for business!

LONDON

Emergency leave

never ends well

when a mother

is lost

to breast cancer

I, an Army Lieutenant

flying back to

the Sunni Triangle-

a face in the window at

thirty thousand feet-

for the final

six months

of the tour

A layover in London.

The moist weather,

and a soft couch 

in the dim hotel lobby

Queen's Gate Garden

Hyde Park

I, a lone American.

Emotions ornate

as the gates

I peer through

at Buckingham Palace

in the rain,

seeing nothing.

I had a rare break from the madness of single parenthood last weekend. I went snowboarding all day Saturday with my brother while his awesome wife watched all of our kids. Another cousin came with us too. They live a couple of hours south of Salt Lake City, so we drove down Friday afternoon through snow and rain. The kids had a big slumber party and the adults stayed up late talking and enjoying the company.

We hit the road early in the morning for another two hour drive to Brian Head, Utah. Driving through virtually any area of Utah is a lesson in geology, an inspirational and mysterious geography. This drive was no exception. And the Brian Head resort is gorgeous.

On some of the highest lifts, we were close to 11,000 feet above sea level, looking down at the world through clouds that hovered far below us. Riding slowly on the lift chairs up the side of the mountain was a scenic drift over a white world where fresh white powdery snow covered the ground, and each trip up the lift exposed more tracks. It was easy to tell which tracks were made by people on snowboards and which by skiers.

As I'm still a beginner, I fell pretty hard a couple of times, but my progress from the first run to the last was encouraging and more fun than almost anything. I've been snowboarding before,  but never quite like this. The guys I went with were advanced, and helped me out tremendously. Now I believe I've been bitten by the bug.

I can't wait to get back on the mountain and surf the earth some more. 

"The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show."   -author unknown