Memoir (Military)
Date Published: January 22, 2022 (Hardcover coming March 2022)
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Jim Gibson was flying to the other side of the world, barreling toward what he feared could be the end of his life. In 1968, five hundred American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam. Outfitted in brand new, scratchy, combat jungle fatigues and boots, the twenty-year-old Army Private and trained Combat Medic found himself on a plane to a place he had never been, to fight a war he didn’t believe in. Young men like him were being drafted against their will every day, called into a war that made no sense to them. Vietnam, they thought, was a war orchestrated by relics; old white men and corrupt politicians willing to expend countless lives for personal gain. Still, it was no use to resist. There was nowhere to go, and the FBI made sure there was no place to hide.
Can you tell us a little about the process of getting this
book published? How did you come up with the idea and how did you start?
I had never written or published a book before. It took me several
years to write it before I considered ways to share what I had written with the
world. Several friends of mine, who are not professional writers, had told
their stories and done so, sometimes well and sometimes not, by going the
inexpensive self-publishing route. In the beginning I was thinking I would do
the same but even though I could see that they had done their best to create
the best books that they could, they weren’t really that professionally done. I
wanted my book to look good, so I decided to look around for alternatives.
In the retirement community where I live, we have lots of social
clubs. There is one called “The Village Publishing Club”. One day I contacted
the club’s president, explained what I was up to, and asked her if she could
recommend a good publishing company. She gave me Holly’s phone number and
that’s when I began my relationship with the team known as Acorn Publishing,
LLC.; I’ve not looked back since, it’s been a great choice.
What surprised you most about getting your book published?
I really loved writing my book which came easily, but was
surprised upon entering the publishing of it, that I was dealing with an
entirely different animal. It required me to get off my butt and work; to do a
lot that reminded me of how working used to be before entering into the world
of retirement. Acorn’s process is a hybrid sort of thing where authors and
their professionals work together and interact to create the best of things.
I’m an older guy who appreciates how that challenge has been good for me. I am
working on it.
Tell us a little about what you do when you aren’t writing
When I retired and got out of the working world, I felt so
relieved. No more stress. I was now free to be just who I wanted to be. My kids
gave me a new set of golf clubs thinking that I, as a newly retired senior,
would want to take up golf to take up my spare time. After a few golf
experiences I realized that if I was going to be any good at all in that sport,
I would surely have to spend a whole lot of my life dedicated to it. I decided
against it, so I turned to the love of my life which had always been painting.
Taking up a pencil and crayon when I was barely more than a toddler was a
natural thing for me. Art and painting have always occupied most of my life,
but the creation of it was interrupted when the pandemic arrived, and I could
no longer work in the art studio. It was then that I turned my creative
energies towards writing.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
Though I have always thought of myself as a visual artist, there
was a time many years ago when I unexpectantly experienced a rush of critical
appreciation for things I wrote, this shortly after I had returned from the
Vietnam War. It was a college English and Composition class. I received the grade
of A-Plus from my professor for my efforts. Looking back on it all, I think
that reward kept coming back to me; informing me that I might consider writing.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I look forward to publishing more works. I write non-fiction
stories, but it is my intention to render things as realistically and
poetically – creatively - as I can.
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