Just weeks away…

I hope everybody is having a great summer. I've spent mine getting American Boys ready for publication: proofing and planning the book launch. Meanwhile, the story has been getting its fair share of press. Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times, this week the Navy Times, and just a few days ago I opened my paper and saw this!

As the column states, American Boys is just a few weeks from publication. The goal of the book will be to continue to raise awareness of the 74 Americans who lost their lives on the USS Frank E. Evans during the Vietnam War. It's a narrative nonfiction--in the thread of a novel--and is a solid case for adding the 74 names to the Vietnam Wall. Far from a niche military book, American Boys is about a time and a generation--it's about people. My editor Miranda Ottewell (who's worked with such esteemed writers as Barbara Kingsolver, Isabel Allende, and Matthew Quick) thinks it will attract a wide audience. I'm a huge fan of the book Unbroken and if you liked that book, you'll like American Boys.

(And pssst... there is a Readers Guide in the back, including discussion questions for book clubs.) Stay tuned!