One author in Bella Vista I have come to know is Donna May Hanson. She and I were members of the Village Lake Writers and Poets, until recently a local writers organization. We’ve shared lots of thoughts on writing, on writing clubs, and keep in touch fairly regularly. She shared some of her book with the critique group I’m in. She also shared her book with me, and I had the opportunity to read and critique it before publication. I attest to the accuracy of the situations and dialog.
But enough from me. Let’s hear what Donna has to say.
Q. Donna, you have a diverse and impressive resume. Give us a short version of that, say, a couple of paragraphs.
Donna: I typically just tell people that I’m a retired systems engineer because when I look back over the years, I was the happiest and felt the most useful when I worked for United Technologies on the Strategic Defense Initiative (what they called the “Star Wars” project) in the late 70s and early 80s at White Sands Missile Range. The project was important to not only our country, but slowed the downward spiral that the US and Russia were traveling, and the technology developed lead to much of what we take for granted today both in infrastructure products and medical technology. And we got to blow stuff up with a big laser. For a young engineer, that’s hard to beat.
Q. Your book is Heroes All. Tell us first why you wrote it.
Donna: When my father passed away in 2005, my brother and I found an old briefcase under a table on his patio. Inside were the Scrabble board he’d played with me throughout high school, an old Cribbage board, an address book containing all his business and personal contacts, pictures of my brothers and I and our respective mothers, and 63 photographs of his shipmates onboard the LST 374 during WW2. That briefcase contained the story of his life and those things he held most dear. I started researching his military service and the history of the LST 374 and was humbled by what I found. He never spoke of his time in the Navy and after reading the war diaries, muster rolls, and history of the battles he was in, I understood why. I wrote the book to honor him, his shipmates, and the LST 374. The proceeds from the sale of the book were donated to the LST 325 Museum in Evansville, Indiana and the LST Association: a veteran’s group. Admiral Andrew L Lewis, USN Retired, wrote the forward and joined me as the keynote speaker at last year’s LST Association’s reunion.
Q. Now, give us a synopsis of the book.
Donna: This is not a story about warfare; it’s a story about young men, most of whom are still in their teens, learning to work together, to help one another grow and survive under extraordinary circumstances, and in the end to understand that our friendships and families are born throughout our lives and travels. And that we’re never alone.
Q. Who is your target audience?
Donna: Those with a military background will appreciate the story. It’s written for them. Anyone who had a relative serve on a ship during WW2 would appreciate it. But the war is just a setting…the story is a coming of age tale, and as such will appeal to teenagers and the elderly alike.
Q. Do I understand you have a dramatization deal in the works? Tell us about that.
Donna: I wouldn’t call it a deal. I have two directors/producers interested in developing the book for a stage production in time for the 80th anniversary of D-day next June.
Q. What’s next in your writing plans—after Heroes All: The Movie, that is?
Donna: I don’t know about a movie…although, I can see Tom Hanks taking an interest in it. The role of “Charlie” would be perfect for Tom Holland. In answer to your question, I’m writing a second book to honor my mother. This one spans the Depression, the dust bowl and Black Sunday, the Italian and German POWs who worked the potato fields of central Missouri during the war. My hope is that this one will be picked up by a traditional publisher as I hope to donate the proceeds to establish a scholarship for high school seniors graduating from Orrick High School: the school where my mother, her mother, and her mother attended and where her family settled in 1830.
Check Donna’s book out at Amazon.