Rick DeStefanis

Rick’s Blog

  • Eagles, Bluebirds and Opposums

    Eagles, Bluebirds and Opossums….and thanks to my friends

    I went out with the camera the other day and got these shots. The American Eagle population at Beaver Dam Lake seems to be expanding. They were sort of going everywhichaway (which is southern-speak for “flying all about”), and it was difficult to do an accurate census, but it looked like there may be as many as three nesting pairs of American Bald Eagles this year. My friend Ted Spence and I did a quick stop on the way to the fishing hole and took a few pictures.

    Fly By Beaver Dam Lake
    Eagle at Beaver Dam Lake

    The Blue Birds are nesting in my wife’s new bird house. That shot was taken in the front yard. The lab is my dog Blondie. He caught up with the opossum out by the barn the other day. I rescued the opossum and let him go in the woods.

    Female Bluebird feeding her brood.

    I want to thank my many readers and friends for their support with my writing addiction. I will be coming out with my fifth novel in a couple months. Valley of The Purple Hearts is the fourth in my Vietnam War Series. Several key players have contributed their time and efforts, and provided me with considerable feedback during the process. Eagles in their own right, Chris Davis, Ellen Morris Prewitt and Margaret Yates have all provided me with ideas, suggestions and corrections through their Beta-Reads. Thanks to you all.
    Special thanks also goes to Carol Carlson, a friend since early childhood, who did an extensive story edit on the manuscript and confirmed much of what I heard from Chris, Ellen and Margaret. She put in more than a few hours and produced a detailed feedback document. If you are an experienced writer, I strongly recommend her services.
    I will likely submit the manuscript to the line-editor Elisabeth Hallett in the next week or two. Meanwhile, if anyone reading this blog post is interested in receiving the electronic manuscript file of the novel in exchange for a written review that you will have ready to post on Amazon and Goodreads the day of publication, let me know. Read more about it at Valley of the Purple Hearts  I will send you the PDF file now, and when the book is published, a signed paperback copy.

    Blondie meets his first opossum.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    You may also enjoy: Blondie Prefers Evan Williams and How about a Western?

     

     

     

     

  • Bon Secour and Points South

    A Gulf Coast Road Trip

    The Old Lad….oops! Excuse me. I mean my sweet young bride, had a birthday this month, and we took a road trip to the coast. Say what you want, but Alabama has a Gulf Coast, albeit an abbreviated version, just as spectacular as Florida’s. Snow-white sand beaches, sparkling green surf and a warm gulf wind make it a beach goer’s paradise.

    Of course, no visit to the Gulf is complete without a visit to Alvin’s Island to look at the sea shells, rubber snakes and lacquered alligator heads. Also, with a recommendation from our neighbors Jeff Aker and Tish Pierce, we visited The Steamer Restaurant at SanRoc Cay Marina, on Perdido Beach Blvd, www.gulfshoressteamer.com. Deep water red shrimp, oysters from the back bay, blue crab…..!!!! Relaxed atmosphere and excellent food. Enough said, right?

    Anyway, the sun shined and the waves sparkled, and I felt like an aging manatee among the svelte spring breakers, but what the…? The scenery was exceptional. One nice thing about the Alabama beaches is that no alcohol is allowed, so it was a very civil crowd. As long as you pack your Margaritas in nondescript containers and don’t dance naked in the sand, life is good. Sorry, if you were expecting photos of chicks in swimsuits or lifeguards with six-pack abs, you are out of luck. You’ll have to settle for the boats.

    Bon Secour Bay Boats

    We do tend to get off the beaten path when possible. This included side-trips to Fairhope, Bon Secour Bay, Bayou La Batre, and a few other places where the beach-goers seldom wander.

    I also discovered that people in the area tend not to think of the Russian, Ivan The Terrible, when you mention “Ivan,” but the Cat-3 Hurricane by that name that struck them dead-center in 2004. Bringing with it 15-20 foot storm surges. The area made a remarkable recovery, but evidence of the devastation remains.

    Pelicans on a pier at the Dauphin Island Ferry

    Leaving the Fort Morgan Peninsula, we caught the Dauphin Island Ferry and headed west to Bayou La Batre, Alabama. Janet and I have also come to the conclusion that there are almost as many Dollar General Stores in Alabama as there are churches.

    The latest update on the next novel, Valley of The Purple Hearts, is I’m still working with the feedback from my Beta-readers, Carol Carlson, Chris Davis, Ellen Morris Prewitt and Margaret Yates. The final manuscript should be ready to go to the editor in a week or two, and with some luck, published by mid-summer.

     

    You may also enjoy: Cajun Country Roadtrip

  • Coming Soon: Valley of The Purple Hearts

    Valley of The Purple Hearts

    Below is the cover for, Valley of The Purple Hearts, the next novel in my “Vietnam War Series,” along with a very brief story summary. The cover is designed by Todd Hebertson at http://bookcoverart.webs.com/. You will notice this one will be a departure from the first three books in the series in as much as it is a more “conventional” story about one young soldier’s experience, without the intrigue of espionage. It does, however, have that inevitable love story—something I somehow seem unable to avoid having for all my protagonists. Think of it as a Vietnam War version of Farewell to Arms and Alice in Wonderland all rolled into one—no disrespect intended for Hemingway or Lewis Carroll. I think they will forgive me. I just hope my readers can.

    So here is the story summary:

    When eighteen-year-old Buck Marino first meets Rolley Zwyrkowski, he little realizes the young sergeant and their next year together in Vietnam will change his life forever. The months following the 1968 Tet Offensive and the battles of the 101st Airborne between Hue and Phu Bai, and westward into the A Shau Valley, provide the backdrop for a story about boys becoming men in a paradoxical war. And when he meets Army nurse Janie Jorgensen, Buck believes he has found the love of his life only to crash into the reality that the war has left his heart and soul lost in a futureless void.

    Historical military fiction, Valley of The Purple Hearts follows the men of Second Squad through the shadowy jungles and mountains of I-Corps as they fight main force Viet Cong and NVA regulars. With constant enemy contact, booby-traps, sniper fire and all-out firefights, Buck and his buddies follow their squad leader, Rolley, who puts the lives of his men first. As Rolley faces the young and inept Lieutenant Mallon, Buck realizes his squad leader is becoming jaded and has lost his sense of humor. When the young sergeant sacrifices his safety for that of his men, Buck must step up to face Mallon in the heat of battle, and try to save his friend.

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    With a little luck, I hope to have it out by late summer. Meanwhile, if you have read any of my other books, liked it, and not left a written review on Amazon, please do. Reviews are an immediate measure of a book’s worthiness that readers depend on. Fewer reviews often equate to fewer readers taking a chance on a book. Therefore your help will be very much appreciated.

    Rick

    You may also enjoy: Rawlings: No Longer Young and Raeford’s MVP