Rick DeStefanis

Tag: Historical fiction

Rick DeStefanis novels The Gomorrah Principle, Melody Hill Raeford’s MVP are accurate historical fiction as well as military-espionage thrillers.

  • Scooter Red and the Spirits of The Dead

    If there’s a way to say something positive, I am going to do it. Life is good. How’s that? I mean this old age gig is a little rough—okay, the pain has no gain—but it beats not feeling anything. Let’s get back on the positive side. I just finished the first draft of my next book in The Ghost Series, Scooter Red and the Spirits of The Dead. It’s currently with the first editor.

    Scooter Red: The next book coming in The Long War Home Series.

    It’s about a Cajun army sergeant’s unwilling involvement in the Vietnam War. Yeah, it does take some explaining, but that’s why I’m writing the book. That’s a good thing too. With some luck, I hope to have it published before Christmas. I’ll send you a story summary just before it’s published.

    They (they being the weather forecast people) promise this dry-roaster heat wave we’ve been stuck in for the last month or two is supposed to end this week. Yes!! We’re going to have a veritable cold spell with temps in the low nineties and high eighties. I’m so giddy, I’m gonna break out the insulated overalls and down jacket. That’s something positive.

    I planted the turnip greens, too, which means I’ve got to go to Piggly Wiggly and buy some smoked ham hocks in the next month or two. And I realize those of you who know me are saying my primary vice is fried chicken, but turnip greens cooked with ham hocks and served with skillet-baked cornbread definitely finish in the top ten. That’s a good thing.

    Some of you may have noticed my various book advertisements. If you haven’t seen the video ad where Claire Cunningham meets Sam Walker for the first time at the Appalachian State University campus craft fair, check this out. The Birdhouse Man video trailer beginning tomorrow (September 24th) on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/NNdHmiHyhWE  I think it’s pretty good. Let me know what you think.

    So, I don’t want to drive you too nuts with my positivity, but I’ve always preferred a good Bourbon instead of a whine, which means I must go now. Thank you for reading my blog post, and may the college football team of your choice experience happiness and some degree of success, which means they should avoid playing SEC teams when possible.

    Happy Autumn.

    Rick DeStefanis

  • September 2025

    Picture of Rick the Author in a blue colored shirt against a sky background

    For years I’ve done a very minimal amount of marketing and advertising for my books. That has changed, and you may have already noticed that I’ve begun advertising on Facebook. These ads will continue, and yes, you may even see your own words in them. I have used quotes taken from your reviews, and I want to express my sincerest appreciation and thanks to all who have written and posted your book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Your words have given me the motivation to continue telling my stories. And with that said, I commit to you that I will never use AI to tell them. My work is MY work.

    My stories come from my own creativity, historical events, and the recollections of veteran friends. My goal is to show readers what the average soldier faced in Vietnam through a soldier’s eyes. Yes, I have blended those realities with somewhat fanciful stories to keep you reading, but they are no less real. I say this because I occasionally receive the response, “I only read non-fiction.” I completely understand and often reply that I too read mostly non-fiction, but with that said I also explain that non-fiction is only marginally better than an AAR (After Action Report) and seldom displays it through the eyes of the front-line soldier, nor does it delve into the psychological experiences of combat nor its aftermath. My work does that.

    Meanwhile, back at the ranch: my wife and I made a road trip up into west Tennessee last week. We drove through a number of small towns, including Alamo, Owl City, and Frog Jump (unincorporated the sign said), and the latter home to a 12-foot skeleton sitting on a toilet in someone’s front yard—really! There was more, but I haven’t been able to get past the scene in Frog Jump.

    “So,” you say. “What’s next?”

    My writing endeavors have run upon rocky shoals. I spent the last 12 months writing a novel that I will not in any manner take credit for and hopefully, you will not see. As you may know, I donate 10% of my book royalites to veteran charities. Co-authoring this book led me into a situation that was morally counter to that goal. I’ll leave it at that, but do not despair. Rawlins Saga Book #5 is in the works. It will focus on the years of 1886 and 1887 in the Montana Territory and the next Rawlins generation. Maybe by February 2026, it’ll be ready. We’ll see. More on that in the next blog post.

    Until then, here’s a link to my author page on Amazon where you can purchase a book: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rick-DeStefanis/author/B00H2YO2SS .

    Send me your emails, comments, and reviews. I need your encouragement.

  • Fried…A word of Reverence

    A Work of Art

    This latest newsletter from www.rickdestefanis.com comes to you with a subject that is of almost religious significance in the South. And before I go further, fair warning and a disclaimer: You may want to avert your eyes if you aren’t from the South, and shield your device’s screen from children and easily offended individiuals such as snowflakes. Yes, you’re about to read words of near obscene description. This article may include such offensive language as bacon, dipped in egg, or rolled in corn meal.

    Yes, we here in the South tend to put a number of things in that quasi–near religious catagory, including college football, NASCAR, deer hunting, and well maybe a few others, but one of them for sure is fried food. If you’re a vegan, or from California or one of those other third-world states, you may wish to go now, but we have many converts, perhaps even your next door neighbors, who have seen the light and realized it’s the one on the electonic thermometer telling them the grease has reached that perfect 350 degree temperature.

    Fried is a word spoken with reverence in hallowed kitchens from Wilmington to Waco and everywhere in between. Fried is a word that emotes culinary dreams of near orgasmic delight. We can begin with the simple and the obvious: fried chicken, French fries, fried eggs, but like Forrest Gump’s army buddy, Bubba, when he described the ways to fix shrimp, a near endless litany of other fried foods can be named: fried okra, fried green tomatoes, fried catfish, fried oysters, fried venison chops, fried pork chops, fried bacon, fried sausage, country fried steak, fried corn, fried egg-plant, fried….I think you get the idea. 

    The problem with frying is that it is as much art as it is science. Which is to say, don’t go buy your fried chicken just anywhere and expect it to be good. If it’s from any of the major fast food chains it’ll be greasy and tasteless. The best way to get top-notch fried food is to find you a good fry-cook and marry her. Anyway, I’ll leave you with a quote from one of the best fry-cooks I’ve ever known, my old pappy-in-law: “A good fry-cook can make a huntin’ boot taste good, but fast food restaurants have ruined the art.”  

    The latest from the writing world is that Valley of the Purple Hearts broke a thousand reviews on Amazon, and I finished the first draft of Ghost II–Specter of Betrayal. I am working steadily in hopes of getting it out by late Spring. There are a couple of knee replacements coming that may slow me up a bit, but soon as my pit crew at Campbell’s Clinic in Memphis get my new tires installed, I’ll be back in the race. I hope all my readers had a good Christmas, and I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. 

    Valley of the Purple Hearts (The Vietnam War Series)

    Part of: The Vietnam War Series (6 books)  | by Rick DeStefanis  | Jul 4, 2017
    4.6 out of 5 stars 1,001
    Award-Winning Novel Valley of The Purple Hearts