Karl Thomson’s “A Russian in the American Army – WWII: The Fighting 4th Infantry.” This is the story of a young Russian boy brought to the United states in the early 1930’s. He came to love and embrace the U.S. as his home. As soon as he could, he joined the Mighty Fighting 4th U.S. infantry. In the Army he showed great promise. He landed on Utah Beach on D-day and continued fighting across France leading his men until the war’s end. Commanders put him into Army Intelligence. Sometimes bypassing the chain of command, he studied the battlefields and acted instinctively. He did not always wait for orders from above and made daring advances against German troops. He felt he understood the enemy. Throughout the war and beyond, Alex proved himself to be one of the smartest and most thorough fighters and intelligence figures among U.S. specialists.
Author Donald F. Kilburg, Jr.is taking his latest book Hitler’s Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty Eighth Air Force Joined the Battle of the Bulge on tour — a Virtual Book Tour, that is, with Outskirts Press! Technology has created a wide variety of ways to reach audiences all over the world. All it takes is a little thinking outside the box, and nowadays you can market a self-published book in a variety of affordable and impactful ways. Virtual book tours, for example, are a great way to connect with readers from all corners of the globe, all from the comfort of your own home. Join Donald F. Kilburg, Jr. and Hitler’s Last Christmas as they appear in features and interviews (such as the one below) in the weeks and months ahead!
Luckily for us, Donald was kind enough to answer a few questions as the tour was getting started so that we can give you a sneak peek into the mind of the creator of Hitler’s Last Christmas.
OP: Tell us a little bit about Hitler’s Last Christmas. What is it about?
Donald: It is a documentary based on archived records and the firsthand accounts of the airmen who participated in the largest aerial bombing mission in history, one that involved every flyable bomber and fighter in the 8th Air Force. The mission enabled ground troops to turn the tide against Hitler’s surprise last major offensive of the war, his surprise Ardennes Offensive…
OP: Why did you decide to write this story?
Donald: Actually, I was “volunteered” to write it. My late father was a member of the 487th Bomb Group and served as a Bombardier on a B-17. He, like many of the WWII veterans, didn’t talk much about the war after it was over. Eventually, he began to look for and contact some he served with. Then he discovered the 487th Bomb Group Association, a group of the vets and their families who met annually around the country to renew old friendships and share old stories. At one of these reunions, there was a discussion about a most frightening mission that many of the surviving members had participated in. A member said, “We know that the Christmas Eve Mission in 1944 was the largest mission of the war and likely the largest mission ever since. We remember it because we were there. We suffered serious losses. We lost dear friends. Many of us still have nightmares about it. But the full story has never been told. Someone needs to write it.” I was sitting next to my Dad. Within seconds he grabbed my wrist and was waving my hand in the air. “My son will do it. He’s done lots of writing. He’ll do it.” How do you say “no” at that point with a room full of octogenarians applauding? So that is how I “decided” to research and write the book. I learned that my Dad had been the Lead Bombardier on this mission after General Castle’s plane was blown out of the air. I learned for the first time that my Dad, his pilot, and navigator received the Distinguished Flying Cross for their actions that day. I am proud to document and preserve the memory of these great men.
OP: How did you get your book published?
Donald: I concluded early on that I would self-publish. My enthusiastic audience was extremely interested in seeing their story and they were quickly reaching the end of their lives. I researched a number of publishers, evaluated their services, checked their reviews, and contracted with Outskirts Press.
OP: What types of readers would be interested in this story?
Donald: This is clearly a “niche” book. It details the events of the day and is full of firsthand stories from many who were there. These are definitely of interest to World War II historians, veterans, and veterans’ family members and friends. There were more than 20,000 airmen directly involved in the subject mission and many of their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are just now learning about their progenitor’s heroic participation. It is also of interest to people with personal interest in things military, pertinent to the Air Force in general and the 8th Air Force in particular.
OP: What is special about your book?
Donald: It reveals a story that has not previously been told – an accounting of the collaboration of mammoth air power and determined ground troop advancement that brought Hitler’s ambitious dreams to a disappointing retreat, a beginning of the end of Hitler’s destructive war.
OP: What differentiates it from other books in the same category?
Donald: The underlying story of the Christmas Eve 1944 mission was obscured by the tragic loss of the mission commander, General Frederick Castle in a surprise attack over “friendly” territory. Castle was the only American General killed in enemy combat in the European Theater. He had been one of the original seven “Eaker’s Amateurs” who established the 8th Army Air Force in England in 1942. General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commander of the Army Air Forces was his Godfather. The story of Castle’s tragic loss became the story of the day. After the war ended, the 8th Air Force mission records for the mission were misfiled in the National Archives Air Force history stacks. They remained “lost” until I began researching this book and found them in a box labelled for the previous mission. They had been in the wrong box since the early 1950s.
OP: Have you published any other books?
Donald: I am a retired manufacturing executive and writing has been a sideline hobby. I have written one previous book of an entirely different genre. Titled Neither Virgin nor Martyr, it is a history of saints who do not fit into the traditional model of the Catholic Church. My other military history writings have primarily been articles in military related publications, many for the 8th Air Force Historical Society.
OP: Do you plan to publish more?
Donald: Presently none are in the works.
OP: Thanks for your time, Donald! We look forward to learning more about you as you visit other bloggers!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Donald F. Kilburg, Jr. is a retired business executive whose interest in history has led him to research and write numerous published articles about events of World War II. He is a member of the 487th Bomb Group Association and serves on its Board. A charter member of the World War II Museum, he is also a member of the National Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force, the Eighth Air Force Historical Society, and the National Museum of the Air Force.
Press play to watch the book video for Hitler’s Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge
This author purchased the Virtual Book Tour marketing option, which allows self-publishing authors to connect with bloggers and harness the power of the blogosphere by taking their book on the “virtual road.” Learn more about this service by visiting your Publishing Center and reviewing the available marketing options.
Are you an author looking for help to market your self-published book?
Technology has created a wide variety of ways to reach audiences all over the world. It takes is a little thinking outside the box and you can market a self-published book in creative, affordable and impactful ways. Consider book tours! Tours are a great way to connect with your readers and technology has made them easier and more cost effective than ever!
Author Anton Venter is taking his latest book War of Dreams, on tour — a Virtual Book Tour with Outskirts Press. This will allow Anton to take his book into the far corners of the globe, all from the comfort of his own home! Keep an eye out for Anton’s book as he will be featured on several blogs over the weeks and months ahead!
Luckily for us, Anton was kind enough to answer a few questions as the tour was getting started so that we can give you a sneak peek into the mind of the creator of War of Dreams.
OP: Tell us a little bit about War of Dreams. What is it about?
Anton: The book tells the story of a German teenager who rapidly comes of age during the Second World War. Alexander’s involuntary participation in the War is interwoven with settings, plots and real characters (including Nazi officials) that are described in many historical WW2 books.
OP: Why did you decide to write this story?
Anton: More has been written about the Nazi regime than about ordinary Germans and how the Second World War affected their lives. Many of their stories will never be told. Although fiction, Alexander’s story is told as he rapidly grows into adulthood and becomes an involuntary cog in the wheels of the Nazi machine.
OP: How did you get your book published?
Anton: I self-published with Outskirts Press.
OP: What types of readers would be interested in this story?
Anton: Readers who are interested in the Second World War, especially the Nazi regime. Readers who are interested in how events such as a world war influence the development of a teenager into a young man and how he has to deal with the traumatic effects of a war on himself and his family. Readers who find dreams interesting and look at ways of interpreting them.
OP: What is special about your book?
Anton: The main character, albeit mostly in the background, features in World War Two plots and settings that were real and based on thorough research. The character’s development and early adult life follow a timeline that is accurately aligned with that of the Second World War.
OP: What differentiates it from other books in the same category?
Anton: I had much inspiration from dreams. I recorded my dreams over a period of fifteen years. Many of them were about a character in the context of a world war and I enjoyed weaving these dreams into factual WW2 settings and scenarios.
OP: Have you published any other books?
Anton: No, I currently do not.
OP: Do you plan to publish more?
Anton: I plan to publish a follow-up in which the same character will feature. The setting will be the Cold War that followed the Second World War. Again, it will be inspired by dreams that I have continued recording since publishing War of Dreams.
OP: Thanks for your time, Anton! We look forward to learning more about you as you visit other bloggers!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Anton Venter is a retired Information Technology professional doing freelance IT work in Cape Town, South Africa. He started writing as a hobby shortly before retiring and this is his first published novel.
This author purchased the Media Marketing Blitz marketing option, which allows self-publishing authors to connect with bloggers and harness the power of the blogosphere by taking their book on the “virtual road.” Learn more about this service by visiting your Publishing Center and reviewing the available marketing options.
Are you an author looking for help to market your self-published book?
Throughout the holiday season, we feature our authors who have taken advantage of the 2019 Holiday Marketing Bundle and the benefits of the New York Times Holiday Book Review co-op ad! Co-op ads provide authors effective exposure through a well-known, established publication with millions of dedicated book lovers!
The New York Times Holiday Edition features Outskirts Press Self-Published author Frans Koning.
About the Author
Frans Koning grew up on a tulip and dairy farm in Holland. He was born and raised during the 1929 worldwide economic depression.
After WWII, he attended the School of Medicine at Leiden University. In 1962 he joined the Peace Corps and practiced medicine for two years in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Subsequently, he returned to the United States and practiced emergency medicine and family medicine in Washington State, where he still lives.
A Slice of History: Musing on Religion, WW II and Its Aftermath
A View of the World from Three Continents
From a farm in The Netherlands to poverty-stricken Sierra Leone…from the brief peace after the Great War to the horrors of World War II…from Europe to America…this extraordinary book of anecdotal essays ranges through the life of a man who has lived broadly and deeply. Author Frans Koning shares his observations and impressions on topics ranging from what it was like to be a teenager in a Nazi-occupied country, to his experiences in Africa with the Peace Corps, and his move to the United States. He has experienced the effects of brutality and fear and lived to tell about man’s inhumanity to man. With a perspective gained from three continents, he can see how human experience is both diverse and similar…and how patterns in human behavior emerge, from the Waffen SS to ISIS. Immediately engaging, loosely structured, and retaining a piquant flavor of his native land in a Dutchman’s English, A Slice of History is a uniquely personal yet immediately accessible memoir of life during the most turbulent decades of our time.
John E. Nevola’s “The Last Jump: A Novel of World War II” is a story of discovery as a modern day journalist explores the military experience of his estranged father in World War II. Aware of the existence of a long lost family secret, our protagonist enlists the aid of four aging World War II veterans who knew his father but has sworn an oath never to reveal the secret.
Tom Gauthier weaves another historically based tale of intrigue and action in his third novel, Mead’s Trek, published by Outskirts Press. In a tale taken from actual WW II events in a little known corner of Southeast Asia, hero Major Amos Mead, USMC, OSS agent, discovers that the U.S. Vice President, under the influence of his personal guru, is working with the Communists to undermine President Roosevelt.
The China/Burma/India theatre of operation in World War II was a confusing array of competing national interests and undefined battle fronts. The French were allied with the Japanese, the Americans worked with the Chinese, and all the while the old colonial imperialists maneuvered for power. Into this confusing mix arrives Major Amos Mead, fresh from his rescue mission of Orion’s Eye and newly infatuated with a woman destined to play an unusual role in his life.
Suddenly given an unexpected assignment with the OSS, Amos is thrust violently back into the war when his transport is shot from the sky, forcing a death filled trek behind enemy lines through Burma to China. During the trek, Mead is aided by groups of native freedom fighters who open his eyes to the intricacies of survival in a chaotic jungle – both a physical jungle and a jungle of intrigue. Focused on accomplishing his mission with new awareness, assumed friends become enemies and assumed enemies become friends as Mead finds himself amidst the deadly cabals of corrupt government officials, who may even include the Vice President of the United States.
“Gauthier weaves a compelling story of intrigue, action and romance,” writes Lis Wiehl, FOX News Legal Analyst and author of Face of Betrayal.
“Edge of your seat action…impressively accurate descriptions of the war,” says Judge Don Sokol, WW II B-17 pilot and decorated veteran of twenty-four missions over Germany, including the last raid on Berlin.
History is made to seem stranger than fiction in Mead’s Trek as readers are introduced to a chapter of history well known to those who were there, but little known to the rest of the world. After Roosevelt’s death, President Truman ignores the boots-on-the-ground reports of Mead and his real-life contemporaries and conspires with China, France and Britain to return Southeast Asia to their colonial yoke of virtual slavery, thus setting up the tragic war in Viet Nam twenty-five years later. Gauthier takes the actual events of the day and shows how a tragic war in Viet Nam could have been avoided if wiser heads had prevailed at the time.
About the author:
Tom Gauthier grew up in Santa Barbara, California, and after high school joined the U. S. Army and served as a combat intelligence analyst, later serving in the Air Force Reserve on a flight crew. These experiences and his time as a private pilot are evident in the action sequences in Mead’s Trek. He holds BS, MS, MBA and PsyD degrees, is retired from a corporate career, and serves on his local Airport Commission, the local Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, and as President of his school district’s Board of Trustees.
Tom is also the author of Code Name: Orion’s Eye and of A Voyage Beyond Reason, winner of a 2009 Writer’s Digest Award for Literary Fiction. He is currently working on the third book in the Major Amos Mead series, Die Liste, taking Mead into the post-war years, and the little known world of the Nazi war-criminals brought to the US in secret by the CIA.
This author purchased the Book Blast package, saving 25% on 5 powerful marketing services to blast the book into the stratosphere! The Book Blast package includes the following options: Custom Press Release, PR Publicist Campaign, Book Review Submission Service, Book Video (shown above) and Personal Marketing Assistant. Outskirts Press authors can easily and conveniently add this package at any time from the Marketing Options screen of the author’s center.
Is it time to get published and receive marketing support and services like this?
A Russian in the American Army – WWII: The Fighting 4th Infantry
Please note that product prices and availability are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time of this posting; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.com.© Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Amazon, Amazon.com, the Amazon.com logo, and 1-Click are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210.
Please note that product prices and availability are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time of this posting; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.com.© Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Amazon, Amazon.com, the Amazon.com logo, and 1-Click are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210.
