Military Romance Novel Co-Authors to Give Away a Kindle Fire on July 1st

(This is a guest post by Bonnie Bartel Latino.)

YOUR GIFT TO ME, a new military romance novel by Bonnie Bartel Latino and Bob Vale, shares the subtle but central theme of the transformative powers of love and laughter to triumph over grief found in TOP GUN and STEEL MAGNOLIAS.

The male and female co-authors are a unique collaboration. Bonnie and Bob met online in 1996 in CompuServe's military forum. Although they have never met in person, their CompuServe correspondence evolved into a professional writing team that has lasted for over a decade.

The ability to seamlessly blend their individual points of view results in a single captivating voice with broad appeal. YOUR GIFT TO ME, their debut novel, is the culmination of that collaboration.

An award-winning writer and former freelance columnist for Stars and Stripes newspaper in Europe, Bonnie is a correspondent for the Mobile (AL) Press-Register Living Arts book page. She lives in Atmore, Alabama, with her husband, retired Air Force Colonel Tom Latino.

Bob Vale is an award-winning graphic designer, writer, and photographer. He founded and is president of Graphic Word, a full-service creative agency on the East Coast. He and his wife Janice live in New Jersey.

Bonnie and Bob are members of the Military Writers Society of America.

Brief synopsis: Nearly a decade after Emily Meade’s husband died in a fiery Special Operations helicopter crash in the 1991 Gulf War, she moves to Hawaii, clinging to her vow never to get involved with another man committed to a dangerous profession … until she meets charismatic F-16 pilot, Colonel Ted Foley.

However, he is assigned to a fighter wing that recently lost two pilots in unexplained air crashes.

Lowering her emotional barriers, Emily discovers a man who makes the ordinary feel sublime. Healing in shared confidences solidifies their relationship. As she becomes the vivacious woman she was before her husband’s death devastated her spirit, her fears resurface. Ted’s squadron suffers another F-16 crash.

Emily must find a path through her emotional minefields or risk never discovering that she's rejecting the only type of man to whom she is genuinely attracted, a man whose life could be in danger!

Kindle Fire Give Away: To promote the launch of their novel, the authors will give away a Kindle Fire to one lucky reader on July 1. Entering is as simple as sending a brief email about YOUR GIFT TO ME to 10 friends. Easy contest details may be found at www.yourgifttome.net/blog
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the fiction books MRS. LIEUTENANT and CIA FALL GUY as well as the co-author of the technothriller LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Click here to read about her books on her Amazon author page.

Phyllis is also the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC, which builds websites for clients and works with them to use online marketing. Read her posts at the company's online marketing blog.

Compelling Documentary “The Invisible War” Deals With Rape in the U.S. Military

The documentary “The Invisible War” shown at Sundance 2012 is a powerful film about the high incidence of rape in the U.S. military -- rape that often goes unchallenged and unpunished.

While there are numerous chilling statistics in this compelling documentary, for me perhaps the most disturbing statement is this:

Women who have been raped in the military have a PTSD rate higher than men who've been in combat.

According to the article “Military Rape Documentary ‘Invisible War’ Leads to Policy Changes Before Its Opening” by Steve Pond in thewrap.com:

In April, Secretary of Defense Panetta viewed the film -- and two days later, according to [documentary producer Amy] Ziering, he held a press conference to announce changes in the military's policy toward the prosecution of rapes.

But while the filmmakers welcome the change, both Ziering and [director Kirby] Dick say it isn't enough. “By moving the decision up but leaving it in the chain of command, a lot of the problems that you get at the unit commander level still exist,” Dick said.

As many of you know, in the last four years I have written extensively about PTSD suffered by our military personnel. Given that the attacks on these women (and men) were perpetuated in many cases by personnel in their own units, the sense of betrayal can make the PTSD even more overwhelming.

Read the entire thewrap.com story now -- and then consider how you might help right this terrible wrong.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of the novel MRS. LIEUTENANT and the co-author of the technothriller LT. COMMANDER MOLLIE SANDERS. Phyllis is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic LLC. Click here to visit Phyllis' Amazon author page.

Solomon's Justice, PTSD, Suicides, and CIA FALL GUY

Author Theodore Knell, who spent 22 years as a British Special Forces soldier, has written a compelling post about my proposed TV drama project “Solomon’s Justice.”

Theo’s post begins:

As a nation we routinely ask our military to do things that only the bravest few of us would dare to do, to see things that no one should have to see, and to watch their friends, colleagues and innocent men, women and children die in horrific circumstances. Then we ask them to live with the consequences for the rest of their lives.

Why are we then surprised when the lives of these very courageous souls begin to unravel?

The morning after this post appeared The Wall Street Journal carried this news blurb in the front-page “What’s News” section:

Suicides among U.S. troops are surging, averaging nearly one per day this year, the fastest pace since America began a decade of war.”

The small article insides include the information that there were 146 suicides in the first 148 days of this year. “That is 17% more than at the same point last year and 24% ahead of the 2010 pace.”

I met Theo via the Internet when his nonfiction book FROM THE CORNERS OF A WOUNDED MIND was published. It is an amazing story written in narrative and poetry of the effects of PTSD brought on by the experiences our soldiers must endure to protect us.

Visit (and “like”) his Facebook Page for his upcoming book A HELL FOR HEROES — www.facebook.com/AHellForHeroes

Then read his entire post in connection with my proposed “Solomon’s Justice” project.

And consider what you can do to help active duty military personnel and veterans survive and thrive despite being damaged mentally and physically by their service. Perhaps you know someone who would be interested in furthering the “Solomon’s Justice” project. If so, email me at pzmiller@millermosaicllc.com

P.S. Read the lovely publication announcement of my novel CIA FALL GUY on Mary Elliot Raynor's military retro blog.

© 2012 Miller Mosaic LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of fiction and nonfiction books. Her newest fiction book is CIA FALL GUY (on Kindle Select at http://amzn.to/L38eiP ) — the idea for which came from a May 1972 bombing of the U.S. Army’s Officers Club in Frankfurt, Germany. (Read the blog post about this bombing.)