The Fairfax Library Foundation supports twenty-three branches of the Fairfax County Public Library which in turn serve the 1.1 million citizens of its Northern Virginia jurisdiction.

Both the Foundation and the Library are wonderful organizations. I was honored that Rails of War could play a small part in the Foundation’s Jubilee annual fundraiser. I am also proud that my lovely and talented wife, Kathleen, serves as the Foundation’s treasurer pro bono. So, yes, who you know matters.

The Jubilee was a typical evening of schmoozing, perusing, and trying to look dignified while you casually wolf passed-hors-d’oeuvre or trundle through the food line. My wife mingles savvier and moves more elegantly than do I so I always follow her lead. If you were writing a short story about me at these events, the plot would be “fish out of water.” The Jubilee featured a silent auction, an area where you could take photos with cardboard celebrities and, thankfully, brief speeches by county politicos and acknowledgments from the podium for volunteers, and staff, and work well-done. By the way, they didn’t have a cardboard cutout of Edward Norton’s Death to Smoochy character, Sheldon Mopes, so I wasn’t interested in a picture. Kathy went with Benedict Cumberbatch.

But, before I go on, I’d like to explore the anthropological possibility that the human form has yet to evolve to take advantage of the resources offered at a Jubilee. Here’s the problem. You get a drink and begin moseying into the crowd. Then, the first passed-hors-d’oeuvres come within reach. That’s when you realize that three arms may be an evolutionary advantage. The hors d’oeuvre you’ve set your sights on is usually separate from the prerequisite paper napkin, and your drink is in your dominant hand. So, how do you arrange the morsel and napkin then make off with your bounty? The answer is, for me, awkwardly. Or, ham-fistedly. Or, at last night’s Jubilee, prosciutto-fistedly. Then, with your reward collected, what if someone wants to shake hands? Or, what if you need to clap? Luckily, this may only be a niche defect, not as looming as say dodging cheetahs on the savanna.

Back to my point, the Fairfax Library Foundation invited me to be a part of their local author presentation, and I was honored. Rails of War was offered for purchase at the Jubilee by Scrawl Books an independent bookseller who supports local literacy efforts and freedom of speech. Ms. Rachel Wood, a former librarian, is the owner. So, thank you Ms. Wood, Scrawl Books, and the Foundation for all of your work supporting the Library and our vital literary community.

I’m proud to share this interview with my former employer the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, a modern and sophisticated labor organization. The ‘Machinists Union’ was founded in 1888 by nineteen determined railroaders in a grimy locomotive drop pit in Atlanta, Georgia. Today, with 600,000 members in diverse industries and government agencies, the IAMAW remains on the cutting edge of communications fighting the good fight for working people in the U.S. and Canada. In Solidarity,

-SJH

How much Googling of oneself or one’s book is permissible before it becomes a problem? Or, is there a gray area before a problem overtakes you? And, when is that? How much is too much? Once a week? Daily? Hourly?

I hadn’t Googled for a month or two and what I found surprised me. Now that I’ve been reinforced, clicker trained if you will, my Googling is frequent and fervent. I’ll leave it at that. Here is the Pavlovian conditioning that started me down this slippery slope.

A week or so ago, I Googled my name and about seven pages into the search found a result that surprised and pleased me. A publication and a reviewer unknown to me had dug into Rails of War and published a complimentary assessment. In “The Professional Journal of the U.S. Army,” Military Review, Lt. Col. Joe M. Schotzko, an instructor, Department of Army Tactics, at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas, undertook a literary dissection and concluded his valuation with:

I recommend this book for all military professionals and railroading enthusiasts who want an understanding of how American railroading professionals affected the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II. Rails of War is a relatively quick read, giving good perspective toward the end of the war in the China-Burma-India Theater while providing good entertainment throughout.

Since there are about two million active and reserve military professionals in America, and an unknown but substantial number of railroading enthusiasts, I’d say if Lt. Col. Schotzko’s endorsement results in a 10 percent rate of compliance, Rails of War should be well on its way to bestseller status. I wait with bated breath…while I Google yet again.

-SJH

Presentation at Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club

Did you know that beer can pop-top openers weren’t invented until the 1960s? I didn’t nor did my copy editor whose otherwise excellent review of my manuscript was greatly appreciated. But, leave it to a polite and kindly soul to discreetly bring the church-key verse pop-top reference in a Rails of War vignette to my attention after my presentation at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. He was right, and a church-key around the neck applied to a can of beer would have made a much more colorful depiction of World War II GI behavior than simply popping a pop-top. Live and learn.

I had two author presentations in August, one at the Rockland Library and one at the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club, both in Maine. Both events were well attended, and that’s good because I love to meet people. Everyone has a story, and I love to hear them. What’s amazing to me is the familial proximity people have to railroading.

I know my audience is a non-representative sample of the general public but a good many attendees have someone–a father, a brother, a grandfather–who were railroaders. In 1947 there were 1.5 million railroaders in America, and by 2014 there were 235,000. Also, a single railroader in 1947 earned $5,700 for their employer, and a 2014 railroader brought in $330,000. Total industry revenue for 1947 reached $8.7 billion and $77.7 billion in 2014. The bottom line is that today’s railroaders are as scarce as hens’ teeth in our population of 320 million. But, they show up at Rails of War presentations, and I greatly appreciate meeting them.

So, here’s to crowdsource corrections, railroaders, and the connections that bring us all together.

-SJH

It’s fair to say Richard Rubin interviewed World War I veterans who were over 100 years old for his book. Mary Lawrence writes mystery novels set in the 1500s peppered with her knowledge of Cytotechnology gained at our shared alma mater, Indiana University. Kevin Hancock’s quest led to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he found his Center in the Land of Crazy Horse.

The Books in Boothbay Fair cobbled together a lively mélange of authors. To Charlene D’Avanzo the marine ecologist dressed in adventure gear holding a paddle who writes about solving murders with her sea kayak, I hope we can chat someday.

Why didn’t I meet Ms. D’Avanzo or the thirty other authors at the fair? Because I was busy selling books. And, people were buying. I saw one middle-aged woman head to the cash register with a stack cradled in her arms so large that she had to balance it with her chin. But, Jeff Curtis and the crew from Sherman’s Books kept the line flowing and customers happy.

Books in Boothbay Fair would not have happened without two high-quality local enterprises. So, thanks to the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library and especially Desiree Scorcia for my invitation and allowing me to meet a slew of interesting folks. And, thanks to Margaret Hoffman of the Boothbay Railway Village for keeping the trains running on time (and authors in line) and coming up with some excellent BBQ. Love it, let’s do it again next year. 

– SJH

I used a 1944 Parker 51 fountain pen to sign my mother-in-law’s copy of Rails of War. She gave the pen to me two Christmases ago because I told her how my mother and father coveted these pens during the war years. From the Parker flowed a dark and lustrous script onto the page opposite the book’s title. The ink sunk deep into the porous paper of the book in a rich vein of love and appreciation. Mary, my wife’s mother, was the first person to wade into the original 350,000-word author’s draft.

My parents often discussed the best tools for writing during the war. The writing implement of choice was agreed to be the Parker 51. And, although rationed during the war, the ink of choice was also Parker 51. But often they had to settle for second best, Parker Quink, a product that used isopropyl alcohol for solvent instead of water. The ink dried quicker with Quink, but it didn’t flow as smoothly.

Writing in other people’s books is in an author’s job description. The event where this is required is called a signing. I did two this past weekend, one at Barnes and Noble and one at my book launch in Old Town Alexandria at Lloyd House. I’m terrible at it. I’m unoriginal in prose. But, thankfully, the owner of the book probably can’t read my substandard notations because my handwriting is indecipherable. I attribute this to technologically-induced-fine-motor-neuro-muscular-atrophy (TIFMNMA). There, I’ve named it so now I’m a victim–not just lazy.

I know I had passable handwriting back in the early 1970s because Roadway Express hired me to move freight six days a week on their bulk-break truck dock in Indianapolis. I’m pretty sure that the only requirements for employment in that job were heavy lifting and legible penmanship. All DOT load manifests were handwritten back then. Now, it’s robots reading barcodes.

Anyway, to the subject at hand, signing books. It’s a new experience for me, and I’m pretty sure I can master it given enough time. After all, I’m in recovery from TIFMNMA. Finally, and I probably should have led with this, author events are fun. I had a good time this weekend. I love telling the story, and people seem to enjoy hearing it.

Click here to view upcoming author events or to schedule a Rails of War book signing.

-SJH

It’s hard to overstate how excited and thankful I am that University of Nebraska Press chose to include Rails of War in its presentation at BookExpo 2017 in New York City. For readers not familiar with BookExpo, it’s the largest annual book trade fair in the United States. I cannot say enough about the support Rails of War is receiving from UNP and its marketing staff, especially Rosemary Vestal, Publicity Manager (shown in photo) and Tayler Lord, publicist.

Rails of War at BookExpo is personally rewarding; I won’t deny it. And, in that egotistical vein, let me share a conversation I had last night with Ed Rondeau from Rhode Island. I saw Ed at a reception and later at a party and his kind words, were well received. Ed used that code phrase that every author seeks, “I started reading, and I couldn’t put it down.”

Ed is an artist, a sculptor with public works in the Northeast. He’s a sensitive guy and, as are most artists, a constructive critic by nature. So, his effusive endorsement of my “very personal narrative” carried some weight. Ed’s father served in World War II in the island-hopping Pacific offensive where he was a U.S. Army infantryman and medic. Ed said that Rails of War stimulated his interest in researching his father’s unit and better understating his father’s experience. I had heard this before, that Rails of War spurred a reader to grasp a family narrative better. It’s an incredible feeling to think that the story of the 721^st can still motivate people seventy-two years on. – SJH

I am pleased and proud to announce a Book Launch for Rails of War: Supplying the Americans and Their Allies in China-Burma-India. The event is open to the public and will be held June 25, from 2-4 p.m. at the Lloyd House, in Alexandria, Virginia. Click here for more information.

Rails of War is the story of my father’s World War II railroad battalion operating in India to support the Allied war effort in the China-Burma-India theater. The book is receiving positive reviews but, most importantly, I’m happy that the story will be told and remembered.

I hope you can make it and I look forward to seeing you there.  – SJH

So, you write and book and get it published. That’s the fun part. Then, you market the product in a fast-changing environment where your familiarity with technology is as important as your understanding of mass social dynamics. As for the technology and dynamics, I’m a babe in the woods.

I’m not a Luddite, and sometimes I’m even an early adaptor of new devices and software. Forgive me; I meant apps. But, my sense is that the definition of an early adaptor has shrunken to a matter of days, perhaps hours, not weeks. The whole world seems to catch on very quickly these days. So, to market, you have to get in front of the world feet spinning like a Roadrunner cartoon.

I have used the following undercooked tagline in a few emails with friends, so I shouldn’t be held to its voracity in public, “My early take is that writing is fun, marketing is not.” But, that’s neither profound nor true. The truth is that I’m working with incredibly talented folks at University of Nebraska Press, Hattaway Creative, and NC Strategic Solutions and I love it. . – SJH

When I began writing Rails of War more than twenty years ago, I had in mind that I would chronicle the story for the men who served, their families, and mine. Commercial publishing was not on my radar. But, as I dug deeper into the details of the 721^st Railway Operating Battalion, I realized that the story is epic. Epic, in the sense that it has a hero compelled to an involuntary journey full of challenges, tests, and danger, who then returns to fulfillment and the sanctity of home.

Of course, there were many heroes in Rails of War besides my father, James Hantzis, but narratively speaking, the story holds water.

But, here’s the thing. To the men who served, most saw their grand adventure as a simpler plot. Almost to a man, they summed up their service this way, “We had a job to do, and we did it.” This, of course, is the understatement of true heroes. . – SJH