“Cherries” Named Best Audiobook of 2012

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On January 21, 2013, PageOneLit.com named “Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel” by John Podlaski – BEST AUDIOBOOK OF 2012

     This is a proud moment for John Podlaski – recipient of the “Books and Authors Award for Literary Excellence“.  John commented on the audiobook, “This was way more difficult than writing the book.  I bought the equipment and tried to record the story myself, but fell flat and learned early on that I was not an actor.  Thereafter, I solicited experts and chose Michael Sutherland to tell my story.  He brought the story to life – developing distinct voices for 23 different characters…it was like listening to a great movie.  Barbara Battestilli, Copy Editor of the novel, monitored tone, pace and voice deflections for consistency throughout and also compared Michael’s readings with the actual book text – ensuring unabridged authenticity.  The success of this audiobook would not have come without them.”

     When notified by contest officials of his good fortune in winning the audiobook category, the e-mail included the following quote from one of the contest judges, “One HELL of a book!!!“

     “Cherries” is a story about a young, naive, teenage soldier who is sent to Vietnam, with others his age, to fight in an unpopular war.  Dubbed “Cherries” by their more seasoned peers, these newbies suddenly found themselves thrust in the middle of a nightmarish scenario for which not even their worst dreams could prepare them; as such, they were hardly ready to absorb the harsh mental, emotional, and physical toll that the conflict would eventually take on them. Literally forced to become men overnight, the Cherries had to learn quickly to make life-or-death decisions, the consequences of which not only impacted their own lives – but also those of their fellow soldiers.  This is a story about their rite of passage.

      The author provides links of the complete first six chapters of the novel for your listening pleasure.  If you wish to listen and/or purchase the audiobook in its entirety, please click here:   Listen to Cherries audiobook   

     To see the final list of all contest winners, please click on the following link: http://www.books-and-authors.net/BooksoftheYear2012.html

Have you ever been really scared? (Repost)

I don’t mean frightened by reading a horror novel, seeing a scary movie, walking through a spook-house, hearing scary stories around the campfire or having to go into the basement after it’s dark.

I’m talking more about the fear you experience when your very life is in danger such as being in battle during a war, those seconds prior to an imminent automobile accident or when falling from the roof of your house, street fights, getting robbed or discovering that you are in the house alone with a burglar.

Some of those experiences above happen so quickly that fear doesn’t even have a chance to manifest itself – most likely, there is only enough time to say “Oh shit” before dying.  Other occurrences may only happen once in a lifetime, and only for a few moments or maybe several hours, but then if you survive it’s over with.

Now consider those deployments by military personnel in war, be it Vietnam, Iraq or anywhere else in the world.  Running patrols to seek out the enemy is like walking through a spook-house.  You are expecting something to happen any moment now.  It could be a live person or some prop lurking around every corner, ready to jump out at you.  At times, spook-houses can be scary, but after exiting, you are able to take a deep breath and laugh about the experience.  In a war, this fear continues day in and day out; a prop or live individual jumping out from its hiding place could kill you in an instant.  You are always on heightened alert and the adrenaline boils over, looking for an outlet.  Even when returning to the base after a patrol, you are still afraid of incoming snipers, mortars, rockets and ground attacks.

Night is the worst, especially in Vietnam, where visibility is limited to only a couple of feet in the dark jungle.  Not only are you scared of the enemy, who may be out there watching you, but you also have to worry about what may crawl into your sleep area with you during the night.  Scorpion’s, lizards, snakes, spiders, centipedes, and other creatures of the night may be attracted to your warmth and cozy up to you.

It is pitch black outside and if you feel something drop on you or come in contact with any part of your body, you just can’t sit up and turn on the light to investigate.

Instead, you have to “man up” and just lay there hoping for the best.  Thankfully we were so young back then, because every night heart attacks were just waiting to happen.

Yeah, I was really scared for that entire year and continue to react nervously whenever a car engine backfires, fire crackers pop or when thunderstorms pass through the area.  I also have an extreme fear of spiders and snakes – if you’ve read my book – you know why.

Can you share examples of your own?   WELCOME HOME to all veterans and returning heroes!

If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more about the Vietnam War – subscribe to this blog and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.   Click on the title at the top of this page to be redirected to my main page – a directory on the right side lists similar articles and points of interest.

E-Book published

Hey everybody, I just published my e-book -  CHERRIES on Smashwords.com.  The direct link to the book is:  http://smashwords.com/books/view/13437.

A 30% sample of the book is available to read for free and can then be purchased if you want to complete the book; it is also available in various formats (examples: Kindle, PDF, HTML, Stanza, Apple, Sony and Palm readers and JavaScript).  I have a promotional coupon available until May 8, 2010 for 50% off the list price.  Be sure to take advantage of this – the offer is not available to the general public and can only be redeemed by my blog readers.  Promotional coupon code:  YB62Y

i will be investigating the ‘Print on Demand’ publisher which allows you to purchase a printed and bound copy of the book.  I’ll provide a further update when I know more.

There is a link to this blog site at the end of the book – I hope you will come back and participate in discussions about what you have read.  I am looking forward to that day!

If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more about the Vietnam War – subscribe to this blog and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.   Click on the title at the top of this page to be redirected to my main page – a directory on the right side lists similar articles and points of interest.