Author Name: R. E. Nelson
Book Name: Palace Dog
Release Date: February 27, 2015
Pages or Word Count: 206 pages
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24740838-palace-dog?ac=1
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Blurb:
In April 1975, as the government in Saigon is falling, Michael Andrews prepares to make his way back to Vietnam to find the love he was forced to leave.
But Michael’s journey begins four years earlier. He joins the Air Force to keep out of the Army and out of Vietnam, but his first assignment is teaching English in Saigon to members of the Vietnamese military in an Army program called Palace Dog.
As an artist, and a man, before his time in Vietnam, Michael found life lonely and unsatisfying. In the midst of war, Michael searches for direction and meaning. He ultimately finds love and hope with Thao, a young Vietnamese art student, only to have their already uncertain future wrenched from them when he is pulled out of the country.
For Michael, his return in 1975 is inevitable and without question, though the outcome he hopes for is anything but assured.
Categories: Gay Fiction, Historical, M/M Romance
Sales Links:
Dreamspinner for paperback
Dreamspinner for ebook
What was your research like for Palace Dog?
Research for Palace Dog actually began with myself. Like the main character, Michael Andrews, in 1971, I joined the Air Force to keep out of the Army and out of Vietnam and my first job for the Air Force was teaching English in Vietnam for the Army. So in many ways I feel like Michael and I were in the same place at the same time sharing common experiences (and hook ups!). But we also had different personal stories. So Michael’s story with Thao was free to develop within a framework that I was so personally familiar with.
I had taken a large number of photographs when I was there—both at the school and in Saigon, and I had recorded names, dates and places that helped reinforce the memories. I also had a small pocket calendar that I had annotated with notes that included dates and times and events and meetings. And my family and some friends had kept the letters I had written over the time I was there. SO there was a lot of information available to aid my memories.
Music, too, played a significant part if writing the story. Like Trisha Yearwood sings, “The Song Remembers When.” As I was writing PALACE DOG, I listened to music I had listened to while I was there and that brought back vivid mental pictures of individual moments. If I hear Cher sing “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves,” I experience walking between the barracks and mess hall in MACV Annex (where I heard tha some coming from inside); when I hear Gilbert O’Sullivan singing “Alone Again, Naturally,” I’m downtown in the small plaza in front of the Rex Theatre waiting to hook up; or Vikki Carr singing “A Million Years Or So,” which takes me to nighttime at a place I was living just off Hai Ba Trung Street. Some of the songs and moments worked their way directly into the book, but others were still influential in setting the mood and cementing the memories. In a way, they form the soundtrack for the book.
For the final section, the return in 1975, I relied on detailed conversations with a close friend who was there at that time and successfully helped a number of Vietnamese people get out.
For factual verification, especially of things that were happening while I was there but I was not directly experiencing, I relied on THE VIET NAM WAR—AN ALMANAC (published by World Almanac Publications).
What drew you to this time period?
In 1991, I started returning to Vietnam as a tourist on a regular basis. What I found, especially those first few years, was very much the same as I had left in 1972. Things were similar but also different. And so I wanted to document that earlier time, before change overtook it. Documenting it in novel form seemed the most appropriate to me. The framework of the setting—both in time and place—that I was familiar with allowed me to expand an move into things that were not directly experienced (such as friendly fire). In a way, writing about the experience in that time period as a novel and seeing it thorugh the eyes of a fictional Michael Andrews, helped me keep a perspective and emotional control I don’t think I would have had otherwise.
Tell us a bit about yourself:
The picture attached to my Twitter account (@RENelson13) is of me as a toddler, carrying a large book. My mother told me I always had that book with me. (I wish I remembered the title!) I’ve loved books and writing for as long as I can remember. It became serious when I was in high school, in Elizabeth Shoemaker’s creative writing classes. My best friend was into art—painting, in particular, and writing was my way of creating. PALACE DOG is my first published novel, but not my first completed novel. Over the years I’ve written five or six others, none published, though some have come close. I love the act of writing and rewriting and living intensely in a fictional story. Now it’s nice to let go of the frustration of not being published. Patience and persistence does pay off!
When was the last time you were in a library? Did you check out a book?
The last time I was in a library was today. I work in Marin County (in Frank Lloyd Wright’s last major design, I think) and the county library is just down the hall from my office. I love the feel and atmosphere of libraries and often go there just ot poke around and see what I can find. I also live near Civic Center in San Franisco, and spend time (weekends mostly, when I can find the time) at the main library. I have to admit I haven’t actually checked out a book in a long while.
Are you working on another book?
I have two books in progress right now, and in some ways they are competing with each other to be next. The first, A PARK IN RIYADH, has to do with sex in Saudi Arabis in the late-to-mid-l970’s. The second, CONNECTING THE DOTS, is a coming of age/coming out story set in the the late 1960’s and in the present day. A couple of weeks ago, I awoke with a new character for CONNECTING THE DOTS asserting himself into my consciousness. He’s been with me constantly since then, so I’ve been taking notes and shifting my focus from A PARK IN RIYADH. I’ll be interested in seeing which one wins out!
The cyclo had bumped across the bridge, following the curve in the road, then moved quickly down the final straight stretch, past houses and shops, past rows of trees and walls and occasional open spaces, past vendors who lined the street’s edge selling gasoline in glass bottles. Motorcycles, Lambretta mini-buses packed with people, cream-and-blue Renault taxis, pedestrians with baskets and boxes—all crowded the street. Noises, smells, and smoke came from everywhere, and as the driver increased his speed, I smiled, gripping the metal frame tighter and pushing slightly with my feet as the moist wind rushed around me.
Speeding through the streets of Saigon, wearing the green Air Force-issued jungle fatigues, my life of a year ago seemed unreal.
Author Bio:
R.E. Nelson was born in Texas and raised in Southern California. He has been writing for as long as he can remember. One of his earliest recollections related to writing is winning an essay contest in sixth grade–something patriotic about the American flag. When he travels, his preference is staying in select areas for an extended period of time and learning about that place. He has lived in both Vietnam (twice, actually) and Saudi Arabia, and also spent time in Egypt, South Korea, Shanghai (his only China visit thus far), and Dubai. Now he is happy to call San Francisco home.
Where to find the author:
Twitter: @RENelson13
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Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Palace Dog’
Hello 🙂 Me thinks the rafflecopter link is missing 🙂
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