Pinterest photo Gallery for Saving Paris is ready!

I just spent a hour or so having fun creating the Pinterest Photo Gallery for Saving Paris. Check it out, 25 photos:

https://www.pinterest.com/ronn_munsterman/saving-paris/

First sentence written for Sgt. Dunn novel number 5!

I published Saving Paris, Sgt. Dunn novel number 4 on 19 December (two days ago). Tonight I wrote the first sentence, and a little more, for Sgt. Dunn number 5 (known as sd5 until I can think of title).

I'm pumped!

Sgt. Dunn novel number 4 - Saving Paris, Kindle version available!

It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of the fourth Sgt. Dunn novel, Saving Paris.

Sgt. Tom Dunn returns in his fourth book! Dunn and his British counterpart, Sgt. Malcolm Saunders, and their squads of lethal U.S. Army Rangers and British Commandos must secure the only armor-bearing bridge in Chartres, just fifty miles from Paris. George S. Patton’s Third Army is rushing across France and it must have the bridge to keep pressure on the retreating German army.

Adolf Hitler, still reeling from the defeats and turmoil in France, sends General Dietrich von Choltitz, the Butcher of Sevastopol, already known for his brutality, to Paris as the new governor. It’s obvious even to Hitler that the liberation of Paris is imminent so the Nazi Führer orders the general to execute an unthinkable act.

Back in England, a Bletchley Park analyst reads decrypted German Enigma messages and uncovers a terrifying Nazi threat against Paris. He works desperately to unravel the details and contacts an old friend working at 10 Downing Street for help. As information becomes clear piece by piece, there is only one choice: call on Dunn and Saunders, and their squads.

Dunn and Saunders must fight the odds as the fate of Paris and perhaps all of Western Europe rests in their courageous hands.

In Saving Paris, we see the return of some old friends as, once again, Munsterman weaves WWII history and fiction for another compelling, fast-paced WWII action thriller.

Sgt. Dunn novel #4 - Saving Paris final proofread almost done!

I'm very close to completing the last edit; only 35 pages to go! Still targeting this coming weekend, 12/18 - 12/20 for publication.

Stay tuned.

Sgt. Dunn novel number 4 is coming soon! - Cover reveal!

Hello Sgt. Dunn readers!

I’m pleased to announce the upcoming release of the fourth Sgt. Dunn novel, Saving Paris. Here's the cover for Saving Paris.The book description is below.

David M. Jones (Jonesy the sniper is named for Dave) and his wife, Nathalie, created this great cover. The photo of the Eiffel Tower was taken by Jessica Welter, my friend Christian Welter's wife. They visited Paris this past May (2015) and graciously agreed to provide a photo. Dave converted it to black and white and aged it about 70 years!

I’m doing the final proofread and hope to publish next weekend, 12/18 - 12/20. If you haven't already, you can sign up for my newsletter on the right side of this page to be among the first to know when the book is published!



Saving Paris
 
Sgt. Tom Dunn returns in his fourth book! Dunn and his British counterpart, Sgt. Malcolm Saunders, and their squads of lethal U.S. Army Rangers and British Commandos must secure the only armor-bearing bridge in Chartres, just fifty miles from Paris. George S. Patton’s Third Army is rushing across France and it must have the bridge to keep pressure on the retreating German army.
 
Adolf Hitler, still reeling from the defeats and turmoil in France, sends General Dietrich von Choltitz, the Butcher of Sevastopol, already known for his brutality, to Paris as the new governor. It’s obvious even to Hitler that the liberation of Paris is imminent so the Nazi Führer orders the general to execute an unthinkable act.
 
Back in England, a Bletchley Park analyst reads decrypted German Enigma messages and uncovers a terrifying Nazi threat against Paris. He works desperately to unravel the details and contacts an old friend working at 10 Downing Street for help. As information becomes clear piece by piece, there is only one choice: call on Dunn and Saunders, and their squads.
 
Dunn and Saunders must fight the odds as the fate of Paris, and France, and perhaps all of Western Europe rests in their courageous hands.
 
In Saving Paris, we also see the return of some old friends as, once again, Munsterman weaves WWII history and fiction for another compelling, fast-paced WWII action thriller.

". . . December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy . . ." ~ President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Speech to Congress on 8 December 1941

Please take a moment today to remember all those who died this day in 1941 at Pearl Harbor.

Roosevelt's speech

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrpearlharbor.htm

Pearl Harbor events

http://www.pearlharborevents.com/

Sgt. Dunn novel #4 Saving Paris getting closer to publication

I finished the 6th edit today! Only two edits are left, one for errors only (as opposed to plot changes and chapter order changes - those are all done), and then a final proofread. Some of my FIRST READERS have sent me their input and so far so good! I'm planning on publishing in December, although the exact date is unknown. 

My cover designer, Dave Jones (the character Jonesy the sniper is named for Dave), completed the draft of the new cover. It's awesome. I'll do a cover and book description reveal pretty soon.

Please sign up for my newsletter to be among the first to receive the cover and book description reveal.

Thanks for stopping by.

Our sympathies to the people of Paris!

My wife and I send our thoughts and prayers for the people of Paris, and all of France. 

Thank a Vet! Veterans Day 2015.

Thank you to all of our veterans, those who have served and those who are now serving.

History of Veterans Day.

Happy 240th Birthday U.S. Marines!

U.S.Marines celebrate their 240th birthday.

The Martian - (movie)

The Martian, starring Matt Damon, is a wonderful science fiction movie. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do. From the panoramic beauty of the film’s Mars to Mark Watney’s (Damon) pithy, wise-ass remarks, I became enthralled and lost in the movie (the good kind of lost). 

It’s a smart movie and accurately depicts the science, which becomes, in effect, a character in the movie, too. The audience is respected as being intelligent enough to follow along, which is a welcome change from Hollywood.

 

Go see this movie!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sgt, Dunn number 4 - first draft is done!

I finished the first draft of the new Sgt. Dunn novel (number 4) on Friday night, 10/2/15. Now the editing process begins.

My fascination with military stuff

My fascination with military stuff probably started when I was about nine or ten. My mom was a WWII Spar (the Coast Guard’s version of the Waves). She had a 1944 copy of Bluejackets' Manual, the Navy’s training manual that she’d been given at boot camp, which was in Florida, a long way from the farm in central Missouri. I read that whole thing, all 500+ pages of it. Granted, my little boy brain probably didn’t really understand all of it, but I clearly recall doing something interesting with my new found knowledge.

I wanted to start some sort of club, I have no idea what kind now, and wanted something to identify us in a hierarchy (although I doubt I knew that word then). I had a six-pointed sheriff’s star (maybe it came with a six-gun and holster outfit I had?). I got some stiff card paper, maybe the thickness of two index cards, and traced the star shape on the paper, about eight stars to a sheet.

Next, in pencil, I painstakingly labeled each star with a Navy officer’s rank from Ensign to Admiral. Finally, I cut those things out, which must have been exhausting with those goofy “safe” round-tipped kids’ scissors. It makes my hand hurt to just think about it.

Whether the club ever really got off the ground is hard to say. I think I was the only one interested in being an admiral. Sometimes, great kid ideas just die a natural death.

I signed that book at some point in the long-ago past and included our home address. My handwriting was a lot better then.

I still have that manual. It sits on the bookshelf with all of my WWII history books. Who knows, maybe I’ll start writing a series about the Navy in WWII.

Happy Father's Day!

Wishing all fathers everywhere a Happy Father's Day!

Warm wishes for a wonderful day,

Ronn

6 June - D-Day

Today is the 71st anniversary of D-Day.

Please take a moment to remember the men who died that day.

Here's a good question / answer site about D-Day:



Thanks,


Ronn

Battle of Midway underway 73 years ago.

It was 73 years ago that the U.S. Navy met and decisively defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of Midway. Many historians, but not all, believe this was the turning point in the Pacific.

Strength
3 carriers 7 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 15 destroyers 233 carrier-based aircraft 127 land-based aircraft 16 submarines[1]	4 carriers 2 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 12 destroyers 248 carrier-based aircraft[2] 16 floatplanes Did not participate in battle: 2 light carriers 5 battleships 4 heavy cruisers 2 light cruisers ~35 support ships

Casualties and losses
1 carrier sunk 1 destroyer sunk ~150 aircraft destroyed 307 killed[3]	4 carriers sunk 1 heavy cruiser sunk 1 heavy cruiser damaged 248 aircraft destroyed[4] 3,057 killed[5]

Memorial Day

Please take a moment today to give thanks for those men and women who have served and given their all for our country. Keep their families in your hearts and prayers.

We watched PBS's Washington D.C. Memorial Day concert last night and were, as always, brought to tears by the stories told.

My old flag was starting to fray at the bottom, so I bought a new American flag Saturday and have it flying today. What a great country we live in.

With respect,

Ronn

My family members who served in WWII

Amos Munsterman – U.S. Army, Silver Star

Olga Munsterman – U.S. Coast Guard

Hugo Munsterman – U.S. Army, Bronze Star, Purple Heart

Maxwell Elder – U.S. Army

Lester Knisley – U.S. Navy

Served Post WWII

Norman Munsterman – U.S. Army

Sgt. Dunn novel 3, Brutal Enemy on sale for .99 cents starting today.

Sgt. Dunn series book 3, Brutal Enemy, is on sale starting today for only .99 cents!

http://amzn.com/B00RIFHJS6

Character names vs real world laws

I’m not positive, but I think every writer picks character names a certain way, using the same method time after time. Perhaps they imagine what the person looks like and then search for a name that seems to fit. Have you ever been introduced to someone and you thought their name was going be one thing and it was another? Along the lines of “She looks more like a ‘blank’ than a ‘blank.’ ” Please don’t confuse “blank” here with “bleep!” Years ago, a guy I worked with always called me Dave. Whenever I’d correct him, he’d say, “Yup, okay,” then say, “See ya, Dave!”

Go figure. At least he didn’t call me late for lunch. Ba da duh dum.

Here’s how I decided on the name for my main character Tom Dunn: I wanted a one syllable last name, probably due to all the Bond movies I’ve seen. No, really, I do mean that for whatever it’s worth. After I came up with Dunn, I tried on for sound a variety of first names. I don’t remember now what they were (that was eleven years ago, folks), but here are some I imagine I came up with:

William (Bill) Dunn

Robert (Bob) Dunn

George Dunn

So you get the idea. In the end I liked the combination of syllables of Thomas Dunn, although he is most often called Tom, unless Pamela is pissed off at him.

My first novel, Operation Devil’s Fire ended up with 89 named characters! This led me directly to an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them. I use that Excel file for many things, daily word count, plot, notes, and others. I just copy the whole file for the next book and add a column for the new book’s characters (like below - sd4). 

This way, I have all of my creations in one place, which keeps me out of trouble with using the same name, and prevents me from relying on my memory. Squirrel! (If you don’t know what this reference means, watch the movie Up.) Behind German Lines, Brutal Enemy, and book 4 (which I’m writing currently) have 51, 56, and 37 (so far) named characters, respectively. Since this is a series, there are lots of repeaters, but there are 167 distinct names across the four of them.

My Sgt. Dunn books are all set in Europe, so I have characters from these countries:

·         United States – 52

·         Britain – 37

·         France – 20

·         Germany – 44

·         Italy – 11

·         Japan – 3

Which leads me to an interesting article I read recently:

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/parents-have-to-rename-baby-judge-rules-109215771837.html

I guess it’s important to know what the laws are in your country. I confess, I never check for my characters!

  

Thanks for stopping by.

Ronn

Sgt. Dunn 4 writing underway!

I'm feeling a big sense of satisfaction tonight. After working on the plot for my fourth Sgt. Dunn novel for a month, I wrote the first 1,000 words. Only 92,000 to go.

Thank you to all my readers! Your support fuels my writing daily.

Ronn

Airbus A350s in flight formation, 2014 - B-17s in flight formation, World War II.

This is just spectacular to watch. Five Airbus A350s fly in formation. 

During WWII, B-17s and other Allied bombers flew formation all the time.

Writing goofs and choosing the right word.

Writing has its own special brand of troubles. Writers make all kinds of mistakes and typically, we call them typos, but sometimes they are just writing the wrong word. In speech, an example of the latter would be the famous spoonerisms.

I'm reading a book by a top-of-the-line best selling author and I found this typo: "had't." It happens, even to the best of writers. My trusted FIRST READERS know that I'm relatively consistent in leaving out "the" and "of" and a few other similar words. 

What happens when we speak or write is we just get ahead of ourselves and the errors slip out.

One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes kind of covers this mistake:

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

My favorite personal writing goof and, believe me, I've had many, is this one from my latest book, Brutal Enemy. Fortunately, I found the mistake during the first edit, and when I spotted it, I really did laugh out loud.

The wrong word:  . . . she shrieked as he dug his fingers into her side and tinkled.
The correct word: . . . she shrieked as he dug his fingers into her side and tickled.

The question is: was this a typo? Or just a brain fart where I heard tickled but wrote tinkled? I think the second because the c and the n have two other keys between them. Ha! Did you just look at your keyboard?

What are some of your favorites? Make a comment to this post. Come on, share with us. We won't laugh. 

Well, actually we will. But so will you.

Thanks for stopping by today.

The Sgt. Dunn novels photo gallery now on Pinterest!

I created a photo gallery for the Sgt. Dunn novels on Pinterest. In the gallery (boards), you'll find photos of places and things from the books. You'll find four boards, one for items that are common to all books, and then one board for each book for items specific to that book (or first show up in that book).

It took me longer than expected to get the widget working on this blog, mostly because evidently I need to read the instructions a little more closely. Turned into a sort of "duh" moment. Feeling more than a little sheepish, since I am an IT professional. Don't try this at home, folks!

On the plus side, it was quite a bit of fun gathering the photos. 

Thanks for stopping by today.