One thing that always impresses me is the level of service performed by the generation represented at the UA senior center. Going around the room, nearly every senior in attendance either served in the Armed Forces, or supported a spouse or child who had served. Throughout Ed’s informal presentation, the other veterans shared their stories (both humorous and sobering) from their experiences in World War II, Korea, and even Vietnam. It’s one thing to read these sort of stories in a book; it’s a completely different experience to hear the tale as the one who experienced it speaks. This is why we do what we do.

Speaking of stories, we recorded Ed Gaydos telling a few of his own – here’s a little clip of him telling the tale that gave Seven in a Jeep its name.

As always, you can pick up your copy of Seven in a Jeep on Amazon.

Between new contests, special holiday sales and public speaking engagements, Ed’s going to have his hands full for the next several weeks. And that’s the way we like it.

Just to give you a rundown of what we have coming up in the month of July, here are a few highlights:

• Our Independence Day Sale is underway, and will continue for the rest of the week. To honor the holiday, the Amazon Kindle edition of Seven in a Jeep is available for only 99 cents.
• The latest book contest is well underway. For a chance at a $20 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of Surplus, all you need to do is photograph yourself reading Seven in a Jeep in an interesting setting. You can check out the details here.
• Ed will be speaking at several spots around central Ohio this month. Kicking things off next week will be a presentation at the Upper Arlington Senior Center with its Current Events Discussion Group on July 9, followed by a book signing at The Book Loft in Columbus on July 11. Feel free to come out and join the discussion!

It may have been a small crowd, but we had a great time at Wild Goose Creative over the weekend. We met some new folks, talked for hours about Vietnam, French history and the craft of writing, and Ed  had a chance to polish his Seven in a Jeep presentation. I’d say a good time was had by all.

Our thanks go out to the Wild Goose Creative staff for providing the space, and a special thanks goes to Andrew Anderson and Tyler Day for making us feel welcome. Hopefully we’ll be back soon, and can meet even more of the awesome Wild Goose crowd.

As the summer gears up, you’ll have a chance to see Ed at several more speaking engagements throughout the central Ohio area. Updates to come soon, but we’re hammering out the details for a book signing at The Book Loft next month. We’ll let you know as soon as a date and time are set.

As it says on its web site, WGC is ” a catalyst and a gathering place for local artists, audiences, and creative people. With a multipurpose creative space at 2491 Summit Street that is sometimes a gallery, sometimes a school, a kitchen table, a living room, a concert hall, or a dance floor, Wild Goose Creative cultivates the creation of excellent and surprising art.”

Ed’s speaking from 6-8 pm this Sunday, June 23, for WGC’s writing group. He’ll talk about about his experiences in Vietnam, his writing process, and he’s even got a slide or two to show (if you follow the Facebook page, you’ve seen some of these already). He’ll also be signing and (hopefully) selling a few books afterward.

Stop on by if you’re in the area, to meet Ed or to just find out what Wild Goose is all about. The more the merrier! There’s also a few more public events at which Ed will be presenting in the coming month; we’ll update you on those once they’re set in stone.