It's been almost two years since The Tangled Web was released and despite the best efforts of the naysayers, it's been a success. This coming Monday (March 2) it will be released in paperback a full week ahead of schedule.
I'm excited to begin this next phase, though it isn't likely to include as many appearances as the hardcover. The best thing about the paperback, besides the obvious opportunity to offer the book to a new group of readers, is that it includes new information about Richard Cain's deal with Sheriff Ogilivie to fix the election in return for Richard's appointment as chief of the Special Investigations Unit. There's also an interesting introduction by Jack Clarke, a famous Chicago area private investigator who was a contemporary of Richard's.
Meanwhile, I've made some changes to the course I'm teaching at Ft. Bragg. I started out focusing on creative writing, thinking that some of the soldiers might be interested in telling their war stories. As it turns out, what they really needed was an outlet to tell the stories not for publication, but for healing.
So, what started out as an evening course in the Wounded Warriors Battalion has evolved into a daytime course in therapeutic journal writing. Soldiers who have been injured in battle have to fight many emotions as they transition from healing back to active duty and it's always hard for them to talk about their experiences. Journaling gives them an outlet that can deliver the benefits of talking through their issues without the pain or the risk of actually telling someone what they've been through.
Regardless of whether their perception of the risk is real or not, it's undeniable that they have a difficult time in sharing. I've seen a wide range of emotions from these heroes; anger, survivor's guilt, and fear, to name a few. My goal is to show them that writing about those feelings, more than the events that caused them, is a valuable part of their healing process. It's been very productive for them and extremely rewarding for me.
