Genesis of an Idea

The idea for this book came to me while on vacation several years ago. I was having lunch, nursing an unpleasant sunburn, and surfing the tele when I happened across an Arts and Entertainment documentary entitled, Uncle Sam and Uncle Ho. As I watched the program, the proverbial light bulb flashed. What an incredible story! I became obsessed with creating a fictional account of the strange relationship depicted in the A&E documentary.

As the spark turned to flame, I found a rich historical record that supported the conclusions of the heroic men of the OSS who came to know Ho Chi Minh in the waning days of World War II. How would the fate of millions have been changed if we had listened to their pleas to recognize Uncle Ho's government and keep the French out of Indochina following the war?

As with most of my writing, an idea gets stuck in my head and won't go away until I put it in writing. Once I opened the floodgates, the words wouldn't stop until the story was concluded. Of course editing and dealing with publishers and agents takes infinitely more time than writing.