WRITING AND RESEARCHING
Writing requires more than creativity. It also needs research to be accurate. I always do extensive research when writing about a topic I know little or nothing about. One day recently, by chance I came upon an email exchange from 2014 while writing VANILLA GRASS. At the time, I was unable to develop the story further until I spoke to someone at the Army Medical Center in Tacoma WA. From there, I was directed to call Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Pierce and Thurston counties WA. I explained I was an author writing a novel about a fictitious Vietnam War veteran who wanted to start a program for problem teens and have them visit the wounded soldiers at the Army base. I had questions about this and inquired who to contact. Once I received that information, I phoned the Army Public Affairs Office in New York City and got transferred to the proper authority. Success! I hope you find the following exchange between us interesting. Now, when you read VANILLA GRASS or give it as a gift to a veteran for Veterans Day, Memorial Day, or Christmas, you will know some of the backstory about what went into writing this book.
- From: "Ebbeson, Jay J CIV USARMY MEDCOM MAMC (US)" <jay.j.ebbeson.civ@mail.mil>
Date: April 2, 2014 at 1:12:18 PM MST
To: Leslie Bratspis <xxxxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: Research questions for novel (UNCLASSIFIED)
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Leslie,
Thanks for your e-mail. Your first step is to contact the Army Public Affairs Office in New York City (Office of the Chief of Army Public Affairs--Northeast). This Army Public Affairs Office is charged to assist authors on book projects. If they can help you with your questions, they will then most likely direct you to the Office of the Army Surgeon General for specific assistance.
Please call (212) 784-xxxx or (212) 784-xxxx. You can also click on: http://www.army.mil/info/institution/publicAffairs/ocpa-northeast/ for additional details.
I hope this helps. Good luck on your book project.
Sincerely,
Jay J. Ebbeson
Public Affairs Officer
Madigan Army Medical Center
Tacoma, WA 98431
(253) xxx-xxxx
Serving to Heal...Honored to Serve
-----Original Message-----
From: Leslie Bratspis [xxxxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 2:20 PM
To: Ebbeson, Jay J CIV USARMY MEDCOM MAMC (US)
Subject: Research questions for novel
Hello Jay,
I was referred to you by the public affairs office to answer some research questions for a novel I'm currently writing. In this book a Vietnam war vet is attempting to start an on-going voluntary service program for the town's unmotivated teenagers with a harsh reality check, thus giving them perspective they've been lacking and motivating them to do volunteer work. This solider rescues and trains a Golden Retriever to become a licensed comfort dog through Pet Partners to visit the ward of active military recovering from injuries. He wants to rescue and train more dogs with the teens' involvement, and then take trained dogs and teenagers to visit recovering solders once a week. Here are my questions:
1. Is there a ward for wounded soldiers at the Madigan facility?
2. If so, what types of injuries would they be treated for? How many beds to a room/ward?
3. Would there be a separate burn ward?
4. Are the men and women soldiers segregated?
5. Would licensed comfort dogs be allowed to visit? Would there be a limit to how many dogs allowed per visit? My thought was 2 or 3.
6. Can the teens bring cookies for the soldiers?
7. I have 4 troubled teenagers I hope to rehabilitate with this fictitious program. Would all 4 be allowed to visit with only 2 adults supervising, or would it require one adult per teen?
7. Is there a physical therapy ward where visitors would be allowed to observe and interact?
8. What kind of voluntary service program is currently in place?
9. If this fictitious veteran wanted to start a program with local teenagers, what guidelines would they have to abide by?
If there's any other information you think would be helpful as I write this novel, please include that with your response. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I hope to hear from you soon! Feel free to answer via email, but if you want to speak to me personally my phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.
Best regards,
Leslie Bratspis
