Honoring All Who Served

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day–a common misunderstanding, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Memorial Day (the fourth Monday in May) honors American service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle, while Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans–living or dead–but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.*

Veterans Day Facts*

• In 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.
• In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. The law went into effect in 1971, but in 1975 President Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11, due to the important historical significance of the date.
• Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World Wars I and II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day, while Britain has Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday of November). In Europe, Britain and the Commonwealth countries it is common to observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. every November 11.

*History.com

New project - Prequel to the Kelli Storm Series

After posting Kelli's brief bio yesterday, I had an idea this morning of doing a prequel to book one. I attempted to contact Kelli and run the idea by her, but it seems that she turned her cell phone off and is not checking her messages. Either that or she is just ignoring me. Some thanks after writing four books for her. Cest' la vie. Anyway, I decided to make and executive decision and started working on it. It is as yet untitled, even though I have been playing around with a few, I just can't decide and there's really no rush anyway.

The book is going to start out with Kelli reporting to her first precinct after the academy. Now, for those who haven't read the first book, she started at the 9th Precinct in the East Village, though I don't believe I got into details on that. She is assigned to a Field Training Officer (FTO) who is a real hard ass, to a point. (There is a reason for that, and if you've ever been on the job, or know someone who is or was, then you'll understand.) Not to go into a lot of details, mainly because I'm still figuring things out, but this book will answer a lot of questions for those of you who have read the series. Oh, and it will also be a good standalone read too.

Keep checking back for updates. As of now, I am currently working on three active projects, so it will be a while before this one sees the light of day, though I'm hoping it won't be too long.