CHANNILLO
Series Description:
In this sweeping tale of one woman’s experience of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, Samantha Sullivan loses her brother to the war only to gain the love of his best friend, Sergeant Jake Westergaard.
When Sam joins the Army Nurse Corps and is sent to the 91st Evac Hospital, Chu Lai in 1967, she is shocked to find Jake is stationed there as a platoon sergeant. Forbidden from fraternizing due to the difference in their ranks, they develop their relationship in secret, supporting each other through the violence and pain of their respective duties.
They marry in secret—on R&R in Hawaii—and return to Vietnam to serve one more tour each, all the while maintaining the utmost discretion about their illegal marriage.
Sam works long shifts at the evac hospital, doing what she can to put broken and burned men back together again. She is haunted by the death of her brother—she sees him in the men she treats—and is terrified that one day Jake will end up on a stretcher laid out before her in triage.
Sam discovers she is pregnant, and despite the death and danger around them, Sam and Jake decide Sam will stay at Chu Lai for the first two months of her pregnancy. Jake’s tour will end six months later, in time for the birth of the baby. But seven weeks into her pregnancy, as Sam is planning to tell her superiors, the Viet Cong and NVA launch the Tet Offensive. Sam is wounded on the first night of Tet and is sent home.
Two weeks later, Jake’s chopper goes down. No bodies are found, only blood trails.
Is he alive? Has he been captured? Sam is left to wonder, and to wait. When her son is born--a son who has the same coal-black hair as Jake--she wonders what she will tell him about his father’s fate. And what will she believe for herself?
Updated: Monthly
Status: Inactive
Author Bio For Kate Spitzmiller:
Kate Spitzmiller writes historical fiction from a woman's perspective. She is a flash fiction and short story award-winner, and has received Honorable Mentions from both Glimmer Train Press and Writer's Digest. Her work has appeared in Approaching Footsteps, On the Premises, Cleaver Magazine, Typishly, The Esthetic Apostle, and The Write Launch. She has work forthcoming in the Fredericksburg Literary & Art Review and Scribble Literary Magazine. Her flash fiction piece, "Brigida," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her debut historical novel, Companion of the Ash, was released in December 2018 by Spider Road Press and is available from Amazon. You can follow her on Twitter @KateSpitzmiller.
Series Description:
In this sweeping tale of one woman’s experience of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, Samantha Sullivan loses her brother to the war only to gain the love of his best friend, Sergeant Jake Westergaard.
When Sam joins the Army Nurse Corps and is sent to the 91st Evac Hospital, Chu Lai in 1967, she is shocked to find Jake is stationed there as a platoon sergeant. Forbidden from fraternizing due to the difference in their ranks, they develop their relationship in secret, supporting each other through the violence and pain of their respective duties.
They marry in secret—on R&R in Hawaii—and return to Vietnam to serve one more tour each, all the while maintaining the utmost discretion about their illegal marriage.
Sam works long shifts at the evac hospital, doing what she can to put broken and burned men back together again. She is haunted by the death of her brother—she sees him in the men she treats—and is terrified that one day Jake will end up on a stretcher laid out before her in triage.
Sam discovers she is pregnant, and despite the death and danger around them, Sam and Jake decide Sam will stay at Chu Lai for the first two months of her pregnancy. Jake’s tour will end six months later, in time for the birth of the baby. But seven weeks into her pregnancy, as Sam is planning to tell her superiors, the Viet Cong and NVA launch the Tet Offensive. Sam is wounded on the first night of Tet and is sent home.
Two weeks later, Jake’s chopper goes down. No bodies are found, only blood trails.
Is he alive? Has he been captured? Sam is left to wonder, and to wait. When her son is born--a son who has the same coal-black hair as Jake--she wonders what she will tell him about his father’s fate. And what will she believe for herself?
Updated: Monthly
Status: Inactive
Author Bio For Kate Spitzmiller:
Kate Spitzmiller writes historical fiction from a woman's perspective. She is a flash fiction and short story award-winner, and has received Honorable Mentions from both Glimmer Train Press and Writer's Digest. Her work has appeared in Approaching Footsteps, On the Premises, Cleaver Magazine, Typishly, The Esthetic Apostle, and The Write Launch. She has work forthcoming in the Fredericksburg Literary & Art Review and Scribble Literary Magazine. Her flash fiction piece, "Brigida," was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her debut historical novel, Companion of the Ash, was released in December 2018 by Spider Road Press and is available from Amazon. You can follow her on Twitter @KateSpitzmiller.