The Night Eagles Soared is about a Special Forces Team Sergeant who leads the first team of Green Berets into Afghanistan after 9-11; and although it is a fictional story it is based on true events, facts and emotion. As the Author, I created the protagonist Mike, and that allowed me to construct the story based on my own experiences in the Army.
Told in 1st person narrative, the protagonist relates the story of how he came to be selected to lead this team at that incredible moment in history. The story begins at the ending and goes back in time taking the reader on a journey into the jungles of South America and across the deserts of the Middle East. It comes around full circle to end at the beginning, through, “The Night Eagles Soared.”
My original intent was to create a story that would be understandable and enjoyable to younger readers, say at the age of seventeen. I did this by not making the story so technical that only my fellow soldiers would be able to understand it. My hope has always been that the story will impart a sense of pride in the military and perhaps convince some to join.
So far my youngest reader has been ten years old and I’ve been told that it is the cleanest war book ever written. The reason for that is? Tate Publishing is a Christian organization, and therefore required me to find others ways of describing certain scenes that are violent or sexual in nature without using gratuitously graphic language. This reality stretched my abilities as a writer by forcing me to come up with other ways of describing certain subjects. The end result was the creation of a much better story that not only leaves some detail to the readers’ imagination, but also appeals to a much wider audience.
Since the official release date on the 5th of October, 2010 we have received endorsements from several different organizations. First the Green Beret Foundation that supports wounded Special Forces Soldiers and their families. Second, the Special Forces Book Store.com that generally lists only non-fiction but included “The Night Eagles Soared” in their line up as an exception to the rule because the story rings so true. Thirdly, we have received an endorsement from the warriors on Professional Soldiers.com; which is an online forum for Special Forces soldiers and others. Lastly, we have recently received an endorsement by the Soldiers’ Angels, a benevolent organization that is supporting thousands of our soldiers through the sending of letters and care packages among other incredible acts of kindness and generosity. I am so proud to be associated with all of these fantastic organizations and appreciate greatly their support of my writing.
In other news, I recently contacted my publisher and informed them about my intent to complete the sequel to “The Night Eagles Soared” so far titled, “Burnt Yellow and Red.” Their response based on the synopsis that I provided was to immediately offer me a contract with the proposed start of production in March 2011. If we meet this deadline, it will enable us to release the sequel sometime in late summer, early fall of 2011.
Most recently, we were nominated for consideration to compete for the W. Y. Boyd, Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction. This award is administered by the American Library Association and will be granted sometime in July 2011. This doesn’t mean we’ve won the award, it just means that we are in the running and being considered, an incredible honor that stands on its own merit.
Therefore, please allow me to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the readers out there that have purchased and enjoyed their copy of “The Night Eagles Soared.”
God bless you all and never forget that fortune favors the bold!
“De Oppresso Liber”
S. B. (Steve) Newman, Author
The Night Eagles Soared
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