Ask the Author: John F. Bronzo
Answered Questions (11)
John F. Bronzo
"Mary Bernadette:Secrets of a Dallas Moon," was a "Finalist" in the 2019 Reader's Favorite Awards, where it also received a 5-star review:
Book Review
Reviewed by Tiffany Ferrell for Readers' Favorite
Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon is told from the point of view of a couple of people involved in a secret mission during the Vietnam War. The main character is Mary Bernadette, a young Vietnamese orphan who was brutally murdered in 1971 with twelve other girls and a novice at the Catholic orphanage they loved. Mary’s story begins with finding out that she was half white and half Vietnamese, given away by a mother whom she’d never known. The nun who was in charge, Sister Kate Sullivan, had taken a liking to this child. The novel then takes a dark and twisted turn when a strange injured man is found in the jungle near the orphanage. Sister Kate, feeling it her duty to aid this injured man, brought him in to help. This stranger turned out to be a Russian and, while delirious, he began talking about being the second gunman in the Kennedy assassination. What is at stake, and what happened to Mary Bernadette in 1971?
This is the first historical novel that I have read based during the Vietnam War and I must admit it has had a profound effect on me.
John F. Bronzo has written an amazing piece of work involving many characters which you automatically feel ties to and can connect with. The fact that it is essentially a tale told by a murdered child has such a powerful effect and sets the tone of the story immediately. He also gives such a strong case to what might be one of the biggest conspiracy theories - was there a second gunman in the Kennedy assassination, and did Russia have a hand in it? It may be fiction, but there are so many people who believe that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t the only shooter that fateful day in Dallas. It leaves the reader with the ‘what if’ feeling and you find yourself rethinking what you know from history books and going over the evidence one more time. Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon has been one of the most eye-opening books I have read so far this year. It also gave me more insight into an era that, as a high schooler, our teachers often skimmed past.
"Sagahawk by the Sea," was a "Finalist" in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and also received a 5-star review from the Red City Review Book Awards. Excerpts from the review are quoted on the cover of the book.
Book Review
Reviewed by Tiffany Ferrell for Readers' Favorite
Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon is told from the point of view of a couple of people involved in a secret mission during the Vietnam War. The main character is Mary Bernadette, a young Vietnamese orphan who was brutally murdered in 1971 with twelve other girls and a novice at the Catholic orphanage they loved. Mary’s story begins with finding out that she was half white and half Vietnamese, given away by a mother whom she’d never known. The nun who was in charge, Sister Kate Sullivan, had taken a liking to this child. The novel then takes a dark and twisted turn when a strange injured man is found in the jungle near the orphanage. Sister Kate, feeling it her duty to aid this injured man, brought him in to help. This stranger turned out to be a Russian and, while delirious, he began talking about being the second gunman in the Kennedy assassination. What is at stake, and what happened to Mary Bernadette in 1971?
This is the first historical novel that I have read based during the Vietnam War and I must admit it has had a profound effect on me.
John F. Bronzo has written an amazing piece of work involving many characters which you automatically feel ties to and can connect with. The fact that it is essentially a tale told by a murdered child has such a powerful effect and sets the tone of the story immediately. He also gives such a strong case to what might be one of the biggest conspiracy theories - was there a second gunman in the Kennedy assassination, and did Russia have a hand in it? It may be fiction, but there are so many people who believe that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t the only shooter that fateful day in Dallas. It leaves the reader with the ‘what if’ feeling and you find yourself rethinking what you know from history books and going over the evidence one more time. Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon has been one of the most eye-opening books I have read so far this year. It also gave me more insight into an era that, as a high schooler, our teachers often skimmed past.
"Sagahawk by the Sea," was a "Finalist" in the 2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and also received a 5-star review from the Red City Review Book Awards. Excerpts from the review are quoted on the cover of the book.
John F. Bronzo
Hi Kerry, I published my debut novel, "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon," with Archway and I was very pleased with their work. They did a fantastic job on the hardcover, the softcover and the Kindle for me. So, I never dealt with Amazon as a publisher, but I have been very pleased with the way Amazon has handled both my author page and the book's page on Amazon. I currently am in the process of have my second book, "Sagahawk by the Sea, A Love Story Changes History," published by Archway, as well. I highly recommend them to you, and I hope your experience is as good as mine. All the best, John
John F. Bronzo
I took my special needs grandson, Christopher, to the mall to ride the carousel, while my wife and daughter did their shopping. When the ride stopped, he was not on it; he was in the arms of a clown whisking him out an exit door.
John F. Bronzo
My favorite fictional couple are George B. Angelson and Claire Sullivan, the two main characters in my debut novel, "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon (A Young Vietnamese Girl's Tale from the Grave about the Killing of JFK)." These two young lovers take Frost's path less traveled as they pursue their dreams across the globe and in the process become involved in the secret CIA mission to Vietnam in 1971 to capture JFK's second assassin, then a Russian adviser to the Vietcong. You can't help but fall in love with them, and Mary Bernadette, the story teller in my novel. I know I did when I was writing the story, and I am confident you will too.
John F. Bronzo
Yes, "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon," won three awards recently. The book won "Honorable Mention" in the General Fiction category of the Great Midwest Book Festival, the New England Book Festival and the Florida Book Festival. The award ceremony for the Great Midwest Book Festival was held in Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend of 2016, and the award ceremonies for the New England and Florida Book Festivals were held on Saturday evening, January 28, 2017, in Boston and Orlando, respectively. I attended the Orlando event and my publicist, Laura Ponticello, attended the Boston event. It was a wonderful and humbling experience for me, as a first time author, to have my work validated by these prestigious awards.
John F. Bronzo
Yes, it recently received a review from the Midwest Book Review. Here is the review:
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/...
MBR Bookwatch: December 2016
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575
Micah's Bookshelf
Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon
John F. Bronzo
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403-5161
www.archwaypublishing.com
9781480819054, $40.99, HC, 426pp, www.amazon.com
Synopsis: Mary Bernadette is a Vietnamese girl born on November 22, 1963 -- the day John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Raised in an orphanage, she finds herself unwittingly involved in an international incident at the age of six, when a Russian man who claims to be the second gunman on the grassy knoll during the assassination of JFK stumbles into the orphanage looking for help.
Mary Bernadette is then witness to the opening rounds of Operation Excalibur, the CIA code name for the mission to capture this second gunman alive. In the late spring and early summer of 1971 (while Americans are unaware of the potential for a major international incident that might bring their country to the brink of war with the Soviet Union or China) Operation Excalibur plays itself out in Vietnam. What Mary does not know is that one unintended consequence of this action will be the senseless massacre of orphaned children by an errant North Vietnamese captain -- and that she herself will be among the dead.
Critique: A consistently compelling and deftly crafted novel of love and intrigue set against the background of the Vietnam War, with a detailed portrayal of an attempt to capture JFK's other assassin -- a man who is now a Russian advisor. All this is uniquely told by an innocent young victim from her grave. "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon" distinctly establishes author John F. Bronzo as an impressively original and talented novelist of the first order. While "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon" is unreservedly recommended for community library General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon" is also available in a paperback edition (978-1480819047, $26.99) and in a Kindle format ($2.99).
Micah Andrew
Reviewer
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/...
MBR Bookwatch: December 2016
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575
Micah's Bookshelf
Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon
John F. Bronzo
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403-5161
www.archwaypublishing.com
9781480819054, $40.99, HC, 426pp, www.amazon.com
Synopsis: Mary Bernadette is a Vietnamese girl born on November 22, 1963 -- the day John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Raised in an orphanage, she finds herself unwittingly involved in an international incident at the age of six, when a Russian man who claims to be the second gunman on the grassy knoll during the assassination of JFK stumbles into the orphanage looking for help.
Mary Bernadette is then witness to the opening rounds of Operation Excalibur, the CIA code name for the mission to capture this second gunman alive. In the late spring and early summer of 1971 (while Americans are unaware of the potential for a major international incident that might bring their country to the brink of war with the Soviet Union or China) Operation Excalibur plays itself out in Vietnam. What Mary does not know is that one unintended consequence of this action will be the senseless massacre of orphaned children by an errant North Vietnamese captain -- and that she herself will be among the dead.
Critique: A consistently compelling and deftly crafted novel of love and intrigue set against the background of the Vietnam War, with a detailed portrayal of an attempt to capture JFK's other assassin -- a man who is now a Russian advisor. All this is uniquely told by an innocent young victim from her grave. "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon" distinctly establishes author John F. Bronzo as an impressively original and talented novelist of the first order. While "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon" is unreservedly recommended for community library General Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon" is also available in a paperback edition (978-1480819047, $26.99) and in a Kindle format ($2.99).
Micah Andrew
Reviewer
John F. Bronzo
For me it just happens. I know that sounds crazy, but it is the truth. I see or experience things and I store them in my mind and reach for them later when I am writing. There usually is a degree of inherent truth in my fiction, it is just that it didn't happen in the context in which I say it did.
John F. Bronzo
For me it just happens. I know that sounds crazy, but it is the truth. I see or experience things and I store them in my mind and reach for them later when I am writing. There usually is a degree of inherent truth in my fiction, it is just that it didn't happen in the context in which I say it did.
John F. Bronzo
I am currently putting the final touches on a time-travel odyssey involving the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico incident and the Cuban Missile Crisis . I also am working on a very rough first draft of a third book, but it would be premature to discuss it further at this time.
John F. Bronzo
Follow your dream and just do it! Life is too short not to give it a shot. But, I would tell you to write for yourself, and not to please an audience. In this way, your work will be more genuine.
John F. Bronzo
I just have so much fun doing it! I hope it never gets old.
John F. Bronzo
I know that this is going to sound hard to believe, but I have never had that problem. I have already written a second manuscript and the first draft of a third. The only thing stopping me right now is the need to concentrate all of my efforts on promoting this book. But, I sneak off to work on the others when I can.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more