Having written seven novels now, I'm beginning to realize that my subject matter needs to be something I'm passionate about, and not just good premises.
When I deployed to Cambodia in 1993, I was just a young boy looking for a fun time. The things I saw there forever changed my life. The evil of one man in murdering and torturing over 1.3 million people is still hard for me to stomach. Not many people today have even heard about Colonel Pol Pot and Cambodia, to which I encourage anyone reading this post to pull up Google and learn a little history.
Having toured the killing fields as well as many of the torture sites in the country, I got a small glimpse of the madness that went on there.
Since Pol Pot killed off anyone with a skill, the country was basically set back in the dark ages many decades. During my time in the country, I saw very few well to do people. Most were poor as well as deformed from one of the millions of landmines all around the country, as a result of the war.
Pulling from my experiences in the area, I decided to write my novel, To Know Death, set in Cambodia. If nothing else, I'm hopeful this novel will help bring attention to a forgotten country. My publisher included some of my actual photos during my time in the country. These will paint a pretty good picture of the Cambodian way of life. Growing up in East Kentucky, I have to say it wasn't that different...not the case for most of modern day America.