1.
What
is your debut novel, Passages: A Voyage From War to Peace, about? Passages is a story of transitions,
relationships, and healing. Superficially, the character AJ is an aging Vietnam
War Navy combat veteran who gets himself in trouble and is committed to a
hospital and required to have a psychiatric evaluation. The principal doctor
who is assigned to his case is a young foreign medical doctor, what we now call
an international medical graduate (IMG), who is just entering a psychiatry
residency - the latter training phase for a specialty, the time that follows
medical school and internship. So, one of these interlocutors is in a late-life
transition under duress and the other is in an early life transition under its
own form of duress. Some readers might expect friction with just such a
mash-up.
During the telling, one learns a
lot about how each got to this moment of their meeting and events formative to
their character and world view. I had hoped to draw the reader into the
narrative with a glimpse of military and medical training reality, if that had
not been part of the reader’s own experience. I also tried to be as genuine in
the description of scenes, so that those who have been in those or similar
places could readily identify with them. You might imagine that working in this
platform allows for touching on so many of the relationship flash points in our
lives – parents and children, our reactions to authority figures, finding one’s
place in the world, and bringing one’s talents and aspirations to bear. Story
telling has always been a media for passing down from generation to generation
not only history, tradition, and practical knowledge, but lessons on emotional
resilience. I didn’t shy away from major taboos that challenge us. We all run
up against circumstances that try to break us.
Open warfare is the most
devastating violence we heap upon each other, but we all experience battles in
our lives and strive for victory, or at least peace. No one has all the
answers, but stories that carry examples, options of reactions to challenges, can
resonate for some of us. Identifying with the challenges of one character or
another is what draws thoughtful people into a story and give it meaning. I
have always been fascinated with unsung hero-types I’ve encountered, and the
courage they demonstrate when confronted with challenges. Passages is more a
story of relationships than military engagement or outcomes.
2.
What
inspired you to write this story? Foremost,
I wanted to bring out conversations that I have had with so many patients and
families over a long career about emotional pain, family conflict, depression,
and suicide - in story form. I drew from the experiences of people who provided
me insights I had not considered.
3.
You
and your five siblings, all served during the Vietnam War, though you did not
experience combat. Why did each of you volunteer for a bloody, unpopular war? My sister, the eldest offspring,
joined the Marine Corps along with a girl she worked with, just for the
adventure and change from working in a cafeteria after high school. The US
involvement in the hot war had not begun. At 17, the eldest brother was getting
into trouble at home and high school and joined the Navy. The next three
brothers followed him as they turned 18. It was during those years that the war
ramped up to become increasingly controversial and casualties mounted. I was
recruited to the US Air Force Academy by its wrestling coach – it was an offer
I couldn’t refuse for many reasons. In the net, the combined experiences that
were brought home to our family house was a rich mix for thought and
discussion. Without too sharp an attribution, my eldest brother revealed a
particular aspect of the psycho-emotional impact of war on young people that
most people may not be aware of.
4.
As
a doctor of 40 years, now retired, you have treated many people, including
veterans. Is your book trying to help veterans, or at least to help us
understand them? In
that the story is re-enacted so often in our society following any hot military
deployment, it is helpful to veterans and their families to know that they are
not alone, that their unseen wounds are also real, and that the moral injury can
be named and reasonably managed. So, yes, the trajectory of the story may be
useful to vets and their families. The situations, character portrayals, and
therapeutic discussions are intended to have a broader application for many
lives beyond military families.
5.
Your
book has been described as “philosophical and deeply human.” How so? My short answer is any deeply held opinion
not supported by reproducible evidence is philosophical. Philosophy is the love
of knowledge. Any notion that provokes one to ponder, which this book will, is descriptively
philosophical, whether it be philosophy of the mind or ethical philosophy.
“Deeply human” would refer to what humans do best of all forms of life –
self-awareness.
6.
It
is a story of healing. How would you define what that process is like? Healing, above all, is finding a
path forward despite the damage done and the physical and emotional scars that
will remain. I’m hoping readers will perceive Passages as not just a story
about war and veterans, but, indeed, about healing. Some reviewers on Amazon
have also made comments suggesting they have found the story healing to the
reader as well.
7.
How
would you describe your writing style? I work to be efficient with scenes and exposition
where possible, then slow down when I want to convey some concept that may be
useful to the reader. The concept may be something hard to face or generate
painful mental images. I enjoy carefully dropping a bit of imagery from time to
time at the beginning of new chapters to reset the pace or merely to allow for
some reflection.
8.
The
Vietnam War concluded 50 years ago. As you reflect upon it now, what thoughts
come to mind? The decades have provided
perspective. The majority of survivors of participation in the conflict are
deceased. There has been considerable reconciliation and appreciation of
Vietnam veterans and their sacrifices, rather than blame. We have the outward expression
from a grateful nation in the form a strikingly beautiful and evocative
memorial to our service personnel in that war in the center of our nation’s
capital. That act by our people and
government was, may I say, monumental. The American public from that era has
also undergone attrition. Perhaps nudged along by US participation in two Gulf
Wars and other foreign skirmishes with US participation around the globe, our
civilians have a better understanding that unnecessary wars are easy to start
and difficult to conclude with definable results, putting the Vietnam conflict
into a revised context.
9.
How
did you draw Miko, your lead character? Is he based on someone? Miko is a composite of many doctors
in training, and psychiatrists and psychologists I’ve encountered, not a unique
individual. I created his intern experiences from my own flexible internship
retrospect, and the psychology acumen from career-long experience and
continuing education in navigating difficult personalities, drug seekers, and
people in chronic pain.
10.
Why
are military historical fiction books so popular? War is real, not science fiction,
and human history is replete with bloody conflict. There are so many accounts
of events to draw on. It’s difficult to imagine a more dramatic arena.
11.
What
do we need to know about PTSD and the mental well-being of our soldiers? PTSD is a variable manifestation of
a conditioned response to a variety of stimuli. The results are often
debilitating. I flirted in the novel with Miko writing the case for a defense
budget that includes allocations for individualized mental health recovery
processes for vets returning from conflict. I understand that some of that
already exists, although the penetration in the burden of disease may be inadequate.
About
The Author: P. K. Edgewater, a military veteran, and doctor of 40 years, is
the debut author of a novel, Passages: A Voyage From War To Peace. He
was named a Top Doctor by Phoenix Magazine, annually from 2005-2019. He
has served as a clinical volunteer in numerous countries, including Vietnam,
Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, and Nicaragua, as well as in Guadalupe and Phoenix in
Arizona, and published a doctoral dissertation on short-term medical
volunteering overseas. He has treated many military veterans in the course of
his medical practice. Edgewater served during the Vietnam War in the Air Force
but did not see combat. His four brothers served in the Navy and his sister in
the Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict era. All were volunteers. Edgewater
attended the US Air Force Academy. Edgewater is married and resides in
Depoe Bay, Oregon. Connect with him here: P.K. Edgewater |
Facebook. and (21) Paul Caldron | LinkedIn
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was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.
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and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids,
and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.
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