It’s my great pleasure to welcome you to my new Substack. By trade, I am a publisher in Detroit with over 25 years experience. I work with poets and novelists primarily, and it’s a joy to see new books come to life. While that work is satisfying, I still had my own dreams for my own writing.
The last year or so has been a singular focus on the story I’ve been trying to tell for over a decade, a novel based on the true story of the Harlem Hellfighters, an all-African American regiment in WWI. The story struck me on multiple levels, particularly the all-black part. But the kicker was that they weren’t allowed to fight alongside their fellow Americans—they instead fought for a grateful French army on loan. However, this arrangement ended up working out for them, as they wound up being the first to take on the Germans and arguably winning the war for the Allies. Then, to my amazement, their regimental band was made up of America’s greatest jazz musicians, who would introduce jazz to France, forever changing music history.
As a writer and musician, this story captivated me and I made it a mission to share this little-known story with the world. Already, amazing things have begun to happen with how the story is unfolding. Last year, I completed a novel for the story, Victors, and I launched the beginning of a national tour of a musical version of the story, Love, War and Jazz.
Here on Substack I will be sharing my creative process for this project, including how I developed character backstories. I will also post excerpts from the upcoming sequel, Empire. I am having the time of my life and hope you will enjoy it too as I share the journey so far.