An Anthology of Rhode Island Veterans
Servicemen are often thanked, but seldom understood.
Afterthoughts is a multi-genre collection of fiction and poetry by Rhode Island Veterans that explores themes of comradery, service, disillusionment, and the duality of civilian-soldier identity.
The authors featured in these pages offer an unflinching look at the people behind the uniform, sharing not only their challenges and traumas, but their passions, joys, humor, and triumphs. You'll find intimate works about warfare and violence, but also works about hope, community, aggressive AIs, and fishing on Block Island with zombies. But most of all you'll find stories about the love and relationships worth fighting for.
Contains work by: Tom Morrissey; SSgt. Jacob Parkinson; Benjamin Fortier; John Gillard; Patrick Lachey; Dennis Zambrotta; Vincent Scirocco
Bliss, Amber: - Amber Bliss (Editor) holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and an MLIS from the University of Rhode Island. With a combination of creativity, determination, and a little sorcery, she's managed to combine her passion for writing and tabletop RPGs into her work as a librarian. Amber's days are consumed by stories, whether she's writing them, reading them, or telling them around a table cluttered with dice and character sheets because stories don't only make us werewolves and wizards, they make us human. Her own work can be found in The Monstrous Feminine by Scary Dairy Press. You can visit Amber at www.amberbliss.com or find her and her RPG crew's chaotic adventures with DMs After Dark on all the socials and wherever you consume your podcasts.
Deignan, Sara: - Sara Deignan (Editor) holds an MLIS from the University of Rhode Island and a BA in English with a Concentration in Writing & Rhetoric from the University of Rhode Island. She has been writing since she could hold a pencil, and before that she dictated her works to her family. She enjoys her work as a librarian, a career that allows her to pursue two of her great passions: being creative and making a good deal of noise. In her free time, Sara enjoys reading spooky stories, spending time with family and friends, and walking her cat Baboo.
Morrissey, Thomas: - Thomas (Tom) Morrissey (CW3, US Army) is a Veteran, visual/mixed multi-media artist, and writer who has always been sensitive to the exclusion of the many obvious linkages between the arts and (for lack of better words), Veterans. The "military experience," particularly since the Korean/Vietnam eras, has been marginalized at best, and throughout Tom's professional career, he has grown more and more sensitive to this fact, especially as we have now entered the eras of "Post Truth," and "Thank you for your service." His career in the arts began with his college photography professor instructing him to throw away the few thousand images he returned from the war with. "Guilt," he was told. Throughout his education (PhD, CAGS, MFA, MPA, BFA, AA), his Veteran status was never fully understood, much less beckoned. Decades later, he would learn that many (most) of his "academic heroes" like Peter Voulkos, Don Reitz, and others (yes, he was a ceramic sculpture major), were combat Veterans-a secret never discussed in the years following the fall of Saigon. What might he have done, had anyone mentioned this fact? Fortunately, Tom may still have a few good years in which to flourish. He has more to write.His professional career has been a multi-directional path. He often says that there are motorboats and sailboats in life. His experience was that of a sailboat; enjoying the various headings tacking in the wind brought him to. Since college, and during his academic career, he has had the honor of returning to Vietnam on several occasions, always alone as with his first visit. He has again left his mark there through a large outdoor marble sculpture installed in Hue (Second International Sculpture Symposium) and by teaching classes in art in Hanoi and Saigon as a Fulbright Scholar. His book, a seventeen-year photo essay, Between the Lines: Photographs from the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington DC, was published in 2000 by Syracuse University Press. Now, Professor Emeritus, he still keeps his hand in teaching, exhibiting, and blowing hot air.
