A reader recently asked me what inspires me to write. The answer is that I knew by the time I was six years old that I was born to write. To refuse my calling would have been tantamount to facing damnation. I tried various other vocations, but invariably I was called back to writing. Because foreign languages come easily to me and because writing doesn’t pay, I became a spy to support my family—spying pays very well. As a result, I had a life rich in experiences.
Hence the inspiration on what subjects to write about. Between 1962 and 1975, I spent more time in Vietnam than I did in the U.S. I was a civilian under cover as military supporting troops in combat with signals intelligence. When Saigon fell in 1975, I escaped under fire after the North Vietnamese were already in the streets. Because I speak seven languages, I went on doing that kind of work all over the world. Meanwhile, to help me cope with a severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Injury (PTSI) resulting from my time in combat, I volunteered to care for AIDS patients for five years—seven men, all gay, all died. Then I worked with the homeless for a couple of years and finally spent nine years volunteering to care for the dying in a hospice. So I have plenty to write about.
Consequently, my six books now in print (you can learn more about them at https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Glenn/e/B009GGNYUM%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share) are about combat, AIDS, and PTSI, among other things. They are the result of a very full life.
Tom Glenn, Writer 