Marcus A. Nannini

I was born in Chicago, IL, during a record-setting heatwave in a hospital ward lacking air-conditioning.

The times my best friend, Chris Pastwa and I, spent playing “Joe the Goalie” in his driveway and garage and ordering pizza on nights we camped out with my telescope to view the stars and planets

My grandfather, Silvio Nannini. My Nonno Silvio constantly encouraged me to write; and if I had only listened to him. I would have sought a full-time professional writing career sooner than I did and been much happier.

In late 2009 I determined to write a screenplay. It took me three months of research and outlining before I sat down and wrote it in three days. I received several requests for the script and a phone call from a production company. Each came back within a couple of weeks, stating it was too expensive to make, but they could revisit it when the economy turned around. It was not picked up. By then, I had written a follow-up screenplay taking the story in a new direction and modified the original script to accommodate a series. It was 2010 and yielded the same results, so I made them into books.

It was almost six years before I attracted a publisher for my first book. They were a small Indie publisher with a relatively quick turnaround. They improved on my cover design and went to print. The book, Chameleons, An Untold World War II Story won some awards. Still, for reasons I will not go into just yet, sales were disappointing, especially considering the acquisitions editor pitched my book to the publisher as “going to be a best seller.”

I sold my next book, a WWII biography of an American paratrooper, to a UK publisher who did an excellent job with the cover design and book layout, especially since I had 70 photos spread throughout the story. Unlike my first book, this was published hardbound, followed by ebook and audiobook versions. The book, Left for Dead at Nijmegen, won two Nonfiction Book of the Year Awards and yielded many national and international press.

Two years later, when my Second WW II biography was ready, I sent a brief query letter to three publishers on a Thursday morning. By the following Monday, I had two written contracts from two UK publishers, without even asking to see the manuscript, let alone a book proposal. Ultimately I chose Pen & Sword books because I liked their acquisitions editor and cover designers better. Midnight Flight to Nuremberg, the Capture of the Nazi who put Adolph Hitler into Power won Nonfiction Book of the Year 2021/2022, along with other awards.

My love of history and what-if scenarios.

I only had one copy but sold about 32 subscriptions per school quarter at 25 cents each, granting the right to have one overnight in which to read it.

Until a reviewer described Chameleons as a “thriller,” it never occurred to me that it could be classified as such. I entered it into the ITW contest and was a July 2017 winner. Since then I have been more open-minded about book categories.

My fiction works either open with a historical event or result from historical events with present-day ramifications. History provides me with plenty of opportunities to mold my stories. I prefer setting opening chapters in locales I am intimately familiar with.

When I finished Chameleons, I was inspired to make it the first in a series of mystery/thrillers. I reopened the screenplay and added the two main antagonists who would open the first scene in the follow-up screenplay/book, Geographic Treachery, the Shah’s Revenge.

First, Nijmegen is a city in Holland and was featured in the classic film A Bridge Too Far.

I met a WWII paratrooper veteran of Operation Market Garden who was among the first to jump at the LZ near Nijmegen. I thought it could make a good magazine story. However, after our first five-plus-hour interview, I knew I had a book. I also knew the opening and closing chapters, which I always know before I begin to write. This was a most unusual story and presented me with significant research to be done, not to mention more than forty interviews.

First, perfection is always elusive. I edit and re-edit every paragraph of each chapter, always seeking a better product. Allowing some time to pass between edits helps. That said, I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid.

Three events shaped my writing. The first came in the 8th Grade when Miss Grace Chamberlain, my English teacher, gave me only a B+ for what I thought was the penultimate book report of my writing career. She told me I had so much detail that she became bogged down, and the story’s pace was ruined. I keep that in mind each time I write.

The second moment came shortly before high school graduation. My English Lit teacher took me aside and told me she very much liked my writing style and never let anyone try to change it.

Finally, in my senior year of undergraduate study, I worked as the Research Assistant to Journalism professor Richard S. Carlson, Ph.D. Referring to his then-recent book, The Benign Humorists, he advised me to write as if conversing with my readers, not talking to them.

Bear in mind that I was a paid newspaper reporter in my undergrad years and undertook roughly 18 hours in journalism classes, netting a perfect 4.0, so I had adequate training.

Knowing how I will open and close each book, I craft a character or three who will prove to be the opposite of what they appear. In addition, I spend time researching the battle scenes and work to place the reader directly into the action helping them feel the explosions and witness the carnage. There are plenty of murders in my new series, each being uniquely cruel and unusual, though, as per my nonfiction books, the gory details are left to the imagination. I prefer setting a scene and letting the reader’s imagination fill in the details. The details must be accurate, and my research abilities prove invaluable.

One of my publishers asked me to write a short story for them. It required researching the role of condoms in WWI. There was much more research involved than I imagined. I learned quite a bit about the history of condoms.

That is a tough one. I made so many mistakes!

I was so excited to receive an offer to publish my first book I didn’t think to confirm their bookstore sale terms were in line with the industry average. About a year into disappointing sales a bookstore owner wrote me and stated she wanted to carry my book, but the publisher was only offering a 40% discount with no ability to return the book. The industry standard was a 50% discount and returnable or 50% plus 5% for nonreturnable. My book was DOA on launch. When I went to the publisher, he was defensive. I had signed only a two-year contract, and I turned them down when they wanted to renew it.

Once in a while I hear from them either on FB, LinkedIn or direct email. Most often they tell me they were or knew someone associated with my main character, confirming my accuracy. I routinely receive email queries about when my thriller series will launch because it is mentioned at the end of my WWII biographies.

Vigorous Brutality is the third in the Commander Pastwa series and opens with a narrator relating events taking place in 1779, the final days of Captain Cook’s life. Chapter One closes the night before Captain Cook’s death and is picked up in Chapter Two with the primary antagonist telling the story to his minions. They are standing at Captain Cook’s Monument on the Big Island of Hawaii and about to commit two murders.

To ensure I had the historical aspects correct, I bought the only copy I could locate of A Journal of Captain Cook’s Last Voyage by Lieutenant John Ledyard, who was present with Captain Cook. It is the only written record of the event. The antagonist was first introduced in Book One, Nine Men Down, the Secret Invasion of Oahu, and continued throughout Book Two, Geographic Treacher, the Shah’s Revenge. I believe he is a memorable villain.

There are two storylines, one following the murderous antagonist and the second following the machinations of a rogue North Korean submarine commander. The two-part climax will be eye-opening.

I am also working on my third biography, tentatively titled They Called Him Sam, a story of a 15 year old immigrant who rises from shoeshine boy to owning the largest road construction company in the Midwest and being honored as an international philanthropist. There is a page for this book on my website.

I joined as a pro-member as the benefits were too good to take a pass on. But first, I did check the google page ranking to assure they have respectable traffic; and they did.

The website is straightforward to use and offers many marketing opportunites for members.

The staff has continuously impressed me. Joining as a Pro member was a good decision.