Interview with Michael Anthony, Iraq War Veteran and Recently Published Author

Michael Anthony, an Iraq War veteran began writing about his experiences as a medic in the Iraq War on Urbis, an on-line writing community. Urbis allows writers to post their writings and receive feedback from other members. It also acts a vehicle to assist writers in connecting with publishers.

In a recent email to Urbis members, Michael notified members that his book, Mass Casualties: A Young Medic's True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq, has been published and is now selling at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon. In his email, Michael wrote, "I couldn't have done it without the support of all my friends here on Urbis. In the book, I covered everything that isn't being talked about in the mainstream media, or even other books. I tried to paint a real and accurate picture of the war, without placating to either side."

His book, a riveting story of disillusionment with the Iraq War, received glowing reviews from reviewers, including luminaries such as Senator Gary Hart, and Bing West, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.

Michael's biography, found at masscasualties.com, states "Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born. The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of who joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military. After graduating high school, he joined the Army Reserves, went through basic training, and then went through job training to become an Operating Room Medic. One year later he returned home and enrolled in college to begin his first semester. Almost immediately upon finishing his first semester he was shipped off to Wisconsin to train for four months before he would leave and spend his next year in Iraq. Michael is now back in the States and working toward a Bachelor's Degree in creative writing."

I replied to Michael's email, requesting an interview, to which he responded affirmatively. The interview questions and his responses follow.

Where are you from?
I'm from Massachusetts, in a small town just south of Boston.

What is your latest news? My latest news is the release of my first book: "Mass Casualties: A Young Medic's True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq."

When and why did you begin writing?
When I was in high-school I loved to write but I never thought I could do anything or go anywhere with it, so I guess I've always just been writing.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
After I saw my first book in the front of a store under the New Non-Fiction section.

What inspired you to write your first book?
I started writing "Mass Casualties" a few months after I came back from Iraq. I was hanging out with friends and they started telling me about an article they had read in the newspaper; the article was about a soldier who had served in Iraq and what an American hero he was, as if GI Joe were based on this guy. Well as it turned out, the guy was actually one of the people in my unit in Iraq and one of the commanders--a deplorable commander and a disgrace to the uniform who should have been kicked out, let alone called a hero. Immediately I called another friend and my friend was like "let's go burn this guy's F'ing house down." At that point I told my friend to calm down, and that's when I decided to write the book and get the truth out there.

Do you have a specific writing style?
I guess I don't understand writing style, I just write what I write.

How did you come up with the title?
It was just one of those things. The original title was: "Behind the Glory," and then the publishers wanted to change it to something more descriptive.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
Just that everything isn't always as it seems in the newspapers and on TV.

Are all the experiences based on people you know, or events in your own life?
Everything is 100% true; the only thing I changed were peoples' names.

What books have influenced your life most?
I guess that would be some of my favorites: Atlas Shrugged, Catch-22, Catcher in the Rye, Perks of being a Wallflower.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
J.D. Salinger, I wish was my mentor.

What book are you reading now?
"The Awakening" by Kate Chopin.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
None that I can think of, I don't do a lot of reading when I'm writing, so the only books I read now are for my classes at school.

What are your current projects?
I'm working on a book right now about my girlfriend and me, and have a few other things in the works, but right now I've got a lot of school work to focus on.

Do you see writing as a career?
I dream of it.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Not a thing.

Are you writing anything new? If so, can you share a little of your current work?
I have signed my next deal, but nothing I'm ready to share just yet, I've got to finish draft one first.

Who designed the covers?
The Publishers, I helped them with the cover picture of course (me) but they did the rest.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Having to relive everything in the book. War isn't a glorious thing, and to depict it, I had to relive it all over again.

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Focus and dedication, it takes both to write a book beginning to end, and then edit, edit, reedit, edit and then edit some more.

Do you have any advice for other writers?
Yes. Write. I meet so many people that want to be writers and then I ask them how often they write and I'll get answers like: "Oh it's been a few months but..." "I want to write more, but you know with work and all..." Stuff like that. If you want to be a writer, write. We are what we do on a consistent basis. If we're a chef, we cook. If we're a police officer we protect and serve. For writers, we need to write.