Welcome to the story of "An Ordinary Hero"



ISBN - 0-595-74904-6 (hard cover)
ISBN - 0-595-28862-6 (soft cover)


An Ordinary Hero's pivotal moment is a real-life covert mission from 1968. The mission and its devastating outcome forced Feldman to give birth to An Ordinary Hero’s true-to-life characters, and dare to tackle the nagging question few, if any, have ever asked out loud: “Why will no one talk about Vietnam?”

Born from respect for those who served in Vietnam or any war, An Ordinary Hero is the fictionalized retelling of the startling story Feldman heard in 1978 along with countless anecdotes from Vietnam Veterans, reluctant, at first, even to speak with her. Promising that upon review of how she used their contribution, they could terminate their participation, carried much sway. Gratefully for her readers, slivers of those veterans’ lives grace her pages. Alas, in life as in novels - a price for everything. Nearly to a man, each requested neither credit nor acknowledgement, to retain their anonymity.

Feldman’s brand of time-travel, mystery, and murder is brilliantly written, with fresh dialog and a pictorial narrative, with sights, sounds and objects so real that they draw the reader into the page to stand side-by-side with her characters, as they discover that behind each painful answer is yet another more painful question.

Although An Ordinary Hero’s pivotal moment takes place during the Vietnam conflict, it is not a war story, the way Platoon was a war story - all about the war. An Ordinary Hero is the story of men and their families, brought together by Time, under extraordinary circumstances to solve a crime using tools sent to them from the future - a future that, if they will only believe, has already happened. To obtain that future, beyond believing, they must set affairs to rights - as Time meant them to be from the beginning. In doing so, each of An Ordinary Hero’s characters must face the boldest questions. What am I willing to risk for the family and friends that I love? My life? Traveling thru Time? Accepting that the outcome of my life is simply the consequences of Time’s unchageable events - good and bad? Am I willing to be the hero of someone else's life?

In real life there are many reasons those who served in Vietnam are reluctant to talk. An Ordinary Hero’s epic, spanning 73 years and four generations, centers on just one - it could cost lives.



ISBN - 0-595-74904-6 (hard cover) - $28.95
ISBN - 0-595-28862-6 (soft cover) - $18.95
Shipping cost for each book, within USA - $5.50


What motivates an author to solve mysteries that others want to forget?

The Story Behind the Story!
I was a kid during the Vietman conflict and an only slightly bigger kid by the time it was over. Though film footage was spoon fed to us nightly, that footage never told us much of anything, certainly not what was really happening or how our boys were really dying. And I wanted to know. I'm also a warehouse of useless information, Feldman admits. It's mostly good for game shows like "Jeopardy" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and especially useful when writing novels. It's great to incorporate trivia and little remembered factoids that make people remark: "Oh yeah, I remember that, now that you mention it."

The war in southeast Asia, Vietnam, always seemed to be a conspiracy of silence. Turns out, there was no conspiracy, but there was a story. All that silence (at least from the perspective of the soldiers) was the only thing that saved sanity and allowed the men to lead fairly normal lives. To talk about it was to relive it. And, frankly, living thru it once was plenty. In fact, it was more than plenty.

On a night in 1978, I heard a story so outrageous I didn't want to believe, but the source was reliable - prone neither to exageration nor embellishment. The story took about 90 seconds to tell, and at the end of those 90 seconds, I was changed. Seeing the face and eyes of my storyteller, as he answered a young girl's question - Why will no one talk about Vietnam?; shouted that this was a story that should be public, known by all. I waited, thinking someone else might tell it, explain the unexplainable, but no one ever did.

Decades later, I became friends with a man who returned from Vietnam with The Bronze Star, uninjured, but not unharmed. As we became better friends, still, I never forgot the story I heard in 1978 - a covert-op that never can be explained; Top Secret; no records. The new stories between my new friend and me were as all stories between friends; sacred - not for broadcast. While I listened to his stories, though, I knew that others (besides myself) really were interested. They just had no one to ask. I did. My friend and I talked about blending his story with the 1978 story and when I told him the details, he agreed - go public. I was fortunate enough to find other veterans from Vietnam willing to talk, but only to me. Their names will never be public, they go to my grave. It's what they wanted. It was the price of the their stories.

Five big men, a wild bunch of supporting characters, an amazing true story, a crazy imagination, a love of the mystery, and 2 1/2 years later An Ordinary Hero was born. Something to consider when reading - every hero wears a uniform, just not always the one you'd expect. Also, there really is no such thing as coincidence.



About the author

Asked why she writes, Debra Feldman has a clear response. The stories of our lives tell others who we are, where we've been, the kind of people we are now. The ablity to see a funny moment, even in the most dire of times is a clue ... you will come out at the other end of your own life, stronger, smarter, braver. And every life is a story if you only look at it from the proper angle.

Over the course of her life, Debra Feldman has had her finger in an assortment of "artistic pies", and with each pie came another story to tell. As a multidisciplinary, as well as interdisciplinary, artist, she dove into writing, as she has every other art form - feet first and fully commited, creating a world, ruled by Time, where past, present and future exist simultaneously. She is currently at work on the next novel in the Overlap series.



Reviews of An Ordinary Hero

Vietnam Veterans of America
See what the VVA has to say about An Ordinary Hero.

Katie Thompson (Norwich, CT)
Be sharp when you read this one. Everything is connected in some way and history is not static. What does baking pies in modern day New Hampshire have to do with kids skipping stones in the 1938 and the Vietnam War? All I have to say is, be nice to your kids because you may need them to go back in time and drag you out of a Southeast Asian jungle.
See Katie's review on Amazon.com.



Scheduled appearances by Debra Feldman

July 29, 12:00 MidNight - WBZ, 1030 AM - The Jordan Rich Show.

July 30, 12:00 Noon-7:00 PM - Kate's Mystery Books, Cambridge MA - 2211 Mass Ave.; 617-491-2660.

July 31, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM - StarBucks, Burlington MA - 84 Mall Rd.; 781-273-6544.

August 6, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM - StarBucks, Peabody MA - 240 Andover St. (Rt. 114); 978-531-8224.

August 7, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM - StarBucks, Beverly MA - 23 Enon St. (Rt 1A North); 978-922-0885.

October 5, 7:00 AM-1:00 PM - StarBucks, Burlington MA - 47 Middlesex Turnpike; 781-221-0070.

October 6, 9:00 AM-2:00 PM - StarBucks, Burlington MA - 47 Middlesex Turnpike; 781-221-0070.



Some time in the distant future - A cheap all-you-can-eat buffet, in a galaxy far, far away.

Contact the Author
To send an E-Mail to Debra Feldman click on photo below.	To order your signed copy of "An Ordinary Hero" click on photo below.

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© Debra Feldman & Steven Medoff, 2005 in a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet - in a galaxy far, far away.