What inspired you to write your memoir?
My feeling was that our society and culture was rapidly changing and that a memoir that chronicled the life of someone – me- who had a career in the Navy of the Post Korea – pre Vietnam and beyond would make for interesting reading for those who chose a navy career in later years.
About your Book:
Listening To Ghosts, Bob Stockton’s memoir about growing up in a working class neighborhood in Trenton, New Jersey, and how he escaped to the U.S. Navy, details the lively ups and downs of a career navy man as he comes of age and learns invaluable life lessons both personally and professionally.
One of the few navy men who has served in the submarine navy (in diesel electric submarines), Bob also served in the surface (destroyer) navy, in Vietnam in a patrol gunboat and in the aviation navy aboard aircraft carriers and in reconnaissance attack squadrons.
The book is divided into two sections, “Trenton” and “Haze Gray and Salt Spray.” Each section boasts short, highly readable, highly entertaining chapters that vividly span the early 1940s through 1977, when Bob gladly retires from the Navy.
He comments, “Listening To Ghosts takes readers back to a time before the Navy became a vehicle for social engineering. It chronicles my adventures – and misadventures – in frank, candid and politically incorrect language.”
How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
This was my first book and I was “flying blind” with respect to choosing one of the numerous print on demand houses. I finally decided on Xlibris Press as they offered the most attractive financial package and the greatest number of complimentary hard and softback copies.
How do you see writing a Memoir as different from writing other genres of books?
In my view there is not a whole lot of difference between writing historical fiction and memoir other than keeping an accurate timeline of events/life experiences. The memoir/autobiography genre is, of course highly subjective as the life events are seen and transcribed through the author’s own personal filter.
Author Bio:
Bob Stockton was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Leaving school in his junior year, Bob began a Navy career in 1957. Following Navy retirement in 1977, Bob has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees and worked as a shipyard welder’s helper, adjunct graduate instructor, epidemiologist, pharmaceutical trainer, and radio host. An avid motorcyclist, Bob currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida in close proximity to his three children, three grandchildren, and a large American bulldog named Bowser.
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Book On Amazon
Link to Book on Barnes and Noble
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Your Social Media Links
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Listening-To-Ghosts-An-Autobiography/136680259678335
https://twitter.com/drbob456x
