David K Wessel/Author 🇺🇸🇩🇪🇵🇳
@wessel4nh
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Retired US diplomat turned historian, novelist, speaker. Love learning/sharing the lessons of history, hiking, beaches, sunsets, wine, and defending democracy,
New England, VA, OBX, Aotearoa
Joined April 2019
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Choosing Sides - March 2024 - "Engaging novel about a German family divided by the rise of the Reich - captures the heart-rending tensions faced by the family" (BookLife/Publisher's Weekly). "Well-developed characters bring new life to a familiar and frightening story." (Kirkus)
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Choosing Sides - coming March 2024 - "Engaging novel about a German family divided by the rise of the Reich ... captures the heart-rending tensions faced by the family" - from a BookLife by Publisher's Weekly review.
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Coming Fall 2023: “Choosing Sides” - historical novel of an American boy in the Hitler Youth. Having grown up on both sides of the Atlantic, he (and his family) face tough choices when his two worlds collide. Based on a true story, enhanced to make for a compelling read.
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First sighting “in the wild” of my debut novel!
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Seeking agent for “Choosing Sides” - historical novel of a American boy in the Hitler Youth. Having grown up on both sides of the Atlantic, he (and his family) face tough choices when his two worlds collide. Based on a true story, enhanced to make for a compelling read.
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So, I don’t usually go for this, but since that’s ME in the hammock…
Write a six-word story inspired by this photo!
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How have I not known about this book until now? Fantastic novel about Nazi resistance, first published as Jeder Stirbt für Sich Allein in 1947, written by a Holocaust survivor who died just before it was published. It is just excellent!
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gobsmacked - adjective
gob· smacked ˈgäb-ˌsmakt
(chiefly British, informal)
overwhelmed with wonder, surprise, or shock : ASTOUNDED
Example: Rookie novelist David K. Wessel was absolutely gobsmacked today when he landed a publishing contract for his debut novel, Choosing Sides
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What fan of
#WW2
history or
#HistoricalFiction
wouldn't want to read this "page-turning tale of suspense, tragedy, comedy, and ultimately, triumph"? I know I do.
Bench press? Leg press? Word Press? French Press? No-American Press in Lake Charles LA, presenting “Not a Real Enemy” in their grand way! 📕
Make it a great day-please find at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, USHMM in DC, more!
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@MetzgerKaty
I've received 99 rejections from agent queries and 3 from direct subs to publishers ... and am about to sign with a small, traditional publisher who said "yes"!
So, yeah ... don't give up!
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If you are reading this tweet and are not yet following me, I would sure appreciate it if you’d do so NOW to help put me over the 1K mark. TIA to all!
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BETA READER: What were some of your research sources for your Nazi Germany
#histfic
novel?
ME:
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New Amazon review: Wessel has masterfully written a real world, real life, real family experience of having to choose sides, in the prelude to World War II … when there is considerable pressure to do the wrong thing, and it took courage, risk and sacrifice to do the right thing.
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@tothemax2050
After reading I can donate it to a prison library (where those who have no kindles) can enjoy it .... or leave it on a plane seat-pocket for those flight attendants who spend a LOT of time sitting (bored) in the back of the plane.
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Books are the mirrors of the soul.
(Virginia Woolf)
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I’ll just drop this quote from the Washington Post:
“The red velvet robes trimmed in ermine, the five-pound crown, the gold robes on top of gold robes dragging over gold carpets — the regalia often made it feel like a Versace fashion show staged in an assisted-living facility.”
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#writerquote
“Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people - people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book”
(E. B. White)
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So, wait… you have not bought one book ALL DAY???
You should reward yourself TOMORROW.
Buy two!
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THANKS to so many family, friends, fellow writers, and all others who supported me, guided me, pushed me, and inspired me. Cheers on PUB DAY for Choosing Sides! Love to you all.
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Just entered my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Amazon review of
@david_hewson
's The Garden of Angels ... and plan to buy more of his works this weekend. Only problem is ... now I just HAVE to get back to Venice to find Giardino degli Angeli.
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COVER REVEAL! I'm delighted to share the cover for my upcoming novel, created by a great graphic designer and friend
@lancehidy
. I can't say enough about how much I love it! The book itself should be out in early October! Stay tuned for information. DM if interested in an ARC.
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#writerquote
Nothing turns out quite in the way that you thought it would when you are sketching out notes for the first chapter, or walking about muttering to yourself and seeing a story unroll.
(Agatha Christie)
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#writersquote
There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional.
I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well.
(Agatha Christie)
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#writerequote
Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.
(Abraham Lincoln)
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I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
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A Writer’s Christmas Limerick
All through the house on this Christmas Eve
The authors will say “I still believe”.
Soon Santa will be here
Bringing good cause to cheer.
And readers will love the stories I weave.
Merry Christmas to all … and to all a good write!
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It was SO MUCH FUN dropping by my “local” - RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH - to see my book is front and center on their local authors/super heroes shelf!
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#0TD
reminder from the woman behind THE WOMEN BEHIND THE FEW
On this day in 1942, the Battle of Midway began. Midway remains one of the greatest examples of the successful use of communications intelligence behind military operations. Superb intel combined with skill, courage and sacrifice - a powerful combination.
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#writerquote
There are worse crimes than burning books.
One of them is not reading them.
(Joseph Brodsky)
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#writerquote
#fiction
Children know perfectly well that unicorns aren’t real, but they also know that books about unicorns, if they are good books, are true books.
(Ursula K. LeGuin)
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So excited to share this pre-publication review of my novel, Choosing Sides, which will be out next March! Please feel free to re-post and to visit my website () to wish me luck. THANKS!
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@dmtoft
Thanks to David T from David W.
I'm hanging around 1850 followers ... would love to zoom up to 2000 by month's end. IFB book people.
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I wanna be like Erik when I grow up as an author.
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Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t.
(Mark Twain)
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#writersquote
No story is the same to us after a lapse of time, or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters.
(George Eliot)
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Had a great meeting today with my agent, Piglet (front) and publicist, Puumba (back).
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#writerquote
I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!
(Jane Austen)
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#writersquote
Do not read, as children do,
to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.
(Gustave Flaubert)
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#writerquote
I honestly believe there is absolutely nothing like going to bed with a good book; or a friend who's read one.
(PhillysDiller)
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#writerquote
Writing is a job, a talent, but it’s also the place you go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon.
(Ann Patchett)
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On the wall at one of my fave coffee shops …
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#writerquote
#historicalfiction
#histfic
Historical fiction is taking the factual record as far as it is known, using that as scaffolding, and then letting imagination build the structure that fills in those things we can never find out for sure.
(Geraldine Brooks)
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A record for me. 🙄 Three rejections in one week.
But hey … three “no thank you’s” gets me three steps closer to “yes, let’s do this!”
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I'll be off-line for a bit ... heading out for a weekend retreat ...
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#writerquote
There are three rules for writing a novel.
Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
(W. Somerset Maugham)
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#writerquote
What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.
(J. D. Salinger)
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#writerquote
Fairy tales are more than true:
not because they tell us that dragons exist,
but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
(Neil Gaiman)
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I’m in - and even if I don’t win a proof, I’ ve won a free short story … from a great
#histfic
writer … for signing up!
It’s only just over 2 months until publication day! If you fancy a chance to win a proof of my new novel,
#thelondonbookshopaffair
? sign up for my newsletter by 16th November here: for a chance to win!
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There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island. (Walt Disney)
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#writerquote
Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.
Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.
(Groucho Marx)
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@DrHelenFry
I had pleasure of growing up next to Fort Hunt Park (just outside of Washington,DC) where U.S. intelligence folks were doing the same thing ... as captured in a great book titled "MI9", which I have read twice now!
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@AnnAsponsler
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On to 3900!
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5 ⭐️to
@neetschapman
- The Venice Secret: One for each of the dual timelines as I know it's so difficult to write even one. One for her skills in describing the setting. Add a star for the natural sounding dialogues. And one for bringing the two stories together so well. Brava!
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading
@HelenParusel
The Austrian Bride this weekend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The prose sparkles in this well-crafted, multi-layered, heart-rending story of two brave women resisting the Nazi tyranny in WW2 Austria. Highly recommend.
#HistFic
at its best!
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9 weeks 'til publication of my first novel! This has me wondering, which am I more likely to do in 2024?
Launch a best-seller?
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Win the lottery?
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Marry Taylor Swift?
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Grow 6-inches taller?
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THANKS to Amazon reviewer NachoLibre for your kind words on Choosing Sides: "I began this story uncertain how I'd like it. As I grew to know the people on both sides of the Atlantic, I came to care deeply about them and fear for their safety in the maelstrom I knew awaited them."
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#writerquote
You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.
(Annie Proulx)
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#writerquote
Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
(P. J. O’Rourke)
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PSA for those in South Jersey next weekend - stop by to see me!
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As one of those thousands, I gotta say Kamala's reception was one of the most dramatic moments of the day!
@kamalaharris
,
#fitn
,
#nhpolitics
Standing ovation from thousands of NH Democrats when
@KamalaHarris
made clear that “we’re not going back!”
#nhpolitics
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Just found my first Amzn review for Choosing Sides from Germany (3 countries, now!) Danke for saying "The author has based the story on his family history & portrays an accurate & fascinating insight into the divided loyalties of a family ripped apart by WW2. Highly recommended."
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#writerquote
There are people who think that things that happen in fiction do not really happen. These people are wrong.
(Neil Gaiman)
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@GiannaMariaMtz
“So well written, it was a pleasure to read this and experience … the conflicted decisions this family and so many others made to leave Germany.”
- Konrad Jarausch, Professor of History, University of North Carolina
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@bdavisauthor
I started my path to become a published author at 67 … 3 years later, I’m about to get there!
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We must never forget the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.
In this year of 80th anniversaries, please support the mission of
@WWIIMemorial
by visiting the site below to obtain commemorative coins. Please retweet.
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For my whole life, my favorite activity was reading. It’s not the most social pastime.
(Aubrey Hepburn)
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I happened upon this memorial while walking in Budapest and found it very moving. It is on the Pest side of the river.
Today is the Memorial Day of Hungarian victims of the Holocaust.
Over half a million Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis.
This is the Shoes on the Danube Memorial, made in 2005.
It honours those shot by the Arrow Cross Party's militia. Victims had to remove their shoes
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WIFE: What do you want for your birthday tomorrow?
ME: To get from 4500 to 5000 X-followers.
YOU (if not following me yet): ???
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#writerquote
The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.
(E. L. Doctorow)
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#writerquote
A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.
(Lemony Snicket)
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I should have a good weekend … this one made it to the top of my TBR!
The Times take on
#DeadInTheWater
, the new
#FrankMerlin
detective thriller and a Times Crime Club pick of the week.
#newcrimefiction
#WW2
@midaspr
@AccentPress
@CrimeCymru
@The_CWA
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It's a rainy morning ... perfect for sipping coffee, working on the outline for my second book, and listening to piano melodies!
Hey guys
Would you do me a big favor if you watch a few of my videos to help grow my Watchtime? 🍻❤️
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A great book about an unsung but great woman!
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On my TBR!!
A joy to set a book in one of my favourite cities...
#Dubrovnik
. So if you'd like a virtual trip there too, check out The Collaborator's Daughter, my dual timeline romance:
#99p
#NewBeginnings
#WW2
@Croatia_hr
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#writerquote
I do not write with ease, nor am I ever pleased with anything I write. And so I rewrite.
(Margaret Mitchell)
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The Monday morning dilemma of a retiree turned author - what should I focus on today?
My WIP ... or my TBR? Decisions, decisions ....
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I very much enjoyed meeting Bill Martin (aka
@Martinbooks
) at today’s
#LitFest
in Newburyport (aka
@NBPTLitFest
). Thanks especially for your comments on the importance of research in writing
#histfic
!
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@douglasemhoff
@KamalaHarris
Her loyal supporters in NH hope to see
@kamalaharris
up our way again if/when time allows. (I'd be happy to host a gathering.) She'd be a great in promoting downticket candidates in 2020!
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#writersquote
for Saint Patrick’s Day:
Everyone has a story to tell. All you have to do is write it. But it's not that easy.
(Frank McCourt)
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A great debut ... I look forward to future episodes.
Thank goodness the feared land invasion never came about!
🎙We are live! Join Andy, Robbie and Chris as they talk about their aims for the show and explore American arms for Britain in July 1940! Listen here -
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@NonnieJules
@SloanDresden
@drawnbybon
@tinahagmann
@willtink
@CatherineTinley
@kvpeckwriter
@ummercury
@RowenaRedman
@TinsleyCollins
@OwajimamJ
@NicoleCLindsay
@EstherBean01
@AuthorLeishman
@AuthorBWalters
THANKS
@NonnieJules
for re-connecting me with some folks I'm already following ... and introducing me to some new good folks!
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I admire authors who can pull this off well!
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#writerquote
“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.”
(Bill Watterson)
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In the GOOD NEWS - BAD NEWS department: My publisher just MOVED MY PUB DATE UP from March 21 to March 7 - leaving me with lots of scrambling on my prep for launch/marketing activities, galley edits, etc. Nerve-wracking .... but FUN. Watch this space for info on pre-orders!!
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