About Douglas W. Jacobson
Douglas W. Jacobson is an engineer, business owner and World War Two history enthusiast. Doug has traveled extensively in Europe researching stories of the courage of common people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. His debut novel, Night of Flames: A Novel of World War Two was published in 2007 by McBooks Press, and was released in paperback in 2008. Night of Flames won the “2007 Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Wisconsin Library association. Doug writes a monthly column on Poland’s contribution during WW2, has published articles on Belgium’s WW2 escape organization, the Comet Line and other European resistance organizations. Doug’s second historical novel, The Katyn Order,which was released on May, 2011, focuses on one of history’s most notorious war crimes, the Katyn massacre.
You can visit his website at www.douglaswjacobson.com.
The Interview
What is your favorite quality about yourself?
I always finish what I start and i always do what I said I would do.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself?
Impatience.
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?
I am most proud of my son and daughter who have both carved out their own way in life and accomplished many great things on their own.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing?
I was brought up by very common, hard-working parents who showed by example that you can succeed at anything if you are willing to work for it.
When and why did you begin writing?
I began writing at the age of 59 when I felt compelled to tell the story of the common people in Europe who persevered throughout the war on their own personal courage and their desire to live in freedom.
How long have you been writing?
Less than 10 years.
When did you first know you could be a writer?
When McBooks Press agreed to publish my first book, NIGHT OF FLAMES.
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
Historical fiction set in the WW2 time period.
What inspired you to write your first book?
The real life experience of my European relatives who lived through the Nazi occupation.
Who or what influenced your writing once you began?
Judy Bridges, founder of Redbird Writer’s Studio in Milwaukee, and my editor at McBooks Press, Jackie Swift.
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general?
Getting started.
What is your greatest strength as a writer?
I believe I am a good story-teller and I have a passion for getting the historical details right.
About The Katyn Order
The German War Machine is in retreat as the Russians advance. In Warsaw, Resistance fighters rise up against their Nazi occupiers, but the Germans retaliate, ruthlessly leveling the city. American Adam Nowak has been dropped into Poland by British intelligence as an assassin and Resistance fighter. During the Warsaw Rising he meets Natalia, a covert operative who has lost everything—just as he has. Amid the Allied power struggle left by Germany’s defeat, Adam and Natalia join in a desperate hunt for the 1940 Soviet order authorizing the murders of 20,000 Polish army officers and civilians. If they can find the Katyn Order before the Russians do, they just might change the fate of Poland.
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