Well, it looks like we’ve finally wrapped my brief career as a combat extra (with a whimper, not a bang. I spent 12 hours sit­ting in “holding” until the director decided not to shoot our scene and sent us home). I came home exhausted and kind of bummed to end on such a low note, but my mood was quickly lifted by an inbox jammed with moving sto­ries from folks about the vet­erans in their life and how they inspired them in response to my Veteran’s Day Give­away con­test. It’s so awe­some to see so many people for whom vet­erans are such a pow­erful influ­ence. I wish I could give everyone who entered a prize, but  … well, if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to do this more than once, and that’s no fun. But, not to worry! If you didn’t win this time around, I will being doing these kinds of con­tests with more and more reg­u­larity as CONTROL POINT gets released and my career begins in earnest. So, watch this space!

So, without fur­ther ado — our winners!

1.) John sent this story about his grand­fa­ther (for whom he is named):

It all started in Astoria, Queens, New York, where I was born and where my imag­i­na­tion and desire to write and tell sto­ries were first cul­ti­vated by my grandfather,

John’s Grand­fa­ther, John Zeleznik, as a USCG Ensign!

Gramps, who I was named for. Gramps was a sto­ry­teller. Every­where we went, from his favorite watering hole to the OTB to dark and dank boiler rooms of Queens, he told me sto­ries. I lis­tened and learned how to tell a story. He would buy me paper, from note­books to blank con­struc­tion paper so I could prac­tice the craft. My favorite sto­ries all revolved around him serving in Panama during WW2. He also did some­thing else for me. He took me to the library. The Steinway branch of the Queens Bor­ough Library System to be exact. And made me take out books. Lots and lots of books. Books that I devoured like a fat kid eats cake. It’s because of him that I write every day and want to see my name on the spine of a book.

A real inspi­ra­tion! And what ser­vice was John’s grand­fa­ther in? The UNITED STATES COAST GUARD. The awe­some can barely be con­tained. Con­grat­u­la­tions to John, who gets a signed copy of the CONTROL POINT Advanced Read Copy (ARC)!

2.) Mia writes her nephew in the USMC.

He signed on at 18, did 2 combat tours in Iraq, received a Purple Heart among others, and became a hus­band and father to 2 boys while a Marine. All that and he’s just 27!

Mia’s Nephew, Sergeant Archieval Ortega, with his family

I owe my intro­duc­tion to GI Joe and Xmen to Archie. I’d come over when he was little, out came action fig­ures for mock bat­tles and an exten­sive lec­ture on their skills, powers and back sto­ries. How fit­ting that the boy who earnestly taught me about sol­diers and super­heroes grew up to be both. What­ever my views on con­flict may be, because of Archie and a few other sol­diers I know, I’ll always have respect and affec­tion for those who choose to be soldiers.

Love this story, Mia. You win an auto­graphed copy of the 2012 Stephen King Desk Cal­endar, fea­turing my essay OF KNIGHTHOOD AND NOSTALGIA.

3.) Reesa sent me brief but touching note about her father.

My father, Mike Her­berth, served in the Army in Vietnam. Despite being involved in sev­eral veteran’s groups, and fighting the VA for his pen­sion for years, my Dad has never really liked talking about his ser­vice. It was some­thing he did, that altered the course of his whole life, but I’ve always gotten the sense that what he saw hit him so hard that he didn’t want to share it with his kids.

He’s coming to visit for Thanks­giving, and we’re going to go see the Vietnam memo­rial together. I’m hoping that while we’re there, he’ll be able to share some of it with me. I’ll always be proud of him and his ser­vice, and I don’t want to him to feel like it’s any­thing to be ashamed of.

I like Reesa’s story because it shows some of the hard­ships that vet­erans face as a result of their ser­vice. Thanks for your sup­port of your father, Reesa, and of all of us. You win an auto­graphed copy of WRITERS OF THE FUTURE VOL. XIX fea­turing my story BLOOD AND HORSES.

Thanks again to all those who entered, both for your inspiring sto­ries and your sup­port of vet­erans. I mean it when I say that it helps us to stand the watch when we know the people we’re doing it for are cov­ering our six.