Jim talks about becoming a Naval Aviator including what it is like to land and take off from aircraft carriers. He also talks about one of this proudest accomplishments for how he helped lead an effort to put together a book that became Holes In Our Hearts. He talks about the military members that had their own Stories to Tell and how the process of writing helped in their healing. Jim is a prolific author and has won seventy-seven awards to date. We talked about his creative process and he encourages other authors with tips on how to get started and keep improving their own writing skills. Jim also talks about his son and daughter receiving the Papal Blessing by the Pope in Rome. Jim retired after a forty-four-year career with the Department of Defense, including duty as a carrier-based naval aviator. He holds advanced degrees from the University of Southern California and formerly served as a faculty member and National Security Affairs department chair at the Naval Postgraduate School. Dr. Tritten’s publications have won him seventy-seven writing awards, including the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award from the Navy League of the U.S., the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) Writer of the Year and the Parris Award from SouthWest Writers (SWW) – both of these in 2023. He has published thirteen books and over four hundred chapters, short stories, essays, articles, and government technical reports. Jim was a frequent speaker at many military, arms control, and international conferences and has seen his work translated into Russian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Title: Holes in Our Hearts: An Anthology of New Mexican Military Related Stories and Poetry Publisher: Independently published (May 29, 2023) “Introduction” “Adjusting to New Realities” “Thank you for your service” This collection of prose and poetry was gathered and created by SouthWest Writers and funded through a grant from the State of New Mexico Arts Agency. These stories were written and contributed by New Mexican Veterans, their family members and caregivers including: Rosa Armijo-Pemble, Joseph Badal, Rebecca Black, Steve Borbas, E. Joe Brown, Laurel Burnett, Sherri Burr, Ivan Calhoun, John J. Candelaria, Judy Castleberry, Brenda Cole, Brinn Colenda, Joshua Colenda, Mark Fleisher, Paul David Gonzales, Linda G. Harris, M. Elder Hays, A. Michael Hibner, Carl Hitchens, KE Hopkins, James Houston and Molly Houston, Carol Kreis, Caroline A. LeBlanc, Jacqueline Murray Loring, Butch Maki, Elaine Carson Montague, Sam Moorman, Evelyn Neil, Thomas Neiman, C.L. Nemeth, Paula Nixon, Harper O’Connor, Jeffrey Otis, Donna Pedace, W. Howard Plunkett, Léonie Rosenstiel, Earl W. Rugen, Lynne Sebastian, Barb Simmons, Ted Spitzmiller, Dale Swetnam, Jasmine Tritten, Jim Tritten, Lawrence Trujillo, Vicki Turpen, KL Wagoner, Regina Washington, Dan Wetmore, Ben White, Josephine White, J. Allen Whitt, Circe Olson Woessner, Norbert Wood, Kay Yoest.
