THREE LITERARY AWARDS FOR "THE SOOF":
Great news! "The SOOF" has now won three literary awards: It won First Place in the American Legacy Book Award (ALBA) competition and Second Place in The BookFest Awards Spring 2024 competition. In 2023, "The SOOF was a Finalist in The American Book Fest's American Fiction Award contest. These are significant awards because the competition level was very high. So, be sure to obtain a copy of this thrice-awarded winning novel.
My second novel, "Assassin's Revenge" has been recognized with 2 Finalist Awards from ALBA and ABF competitions. Both novels are available on Amazon
SHORT STORY UPDATE:
NEW:
In April 2024, I submitted a short story entitled "Unknown Caller" to LivingSprings Publishers competition for possible inclusion in an anthology of short stories entitled "Stories Through the Ages Baby Boomers Plus 2024". I just received word that "Unknown Caller" was awarded Second Place in the competition. The anthology will be published later this year. The publisher congratulated me on the award because the competition this year was unprecedented and 'tremendous'. I will announce when the anthology will be available.
Last September, Indignor House Publishing asked me to submit a short story into a competition for a short story anthology they planned to publish last fall. I was honored that they would ask me, because I did not approach them. The theme of the anthology is "Finding the Good Through the Rain". I knew the odds were long against me to win an award. However, "Eden's Rain" was awarded First Place in the competition. The amazing thing about this is that the Indignor House CEO told me that my story successfully competed against thousands of entrants. She also said that "Eden's Rain" is a 'wonderful' story. The link to Indignor House is: http://www.indignorhouse.com/. The anthology can be obtained on Amazon by searching for: Finding the Good Through the Rain.
ADDITIONAL NOVEL INFORMATION:
I have published 2 fiction novels, "The SOOF", and "Assassin's Revenge". Synopses of these 2 books are given below. The publisher of these books is Koehler Books.
Several months ago, I entered both of them into a competition sponsored by American Book Fest (ABF). ABF is an online publication which provides book coverage from mainstream and independent publishers to the world online community. https://www.AmericanBookFest.com.
Both my books have won awards. They both were awarded the Finalist Award in their respective categories. "The SOOF" for the category Adventure: Military, War, and "Assassin's Revenge for Adventure: General. These awards are important for an unknown author like me because ABF issues press releases and sends out newsletters to over 32,000 book lovers announcing the authors, their book titles, and their awards. These listings are also read by streaming movie producers like Netflix, Hulu, Disney, etc. for possible movie contracts.
The link for the recent ABF press release is: https://www.americanbookfest.com/2023afapressrelease.html
Below, are synopses of "The SOOF" and "Assassin's Revenge".
"The SOOF": A young Norwegian naval officer observes strange and sinister Russian naval activity in the Barents Sea. He reports his findings, and soon thereafter, the US president is being briefed. It is now apparent that Russia has been planning a political and military coup for 10 years to establish world dominance. Central to their plan is a top-secret command and control facility, called the SOOF, that they have built in the ice covered Sea of Okhotsk. This facility must be destroyed to foil the coup. The president orders a suicide mission into the Sea of O using a nuclear attack submarine and an embarked platoon of navy SEALS. The heroes of this story are a female environmental scientist, Dr. Samantha Stone, and the submarine's commanding officer, Captain Ira Coen. The mission to destroy the SOOF is fraught with one unexpected surprise after another as Samantha's environmental knowledge an Ira's tactical skills are put to the test against a harsh and unknown environment and two of Russia's most capable submarines assigned to defend the SOOF at all costs.
In "Assassin's Revenge", one of the Russian coup leaders mentioned in "The SOOF" escapes capture. He is a highly successful international assassin, and he is determined to kill those responsible for the coup's failure. He has a hit list of 18. He has assassinated the first 4 on his list, and Samantha is number 5. The resulting cat and mouse game between the two is something to behold. A more detailed synopsis is presented below.
There are ways that you can help me in my dream to be a successful author:
1. When you read the book, and if you enjoy it, please write a short review, and submit it to the outlet you purchased it from. Reviews are extremely important on Amazon. Short, concise reviews are best. The best advice I can give is that if you were advising a friend to buy the book, what would you say? Fast paced, great main character, surprise ending, twists and turns, etc. The links to purchasing "Assassin's Revenge" for Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon are:
Indie: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781646637997
B & N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/assassins-revenge-samuel-g-tooma/1141932023
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Revenge-Samuel-G-Tooma/dp/1646638018/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2B8G4I9FRF5NK&keywords=samuel+tooma&qid=1662667273&s=books&sprefix=samuel+tooma%2Cstripbooks%2C136&sr=1-5
2. Tag or repost my FaceBook post to your FB friends. This is easy to do and really helps in getting the word out.
3. If you really enjoy the book "Assassin's Revenge" and my first book "The SOOF", this could be an easy and inexpensive way to cross off names on your Christmas gift list.
4. Word of mouth is an outstanding way to get the awareness of the book out to the world.
5. If you are a member of a book club, and the interest is there for a fiction mystery thriller, "The SOOF" and "Assassin's Revenge" might be an interesting book to review and discuss. I weave a lot of themes into my stories; spiritual, love interest, humor, humility, etc.
I thank all of you that have helped and encouraged me in this exciting venture in my life. I'm advanced in age, and the process of writing fiction novels is keeping my mind active and healthy. Thank you all.
A SHORT SYNOPSIS OF "ASSASSIN'S REVENGE"
If you have read "The SOOF", you are familiar with the hero, Dr. Samantha Stone. Well, she returns in "Assassin's Revenge", and she really kicks butt (She gets hers kicked around pretty good too). You will love her. The basic plot is that one of the evil Russian planners of the failed military and political coup (chronicled in "The SOOF") escapes capture. He is a skilled international assassin, and he is bent on revenge. Hence, the title of the book. He has planned to assassinate the 18 people that he feels were responsible for thwarting the coup. He has killed the first 4 on his list so far, and Samantha is number 5. Well, for those of you that have read "The SOOF", you can imagine that the assassin doesn't know who he is dealing with, and she won't be an easy victim. After 3 attempts on her life, she finally gets tired of looking over her shoulder at every strange noise, and she decides to become more proactive and go after him. The majority of the story is a cat and mouse game between Samantha and the assassin and spans 2 continents. It is an exciting game of wits between the two.
A more detailed synopsis of "The SOOF" is given below.
I worked as a physical oceanographer for the US Navy for 36 + years. See my professional bio below. During the summer of 2021, I decided to put my professional expertise to use and write a fiction novel. The story line is in the genre of Hunt For Red October in that it involves a US nuclear submarine vs 2 of Russia's deadliest attack submarines. I finished the manuscript, which I titled "The SOOF", in August 2021. I submitted the manuscript to Koehler Book Publishing fully expecting to receive a rejection slip. But, lo and behold, Koehler informed me that they would like to publish my book! The book hit the streets on 12 June 2021. I published a sequel to "The SOOF" in 2022, entitled "Assassin's Revenge". Since these 2 novels, I have tried my hand at short stories. Two of them have won significant literary awards: "Eden's Rain" won First Place in a best writing contest and is available in an anthology entitled "Finding the Good Through the Rain"; "Unknow Caller" won Second Place in a competition and will be available in an anthology entitled "Stories Through the Ages Baby Boomers Plus 2024" later in 2024. I am very much excited about a possible second career as an author. Of course, this second career fully depends on the success of my literary works. I'm off to a good start.
PROFESSIONAL BIO
I worked for the navy as a civilian physical oceanographer for over 36 years. In that time, I worked on submarines, navy aircraft, navy, coast guard, and civilian ships, and spent time in scientific camps on the Arctic Ocean ice pack. I spent 2 years as the Environmental Science Advisor on the staff of the Commander of the Submarine Forces in the Pacific (COMSUBPAC). I have had extensive experience in working with the military. I worked as an editor for technical publications for the Naval Oceanographic Office for over 2 years. I have published 6 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, 9 papers in other technical publications, 1 trade magazine article, and numerous papers printed in the proceedings of technical symposia.
Upon completion of my tour as the Environmental Science Advisor for COMSUBPAC, I was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service medal by Admiral Austin Scott.
I have published 2 novels; a military thriller fiction novel entitled "The SOOF" and a mystery thriller entitled "Assassin's Revenge". I have also published a short story entitled "Eden's RIain published in an anthology of short stories. The anthology is entitled "Finding the Good Through the Rain". I will have a second short story, "Unknown Caller", published later in 2024.
MY BLOG
In 2018, my 2 daughters and six grandchildren convinced me to write my memoires. They wanted something to remember me by and to read to their children. After years of saying 'no', I relented. The title of my life story is "Memoirs Of An Ordinary Man Living An Extraordinary Life". If you follow this blog, you will see that my life has been anything but ordinary. I will try to post some of these stories twice weeky; perhaps Monday and Thursday. In the first post, I give a Foreword which gives a little background on my ordinary, boring childhood. The subsequent posts will provide 1 or 2 episodes, depending on their length. I certainly hope that you enjoy reading about my life as much as my children have enjoyed me telling them about it.
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To start at the beginning of the blog, CLICK HERE.
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Residences: Born in Central Falls, RI in 1941
I lived in Washington, D.C. for 12 years; New Orleans/Mississippi Gulf Coast area for 24 years; and I have been living on Hilton Head Island, SC since 2000.
I also lived in Newport, RI for 1 year and Pearl Harbor, HI for 2 years.
Education: I graduated from Central Falls High School in 1959. I attended the University of Rhode Island and graduated with a BSc degree in chemistry in 1963. I attended the US Navy War College in Newport, RI during the 1978 - 1979 class year.
Professional Career: I worked for the US Navy as a civilian physical oceanographer for 36+ years. In that time, I worked on Navy, Coast Guard, and civilian ships, nuclear submarines, and scientific camps on the arctic ice pack. My scientific expertise mostly involved: (1) remote sensing (aircraft and satellite systems) of Arctic Ocean physical properties, especially that of sea ice; and (2) seafloor geosciences. My military scientific experience involved: (1) environmental impact on submarine systems performance; and (2) seafloor effects on Mine CounterMeasures (MCM) systems. My MCM efforts also involved the development of capabilities to use operational MCM systems to determine environmental parameters that impact on the performance of mine detection sonars. At my retirement in January of 2000, I was the head of the Seafloor Geosciences Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory.
I spent 2 years (1982-1984) as the Environmental Science Advisor to the Commander of the Submarine Force in the Pacific (COMSUBPAC). Upon completion of my tour at COMSUBPAC, I was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service medal by Admiral Austin Scott.
I have published two fiction novels, "The SOOF" and "Assassin's Revenge".
I lived in Washington, D.C. for 12 years; New Orleans/Mississippi Gulf Coast area for 24 years; and I have been living on Hilton Head Island, SC since 2000.
I also lived in Newport, RI for 1 year and Pearl Harbor, HI for 2 years.
Education: I graduated from Central Falls High School in 1959. I attended the University of Rhode Island and graduated with a BSc degree in chemistry in 1963. I attended the US Navy War College in Newport, RI during the 1978 - 1979 class year.
Professional Career: I worked for the US Navy as a civilian physical oceanographer for 36+ years. In that time, I worked on Navy, Coast Guard, and civilian ships, nuclear submarines, and scientific camps on the arctic ice pack. My scientific expertise mostly involved: (1) remote sensing (aircraft and satellite systems) of Arctic Ocean physical properties, especially that of sea ice; and (2) seafloor geosciences. My military scientific experience involved: (1) environmental impact on submarine systems performance; and (2) seafloor effects on Mine CounterMeasures (MCM) systems. My MCM efforts also involved the development of capabilities to use operational MCM systems to determine environmental parameters that impact on the performance of mine detection sonars. At my retirement in January of 2000, I was the head of the Seafloor Geosciences Branch at the Naval Research Laboratory.
I spent 2 years (1982-1984) as the Environmental Science Advisor to the Commander of the Submarine Force in the Pacific (COMSUBPAC). Upon completion of my tour at COMSUBPAC, I was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service medal by Admiral Austin Scott.
I have published two fiction novels, "The SOOF" and "Assassin's Revenge".
