Erick W. Miller, served as a Pointman
in the infantry with the 101st
Airborne in Vietnam 1969 1970. He
has two children, four stepchildren,
and 14 grandchildren. Happily married
to his wife Mikki, he resides in
Apache Junction, Arizona. Erick
Miller is the author of Toll of
War, Mother Warned You: Tantrum,
Cottonmouth, Mike's Place; and, Quite
Neighbors.
According to the book description,
Toll of War/Vietnam is a
first hand account of this soldier's
tour as an infantryman with B company
of the 1st 327th infantry-101st
Airborne Div. Screaming Eagles. The
text is comprised of several short
stories with contributions from other
soldiers of the 101st and one from an
ex-marine grunt in Vietnam. It is
written in a humorous light whenever
possible though dealing with the harsh
realities of day to day life as an
infantryman in a jungle war.
According to the book description of
Mother Warned You, "It
is a violent dose of reality with a
Christian message throughout. Adult
content, just enough to make it real,
also make it interesting. Before you
ever get to read it, I want to say
that I never had any formal training
as a writer. I have heard that a
little of the author goes into every
character. I'm sure that is natural.
Teachers also tell you to write about
what you know. I did just that. Those
are dismal thoughts for me to digest,
but, oh well, if you knew me better,
you'd see me throughout the book. I
managed to move about the country so
much, that I'd be gone from an area
before too many got to know me well.
Lots of good people only knew me as a
roofer or a carpenter. Some only knew
me as "Snakeman". That was all they
needed to know. I kept snakes for many
years and still have three.
Of course, I like to think of myself
as the good guy, basically I am and
usually I was. Today, I am for sure.
Still, it was too easy to draw on
personal thoughts and experience to
develop even the most horrible of the
bad guys. Every single character in
all the stories was patterened after
someone I've crossed paths with in the
55 years I'd lived prior to publishing
this the first time. I'd gotten to
know (or be) some of the bad guys too
well.
Tantrum is a departure from writing
norms. The line between good guys and
bad guys is only clear due to the
truly evil nature of the villians.
Cottonmouth and Mike's Place deal with
a flexible style of police work that
most cops only dream of. Liberal
courts stymie the best efforts of good
cops. These tales are about how they'd
like to operate."