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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 2, 2005 Teacher publishes first novel By Amanda Bolsinger Tidings Correspondent After spending years as an English teacher, teaching others to write, Marshall Umpleby wanted to see if he could write a novel. His first, "On Falcon's Wings" was released in September and Umpleby has passed the test, weaving a passionate and painful story of five youths trying to survive in World War II Europe. "It's very exciting," Umpleby said about the release of his novel. "It's something I had sort of dreamed about but didn't really think would happen. It's been quite a ride." The book is the compilation of the stories of five teenagers from Prague, Czechoslovakia and the aftermath of the assassination of Holocaust architect Reinhard Heydrich in 1942. As Nazis swept through the region after the assassination the boys' lives are bound together by the torment and loss that is familiar to them all. Homes are raided, families disappear into the night, and one town, Lidice is completely destroyed. As the world crumbles around them the boys are kidnapped by German soldiers and sent by train to the Eastern front where they are told they will serve the German army in whatever ways they are ordered. The story gathers momentum after the kidnapping as the boys attempt escape from their Nazi captors. The boys who manage to escape, walk hundreds of miles dodging German soldiers, partisan army's, and people willing to turn them in for reward money. They battle hunger, illness and injury as they try to find their way back to their war ravished homes. They became outlaws, hiding during the day, living in the filth of a sewer system when injury keeps them from moving on, their lives at the mercy of strangers who have no reason to trust them. Umpleby was inspired to write the story after meeting a man that grew up in Prague during WWII. The man told Umpleby his story of being conscripted into the German army at 18 with some of his friends and the realization that they had to escape to survive. He never told Umpleby how they escape though. "I took that realism and had to figure out what they would have had to have been like to survive," Umpleby said. While the action of the book is slow in coming, it is worth the wait as the story develops until the plot takes a life of its own carrying the boys through their escape. The novel isn't a fun nighttime read, but a harrowing story that demands its reader's attention. Expect to see more work from Umpleby in the future. He has a collection of short stories that he is putting together. He is an avid baseball fan and hopes to turn one of his baseball short stories into a novel. Umpleby will be hosting a book talk at Bloomsbury Books later this month. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams