SPOTLIGHT
A CPA with the ‘write’ stuff STAY TUNED At press time, “Easy Giggles” by Gary Dittmer was scheduled to be published in late 2023. It will be available for purchase online at major retailers. We’ll post the link to our social media channels when it’s available!
and literary agents and ended up receiving a yes from independent publisher Pegasus Publishing.
When Gary Dittmer, CPA, was in college at the University of
Tampa, he heard his friend say he was going to have a life of “easy giggles.” Little did he know that phrase would find itself back to him 50 years later as the title of his first novel, “Easy Giggles.” A Vietnam saga with two perspectives, Gary dives into the historical aspects of the Vietnam War, but also his own experience coming of age and eventually being drafted. Gary said his motivation for writing the story was to have a broad appeal to many individuals. He feels a lot of history books follow one factual trajectory, while Gary’s book is more of a creative story and a history lesson combined. “As a CPA, you’re trained as an investigator. Trained as how and why things [work],” he said. That investigative nature got him interested in the first place, with a desire to tell the whole story of the Vietnam War in the most concise possible way. Gary started writing the book at the end of 2019 and finished in early 2022. He sent out a few queries to publishing companies
Gary has learned the publishing industry is a much slower process compared to accounting. In the early stages, he felt anxious because of the strict deadlines he was used to with accounting. He learned to relax throughout the process and began to understand the difference between a 35-page tax return and a book with hundreds of pages. The hardest part, Gary said, was not actually the slow publishing industry, but revisiting the parts of his past he had chosen not to talk about. He also had to ensure the book’s facts were correct. As an accountant, he knows the importance of fact checking, and that was always in the back of his mind. But, still, there were fun aspects during the writing process. Gary included humorous stories from his life in the memoir portion of the story. He also enjoyed writing the final chapters as he was tying the story together. While Gary is now enjoying retirement and is volunteer treasurer for the 25th Infantry Memorial Fund, he ended his professional career as senior tax director for Spok, Inc., located in Springfield. He was also an adjunct professor at George Mason University and the University of Virginia School of Continuing and Professional Studies, teaching taxation. Gary hopes the readers of this book will receive a history lesson they’ve never heard before. He’s been a self-proclaimed history buff for many years, and he found the process enjoyable. In fact, he’s already thinking about his next one. n
DISCLOSURES
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