Now that we have word-processing programs, that ancient typing course is still paying off because it gave me great keyboard skills. After a few predictable first steps, I started on Wingmen, which became my first full-length novel. (For the young people reading this, that’s a device for manually putting printing directly onto a piece of paper.) Shortly after that I discovered I had a talent for composing directly at the typewriter, and it opened up the world of creative writing of long works that I might otherwise never have attempted. When I was in high school in the mid 1960’s, all students were required to take a course in typing. With his assistance, within a couple of months I had regained the rights and found a new publisher, Cheyenne Publications. I contacted Author Elliott Mackle, who had just produced a detailed review, (see the link below). Everyone seemed to want to see the book back in print, particularly in ebook format. Several “new” copies were listed for over $300.

Many bloggers assumed I was dead, since the level of detail in the book suggested I was a veteran of the war.

Then I spent the next couple of hours absolutely transfixed, sifting through dozens of blogs, forums and review sites all talking about this odd 32-year-old gay novel about Navy pilots. On a lark, I googled “Wingmen Ensan Case”. In 2011, I emptied the attic during a move, and found a filing box with my Wingmen notes, correspondence, original manuscript, galleys, and two mint copies. I left novel writing behind and got on with my life. I guess it was too far ahead of its time. It went through one printing, then just sort of disappeared. I embedded the love story in the same framework as Tallyho, World War II in the Pacific between 19. At that point I knew I would write Wingmen, and it would have as its protagonists a pair of gay pilots who were the exact opposites of Newhafer’s. I read the book when I was fifteen, and again when I was about twenty-six. Predictably, one commits suicide and the other dies horribly in battle. The two gay characters were portrayed as totally irredeemable cowards and slackers. In that book, the author weaves a homosexual subplot into his story of Navy pilots.

I wrote the book in 1978, with inspiration coming from a 1960’s novel entitled The Last Tallyho by Richard Newhafer. So, Ensan, tell us the story behind the re-publication of Wingmen. His book, Wingmen, is a lost classic and I'm thrilled that Cheyenne has reprinted it and launched it for the first time as an e-book. I'm thrilled to have Ensan Case as my guest author this month.

Wingmen ensan case