Welcome. My name is Jim Painter and I am a former newspaper journalist who started out as a photographer and reporter. For those who don’t remember them, newspapers were once a thing, like clay tablets, town criers and rotary telephones. I eventually became an editor at community weeklies and dailies in Arizona and Texas. Today, I’m a “freelance writer and photographer” (code for “retired”) in the Phoenix area. I recently finished my first novel.
THE BLACK MARCH (90,000 words), is a story of courage, endurance, and brotherhood set in World War II. Like every other B-17 crewman in the Eighth Air Force, flight engineer Andrew Miller knows his chances of living through 25 combat missions are almost nil. However, his real fight for survival begins when he’s shot down and captured in Nazi territory. As the Russian army closes in, the Germans force the Allied POWS into an 86-day forced march during one of the harshest winters in European history. Miller and his two remaining crewmates work together to endure the elements, starvation, and disease. The only thing keeping Miller going is his memories of the plush, green hillsides of western Pennsylvania, where the woman he loves awaits his return.