Fayetteville

resident Jerry M. Moore was a Naval Reservist who missed the Cuban Missile

Crisis. Readers of his first novel, "Weekend Warriors" would

swear that he was not only enlisted during that period but that he was

in the thick of things during that tumultuous time. Moore entered the

Reserves after the crisis had passed but heard tales told by other members

of his squadron. Those tales may have been the seeds that grew into his

book.

Moore was a

Plane Captain in the Naval Reserves, much like Mac McRee, one of the main

characters of the novel. He attended a trade school in south Georgia,

became a licensed aircraft mechanic and was used in this capacity during

his 12 years of service. The job of a Plane Captain was to refuel the

plane after landing and to pretty much go where he was needed during flights.

Often times this meant that he would be in the nose or in the back with

a camera, searching for freighters off the coast of Florida.

"It was

like a rollercoaster at times," said Moore, recounting the sharp

figure eights the planes would carve over the water, sometimes flying

for 14 hours at a time.

"Weekend

Warriors" is a fictional story based on actual events that took place

before, during and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The dates and times

of some of the events in the book are accurate, as are the names of the

ships mentioned throughout.

"I tried

to tie in as much fact as possible, said Moore. "I did a lot of research

to make it sound believable."

The novel focuses

on Mac McRee and David Wood, two Naval Reservists or "weekend warriors"

as they were sometimes called. After their plane is mysteriously shot

down during a routine surveillance exercise, the two become embroiled

in a tale of conspiracy and espionage that seems destined to lead the

world into World War III. There is a lot more to the story, including

Russians searching for missing nuclear warheads, Cuban exiles in limbo

after the Bay of Pigs invasion, rogue CIA agents and much more.

"Weekend

Warriors" was Moore's first novel and the process of research, writing

and editing took seven years. Moore had five editors look at the book

during that period, including the late Dave Hamrick, former managing editor

of The Citizen, who edited the book in both its early stages and late

stages.

"They

say the first book is always the hardest," said Moore. "I must

have made thousands of changes to the book while writing it. It is also

very hard to get publishers to look at an unknown author."

To get his

novel published, Moore went to 1stbooks.com. They are a profitable, print-on-demand

and eBook publishing company. Authors can go to the company with a finished

book and get it published. Since it has been published, Moore has taken

his novel to military fairs as well as local bookstores. "Weekend

Warriors" can be ordered at Barnes and Noble, either in store or

on their Web site, at www.1stbooks.com , or at Moore's own Web site,

www.Moore2000.com .

Moore has lived

in Fayetteville for 24 years. He resided in both East Point and College

Park before moving to the area and attended Russell High School.

The book is

dedicated to Moore's brother, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, who died

with eight Navy SEALS in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. Moore's connections

to the military are evident in the details of the novel, making it hard

to believe that the work came from a new author.

Moore describes

the book as "the untold, semi-fictional aftermath of the Cuban Missile

Crisis." "I truly believe that if people read this book, they

will like it," added Moore.

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