Thanks for stopping by. Let me tell you a little about my work. Click on the covers of any books I’ve written or edited to learn more.
PUBLISHED WORKS
My published credits include over 1,000 articles for magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias and websites, as well as short fiction in genre and literary publications. As a freelancer I’ve gotten to write about such wildly diverse topics as healthcare, education, tourism, Romania and South Africa in World War II, Abraham Lincoln’s re-election, pinball machines, and a host of other subjects.
From Grave Distractions Publishing, The West Virginia Histories series presents in book format some of the award-winning newspaper columns I researched and authored for over 16 years about people and events from the Mountain State’s past. The column, “Once, Long Ago,” appeared each Sunday in my hometown newspaper, the Clarksburg Exponent Telegram and allowed me to indulge both my love of history and my penchant for puns and snarky asides.
Swick writes with accuracy and humor and his unique and quirky style makes reading his work an easy pleasure. – Phyllis Wilson Moore, project director for the first West Virginia Literary Map
Its not just WV histories: Gerald D. Swick makes history fun . . . History buffs, teachers and anyone looking for a well told story will find something here. – Amazon customer review
Gerald D. Swick has definitely done his homework. This is a fantastic collection of stories with great historical significance. The high level of research is obvious. – Maurice W. Lewis, Amazon review
I also authored a coffee-table book for Turner Publishing, Historic Photos of West Virginia, a gift to the state where I grew up. Previously I was a staff editor at Turner, where I worked on over two dozen other books in the Photo History series.
His prose is colorful and informative. – Goldenseal magazine
Absolutely absorbing. – Wonderful West Virginia magazine
The book is great. It was my husband’s favorite Christmas present. – Paula Batson, Amazon review
My 90+ grandfather from West Virginia couldn’t put this book down during Christmas. – wed4877, Amazon review
BOOK EDITING
My editing projects have been almost as diverse as my writing career, including historical fiction and nonfiction, mystery and science fiction novels – even a comic book. Here are a few examples.
A finalist for Romantic Times‘s Historical Novel of the Year, Haley Elizabeth Garwood’s third entry in her Warrior Queen series Ashes of Britannia, was based on Celtic queen Boadicea’s war against the Roman army in ancient Britain.
Sticks and Stones: How to Hike the Appalachian Trail in Thirteen Years, Diane “Sticks” Harsha’s memoir of section-hiking the entire Appalachian Trail while fulfilling her roles as wife, mother, and FBI Agent; the book ranked #1 on three Amazon charts – Solo Travel, Sports Travel, and Walking.
New York Times bestselling author E.E. Isherwood’s Y/A dystopian series, Eternal Apocalypse was one of his early series. He’s written over 25 books now.
“Gerald’s critique of my early writing and his recent editing of my (science fiction) books were two critical pieces of my success as a self-published writer.”
Twenty authors wrote about such diverse topics as “Why the 20th Century was so Violent” to “D-Day Pets and Mascots” for this 75th anniversary publication. In addition to editing all the submissions I authored “Plans for the Invasion” and four of the entries in the “D-Day in Popular Culture” section. Ignore “A Millennials Guide” in the title: this book will fascinate anyone interested in the Normandy Invasion of WW2.
Keith Rocco is perhaps the best-known painter of historical scenes working today. I met him at the first Celebrate History convention in South San Francisco in 1997, where I was one of the speakers and he was exhibiting some of his incredible paintings. I never dreamed that nearly 25 years later we’d work together on a project. I edited Paul Lindsay Dawson’s phenomenally detailed text that accompanies Keith’s paintings in Waterloo: Napoleon’s Last Army. I recently finished authoring the manuscript for a book of Keith’s paintings depicting D-Day, scheduled for publication in 2023.
