It’s difficult to express my feelings at this moment. As 2024 comes to a close, I reflect on my accomplishments with a sense of satisfaction. Yet, I also feel mixed emotions about what awaits me in 2025. Shortly after retiring as a professor of criminology and criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University on January 1, 2024, I signed a contract with Milspeak Books to publish my investigative memoir, titled “Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew.”
Throughout most of 2024, I have been focused on preparing the book for publication, which includes getting it reviewed, vetted, edited, and polished. In just a few days, I will be submitting the book’s index—now I understand why many authors choose to write fiction! Additionally, I’ve finalized my review and edits of the memoir’s interior galley. I can personally vouch for Milspeak‘s production team, which recently received an A rating from Publisher’s Weekly for the cover design, interior design, editing, and marketing materials for one of their latest releases, “Land of Tears” authored by Sanjar Rohām. Their hard work on all of the challenging aspects of my memoir certainly deserves an A+, in my opinion.
With the memoir set to be available for preorder in January and a book launch scheduled at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington Green on June 14, coinciding with Father’s Day weekend, I’m also drafting a detailed itinerary of author events for a book tour spanning from Florida to Maine during the summer and fall. I anticipate the coming months will be a whirlwind—I’m grateful to be retired! Brenda and I are very excited about traveling from city to city in our recently purchased RV and telling others the true story of me wanting to reunite with my father, a whistleblower. A very moral, righteous, religious, and outspoken man was critical of others not performing their roles as he felt they should and, as a result, paid the price and made the ultimate sacrifice.
However, as readers will discover in my memoir, many hopes and dreams stemming from thirty-three years of research and writing into this memoir remain uncertain, awaiting me, my family, and many others from across the globe. Without going into specific details, my memoir is much more than just a book. The simplest way to describe it is through an analogy to Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey.” Both narratives involve decades-long quests and revolve around a devastated son longing for his father, who is far away, and a father, lost and languishing in a distant land, striving to return to his home and family where he can be a father again.
To stay updated on upcoming “Because” events, please subscribe to my website https://jamesbwells.com.
James B. Wells 