E. Franklin Evans is a decorated, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who fought as an infantry platoon leader in Vietnam and served in the United States Army for over twenty-six years. Following a tour with the Ranger Department at Fort Benning, Georgia, he departed for Vietnam in 1968.
He also served as a Special Agent of Counter-Intelligence for the US Army. Frank has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Columbus State University, a Master of Arts in Management and a Master of Arts in Computer Resources Management from Webster University in Saint Louis.
As an adjunct college professor, he taught college courses in Microcomputer Applications for eleven years.
His first book, Stand To... A Journey to Manhood, was published in January 2008. It won MWSA’s Founder’s Award. He has published two additional books in 2017: Read My Shorts and The Lost Estate: Insurgency in Alabama.
He is married to Pamela Evans and is the father of three grown children, two sons and a daughter.
MWSA: Why did you become an author in the first place? E. Franklin Evans: I’ve always been interested in writing. My desire began in high school where my English and Drama teachers encouraged me to pursue writing. I wrote many contract offers and training manuals while in the army. Upon my entry into college, my English teacher, who was a successful published author, Dr. Virginia Spencer Carr; The Lonely Hunter: A Biography of Carson McCullers encouraged me to write, and thus began my writing career. My membership with the MWSA jump-started my desire and off I went.
MWSA: When and why did you join MWSA?
EFE: Looking for a respected organization to market my first book in 2008, I discovered The MWSA through a friend. Once I joined, I was thoroughly impressed with the wide range of writers; some were published authors and others were beginning to write. I felt at home.
I have developed many friendships within the membership. In the MWSA, I found professional editors, reviewers, and seasoned assistance in reaching my goal to become a better writer. By reviewing other’s works, I developed a sense of what worked and what did not. I learned what a necessity a professional editor is. My first published book won the distinguished Founder’s Award in 2009.
MWSA: Why did you choose to work in this genre?
EFE: Through my contributions to several MWSA anthologies, I began to develop my own style. Fiction will be my future. I will publish an historical fiction next. Several ideas keep asking me to write about them. My stories seem to write themselves as the words flow.
MWSA: Will you briefly list your other books for us?
EFE: Stand To…A Journey to Manhood (2009); Read My Shorts, several short stories in Dispatches and MWSA Anthologies.
MWSA: Tell us a little bit about your new book, The Lost Estate.
EFE: This is the story of a man trying to fight his demons while personal tragedies keep pummeling him. The onetwo punch of horrifying news nearly devastated New York City detective lieutenant, Mark Saunders. Under investigation by internal affairs for his recent shooting
of a would-be assassin intensified his troubles. The jealous asshole, Decker, passed over for the coveted promotion that he felt Saunders stole from him, was trying hard to incriminate Mark of using excessive force. Alcohol only contributed to Mark’s depression, initially brought on by his two-timing wife of six years. Now, burdened with coping with the grief of family deaths and the estate settlement of the Southern plantation of his childhood, Mark was beginning to allow his stressors to exceed his coping abilities: to put it bluntly, Mark was at the end of his rope. What awaited him in his old hometown was almost too much for this hardened cop.
MWSA: What made you interested in writing a book on this particular topic?
EFE: I wanted to write in this genre and, perhaps, continue this story as a series.
MWSA: What makes this particular book special to you?
EFE: I believe this is my best work yet.