The first novel from Duluth resident Dennis Barger is out now and gathering a lot of positive attention.
“A Secret Soldier’s Confession,” Barger’s debut work published in December, is an engrossing story about the impact of a World War II secret on a current-day family in the United States.
Successful career in insurance
As well-crafted as the novel is, it’s amazing to learn that Barger is new to the world of novels. He spent his career in the insurance industry and was well traveled during his 44 years with six different companies.
“I went to Bowling Green, then Lexington, Kentucky,” Barger recalled, “then to New Orleans, then Hartford, Connecticut. Then to Chicago, Pittsburgh, back to Chicago and here to Atlanta.”
A native Cincinnatian, he graduated from the University of Cincinnati, where he met his wife, Barb. In 2013, Barger was recruited by an international company to start a local insurance company. Under his leadership, it had grown to 150 employees across six states.
“A heck of a career,” he said. “I loved it.”
Goal of writing a book
When he was ready to retire, Barger wanted to make that retirement as successful as his career had been. He talked to some friends and read a few books on the subject and found a consistent theme — that a good retirement not only includes staying healthy and having sound finances, but also having things that keep you busy.
“So I sat down and mapped out some things,” Barger said, “one of which was writing and releasing a book. Fortunately, I was able to do that.”
“A Secret Soldier’s Confession” came out of his love for historical fiction. With World War II and its immediate aftermath being a key part of the story, of course Barger had to do a lot of research.
But many of his, and his family’s, personal experiences are baked into the story as well — like his childhood family vacations in North Carolina.
Research was key
“When I was a young kid growing up in Ohio,” Barger recalled, “my parents used to take us down to the Outer Banks for a one or two week vacation. This was back in the 60s.”
Back then, the Outer Banks beach cottages were not used during the winter months. People would have to open up the cottages in the spring for the summer tourists. Barger remembered stories that he and his family heard from one cottage owner.
“He used to find German beer cans, cigarette wrappers and discarded clothing in the cottages,” Barger said.
Wondering how true these stories were, Barger started to do some research.
A story built around true events
“I just started to go down a rabbit hole,” he said, “and pretty soon I had a lot of event facts … I laid them down on a table so I could look at them and then I just started making up a story that would weave these events through it.”
His novel contains many historically accurate facts woven into the action adventures of his main characters. Barger invested a lot of research to make sure the history around the story is correct. Many of the battles and ships and commanders referred to in the book are real. The European cities and transportation and even restaurants are accurately described from both his research and his personal experience.
A key event in “A Secret Soldier’s Confession” involves the sinking of a German U-boat off the North Carolina shore. The book tells the tale of American forces gathering the bodies of the Germans killed there and how the enemy soldiers’ bodies were taken to an American cemetery to be buried.
This really happened, and Barger has actually been to the Hampton National Cemetery where the Germans are buried.
Focused on the plot
All told, Barger estimates he put in eight to 12 months of research and an additional eight months of writing. His writing concentrates on the plot.
“I wanted something that was entertaining,” Barger said. “I’m more of a storyteller, so more of my focus is around the plot and the experience and how you feel when you’re reading it.”
The challenge of getting published
He had the majority of his manuscript completed when he retired, so his attention shifted to getting it published. As he started to work on that, he got help from two places.
The first was a friend he had worked with for over 20 years. This friend had written a book and gave Barger a few tips on what to do. The friend also gave him a warning: finding a publisher is really hard.
To get books published by the larger publishing houses, authors must have a literary agent.
Barger explained that to get a literary agent, you have to do research on things like what kind of books the agents are looking for and how they want the requests submitted. He estimates it takes up to 90 minutes to research each literary agent.
He did that and ended up querying 145 agents, none of whom ever agreed to work with him.
“Out of 145,” Barger said, “I now have 45 that have answered no and 100 that have never even answered.”
Help in Italy
Authors can also choose to self-publish, but that route is fraught with expenses and potential pitfalls. It was not a path Barger wanted to pursue.
But in between the big publishing houses and self-publishing is another level of mid-size publishers. Barger decided this was the way to go, but wasn’t exactly sure how to get started. This is where he got help the second time.
“I say it this way,” Barger said, “it was kind of a God moment. My wife and I went on a trip to Italy. On one of the final days, we were getting on a train and my wife noticed this guy signing a book on the train platform. Then he and I are standing next to each other on the train, and we get to talking. He was a recently published author from the United States. He told me he would introduce me to his publisher.”
That publisher turned out to be W.H. Wax Publishing in Arkansas. They’re one of the mid-size publishers Barger was looking for. Bill Wax and his team were happy to talk with Barger. They requested a synopsis, and it didn’t take them long to decide that “A Secret Soldier’s Confession”fit in with their stable of books.
Barger sent them a full manuscript last May, and it was published in December 2024.
Excellent reviews
“A Secret Soldier’s Confession” has only been out a few weeks, but readers seem to love it. The book has a 4.5 star rating on Goodreads and 4.9 stars on Amazon.
It’s taken a lot of hard work to get his first novel published, and Barger’s happy with how it’s all worked out. In fact, he’s so happy that he’s already starting to work on a sequel.
“A Secret Soldier’s Confession” is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon and can also be ordered on request by many bookstores.
For more about Dennis Barger, visit dennisbargerbooks.com.
