Coronado resident, Retired Naval Aviator and New York Times best-selling author George Galdorisi recently released his latest book BRAVESHIP WRITERS SHARE THEIR SECRETS: How to Write Books People Actually Read. A prolific writer, George has published more than 15 books, both fiction and non-fiction, along with hundreds of articles, most recently focusing on Artificial Intelligence.

Galdorisi is currently the Director of Strategic Assessments and Technical Futures at the Navy’s Command and Control Center of Excellence in San Diego. His over thirty years of active duty service and post-Navy service has provided him with ideas that shape both fiction novels, in a genre becoming known as ‘Useful Fiction’ or Fictional Intelligence, as well as for his non-fiction books on emerging technologies. This most recent book, that Galdorisi penned with Kevin McDonald, is a tool for aspiring writers to learn how to write, publish and sell a book by sharing wisdom from those who’ve already done it. Retired Admiral, NATO Commander and Author James Stavridis praised the book saying, “Few established writers are willing to share the secrets of their craft; and until now, no group of award winning writers has done so. Braveship Writers Share Their Secrets breaks new ground and provides an entertaining and extraordinarily useful guide to beginning, emerging and established writers. Read this book and then pick up your pen!”

I had the opportunity to sit down with George to talk about his craft. As we discussed George’s novels we focused on his latest Rick Holden Novel –  Fire and Ice. When asked how he chooses what he plans to write about he shared, “For my novels, I write about what worries me in the geopolitical arena. As I have watched as Russia has become increasingly aggressive during President Putin’s tenure, it occurred to me that Putin might invade an Eastern European country to take the Russia people’s minds off their domestic issues. I wrote the book in 2020 and it was published in early 2021, long before Putin began massing forces on Ukraine’s borders.” George went on to say, “As more and more writers have examined future warfare through works of fiction, a new genre of military-themed literature has emerged. ‘Useful Fiction,’ or FICINT (Fictional Intelligence), is generally understood to be imagining future warfare scenarios based on the realities of high-end combat and real-world intelligence—not fantasy.”

When I asked how this ‘useful fiction’ is viewed by the military, George said, “The U.S. national security community has now embraced this new genre as a useful instrument to intuit how tomorrow’s wars will be fought. As one small indication of the momentum that Useful Fiction has gained, I recently spoke at a Useful Fiction event at the U.S. Air Force Academy. It was attended by hundreds of Academy cadets, as well as scores of officers from various commands, including the North American Aerospace Defense Command.”

Prior to becoming a prolific writer, Galdorisi served for thirty years as a Naval Officer and helicopter aviator having had command four times. Galdorisi said, “I was blessed that the Navy moved us here to Coronado in 1983 to stand-up HSL 41 and I was able to stay here taking sea duty tours and remain here for the rest of our career and raise our family. Our son Brian and our daughter Laura are both Coronado High School graduates.”

When asked what he loved about Coronado, he said, “My favorite part of Coronado is being married to Becky Galdorisi, who taught elementary school here for over two decades, and as we walk through the community she will be approached and hugged by her old students.”

George taught a six-week seminar for Coronado Adult Education called ‘Get Published Now’ and it incorporated the lessons shared in his latest book. George said, “I’ve had a great deal of help from mentors and fellow writers throughout my writing career. Now I would like to pay it forward. One way of doing that is via my website: www.georgegaldorisi.com. If readers go to the site, go to the pull-down Blog menu and select Writing Tips; they’ll find useful advice for beginning, emerging and accomplished writers.”