THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2024 51 David K. Wessel is a retired Foreign Service officer and amateur historian turned novelist. His first book, Choosing Sides, was published in March 2024 and is featured in this year’s edition of “In Their Own Write.” He can be reached at davidkwesselauthor@gmail.com or through his website: www.davidkwessel.com. Foreign Service authors share their struggles and inspirations. BY DAVID K. WESSEL IN THEIR OWN WORDS An Interview with Four Foreign Service Authors As evidenced by the number of entries in e Foreign Service Journal’s annual “In eir Own Write” compendium, many former and current members of the Foreign Service community have a story to tell. Writing can be a rewarding outlet for the untapped creative talents, mental energy, and free time of Foreign Service employees and their family members while at posts abroad. I asked several authors included in the 2023 “In eir Own Write” to share the story behind their stories and explain how their writing was inspired or hindered by their Foreign Service work and lifestyle. I spoke with Gregory E. Buford, an FS family member currently living in Turkmenistan and the author of a memoir series, Kept, based on his life at di erent posts; Lydia Kiesling, novelist and daughter of a retired FSO; Sarah Chapman Monahan, a Foreign Service child and current FSO spouse who writes historical young adult ction; and Mikkela ompson, a Foreign Service child who is a multigenre writer and a Foreign Service o ce management specialist. ON FOREIGN SERVICE AUTHORS FOCUS ISTOCK.COM/TETIANA KOMARYTSKA
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