ShawneeDispatch.com

A new book by a Shawnee author examines what it would be like to see World War II-era America through the eyes of a German prisoner of war.

Bob Sorter wrote his first novel during his free time at work as a computer programmer, and now he has self-published "Fate," the story of Fritz Dorfmann, a German soldier taken to a prisoner of war camp in western Kansas during World War II.

Sorter has lived in the Kansas City area all his life and in Shawnee for 21 years. He said he always has been fascinated with writing, but he was motivated to write a story when he found an interesting idea: why not put a Prisoner of War camp in western Kansas?

"Because if the prisoners escape, where would they go?" Sorter said. "I even have a line in the book where the prison guard says 'Go ahead; escape. We'll still be able to see you running away the next day, it's so flat.'"

Though he initially thought of writing it as a comedy, Sorter said he decided a serious tone was more appropriate given the historical nature of the book. He said it wasn't until about four or five chapters of the book were written that he found out there were, in fact, POW camps in Kansas.

Writing the book took about five years, Sorter said, with most of his writing done during his lunch hour or while he was on a break at work.

Sorter said he used a number of Web sites to do research, but most of the story remained true to his original ideas without becoming historically inaccurate. He thinks his one historical flaw concerns a U-boat sinking a ship carrying German POWs back to the United States.

He learned about it when he watched a History Channel program about German POW camps in America, which he purposefully avoided during the writing process, afraid it might hinder his creativity. The show stated that the U.S. had an agreement with Germany not to attack ships carrying German POWs.

When it was finally finished, Sorter said he considered sending the book out to major publishers, but he'd heard so many horror stories about the publishing process and rejections that he eventually decided to self-publish through AuthorHouse.

Getting it published in some form, while leaving the opportunity for a larger publisher to pick up the book later on, was the most important thing for Sorter.

"If I make $1 million on it, great; if not, I have something to leave my children and grandchildren," he said.

The book can be purchased at amazon.com or at authorhouse.com. More information can be found on Sorter's Web site, KCBob.com.

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