Books
Released in October 2015, Icarian Flux is the follow-up to Halloran's successful 2012 debut, Shortly Thereafter, in more ways than one.
While Shortly Thereafter works as a memoir in verse, recounting Halloran's war experiences, Icarian Flux picks up at the aftermath of his war, utilizing metaphor, narrative, and persona to explore his new life with PTSD. This collection brings readers on a journey through trauma, reflection, memory, and childhood, all the while asking them to question what truly defines reality, time, and existence.
Click on the cover to order today.
Winner of the 2012 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award and a Massachusetts Must-Read Book of 2013, Shortly Thereafter is the debut collection from Colin D. Halloran.
Taking the shape of a memoir in verse, this book begins with pre-deployment issues before the bulk of the collection takes you through Mr. Halloran's experiences on the front lines of rural Afghanistan, until his medical evacuation led him to return to the US, where he was discharged and faced with the challenge of reintegrating into a now-foreign life as a civilian.
Click on the cover to order a copy today.
Winner of the 2012 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award and a Massachusetts Must-Read Book of 2013, Shortly Thereafter is the debut collection from Colin D. Halloran.
Taking the shape of a memoir in verse, this book begins with pre-deployment issues before the bulk of the collection takes you through Mr. Halloran's experiences on the front lines of rural Afghanistan, until his medical evacuation led him to return to the US, where he was discharged and faced with the challenge of reintegrating into a now-foreign life as a civilian.
Click on the cover to order a copy today.
In these troubling times, it seems common sense is lost, even on educated adults. To help make things clear to those adults who can't quite seem to get that mass shootings are bad, use THOU SHALT NOT KILL: A Primer Even THAT Uncle Will Understand. This book presents the concept of not killing people with simple illustrations and a kickin rhyme scheme that even the most thick-headed, second amendment loving, red hat wearing uncle will understand. While this book certainly cannot claim to cover all ways of and "reasons" for killing each other, it covers a range the creators consider wide enough to get the point across at your next family gathering. Killing = Bad. This book = Good.
Click on the cover to order a copy today.
Featuring the Essay: Tracers
​
The second volume in the Incoming series, "Sex, Drugs, and Copenhagen," features the true stories of veterans and military family members told in their own words, straight from their own mouths, about what comes from the boredom, loneliness, and need for escapism that pervades military life. Uniquely hilarious, poignant, and bizarre, this collection opens a window into the unexplored side of military culture when things start getting weird.
​
Click on the cover to order a copy today.
Featuring the Short Story: Salt
A decade has passed since boots first hit the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet the war has not ended―only changed. Twenty-five diverse veteran voices reflect the changing face of combat and reflect the haunting realities and truths only fiction can reveal.
​
These masterfully crafted stories from writers who have served reflect the entire breadth of human emotion―loss, anger, joy, love, fear, and courage―and the evolving nature of what has become America’s “Forever War.”
​
From debut writers to experienced contributors whose work has been featured in the New York Times, the Atlantic, and the New Yorker, this exceptional collection promises to be the definitive fictional look at the aftereffects of the Iraq and Afghan Wars, and will resonate with the reader long after the final page
Featuring the Essay: Private, Pupil, Professor
​
The impact of war, and the lingering aftereffect it has on both veterans and civilians, is—for myriad reasons—largely invisible to the public. Popular media may create news cycles around horrors or stereotypes, but the effort required to redefine and sustain “normal” lives after war stays below the surface and out of sight.
​
In Retire the Colors, nineteen thought-provoking stories by veterans and civilians consider the residual effects of Iraq and Afghanistan. A pacifist describes her decision to accompany her husband, an Iraq veteran, to the shooting range. A hospital worker in Mosul talks about what happens on a hunting trip back home with his grandfather. A veteran experiences the 2013 Boston marathon. The wife of a combat medic considers their unusual nighttime routines. A mother and former 50 cal gunner navigates truth and lies with her children.
​
These stories offer a grace uncommon in war literature today. They also make an appeal to readers: to witness with compassion the men and women who—because of war—possess the strength to show us what it means to be fully human.
Featuring the Essay: A Halfway House Called England
​
Co-edited by Mr. Halloran and published by his Martlet & Mare Books, (t)here is a collection of essays that deal with the issue of reverse culture shock--the returning to a state once normal and finding it to be anything but.
​