PQ Journalist Publishes Book Personalizing the War in Iraq

Posted on July 28, 2011

Everyone has a story,” explained Sue Diaz, author of the book “Minefields of the Heart: A Mother’s Stories of a Son at War.” Diaz, as a local journalist, author and educator, has an extensive history in explaining stories, including her own.

Excelling in school, Diaz taught high school English after obtaining her Master’s Degree. After four years she transitioned into copy writing for a major San Diego advertising agency. She quickly advanced to become the creative director; however, after three years, she decided to do what some might consider unthinkable: “I decided to go freelance,” she said.

Besides doing work with local and national companies, Diaz – a Rancho Penasquitos resident since 1986 – began to branch out, writing columns, features, and a “long-running slice-of-family-life humor column” for San Diego Family Magazine.

Her work has been seen in such publications as: Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, Woman’s Day, Child, Westways, Mountain Living, Dog Fancy, San Diego Union-Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times and has garnered Diaz an extensive list of awards, including a 2007 Pulitzer Prize nomination for work done for the Christian Science Monitor.

“I wrote to reach readers and invite them into the uncertain world of families with loved ones in a war zone,” Diaz’s explains about her latest book. In 2002 her son, Roman, joined the army and served two deployments to Iraq. “During that time, I chronicled the war and my family’s experience of it in a series that was syndicated nationally and internationally,” she said. The essays provided a starting point for her book, which was published in June 2010 through Potomac Press.

In addition to her writing, Diaz leads writing workshops for war veterans at the San Diego Veterans Center and the Naval Medical Center. She also produces YouTube.com videos to share her stories in a new format (an overview of her book can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxWRdJ870Hw).

Minefields of the Heart can be purchased at major book stores and at Amazon.com. Information is also available at www.minefieldsoftheheart.com.