A question at a party in 2019 led Papillion attorney John Waters to write his first book.
John Waters wrote a novel based on his experiences as a Marine in a war zone. He’s now 27 years old with a wife and three kids, and he works as an attorney for Fiserv.
The gathering was a fundraiser for Opera Omaha at the home of a colleague. Waters, who wasn’t an opera fan, felt alone and out of his element. When he listened to a talk about the company’s next performance, that feeling got stronger.
Then a singer performed “Danny Boy,” a sad Irish ballad about a mom who watches her son march off to war. That struck a chord with Waters, who graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq as a Marine.
He stopped to talk to the singer on his way out of the party.
“I told her I had gone to war,” he said, and she responded with a question: “Do you think a soldier ever comes home from war?”
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It was an issue he’d never resolved, but one he wanted to contemplate. He had some questions of his own. And as he searched for answers, he was also developing a newfound interest in the arts.
“River Zone One,” by John Waters, is about a man’s return from war and his efforts to build a new life with a beautiful singer.
This month, his novel, “River City One,” was released by Permuted Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster. He had a launch party in Washington, D.C., hosted by his sister, Erin, the president and CEO of the Real Clear Politics website. He’s also had readings at Omaha’s Bookworm and in Iowa City.
“River City One” tells the story of John Walker, a lawyer and ex-Marine who has been on the edge since he came home from the war. He rages against people who don’t understand the terror he felt in combat and the guilt he still feels. Things turn around when he meets a beautiful singer, but his web of lies may destroy his renewed life.
Papillion resident John Waters, who wrote a novel using his experiences as a Marine as fodder, is congratulated by President Barack Obama at his graduation from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Waters, 37, has seen war, but he said the book is not autobiographical. After graduating from Annapolis, he became a lieutenant in the Marines and eventually was a ground intelligence officer in Afghanistan. He wasn’t in combat, but he did receive photographic proof that soldiers had captured and killed people he had located.
“Hemingway said to write what you know. I started with a place and people I know and feelings and memories I have,” Waters said. “What happens is not a memoir, (but) it is truthful to the experience of coming home. It is not about me. I wouldn’t force something on the world that was just about me.”
Once he decided to write the book, it took him only three months to complete the first draft, writing in pencil in a journal. He said he wanted it to be hard.
He worked surreptitiously in his basement. Only his wife and his mom knew about it. He said his dad, also named John, wasn’t pleased when he learned what was going on. Put it away, he told his son, and focus on your day job and your family.
The younger Waters soldiered on, writing the next draft in pen and typing the last one.
He prepared for the process by studying how various artists created. He also found a writing mentor and lived with him for six months.
And, he said, “I read everything I could. I was always a reader.”
His mom, Patricia Waters, edited the book before he sent it off to various agents and publishing companies. (She’s a former features editor at The World-Herald.) He said he contacted about 500 editors, writers and publishers before finding an agent in London.
He learned that to get ahead, writers also have to be marketers as well.
Papillion resident John Waters as a student at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
“The book was like my client,” he said. “It was hard, but I was a Marine and as a Marine I did hard things.”
He wrote his book, he said, because there was a lot he loved about his time in the corps. But like many soldiers, he felt somewhat lost when his military career ended in 2015.
“When I came home, I felt abandoned and alone. Writing was a comfort … I could be with old friends,” he said. “We come home and we’re feted as heroes but all we’re thinking about is what we didn’t do, where we fell short. I wanted to tell that story.”
The book has already received a couple of positive reviews, including this from Eugene Sledge Award-winning author Kacy Tellessen:
“John Waters renders real a fictional account of what it’s like to attempt to live an ordinary life after experiencing the extraordinary thumbprint of war. With rich prose and a touch of the surreal, Waters tells a story that will make you reflect on your own life, as all great stories do. ‘River City One’ is an utterly human story that demands to be read.”
Waters, who has three young children, said his wife has been very supportive throughout his journey. His seven-year-old son, Henry, has started writing books himself.
He frequently reads to Henry before bedtime.
“We came to the end of reading (one night) and we talked about his book, ‘Ben the Ant,’” Waters said. “And he says, ‘Someday I want to be like you.’”
Since he finished “River City One,” he said, he’s moved on from regular reflection about his military experiences and has found new interests. Writing it has helped him move on.
“It’s not so much in my head anymore,” he said.
He’ll continue to practice law; he now works as a corporate lawyer at Fiserv. But he also plans to continue writing. He has a contract for a nonfiction book, composes poetry and someday would like to produce a novel about love and romance.
“Writing, to me, is an impulse that I can’t do anything but indulge,” he said. “I have to do it.”
Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of November 2023
Brothers Finn, 10, and Jaxson Mlynarik, 14, of Winterset, Iowa, stand together with a lit up snowflake during the Holiday Lights Festival lighting ceremony at The RiverFront Park in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.
Sandhills/Thedford’s Zeb Wilde (32) and Carson Cooksley (14) celebrate with fans Kaden Haake and Connor Cooksley following the Wynot vs. Sandhills/Thedford Nebraska Class D2 State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. Sandhills/Thedford won the title 50-12.
Creighton’s Trey Alexander (23) controls the ball in the Texas Southern vs. Creighton men’s college basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.
Justin Holzepfel puts Christmas lights on his roof as his daughter, Madalyn, 5, watches on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
Nebraska’s Nick Henrich (3) pressures Wisconsin’s Tanner Mordecai (8) during the second half of a college football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.
Nebraska’s Thomas Fidone II (24) huddles Wisconsin’s Jason Maitre (23) during the second half of a college football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.
Nebraska’s Chubba Purdy (12) throws under pressure from Wisconsin’s Jake Chaney (36) during the first half of a college football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.
Nebraska’s Chubba Purdy (12) scores on a 55-yard run on the first drive during the first half of a college football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023.
Nebraska’s Harper Murray (27) goes up for the ball during the first set of a college volleyball match against Michigan at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023.
Jaye’real Coppage 12, dibbles a basketball in the gym at the Salvation Army Omaha North Worship & Service Center located at 2424 Pratt St, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Paint from the mural on the wall is peeling.
Atlas Swan, 3, helps his mother, Eryn Swan’s plants on the porch of their Bemis Park home on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.
Kids play basketball in the gym at the Salvation Army’s North Corps Community Center, 2424 Pratt St., on Nov. 9.
North Dakota State’s Ryan Sletten (24) tries to stop a Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunk at CHI Health Center on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Police escort a truck carrying the Durham Museum Christmas heads north on I480 toward Woolworth Avenue on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
A Union Pacific climbs out of a tree after securing it to a crane on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
Creighton’s Steven Ashworth (1) celebrates a three-point basket against North Dakota State at CHI Health Center on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
North Dakota State’s Ryan Sletten (24) tries to stop a Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) dunk at CHI Health Center on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Nebraska’s Ty Robinson (9) walks off the filed following the college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Maryland won the game 13-10.
Nebraska’s Blaise Gunnerson (97) stretches out to try an block a pass from Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa (3) to Maryland’s Roman Hemby (24) during the first half of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Nebraska’s Harper Murray (27) watches as Nebraska’s Merritt Beason (13) misses the ball in the Northwestern vs. Nebraska college volleyball match at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023.
Brooke Holloway, Matthew McMullen Bill Holloway and Cindy Holloway cross the Red Cedar river on their way to Spartan Stadium prior to a college football game between the Nebraska Huskers and the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Nebraska and Michigan State fans react differently on a penalty call against Michigan State during the first half of a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Nebraska’s Omar Brown (12) sits in a hall before playing Michigan State in a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Nebraska’s Heinrich Haarberg (10), Nebraska’s Jeff Sims (7) and Nebraska’s Chubba Purdy (12) have a moment in a hall before playing Michigan State in a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
A member of the Michigan State marching band drums upside down during the second half of a college football game at Spartan in East Lansing, Mich. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Omaha Skutt raises their trophy following the Norris vs. Omaha Skutt Nebraska State Volleyball Class B Championship match at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. Omaha Skutt won the title in three sets.
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller’s Katelynn Reiter (6) serves the ball in the O’Neill St. Mary’s vs. Sumner-Eddyville-Miller NSAA Class D-1 volleyball state quarterfinal match at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
Shania Twain performs at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
Millard West’s Brody Peterson (7) runs the ball against Grand Island’s Trey Engberg (1) and Grand Island’s Justyce Hostetler (35) during the first quarter of a high school football game at Buell Stadium in Omaha on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023.
Minden’s Aubree Bules (11) serves the ball during the fourth set of the Nebraska state volleyball C-1 Championship against Kearney Catholic at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
Overton’s JoLee Ryan (7) and Overton’s Ashlyn Florell (10) celebrate after sweeping Cambridge to win the Nebraska state volleyball D-2 Championship at Devaney Center in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.
The sun sets behind Pinnacle Bank Arena before the Huskers’ men’s basketball team tips-off against Lindenwood in Lincoln on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023.
Nebraska’s C.J. Wilcher (0) passes the ball against Florida A&M’s Jordan Chatman (2) during the first half of a college men’s basketball game at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.
A look inside Memorial Stadium during the national anthem before the first quarter of a college football game in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Nebraska’s Janiran Bonner (16) runs the ball past Maryland’s Beau Brade (2) to score a touchdown during the third quarter of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Nebraska’s Malcolm Hartzog (13) pushes Maryland’s Antwain Littleton II (7) out of bounds during the third quarter of a college football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Creighton’s Trey Alexander (23) goes up to dunk the ball against Iowa’s Tony Perkins (11) during the second half of a men’s college basketball game at the CHI Health Center in Omaha on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
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