David Abrams

Abrams served as an active-duty Army journalist. He was named the Department of Defense's Military Journalist of the Year in 1994 and received several other military commendations before retiring from his 20-year career in 2008. His tours of duty included Thailand, Japan, Africa, Alaska, Texas, Georgia and the Pentagon. In 2005, he joined the 3rd Infantry Division and deployed to Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The journal he kept that year formed the blueprint for his debut novel "Fobbit," named a New York Times Notable Book of 2012 and a Best Book of 2012 by Paste Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Barnes and Noble.