Walter Vickerie was born number four of six children to strict working class parents in Brooklyn, New York. During his elementary years in school he was a gifted student who received good grades and developed a competitive spirit amongst his peers. After graduating high school, Vickerie moved out on his own while working a fulltime job as a bank teller. Although he graduated in the top percentage of his class, college was not on his radar and he put it off figuring if he worked hard enough a degree wouldn’t matter as much. After five years in banking and only making marginal career strides he realized that college was the one thing holding him back. Uncertain of how he would pay for school, Vickerie made a drastic decision to change careers and joined the Army. Family and friends alike all thought the military was an unusual choice since he never showed any interest in anything regimented yet they all gave him their support. By this point in his life, Vickerie had halfheartedly accepted he was in fact gay and wasn’t sure how the military’s ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy would affect his life but he went forward anyway. Within the first week of basic training, Vickerie began to rethink his choice but knew there was no going back. He made a commitment to serve his country and wasn’t about to be deterred. While stationed in various locations, domestic and abroad he kept a journal which revealed to him the power in written words. For Vickerie, writing a novel became a new personal aspiration but unfortunately at that point in his life he was not ready to take on the challenge. After four years of service Vickerie had traveled to places he never imagined, worked harder than he thought was possible, and ultimately earned the rank of Sergeant before ending his military career.

Once Vickerie got back to New York he found that his career prospects were still limited as a result of not having his college degree. Now that he had the financial resources to pay for his education he knew it was time but he wasn’t as eager as he thought he would be about going back to the classroom. That is until life dealt Vickerie and millions of other Americans a blow that rocked them all to their core on September 11, 2001. Watching the World Trade Center towers fall and seeing innocent lives snuffed out sent a sense of urgency through him. The following year he was registered as a fulltime student and worked dilligently to get his degree. His work and school schedule was grueling but he persevered earning a B.A. in Corporate Communications from Baruch College in four years. After completing his education, Vickerie was eager to pursue new career options yet found very little satisfaction in the corporate world so he revisited his old passion: writing. There was a lot he wanted to say about life in terms of love, lust, sex, sexuality, friendship, family and career. He always knew his story would focus around that which mattered most to him and he was at a level of maturity where he knew it was the right time. Each day during the week he would commit to an hour or more of intense writing and slowly but surely ideas turned into something tangible. As moments of inspiration came, characters developed, storylines thickened and that passion for writing increased; this new project took on a life of its own. Midway through the process, Vickerie tossed around a few ideas for a title but wasn’t sold on anything given his story dealt with multiple themes and conflicting subject matter. It wasn’t until one night in Brooklyn while heading out to a house party with friends did the title unexpectedly manifest. As he and his three friends were walking down the block they encountered a group of guys standing in front of the house next door to their party. Unassumingly Vickerie and his friends walked past the group and overheard one of the guys say, “Nothing but dudes been going in there…, it must be one old swordfight.” The rest of their group snickered a little while Vickerie’s friends continued to go into the party seemingly unbothered. Vickerie however felt very conflicted by their statement. Questions like the following came to mind: Was that a gay slur? Why hadn’t he or his friends responded? Should they have said something? What would it have proven? Did it mean they were okay with being disrespected? Were they disrespected? Was he simply being hyper sensitive? He wasn’t sure but that word stayed with him the entire night at that party. The next time he started to write he immediately titled his story SWORDFIGHT. At that moment the word ‘swordfight’ had become a metaphor for conflict and it seemed fitting. Today, Vickerie lives in New York City and is actively selling his book. It is his hope that this story will provoke a thought, get a laugh, and raise a few eyebrows.