Update Time

Hey everyone. It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a proper entry around here and I thought I’d remedy that. Things are going well, just a bit slowly. I have stories and projects in various stages of progress.

First off, don’t forget to check out my latest book, a collection of three epic fantasy short stories inspired by Tolkien and (much more subtly) Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. You can grab it for just 99 cents or local equivalent!

Check it out right here: The Tainted Grove and Other Perilous Tales

At the top of the WIP list is my next Atlantis story, an especially weird tale that combines War of the Worlds, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Tolkien-style fantasy with a Greek coat of paint splashed on top of it. The first draft is getting close to completion and I hope to start posting it next month.

After that, I’ll be heavily revising an old story of mine, “Girl Out of Time,” to change the titular girl from an extraterrestrial to a long-slumbering survivor of the downfall of Atlantis (while also relocating the story from WNY to the fictional British county of Barsetshire). When that’s done, I’ll have enough material for a collection of Atlantis-themed short stories for publication late this year or early next 2027.

And after that, I’m thinking of a collection of alternate history stories, some old and some new. Two tales of police homicide investigation set in an England that remained Catholic, one in Germany still under Nazi rule in the 21st century, one in a surviving Kingdom of Jerusalem, and, my immediate post-Atlantis writing project, a war story in 1930s America during the last year of a Second American Civil War. See below for my sketchy notes on that topic.

Finally, and most exciting by far, I’m working on an incredible collaboration that I can’t talk about just yet. It’s a literal dream come true and I can’t wait to share more information about it, hopefully very soon!

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RED, BROWN AND BLUE: THE SECOND AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

These are my raw, barely edited notes for the 2nd ACW project. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for the story, they’d be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Basic Premise

The early 1930s go very wrong and the USA is torn apart by civil war between Communists, Fascists and Constitutionalists. The story focuses on the Battle of Buffalo, a major success for the Federal Army against both the local Communists and the pro-fascist American Legion.

Initial timeline notes:

The POD is in July, 1932 - the Bonus Army of WWI veterans is violently dispersed from their encampment in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. Riots, allegedly initiated by Communist instigators, ensue and parts of southern Washington are destroyed in the resulting battles.

November, 1932 - The election results might be slightly different than OTL in a few states (stronger results for the Socialists and Communists, maybe one or two states that were close in OTL flip to Hoover), but it’s still a massive Roosevelt landslide.

February 15, 1933 - Giuseppe Zangara assassinates President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. VP-elect John Garner takes office a month later.

Divergences begin to accelerate in the summer of 1933 - the Benefits Army (a group of veterans protesting the Economy Act slashing veterans’ benefits) assembles and marches on Washington; it is met by Army units under General Douglas MacArthur. Later, both sides blame the other for the ensuing violence, which results in almost 300 deaths (race-related riots occur at the same time, most likely triggered by heavy-handed Army actions). The economy remains mired in the Depression - conditions don’t worsen, but they don’t improve, either. Radical groups on both ends of the political spectrum grow.

Late summer 1933 - President Garner is shot twice by ((TBD)) and rendered comatose. Secretary of State (the office of the VP is vacant, as per usual before the 25th Amendment) Cordell Hull becomes Acting President. ** I’m a bit hazy on the political situation here and need to do more research on how presidential succession actually worked back then.

This is the point of no return - something happens that fractures the government and leads to the Second Civil War breaking out in 1934. Worker militias form, especially in the Midwest at the same time as Fascist groups emerge in the Northeast. The economy weakens again and things completely collapse. The Business Plot actually happens here and the Federal government is driven out of Washington. It relocates to Philadelphia before being driven out again, this time to Chicago where it remains for the rest of the war. As central authority crumbles, Communist rebels seize control of dozens of cities and towns across the Midwest and Great Lakes. (This is very unlikely, given the small size of the CPUSA, and might require back-dating the POD to the 1920s.)

By the fall of 1934, the USA is completely breaking apart. Farmer-Labor Communes, Workers Republics, and other Communist regimes (united in ideology, but not under any central organization) are sprouting up in the heartland. The Lindbergh Regime is consolidating in the Northeast and advancing into Ohio and Virginia. State governments create or expand their own State Guards to deal with local situations while the Constitutionalist government tries to raise an army and retake Washington.

It’s currently the spring of 1936 and the Federals are advancing. Most Communist uprisings have been put down, although partisans are still active across much of the Midwest and Great Lakes. The Lindberghers have been pushed back on several fronts, but still hold most of the Mid-Atlantic and New England. The Federal First Army is advancing up the southern shore of Lake Erie, aiming to liberate Buffalo and open up access to foreign supplies for the upcoming offensive along the Erie Canal, which will then be in a position to retake either Boston or NYC, while the Second Army moves north into Virginia and liberates Washington (currently the frontlines run just north of Richmond).

Protagonists

* Military 1, a front-line soldier in the Federal 44th Infantry Division
* Military 2, a member of the New York Guard militia (Blue partisans, essentially) behind the lines somewhere
* Civilian 1, in Orchard Park (initially under fascist control, taken by the Federals to secure the strategically important Chestnut Ridge, which allows a clear view of the city for artillery, and the junction of major highways US 20 and State Route 124 (modern US 219). ((The fact that you can easily see the city from a park near my house was the original genesis of this story and/or one where a giant monster attacks WNY in the present day))
* Civilian 2, inside Buffalo to show life in one or the other of the occupied zones; maybe romantically/whatnot involved with someone in the other sector?

RANDOM NOTES AND REFERENCES

4th Division of the American Workers Army - aka Hammers, Reds, Red Guards; fictional Red general in command. This might get downgraded to a less organized force in control of the working class neighborhoods and factories of Buffalo and the near suburbs.

8th Division of the American Legion (or New Continental Army? name TBD) - aka Lindberghers, Browns; local commander TBD, General Douglas MacArthur (?) in overall command

44th Infantry Division, US First Army - aka Blues; Maj. Gen. John J. Toffey commanding the division as per OTL
* New York Guard militia
* 87th Inf. Brig. New York City, NY
** 165th Inf. Regt. HQ New York City, NY
** 174th Inf. Regt. HQ Buffalo, NY
* 57th Inf. Brig. HQ Newark, NJ
** 113th Inf. Regt. HQ Newark, NJ
** 114th Inf. Regt. HQ Camden, NJ
* 156th Field Artillery Regiment HQ Newburgh, New York (M1 howitzers, horse-drawn, being motorized)

https://archive.org/details/american-restaurant-oct-1927-restaurant-map-watermark
https://dn721907.ca.archive.org/0/items/1932-street-map-buffalo-ny/1932 Street Map Buffalo NY.jpg

https://www.american-rails.com/images/986214351235162718515178689168927278.jpg

~573,076 people in Buffalo, 762,408 in Erie County - Buffalo 3/4 of Erie County population. 13th largest city in the country at the time.

The Peace Bridge, International Railway Bridge, Honeymoon Bridge, Michigan Central, Lower Steel Arch Bridge - these are the road and rail crossings between Buffalo and Canada; critical for supplies (and volunteers) from Canada and Europe. Some of them might get destroyed before the Federals can retake the city. The Canadian side is heavily fortified.

Hamilton Fish III as the fascist ‘governor of New York’ (Herbert Lehman as legitimate governor)

Reference to Central massacre of blacks in Cleveland

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That’s all for now!

Until next time…