A Proper Memorial

Once again it is Memorial Day, the annual Kickoff to Summer. At least that is what most people know about the day. For those who know about History, and that is a precious and dwindling few these days, it means a whole lot more. While the Old Soldiers from World War Two who will lead our parade brings the Military Nature of The Day into focus, it is not a Day To Honor The Dead from all Wars, as is sometimes said. It should be the day to Honor those Who Fought and Died in The Civil War, which took place from 1861-1865.

A Northerner by birth, I got the official version early and often. It goes something like this "The Good and Pure Union Forces rose up to fight the evil hated racist slave owner southern forces. They prevailed against terrible odds and the Union and Liberty was Saved and freedom given to all. Amen" (Pretty Religious for Public Schools now that you mention it. Where was the ACLU back then). As always, you really can't trust anything that the liberals teach you. The truth is much different. A simple version would be that the Civil War was a war in which the forces of Liberty (Republicans) vanquished (temporarily) the forces of Slavery (Democrats). I see I got your attention. Truth hurts, doesn't it. While Slavery was a minor issue (Less than 5% of Southerners owned slaves, though, due to the fact that Lincoln received NO VOTES in 1860 from the Southern States, it is safe to say that 100% of Slave owners were Democratic Party Members, as were 100% of Klan Members after the war. Prominent Southerners Like Lee and Jackson, Jefferson and Washington knew that Slavery was evil and did what they could to stop it with things like the 2/3 compromise. Contrary to liberal lies, it did not mean that "African Americans" were thought of as only 2/3 of a person. In that case "Native Americans" did not even exist, for the Constitution says "Indians not taxed". No, this was an abolitionist measure. The Southern States wanted to count their slaves to increase their numbers in the House of Representatives while still considering them non humans and property. Northerners felt if they couldn't count their tables and chairs for representation, neither could the South if the slave was only Property. Rather than torpedo a birth of a Republic, the North Compromised on 2/3. A Slave only Counted as 2/3 of a Free Person, thus hamstringing the spread of Slavery. Our Founding Fathers were much wiser than us in Present Times. They did all they could to strangle the institution of Slavery. Given enough time and the spread of technology, the institution may have died off and the war been unnecessary.

But the war did come, and that is why it is an insult to talk of reparations. The Blood of 700,000 Americans more than paid the price for all time. It is time to honor the true Greatest Generation. We owe them an immeasurable debt. We can start by replacing the Confederate Statues in Southern States. You do not learn anything by Pretending that something did not happen. The Democrats have learned nothing. They are still the party of Slavery, only now they control the media sources, so they make it appear otherwise. 

The Civil War Was not about Good vs Evil, it was really a State's Rights issue. But telling the truth would be bad for Democrats. Call it a convenient Lie. I will give honor to whom honor is due. Happy Memorial Day. 

Catching Up with our neighbors Across the River

It has been a few years since last we interviewed any members of the Republic. A lot has happened and it is about time we caught up. However, we are not going to fire up the Time Machine. I decided to pick up the phone this time and ring up the current administration in Anchorage. (For those new, that's the traditional Capital. During the cooler months they are in the Winter capital of Reno). Since last year the Prime Minister of The Republic of Ansdale has been Katherine Anne Morgan, one of the members of the Founding Families of the Republic. Remember that the Son of John Hunt Morgan (yes, that John Hunt Morgan) married John Lee Anderson's daughter Katherine. Her grandfather, also named John Hunt Morgan, was Prime Minister from 1967 to 1969. Like the rest of the family, she is a member of the New Republican Party, the original party formed in the Election of 1888. James Davis, the first Prime Minister, served without Party Affiliation. One other thing, I will be questioning the Prime Minister in accordance to "Reality" as according to the United States from Sea to Shining Sea. Of course the Prime Minister will answer according to the Truth: that there is a Sovereign country West of the Mississippi River.

• CG: Madame Prime Minister, thank you for granting this interview. Those of us here in The United States are currently in the midst of Presidential Campaigning, and a lot is being said about Hillary Clinton having the chance to be the First Woman President. Any comments?
• KM: Who has been President for the Past Eight Years? Last time we checked she was finishing her second term. And your Constitution barred any more time as President.  
• CG: As far as we know Barak Obama is finishing his second term and Clinton is going for her first.
• KM: Really. I thought you didn't allow anyone but a natural born citizen become President?
• CM: We don't. Obama was born in Hawaii. 
• KM: Exactly. And Hawaii is a Sovereign Kingdom associated with the Republic of Ansdale. We came to Hawaii's aid during the Pineapple War and kept the Kingdom intact. Hawaiians are born dual Hawaiian/Ansdale Citizens. The arrangement poses problems for us as well. If the person asserts his Hawaiian citizenship he cannot be Prime Minister, so Obama could not rise to the top here either.
• CG: Well at least the Republic got a woman leader first.    
• KM: I'm actually the third woman Prime Minister of the Republic. Our first was Katherine Lynn Montgomery during World War Two, and the second was Natasha Baranov who was in office at the Same time as Ronald Reagan. And before you say Reagan was a Californian, he was born in Illinois, which is still in the United States, is it not.
• CG: Since my questions are shot how about you indulging in fiction and humor me. If Obama was our President for 8 years and Hillary Clinton is going for her first term as President as we assert, What do you think of Clinton's Chances?
• KM: Probably very good. Here in the Republic our politics skews more to the Conservative viewpoint, so we wouldn't be in favor of someone so naive as to how the world works gaining office.
• CG: Would you be referring to ISIS by any chance?
• KM: With all due apologies to any ancient Egyptian deities, yes. By conceding that the Levant exists is agreeing with them that the State of Israel is illegitimate. That we will never do.
• CG: So what is your official relationship with The United States?
• KM: Nominally they are an ally. However since our founding in 1875 we have been in almost an entire state of tension with them. At least we are not at war.
• CG: What about your other two borders?
• KM: We have no problems with Canada or Guatemala that I know of at the moment.
• CG: I think you missed a country. 
• KM: No, I didn't.
• CG: Just South of the Rio Grande, name of Mexico.
• KM: Doesn't ring a bell. All that is there is the Central American Security Zone. If there were a stable government there there wouldn't be a flood of people trying to illegally enter our fair land. Our troops try to maintain some sort of order there. When they learn to behave like civilized people we will withdraw.
• CG: Wouldn't a wall work just as well?
• KM: I refer you to my previous answer. Still, we in the Republic would much prefer to deal with Mr. Trump.
• CG: I guess that begs the question, is it because Trump is not a politician? And would that also would imply that he would be easier to manipulate?
• KM: Yes to the first, but no to the second. Mister Trump is a businessman, and despite a politicians protests to the contrary, business people understand the way the world works. Actually he would be harder to manipulate, but would be easier to work with.
• CG: Getting Back to ISIS. What would be the difference working with Trump or Clinton?
• KM: Since Clinton and Obama are the same, It would be difficult to deal with either of them. It's hard to be allies when one side thinks that a few minimum wage jobs will fix the problem, and the other knows they want us dead. Mr. Trump understands the Islamist Threat. We could partner with him.  
• CG: We shall see if your hopes are realized. Madame Prime Minister, I think it best if I ended this interview and did some research. May I contact you again?
• KM: You have our number, call anytime.
• CG: Thank you for your time.

Well that was interesting. I wonder if The Republic will be happy once the Election is over. We shall see.   I guess it is easier going back in time. Until next time, I sign off.

Get Stifled

Beginning today all book tours and author interviews and stuff will be here. I am splitting my music persona, aka The WENC Night Beat, and my writing persona into nice neat halves. All authors will have their background checks and their passports grilled by the Republican Foreign Office. First up is my friend Rainy Kaye. She gets grandfathered in under the old rules, as she let The Night Beat Join her for the Summoned Tour. Today we're celebrating the release of STIFLED, book two in the SUMMONED series by USA Today Bestselling author, Rainy Kaye. A dark twist on genie folklore, SUMMONED follows a reluctant criminal as he unravels the mystery of the paranormal bond controlling him. In STIFLED, Dimitri trails an elusive jinn and finds himself in the middle of a community keeping dark secrets. The SUMMONED series is represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA. Scroll down to pick up your copy of STIFLED, get SUMMONED for free for a limited time, and enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card.    
Dimitri would like nothing more than to live a low-key life in Naples, Italy. His girlfriend, Syd, has other plans. After three months of researching, she is positive she has found a jinn on a killing spree in San Diego, California. Since Syd gave Dimitri the one thing he thought was out of reach, he feels obligated to use his ill-gained talents for her cause. A few hours back in the US proves that Dimitri and Syd didn't quite make the clean escape they had thought. As they trail the elusive jinn, someone else trails them. What should have been a simple trip to confirm once and for all if the jinn are living among humans, instead reveals a community keeping dark secrets. Unfortunately for Dim, the only way out is in. Get your copy here! Haven't read book one yet? No problem! It's currently FREE on Amazon.  
Twenty-three year old Dimitri has to do what he is told—literally. Controlled by a paranormal bond, he is forced to use his wits to fulfill unlimited deadly wishes made by multimillionaire Karl Walker. Dimitri has no idea how his family line became trapped in the genie bond. He just knows resisting has never ended well. When he meets Syd—assertive, sexy, intelligent Syd—he becomes determined to make her his own. Except Karl has ensured Dimitri can’t tell anyone about the bond, and Syd isn’t the type to tolerate secrets. Then Karl starts sending him away on back-to-back wishes. Unable to balance love and lies, Dimitri sets out to uncover Karl’s ultimate plan and put it to an end. But doing so forces him to confront the one wish he never saw coming—the wish that will destroy him.    
 
Rainy Kaye is an aspiring overlord. In the mean time, she blogs at RainyoftheDark and writes paranormal novels from her lair somewhere in Phoenix, Arizona. She is represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA. Someone told her she's a USA Today Bestselling author. She thought there would be cake.      
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Changing Hats

I think it's about time. Maybe it is because I love research, but I tend to procrastinate with actual writing. But I think I have finally done all I can with part 1. Time to take off my writer's cap and put on an editor's cap. I'll be taking my cues from Ava Jae. 

I am doing this kind of old school. I printed out my manuscript and will be looking at paper. Maybe if I had an e-reader, but still, I've been looking at a computer screen while I've been writing. This should be different.

I'm excited. The Tale of The Republic is about to take shape. It's been a long time. I shall keep you posted as I go through the process.

December 7, 1941: The Giants Awaken

From the moment of its birth, the Republic of Ansdale has seen itself as the Lord and Protector of the Pacific. The first step toward that end was the creation of The Pacific Alliance, a loose alliance of nations within the Pacific Ocean. This in turn led to a treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaii. Lieutenant-Commander Rachel Semmes led the Alliance from her cabin aboard the R.N.S. Prince Maksutov until King David Kalakua and the Hawaiian Parliament granted permission to place a Headquarters on Hawaiian Soil.

The first test of the Alliance occurred during the Pineapple War of 1893-95. The Republic passed the test but the verdict on the alliance is unclear. The other members: Russia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Australia, China and Tahiti all remained out of the conflict, saying it was an internal matter. The Republic fended off an invasion by the United States at the urging of American Business Interests. Queen Liliuokalani remained as monarch under the protection of the Republic until her death in 1917. Relations with the United States improved in time and a Joint Use Agreement with the United States came about at the end of World War One. The Pacific Command of both Nations was Headquartered at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor. While the U.S. Casualties have been documented, nothing is known of the effect upon the Republic. Because the Republic has often relied upon Guerrilla     tactics it was slow in building a standing navy. As a result, when the day that will live in infamy dawned the greatest casualties to the Republic were airplanes (The RAAF) and buildings.  The pirate fleet (RNS Submarines)

were on patrol and untouched.

The Republic will always be grateful for the sacrifice borne by the United States at the outset of WWII while the republic raced to build a Force to assist the allies. The joint force effort was a point of honor and will not be forgotten.

#NaNoWriMo Update

Well, sort of. Though I am not officially participating in the month long Novel Writing Competition, I am always trying to get this story completed. The first "Chapter" of the Republic of Ansdale Chronicles is just about finished. I think I have looked at it long enough. Only one major edit has happened under my eyes, a prologue chapter was put in and after reworking it several times, it just seemed to be a drag, so it was removed. Other than that, nothing. Now I am soliciting help. I admit to knowing nothing about writing a book, just the story. I have heard about beta readers and I have had the pleasure of being one for Jade Kerrion. Anyone who has been through it who would care to fill me in on the process, I would greatly appreciate it. I know it's not as simple as uploading my manuscript to Smashwords. Even they want an artistic cover, something I am not talented to do. (Stick figures are as good as it gets here). That is it for now. I really need to get back to things here, but The Night Beat Demands.

Four Peas to Creating an Authentic Alternative History: Preparation

We have come to the end of our series. If you haven't been following the series from the start here are links to Premise, Probability, and Possibilities. We now move on to our fourth Pea, what I like to call:

P#4: Preparation

I can hear you scream, "what was I doing during the previous three steps?" That was preparing your premise to make a story. Now comes the fun part (at least for me) researching your characters. I have created little who's who bios for just about every fictional character I have created. I know when they were born, where, where they were educated, who they married, how many children they have, who were their classmates, etc. While this may seem an exercise in absolute tedium, there is a point. Without doing this step your Alt-Hi will become Sci-Fi. Not in the sense of the typical definition of the genre, but because your character will seem an outside "alien" observer to the events you describe instead of being able to seamlessly interact with their surroundings. 

Why do you have to do this? You are changing the outcome of one premise, but your character must still be believable within the "correct" timeline. In the case of my story, the key character, John Lee Anderson, is the brother of Robert Anderson of Fort Sumter, went to West Point at the Same time as Grant, served with him in the Mexican War, and during post war assignments in the South, married a distant cousin of Jefferson Davis and retired from active service, and is the father of three sons and one daughter, all of whom have followed their father into military service, to the great disappointment of their mother. Called back into service and assigned to the "Northern reaches of the Nebraska Territory" by President Pierce, he sees his responsibility to the people of the Western States and Territories as outweighing his duty to Washington. That is the bare bones type of research that I do, and I put it into a nice bio that looks like this. (For space concerns I have not done John Lee Anderson but Kenneth Mark Bassett, a supporting character.)

Bassett, Kenneth Mark
b. May 11, 1831 Portland, ME. Graduates from U.S. Military Academy, 1851. Stationed at Fort Kent, ME on Border Patrol 1851-1855. Assigned to command of Brigadier General John Lee Anderson in Nebraska, 1855. Commissioned Captain, 1855. Chief of Police, Upper Nebraska Territory, 1855-61. m. Kimberly Ann Chase, March 21, 1858. Commander Military District Number Five, Wyoming, Dakota Territory, 1861. Commander of Camp Teton (1861-63) and Fort Shoshone (1863-1889). Commissioned Major, 1862. Founder of Territorial Police, 1870. Commissioned Major, Republican Army, 1875. Second Colonel, 1878. Colonel, 1880. Governor of Wyoming (1893-1905). d. Tuesday June 13, 1922 Cheyenne, WY.

I think you can see that, by creating a "life" for your character, you have also created a purpose for his existence in your story (other than a story needs a character). If you do all these steps, you are now in possession of a premise that will survive not only one story, but even being turned into a multi-novel series. You can now begin to write.