I’m not even sure why I am writing this except that society seems to be descending into deeper levels of crude. The word has been around for hundreds of years and has always been considered profane. Widely used by common laborers and enlisted military, polite society avoided public mention, regardless of wider private use.
In the past decade, the word has gained wide use as part of protests against both general political philosophies. As such, it was useful for its shock value as well as a general disrespect. The political left used it as a cudgel against the right, and the political right picked it up and hurled it back.
For those readers of popular literature, the word cannot be avoided to any great extent. It adds expressiveness to conversation and color to the narrative. A fellow author has been encouraged by his editors and reviews to use more profanity in his writing to make it more interesting.
I have always felt that the use of profanity tends to lower the common denominator in fiction. It shouldn’t be necessary. And the widely used F word has lost its pungency through overuse. I can remember high school teachers expressing the idea that the use of such language exposes either ignorance or a lack of imagination on the part of the speaker.
An underlying theme in the Bible is for people to use moderation in all things, including speech. Even leaving aside how God views the use of such, moderation is certainly a civilizing influence. Immoderate language is something that contributes to a degrading of society.
I suppose I do not use the F word because it reflects poor writing. I keep it in a collection of words that I don’t need to use. I should be able to convey thoughts and emotions without having to track something fetid through the house.
It’s the time of the year when we focus on the Savior’s birth and give thanks for God’s great gift. We should be thankful all year long, and I try to be. But today is a good reminder. My son had to cancel the Christmas dinner because his kids are passing around a fever, and he doesn’t want it to spread further.
We had a turkey in the freezer from Thanksgiving – it was purchased as an alternative we didn’t need, so Deb put it in the oven this morning. The two of us will celebrate Christmas at home this year.
The Queen’s Consort goes live on January 1. This is a side story for the Schloss series. I have been frantically editing, updating, and generally trying to get the thing ready. I got the websites updated yesterday. So now I can go back to work on book 11 of the Parallel Nazi series. It was on hiatus while I wrapped up The Queen’s Consort, but I now know better where it is going. No estimate on when it will be finished, so please be patient.
As a side note, I recently published a how-to book on CNC Routing. I recently purchased a CNC router as part of my woodworking tool habit. In a burst of creativity, I decided to write a book about my experiences in setting things up. It is a paperback only because of the pictures and illustrations in the content. Anyway, 
Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends in the southeast. Having lived in northwestern South Carolina for nearly fifty years, I’m familiar with a lot of the impacted area. Although the climate is mild, sometimes nature isn’t kind. When it rains in western North Carolina, it really rains. But the tropical deluge was something else.
I remember once in the past that western NC experienced something similar in the winter. That storm dumped over ten feet of snow in places. Some people were breaking up there furniture and burning it in the wood stoves because they could not open their doors to get to the wood piles. Traveling up I-75 from Atlanta in the weeks following, one could see many factory roofs collapsed from the snow load.
Even with a relatively mild hurricane season, things can still jump and slap you.
I’ve been lazy and haven’t kept you up-too-date. I don’t know if it’s old age creeping up, or simply Motivation Deficit Disorder (MDD). Whereas I used to sit down and knock out two thousand words in an hour and a half, it now requires two days to finish a chapter. Actual writing time is not that much different. Plot development is not as free as it used to be.
On the other hand, I’m much busier now than I used to be. Taking care of four acres of lawn requires time. And the list of projects is growing rather than shrinking. Having five grandchildren nearby consumes time, although I don’t begrudge that.
This week we have been taking care of our grand-dog while my son and his family are off to a much needed vacation. Boone is a Saint Bernadoodle. This very social animal has stuck close to me like glue this week, requiring petting, playing, treats and outdoor visits. And that impacts writing time. A nice dog, though.
But, I am making progress. I began Schloss 11. I had also planned to write a story about Colin Marty-Windsor (The Queen’s Consort). After about fourteen thousand words into Schloss 11, I realized that I needed to go ahead and put together The Queen’s Consort because of the overlapping stories. So I am about fourteen thousand words into that book.
I hope to have The Queen’s Consort done by Christmas if we are not overtaken by events. Then Schloss 11 will follow. After that, I want to write a sequel to Another Pennsylvania. That book has sold very well and readers are asking for another in the series.
We are sliding from a mild summer into the fall. How many more times will the grass require mowing? I think I’m going to have to refill the gas can one more time. And I probably ought to keep enough fuel around for the generator. And it won’t be long until the snow flies.
After spending more than forty years in South Carolina, I was acculturated to a Spring that came early and caused everything to bloom. When speaking with a new neighbor, who had moved down from New Jersey, I had warned him about the climate. South Carolina has mild winters, a gorgeous Spring, a pleasant Fall, but you tend to pay for it in July and August. He later told me that I certainly wasn’t kidding.
So, Spring in Pennsylvania comes later, blooms less, but is otherwise a relief from the cold weather. Although, as I write this in late April, we experienced a thirty degree morning. And, having visited here in a previous July, I can state that it does get hot here. But I don’t expect the unending and sweltering, humidity-soaked days of the Carolina summer. And I won’t miss that.
The book Another Pennsylvania has sold well. It is doing better than anything that is not “Parallel Nazi.” The reviews have been good. And I have received more feedback than anything else recently. People are asking when the next book in the series will arrive. I always like it when a book or a character strikes a chord. I think we can assume a sequel is in the pipeline.
Currently I am working on a story about Colonel Otto Putin, who leads the Baltic Regiment mercenary group. He appears in several of my books, but I have long wanted to do a series about the Baltics and where they came from. The first draft is perhaps 2/3 complete. I would like to make it available by late summer.
For those times when I am afflicted with writer’s block and the well runs dry, I am working on a “how to” book for people who want to get into CNC routing on a budget. Since this is something I have recently done, doing a book seemed appropriate. Plus it allows me to deduct the cost of the equipment. The most immediate application has been carved wooden business cards. I am experimenting with other projects as well.
And we have left Herr Schloss in the hospital in a coma. His friends are trying to help care for him and his family while also dealing with a governmental coup engineered by Nazi Party hardliners. Germany also faces the challenges of a resurgent Russia. That book is in the planning stage.
Something had to give. Jerry Pournelle was entirely correct about the locusts devouring all the productive time. I expected to be busy when we made our move to Pennsylvania. But relocating out of state adds a certain piquancy to things. However, I have no worries about running out of things to do.
We bought a house in a rural area of northeastern Pennsylvania. As we grew older, we wanted to be closer to one of our children. So, we now live a mile from our son and his family. He and his wonderful wife have four kids, with a fifth on the way. They have three dogs, several cats, two sheep, two goats, and a flock of chickens.
Words like bucolic, rustic, and rural come to mind. The place is peaceful. We have four acres fronting a pond. My new office has French doors with a view of the yard and pond. It comes with trees and wildlife. The environment is pleasant. And we have snow. My wife loves snow. And snow doesn’t bother me.
Relocating out of state has its challenges. New driver’s licenses, new car registration, new car insurance, new health insurance. New doctors, new utilities, and so on. Plus, I am making sure all of my myriad contacts have my new address. So far, so good. A little planning helps immensely.
And we have the inevitable upgrades to the new house. The previous owner spent quite a bit of money on the usual maintenance issues, so we can focus on cosmetics. Deb wants an additional cabinet in the kitchen. To build that, I have to get my workshop put together in the garage. This involves constructing a workbench and storage since the garage is full of boxes of my woodworking tools, etc.
The downside to rural life is driving thirty to forty-five minutes to get anywhere significant. Yesterday, I drove thirty minutes to the car dealer to get the car inspected. Following that was a stop at the nearby Lowe’s to pick up project stuff (plywood for the drawers in the workbench, wire shelves for the closet in my office, etc.). Then, I stopped at a restaurant chain to burn a gift card. It was after 2 PM when I got home, which pretty much killed the day. And that is a sample of what errands do to our day here.
All of this impacts writing time. I managed to finish Another Pennsylvania, and it goes live on March 1. I haven’t started the next book yet. Pondering plot development requires considerable thinking time. And my thinking has been focused on what I must do next here at our new home? Fortunately, I have a good collection of book ideas.
So stay tuned. I’ll be updating you on what’s happening in my new digs.
As some of you may have noticed, I am very late this year with the December blog entry. But lots of things are happening.
Part of the delay was the rush in getting the new book (These Fragile Regimes) kicked out the door. November book sales were miserable, and I wanted to encourage things a bit at the end of the month. And it did help. With the new book, December started off with a bang, and by the 5th, sales beat November’s total. Thank you for reading my books!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we are in the process of moving from South Carolina to Pennsylvania. This will place us much closer to one set of grandkids and put less of a burden on the kids as we age. It made sense to do this while we were still hale and hearty, so to speak. So we bought a house, sold a house, and are now frantically packing.
My writing output has declined dramatically during this time, but I’m not giving up. Yesterday, we had to be out of the house for several hours to make way for an inspector. I dropped by one of my favorite restaurants, and they kindly sat me at a table in the back and provided iced tea so I could work. And I got a good start on a chapter. And thanks to the staff of Mythos in Greer, SC, for their hospitality. It’s a great place to eat. The Greek and Italian menu is varied and tasty. The service is great, too. Recommended.
I did not intend for Regimes to end with a cliffhanger, but once we got to that point, it made perfect sense. I understand that readers do not like those endings. It’s frustrating. But now the stage is set for Book 11. Schloss’s friends will struggle to maintain stability in Germany while the Reich Chancellor is unable to influence events.
The current project is a new Parallel Multiverse novel. It is a new setting with new characters and explores yet another what if. I have several projects in the pipeline in addition to Schloss 11. I need to develop the third Munich Faction novel. I want to do a sequel to McNeel’s World. And other possibilities as they occur to me. The current project was out of the clear blue, but it is going well.
Once we get the move settled in January, I should be back to a normal schedule. That means I’ll be writing in the mornings and unpacking in the afternoons. And there will be the inevitable projects required for the new house. Stay tuned.
Writing or reading? Well, both. Alien abduction is a popular theme in the Science Fiction world and has resulted in numerous books and stories. This is why I wrote Hannah Sorpat’s Eye. Since many Sci-Fi authors have contributed to this genre, I thought I should too.
I introduced a different twist to the concept, though. One of the abductees in my story was a skilled Unix systems programmer. Due to a lot of hard work and quite a bit of luck, he penetrated the alien computer network. This leads to a plan for an escape and return to Earth after a one-year captivity.
“What could possibly go wrong?” you may ask. You would have to read the book to find out.
The Scott Baughman saga is part of my backlist but has been recently updated. I took the time to clean up the remaining typos and grammatical errors. I also updated the covers. And they offer a cracking good story. You can find them in the Amazon Kindle store. The three-book series will make for great reading over the Labor Day weekend.
The hot weather does not encourage running around outside, so I get more writing done. I am twenty chapters book ten of the Parallel Nazi. This one has been moving more quickly than others. I hope that I can release it sometime in late Fall.
My ideas for book eleven are coming together, although I have not made plans for the next book after completing ten. Several book ideas compete for attention, and I am focused on the current novel.
And now for something completely different, as they announced on Monty Python. Following a trip to Illinois in July, I purchased a SainSmart CNC router. Some of my woodworking projects require more precision than I can manage without automated help. And the Prime Day deal on the 3018-Prover was nice.
The learning curve is steep. The machine itself was relatively easy to assemble and requires little attention otherwise. Understanding the software is another story. I began using the Easel software thinking that the free version was… free. My needs were simple, and I did not anticipate upgrading to the Pro version. With some effort, I ran my first project. I made some lattice panels for a luminary clock.
Following the design step, you export a gcode file, which you import into the Candle Grbl software, which directly runs the machine. With a couple of long evenings’ work, I was fairly proficient and produced the necessary panels for the sides of the clock. I was pleased with the result.
I then experimented with doing a monogrammed coaster. When I clicked the button to save the gcode file, the program told me I needed to upgrade to use that function. What? The ten-day free period had run out, and the program did not indicate which functions would no longer work. And the Pro version cost more than I paid for the machine. Even worse, it is an annual license fee. Not something I can justify for a hobby. Criminy, it costs twice as much as Office 365.
Square One. I downloaded Carbon Create, which apparently remains free. I downloaded version 6, which includes the capability to generate gcode. The learning curve is steeper since Carbon Create is more powerful. And I have to tweak the gcode (delete three lines, add two lines) to get it to work with my router. But I am now back in business.
Carbon Create is designed to work specifically with a well-regarded line of CNC routers, which, unfortunately, cost significantly more than my machine. But I am appreciative that they allow passengers to travel for free. And if you purchase a Shapeoko CNC router, they provide top-flight support. They would be my go-to company if I ever get into professional woodworking (Ha!). At my level, I basically create precision firewood.
Enough of the side note. Stacking Centimes has done well, though I knew it was targeted at a much narrower base than the Schloss books. Thanks for the reads. Back to work.
Summer has finally arrived in South Carolina. The weather has been surprisingly mild this year. While not idyllic, the warmth was tolerable. That has changed this week with the traditional combination of 90-degree temps and high humidity. And, of course, my Bermuda grass thrives in that weather, so I’m obligated to enjoy the heat and humidity as I skim off a couple inches of creeping, green growth.
This morning’s activities included rescreening a door for my sister-in-law’s back porch. Then back home, I ran the string trimmer and pushed the mower around. Fortunately, I finished by lunchtime and missed the worst of the heat.
The big news is the release of Stacking Centimes, the sequel to The Wealth of the Worlds. The story of Harvey Steelmaker continues. I have felt the urge to write this story for quite a while. I started during the Munich Faction – 2 project. When encountering writer’s block, I would jump over and work on the other book and make a lot of progress that way. I plan to eventually add a third book to this series.
It’s now back to The Parallel Nazi, and I’ll soon start on the tenth book in the Schloss series. The story will focus on Schloss’s interactions with the French regime in Vichy. We can expect many familiar characters, such as Queen Margaret, Nikita Khrushchev, Alan Carper, and others.
Oh, and take a gander at the Free Downloads section of the website. I spent some time cleaning up the short stories and reposted them. This is something salvaged when the new website project crashed and burned.
For now, enjoy the summer – as I sit at my desk with air conditioning and a ceiling fan and look out the window at the South Carolina furnace.
Photo by Matt Howard on unsplash.com
After about three months of work I thought I was ready to bring the new web site on line. I hadn’t thought to test it on small screens until this morning. My limited technical skills definitely don’t help. But I discovered the new site was really not responsive, which means it does not automatically adjust to different sized screens (e.g. cell phones). So it appears I’ll be using the old framework for a while.
Assuming everything is happy and you are reading this, I can talk about what I have been doing recently. Munich Faction – 2 – Enforcer is now live on Amazon. This continues Gerhard Wicklein’s story and illuminates the background to the original Accidental Nazi book.
The first draft of the sequel to The Wealth of the Worlds is about half completed. I hope to finish that book and release it this summer. I will soon begin work on the next Schloss book. I have several potential plot lines to explore and develop. For those of you who are curious, there will be at least two more Schloss books and I don’t expect it will stop there.
In the future there will be one more Munich Faction book. I am exploring ideas for other characters from the Parallel Nazi series. Colin Marty-Windsor comes to mind. The Parallel Nazi readers have commented on how they enjoy the big picture view of things happening around the planet. That encourages me to investigate story ideas of the same type.
Has Spring really come? The South Carolina foliage is blooming and greening. But it looks like we’ll have some more chilly weather for a couple of weeks. I am in the depths of writing two new novels. One is book 2 of the Munich Faction, and the other is the sequel to The Wealth of the Worlds. It has been several years since I have tried working on two books simultaneously. In this case, it’s an experiment to see if I can accommodate the writer’s block by switching to the other novel when I got stopped.
I am about 20,000 words into one novel and 35,000 into the other. So, I am satisfied with the progress. I am targeting the release of one or both books in May, although that may be a tad optimistic.
I thought I would spend some time today discussing the writer’s tools. It is easier today to create and publish a novel than ever in history. But creating a good story is just as difficult. I am also a woodworker and understand that good tools will not necessarily improve my skills but will make my life easier. The same goes for writing.
Fortunately, good tools for writing are easy to find, and they are not expensive. Many are free.
You need a good word processor or text editor. If you own a computer, you probably already have an editor. The number one requirement is the ability to save a file in DOCX format. This is close to being a universal file format even though Microsoft developed it. If you publish through the Amazon Kindle store, you must submit your book files in this format.
If you already have a license to Microsoft Word, you are in good shape. You can do everything you need for your book creation within Word. Download and install Libre Office, which is a free office suite. I, in fact, use Libre Office Writer for my basic writing. For me, this program is more comfortable to use, and I’m not sure why. I know it does not get in your way as Word sometimes does. The basic editing functions fall easier to hand.
I do, however, switch to Word for creating the final version of the book. There is really no substitute for the power and flexibility of this tool. In the last few releases, Microsoft has begun including basic grammar support, which may be helpful. I do get annoyed when it offers grammatical constructs that are socially acceptable. I think I am capable of making those decisions.
Unless you are an English teacher, I suggest using a grammar-checking tool such as Grammarly. A free version of the tool catches your most common errors. I use the paid version, which goes into greater depth.
This short article is not enough to make you an award-winning author. But I wanted to give you a place to start.
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash.com
The sunny Saturday morning in late January is a nice interregnum between the storms sweeping across the South. We are fortunate that South Carolina has received mostly rain while the Deep South has contended with tornadoes and punishing winds.
Those who sell goods and services must contend with another storm that has swept the country – the uncomfortable level of price inflation that has affected everything related to commerce. It’s worse for retirees as those on fixed incomes watch as Social Security COLA doesn’t quite keep up with the declining dollar value, and we watch as the financial storms ravage the stock market.
So, this morning, I made the final tweaks to Yamamoto’s Gold, prepared the eBook submission to the Amazon Kindle website, and paused for quite a while, studying the pricing page for the book. I have seen success over the past several years by pricing the eBook at $4.99. This seems to be the sweet spot that balances attractiveness to the reader and revenue for the author. All things considered, is this a good time to raise prices?
It prompts other questions. Am I being greedy? Would the price increase irritate the readers enough to reduce sales more than the price increase would recover? Is adding a dollar to the price even worth the trouble?
What is greed? Merriam-Webster defines it as “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed motivated by naked ambition.” That’s pretty ugly. Now, I understand greed when I walk into an all-you-can-eat buffet and want some of everything. Nay, a lot of everything.
I think if I were greedy, I would be in a different business. I worked in IT management, which holds the possibility of being very lucrative, and I retired from that field. Several friends urged me to get into IT consulting upon retirement. But it was time for me to get out of the IT business.
I am not likely to get wealthy as a writer. As an independent author, I have been successful. The income from my books adds a nice cushion to my finances, but it is a long way from what would be considered a full-time occupation. I do this because I enjoy it.
So what about a general price increase? Sales have softened somewhat over the past six months, which may indicate economic distress. Amazon has struggled to hold the line on pricing, sometimes by removing or reducing benefits in the Prime product. Anecdotally, that has enraged a lot of the customers. Based upon that, raising my prices by a buck is probably not worth the trouble. I consider you my friends and don’t want to antagonize you needlessly.
So, the new title, Yamamoto’s Gold, will be listed at $4.99 for the eBook, and I really hope you enjoy the story. And, of course, I must get busy with the next book.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.com
I guess the verdict is in. We released The Alter Schloss on September First and can now look back at this book’s first month. Sales were decent, although the Parallel Nazi books do significantly better. The reviews have been very good, though. The readers have consistently asked two questions, and I will try to answer them.
Will there be more books in the series? I had conceived The Alter Schloss as a single book and had no intentions of doing more. Several readers, though, asked to see more of the world now inhabited by this Schloss. So, I suppose we should leave the door open for further stories in this setting. The problem, of course, is finding the time to do this.
What of the other nations not mentioned in the book? A few readers mentioned Austria-Hungary since there was no Great War in this universe. This is solely a result of keeping the plot under control. The associated books to the Parallel Nazi series focus on a smaller group of characters and pretty much follow a single plotline. I have two reasons for such. First, this results in a book that I can get to the readers quicker, and secondly, it allows me to fill in the holes of the Schloss back story. The Parallel Nazi stories are complex and take more time to develop.
Now, let’s look at the author’s challenge in The Alter Schloss. The biggest problem with this book is tracking the personalities of the two Schlosses. It is harder than you might think. In a “broad brush” sort of way, we can tag the Schloss from 1982, which we may call Schloss Prime, as more visionary. He is the better strategic thinker. He is an introvert and is prone to emotional highs and lows – even to the point of emotional exhaustion.
The Alter Schloss is an extrovert and is the more pragmatic of the pair. He is also what we would call “an operator.” He gets things done. He is a better manager than Schloss Prime and understands people better. He is more “hands-on” and wants to be out among people.
These are differences in degree. Remember that we are depicting two different versions of the same person. And keeping that straight in two separate (but related) book series is challenging.
I have mentioned before that the Munich Faction will be a three-book series. I plan to begin work on the second book after I finish Parallel Nazi 9 – Yamamoto’s Gold. As of this morning, I have completed about 23,000 words in that novel. I want this book done by Christmas, but it will likely be released in the first quarter of 2023.
We got through the summer. While it was hot and humid, climate change notwithstanding, it was no worse than usual in South Carolina. During the dog days, the temperature hovers in the upper nineties, and it is thoroughly unpleasant outside.
But we completed another book, and it hit Amazon on September first. The Alter-Schloss answers the question that bothered many readers, not to mention Heinrich Schloss. This book was challenging and involved an extensive rewrite after I was two-thirds through the first draft. I was happy with the result, and I hope you are as well.
So, what’s next? My wife moved her home office from an upstairs room to the downstairs. I volunteered to construct a new desk as part of the overall project. I had built a writing desk several years ago for her use, and it was not practical for her needs, hence the new furniture. So following Alter-Schloss, I took a couple of weeks to get the desk finished and installed for her, and she is happy with it.
So, this week, I have begun the Parallel Nazi Book 9. For those curious about where the story goes, I have a working title: Yamamoto’s Gold. All the major players in the previous novels are now involved in retrieving the gold that the Japanese looted from the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco. Stay tuned.
As I was researching and thinking about Book 9, I also scratched out the scenarios for Books 10 and 11 of the series. So, Schloss continues. Comments I have received from the readers indicated worry that the series might be coming to a close. While that will undoubtedly happen someday, new plot lines keep popping into my head. And Herr Schloss is still a young man. If you count forty as young.
The days and nights are growing cooler, so we are hopefully in the fall season. The fall will be busy. Grandchild number seven is on the way. A friend recently completed the first draft of a new book, and I will likely assist with the edits. I have been editing and updating some of my earlier works now that the grammar tools are worth using. I am also working on the sequel to The Wealth of the Worlds, but that is not moving quickly. I usually jump over to that when I face writer’s block. And writer’s block will often prevent me from doing any writing.
I enjoy hearing from readers. Feel free to drop me a note as the urge strikes. I try to respond promptly. And in a few weeks, we will watch the leaves turn.
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When I began writing science-fiction, I planned to document the underlying structure of the various series. This was to provide background information for the readers and give me a framework to keep the stories consistent. I have yet to do something like this mainly because of simple procrastination and the lack of available time.
And when I begin a book, I usually do not have the patience to create an outline or synopsis. Usually, by the time I start a book, I have a pretty good idea of the broad sweep of the novel and what will happen at the ending. This set of habits has served me well over the years, although I occasionally stumble over my shortcomings.
First, keeping a book internally consistent is harder than you think. In Accidental Nazi, I failed to account for Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress, early in the book. She should have been present at Hitler’s funeral and might have even been part of the story. I corrected that later by having Schloss note that Braun did not exist in that universe. You can fix things, but you need to catch them.
Secondly, with each book in the series, it becomes more difficult to maintain consistency with the series in its overall scope. I had trouble confusing Frankfurt and Cologne in the fourth and fifth books, and I hope I have corrected all those associated errors.
While I have two broadly different frameworks for the books – the Parallel Multiverse and the Woogieverse (with the associated novels), the two frameworks impinge occasionally. The book ruBracks, Nazis, the Death of the Universe and Everything, is an example where I provided some of the backstory to 
I am heaving a sigh of relief. The new book, Things Never Known, is now up on Amazon. This is the 8th book of the Parallel Nazi series, and the Schloss Saga continues.
Ironically, this book centers around the war between Soviet Russia and “Free” Ukraine. It was unintentional on my part, as I was already well into the book when Putin invaded Ukraine. Some of the themes in the book reflect what some wag once said: History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often hums the same tune. I don’t remember who said this, but it seems appropriate.
One of the pitfalls of writing stories with a historical basis is the danger of anachronisms. The readers are intolerant of excuses, such as, "This is a parallel universe; I can do what I want." One must maintain consistency within the series of books, even though the parallel universe offers opportunities to cover up mistakes. Consistency within the broad arc of history is important as well.
One of my readers, who also does editing for me, caught one. At one point, Herr Schloss is calculating the value of something in Reichsmarks, and I wrote Deutschmarks in the first draft. I was delighted he caught that, even though I felt foolish. There was no way to cover that one up. I have to pay attention to everything.
Now that I have the eighth Schloss book out of the way, I have been developing ideas for the next Schloss book. I have not decided on which new book to start, but it will probably be the second of the Munich Faction series. While Courier can be considered a prequel to Accidental Nazi, the three-book series will overlap somewhat and cover the early part of Heinrich Schloss’s transition from 1982 to 1941 - from Gerhard Wicklein’s point of view. The first Munich Faction book was fun to write, and I’m looking forward to the next.
Photo by Duncan Kidd on Unsplash.com
I am up to 33,000 words on Book 8 of the Parallel Nazi. I face the irony of writing about war in Ukraine simultaneously with the actual Russian invasion. This was not intentional, and I wonder how the readers will receive the book.
I'm sure you are awaiting the release of the new book. It is too early to say whether the conflict will be resolved in book eight. Yet, a Ukrainian war is a crucial part of the story, and you all know we dealt extensively with it in This Throw of the Dice.
I have gradually developed a work strategy with this new book. It is easy to get distracted with two 32-inch screens on my desktop and two windows that give me a view of the outside. Taking the laptop into the great room and using the Bluetooth connection to play music through the TV soundbar gives me a much tighter focus on writing. Currently, I complete one chapter per day, which is about 2,000 words. That is about five chapters per week.
I remember reading somewhere that David Weber manages about 5,000 words per day. That rate is possible for me but unlikely. When I have it together, I can write about 1,000 words per hour. But I often lose a couple of hours hither and yon to take care of research. As much as possible, I try to make the historical characters in my books at least somewhat like the actual people.
Consistency is vital in the stories. I have not composed a specific set of rules to guide my writing in the Heinrich Schloss universe, but the readers know when I violate those strictures. I have received several comments about the Deux ex Machina represented by Frau Marsden. When she intervened directly to rescue Schloss and Rainer from the military coup, I debated whether this was the best way to handle the storyline. However, it did illustrate the power wielded by the old lady.
Frau Marsden's intervention when Beria kidnapped Misty was another such point. In the story's first draft, she personally killed Beria after he had tied Misty to the bed. After some serious thought, I changed the story so that she encouraged Khrushchev to take the action that rescued Misty. This worked better and further developed Khrushchev's character in the series.
I think the underlying rule that I followed in the second case, specifically, was that the characters in the Schloss universe act in response to events and challenges with only subliminal or ancillary guidance by Frau Marsden.
For further background on Frau Marsden, I would refer you to ruBracks, Nazis, the Death of the Universe and Everything, which fills in much of the background about Frau Marsden and the events which bounced Heinrich Schloss into a parallel world. Some of the same characters also appear in Gravity Rising.
Some of my friends have urged me to include more of Frau Marsden's activities in the Parallel Nazi series, but that would break other implicit rules of the series. These stores are primarily about Schloss and other people who inhabit this universe. And that is clearly what the readers want to see.
As usual, Herr Schloss faces several severe challenges in the new book and must overcome them to survive. I am looking forward to completing the book and letting you all have a look at it.
Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash.com
I start with these horrifying clichés to discuss my first Audible Book release. Sometimes making midstream course corrections are risky. Other times you look at the situation and decide to go with the flow.
Over the past several years, I have had several friends encourage me to market audio versions of my books. To this point, I have not ventured out on this ice-covered lake because I'm not too fond of audiobooks. I have tried them, but I get bored quickly since I can read faster than the narrator can speak.
I have the same problem with those annoying video pop-ups on the news sites. I can read the articles much faster than the talking head can dramatize the story. I just like to read.
It finally occurred to me that I was missing opportunities by not having audio versions of my books, so I decided on an experiment. I purchased a decent microphone and arranged for quiet time in the house to read through Accidental Nazi and record the chapters. I discovered that editing an audiobook is nontrivial. I was also reminded that I really hate listening to my own voice, which also discouraged the editing chores.
So I set the project aside for about a year. I had lunch with a writer friend who mentioned he had turned a closet in his house into a recording studio to create audio versions of his books. One thing led to another, and Scott Appleton recorded and edited the audio version of Accidental Nazi.
The process is still complex and fraught with opportunities for derailment, but we got the thing done. The Audible Books version of Accidental Nazi is now live and available on the Audible site and its distribution partners, including Amazon. We are already seeing steady sales, and that's encouraging.
Please give me your feedback, those who have delved into the Audible version of the book. We are interested to discover whether the experiment was successful. The volume of sales will determine whether it's worth investing in another title.
Photo by Niklas Ohlrogge on Unsplash.com
After three months of record sales, I can’t decide if I’m feeling satisfaction or pressure to get new books completed. We released This Throw of the Dice in early November and saw an immediate sales boost. It continued into December. In mid-January, we released the first volume of The Munich Faction again to generous sales.
All of this is, of course, thanks to you, reader. I am delighted that you have honored me with purchasing my books. And I thank you for that. And thanks to you who have sent encouraging emails. It’s flattering.
We are in the depths of winter here in South Carolina. We had seven inches of snow and some cold weather earlier. And there are still some patches of snow on the ground two weeks after the event. That is unusual. This winter is a bit colder than the last.
After getting a new book out the door, I have been busy doing cleanup on some other books. I just completed the synopsis for the sequel to The Wealth of the Worlds. And I have made decent progress on the summary for the new Parallel Nazi book (8). So I hope to get started with the actual writing sometime this week.
Recently my friend Scott Appleton completed recording Accidental Nazi” and we have submitted it to Audible.com. It was my first time building an Audible book, and I was unsure what to expect. It is 
Not being into games of chance, I stepped outside of my box in selecting a title for the seventh Parallel Nazi book. This reversed my decision to name this book The Munich Faction. I am , in fact, now working on a new novel that carries the title The Munich Faction. This directional change resulted from a combination of writer’s block and a sudden development of a story line focused on Gerhard Wicklein.
This brings me back to my original intentions. Heinrich Schloss is the central character of the Parallel Nazi series. He is more peripheral in the Munich Faction, which is the story of Gerhard Wicklein. This story will also explore the character of the Alter-Schloss. As I may have mentioned, the Alter-Schloss will eventually be the subject of a future novel.
But, back to Parallel Nazi – 7. A lot of things come together in this story, but it also sets up multiple plot lines for the next book. Several people have asked me how many Parallel Nazi books I plan to write. I don’t know the answer to that. Obviously as long as you, the readers, keep purchasing the books, I be motivated to continue writing them. The biggest challenge is that once someone is a head of state, it’s really hard to come up with suspense that doesn’t violate the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief. When people start saying, “Oh, come on now!” it maybe is time to rethink the whole approach. So, I guess I can just say, “We shall see.”
For the fun of it, I thought I’d list a few of my upcoming projects. If some of them particularly interest you, drop me a note to let me know.
1. The Munich Faction: The story of Gerhard Wicklein and the so-called Munich Faction (a group that is dedicated to overthrowing Schloss). I have written nine chapters and sixteen-thousand words for the book so far. It will probably be the next to be published.
2. Parallel Nazi – 8: I’ve just started thinking about this one.
3. Sequel to McNeel’s World.
4. Sequel to Nazi Magician.
5. Sequel to The Wealth of the Worlds.
6. Sequel to Dynastic Ambition which will be the second of a three book series
In addition, I have been exploring some ideas as follows:
1. A Parallel Universe novel that takes place in 1956 and the working title is Stalin’s Europe.
2. A Dragon story.
3. A couple of novels about peripheral characters from the Montora series.
4. A series of detective stories with characters from the Montora series.
As you can see, I have plenty to keep me busy. You see, I have this terror of being bored.
As some of you may know, I retired from my day job at the end of May 2021. So I no longer consider myself an IT professional. After over thirty years in the field, I am happily an amateur. Regarding myself, now, as a writing professional, is probably open for debate. I do earn enough from my writings that I believe it to be more than just a hobby, but defining the term professional can be slippery.
So what has been happening? The new Parallel Nazi book is making progress. As of this morning, the word count is a little north of forty-four thousand. I have also started another new book that I am not prepared to talk about just yet. An action item on the to-do list is planning for a sequel to McNeel’s World. The framework for that book is already solid, but I haven’t developed the plot.
As some of you may have noticed, I slip-streamed a new version of Accidental Nazi a while back. An author friend surprised me with a new cover design, and that formed the impetus to clean up the book somewhat. I have begun some work on editing and refreshing Improbable Nazi (Parallel Nazi 2).
It illustrates my development of a working model in the home office. I have discovered that I can write much faster than I can develop ideas, so I have been challenged to find things to do when I would be otherwise just staring at the screen. So I now keep a list of minor projects that I can shift to when the well runs dry.
Among other items on the list are updating the websites and also learning Python. These will be the subject of another entry. Probably.
On the subject of email, let me say that I enjoy hearing from you. Feedback is great, although my friends insist that I do not listen to advice. So if you see something in one of my books that puzzles or annoys you, feel free to drop me a note. Answering email gives me something to do when I would otherwise stare at the screen (see above).
Have a great summer!
Spring brings the pollen and all the pleasure that entails. I do enjoy glancing out the window as I write and seeing the changing seasons. At the moment, I see a pile of gravel and several truckloads of dirt in the empty lot across the street. The local housing boom means that builders and buyers are snapping up the remaining lots in our subdivision. It will be interesting to watch new homes going into what I think are frankly marginal locations.
Spring has also brought several new things to my personal environment. First is the release of McNeel’s world, which is my foray into steampunk. The book came together quickly, and I am pleased with it. This was the first opportunity to participate in Amazon’s hardcover beta. The new format provides more buying choices for the readers, and it’s also fun to see my books on hardcover.
A friend of mine presented a new cover design for Accidental Nazi in a surprise move. I did not know he was working on it, and he said it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. But I liked the cover and decided this was a great opportunity to work through the book again to clean up grammatical and wording issues. We should see the second edition of Accidental Nazi released in the next few weeks with any luck at all.
And, most importantly, my son and daughter-in-law presented us with a granddaughter over the weekend. So we shall shortly be making the trek to Pennsylvania to congratulate the kids on such a lovely little girl. This makes six grandchildren for us, and we are blessed.
So, what’s next? Shortly I plan to begin work on the next book in the parallel Nazi series. After a lot of thought and conversation, I have decided that the planned title The Munich Faction will be in the mainstream series of books about Schloss. Several reasons dictated this change. First of all, I had difficulty developing a plot for this book as a standalone. Secondly, the background to the story does interleave with the rest of Heinrich Schloss’s adventures. Finally, it was challenging to coordinate the story’s timeline with the crisis Schloss faces with the Russian invasion.
I plan to begin writing very soon. I’m excited about tying together many of the threads we have explored in the previous books. It will not conclude the series, since Frau Marsden has plans for the Reich Chancellor.
Enjoy your springtime.
Photo by Roland Lösslein on Unsplash
We are in the winter quarter of 2021, and I thought it would be a good time to add some news to the website. Threads of Despair has been well received, and I thank you once again for reading my books. As usual, the day after we released the book, I got emails asking when the next one would be out. All I can say at this point is that I hope to have it out sometime during the summer.
The new book has progressed through chapter 16 and about 30,000 words. This will be another parallel universe novel. It takes place in New York City in 1967. It illustrates a civilization where electricity was never developed, and the American constitutional convention was unable to complete its work. What does a modern nation look like that still relies upon steam for its primary motive power?
If you want to find out the details, you have to buy the book. It should be done sometime in the spring. Of course, that reflects a certain amount of optimism on my part. But the plot has come together nicely.
Very little winter weather has found its way to South Carolina, so far. However, my children, who both reside in the North have enjoyed a lot of snow. This disappoints my wife, who enjoys winter weather, and fervently watches the weather forecasts for the slightest hint of snow.
Take the time next week to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your beloved, or with your BFF. Of course the times require us to maintain care and how we socialize. Hopefully the worst will be over by the summer.
Photo by marqquin on Unsplash
I beat my schedule for a change. I doubted I could get Threads of Despair finished and released before Christmas. So we are a week ahead of the target. The book came together well and required very little surgery in the edit phase. And you all can be happy: there will be a seventh book in the series.
What is happening in 2021? I am developing another alternate history / parallel universe series. This requires a lot of research as well as planning. I already threw away one scenario. But, it looks like the new one is coming together. As I mentioned above, we will see Heinrich Schloss in a seventh book. I keep toying with The Munich Faction, but it doesn’t seem quite ready for the birthing process. I also plan a second book in the Nazi Magician series. There will be plenty to keep me busy, and hopefully to keep you entertained.
There seems to be universal sighs of relief that 2020 is finally coming to an end. I mean, what else could possibly go wrong??? I naturally will not volunteer an answer.
Once more we are in the season of remembrance and commemoration of the birth of our Lord and Savior. With our eyes upon Jesus, we can observe the troubles of this present world trusting that He is still on the throne and ultimately does according to His good pleasure.
My wife and I want to wish all of you a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.
~WW
Resolute Nazi is now live on Amazon. This is the fifth book in the Parallel Nazi series. The plot was difficult to put together for this book and delayed the completion. But it's there and ready for you to read. I hope you will enjoy it. The entire series has sold well and I appreciate you staying with me.
I finally completed the print edition of The Diamonds of Montora recently and included some minor cleanup of the text. Procrastination is a terrible thing.
It looks like the worst of the pandemic is over. Please don't hold me to that. Back in January everybody said this was no big deal. Events proved otherwise. The nature of my day job is such that working from home presents no great challenges. As an introvert, spending the day huddled in my home office is a delight. On the other had, my wife has not appreciated the enforced isolation. Thankfully both we and our families have remained well, so far.
I have several new projects in the works. I am well into the first draft of a new series. I am also contemplating several
spin-off titles from the Parallel Nazi stories. After completing The Last Paladin, I have not seriously looked at any further books in the Woogievers. Several beg to be written, but my writing time will be limited for the next year or so until I retire from the day job.
And... back to it!
We are working through the edits for The Last Paladin and plan to release the book sometime after the middle of December. Hopefully this will provide some Christmastime reading. The book came together well and documents some of the backstory to the Woogieverse. I had been wanting to tell this story for some time and finally was able to buckle down and get the book done.
In other news, the new Parallel Nazi book is up to about 37,000 words. I hope to complete the first draft as soon as possible after the first of the new year. Doing the research for a war between Germany and the Soviet Union in the 1940's has required a lot of research. Continuing the other plot lines that include the United States, Japan and Great Britain has keep me busy as well. The great reception Inconsequential Nazi was encouraging and I want to keep the story going. As far as plans for more books in the series, Accidental Nazi was written as a standalone novel. I quickly decided that it needed to be a trilogy. After the third book, the fourth was necessary as the fifth. I had thought I would wind up with seven books in the series. But, that may not be the end of it.
My main concern with the series is jumping the shark. That is, letting the series run past it's "sell by" date. I think I can keep the story line going through about 1953. At some point, though, the series will end. Thanks again for reading the books!
The print edition included some of the usual minor revisions, which mainly consist of fixing those accursed typos. The e-book has been refreshed as well. I have also concluded a refresh of The Diamonds of Montora, although I am still working on a cover. You can expect it in August, hopefully.
I am now participating in a local writers' forum along with Scott Appleton, who writes family friendly fantasy. Scott is venturing into the publishing business with his Flaming Pen Press and has several new titles on the way.
I finished the first draft in March, and then let the book lie fallow for a month. In late April I began the second draft of Inconsequential while Bob and I were struggling to get Hero into final form. Neither of us are good editors (as you have probably recognized), so we really appreciate the helpful friends to worked on the drafts of both books.
Along the way, we worked with a gig-economy site to get a cover developed for Hero, and I think you will like it. We do. I had planned to use the same site for the Inconsequential cover. However, I had run across a picture on a free site that I liked, St. Basil’s in Red Square, Moscow that I liked and used on the proof copies. It fit the story better than anything else I could think of, so I kept it for the final.
This was my first experience at coauthoring a book and I am not convinced I want to try it again. It was a lot of work. I hope it was worth it.
Finally, we have another story about Heinrich Schloss. This is the fourth book in the series and I am working on the ideas for the fifth. Stay tuned!
So, in mid-January my computer decided to spread the insanity a bit. When I logged into the computer, it would immediately log out! I had never seen an error like that before. My writing desktop is an i7 and runs three 21-inch screens which allows me to have a lot of source material in front of me when writing. I wasn’t happy but thought I could pull the computer out and hook up my alternate desktop machine (which supports two screens) and stay in business while I figured out what was going on.
Interestingly enough, the alternate computer decided to exhibit the same behavior and was unusable. This was getting serious. At the same time my wife decided it would be a wonderful time to repaint the master bath. This involved a color change and required priming the walls and the trim, then repainting same. This, of course, involved the same evening hours usually reserved for writing.
I still wasn’t terribly worried since I keep all my data on a small server at home and store my writing data in the cloud as well. That makes it easy to do a clean install on an afflicted computer and get back in service with an evening’s effort – a long evening. And the install was easy. I use Ubuntu on the desktop and have been happy with it over the years. I had evolved a setup where I used Dragon Naturally Speaking. This was installed in a Windows 10 Virtual Machine utilizing Oracle’s VirtualBox. Cool software and fun to play with. Most of the time.
Install Ubuntu. Install VirtualBox. Copy down the 100 gig VM from the server – which takes a couple of hours. No problem. Then VirtualBox generated an error – The Windows 10 Virtual machine refused to see my USB headset, which I needed for the Dragon. So, another week of backing and filling ensued, along with the interminable painting project.
So finally, I replaced Ubuntu with Windows 10 on my main desktop and decided to run the Dragon natively. But then the Dragon install failed because I had used up all my installs. At some point in the adventure you must repress the urge to start tossing equipment through the window. Oh well, it was an old version of Dragon, anyway. I ordered a new copy from Amazon (it’s cheaper) and painted.
Now that I have that off my chest… The bathroom project is complete. It looks surprisingly good considering my limited painting skills. The computers are doing as intended. I recently completed the first draft of the fourth Parallel Nazi novel. I had planned to finish the book in early January.
The working title is Inconsequential Nazi. That may change between now and publishing time. But it’s enough to hang my hat on for right now. The book, of course, follows the continuing life of Heinrich Schloss – a man now living in a parallel universe quite different from where he grew up. I need to put that draft away for a time, so it appears fresh when I come back to it. As usual, a lot of work will be required in the second draft. I wanted to release it in May, but that may be a faint hope.
I have been working on a cold war era novel with Bob Anderson. We have completed the second draft of The Final Hero and will soon get down to serious editing. I expect this book will be released in late spring (2019). I have also begun work on The Last Paladin which is set in my future history series. It is the story of Ryan Ward Baughman, a descendent of Scott Baughman’s and for many reasons is the last of the rulers of the Upper Midwest Palatinate. Ward Baughman was a minor character in The Diamonds of Montora and this book fills in some of the background. I have been wanting to write this one for a while, and the outline finally came together.
Sales have remained strong and I appreciate those of you who also picked up Gravity Rising this past winter. And of course, the other books. Enjoy the spring!
The new novel, Gravity Rising, released on December 15. This is a dystopian tale that fills in some of the historical blanks behind all of the Woogieverse stories. The story also gives us another glimpse into the mysterious world of the ruBracks. It recounts how Lawrence Berthold discovered antigravity and began development of the interstellar space drive. Details of the book are here, and it is available on Amazon as usual.
Impossible Nazi (the third book of the series) arrived in late August to strong sales. In fact the entire series has done very well. The feedback from readers via email has been encouraging. I am hard at work on the fourth book of the series. I expect to complete the first draft in early February, and deliver the product to you sometime in April or May 2019. This book is moving a bit slower, because of the research I have to do for it. I also have to pay attention to making the stories interesting, rather than churning out an endless series of books that may end up boring the reader.
During this time of the year, we slow down a bit and enjoy the company of friends and family. As always, we remember the One for whom the season is named and give thanks for the special blessings. I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.
Work continues on the third Parallel Nazi novel. I am about 70,000 words into the book at this point. I am still projecting a publication date in December 2018, although I have had readers demanding it sooner. I have no complaints about the reader feedback. The Parallel Nazi series is selling very well.
The Carrington Event novel is on the shelf for the moment. It will require major surgery on the second draft, so it will likely not appear until sometime in 2019.
And the big question: How many Parallel Nazi novels do I plan to write? That is a good question. I am working on the outlines for two subsidiary titles, The Munich Faction and The Flight of the Swallow which takes place in the same time frame, but with different characters. I am actually developing ideas for a fourth Parallel Nazi novel, and I have some thoughts for a fifth book in the series. Beyond that, I cannot say at this time.
December 2017
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Improbable Nazi is available for pre-order, and will be generally available on December 15. This is the second book of a series I have named "The Parallel Nazi." This book continues the story of Heinrich Schloss, a German history professor who is transported from 1982 Berlin to a very different 1941 Germany.
The "Carrington Event" dystopian novel first draft is nearing completion. I tentatively plan to publish it sometime during the first half of 2018. I am anxious to complete this draft, so I can begin work on the third Parallel Nazi novel.
I have completed the companion work to Accidental Nazi. It is entitled ruBracks, Nazis, the Death of the Universe and Everything. At this time we do not have a projected publish date, but it will probably be sometime during 2018.
July 2017 -- Various & Sundry
Here we are in the depths of the summer, suffering the heat wave, but enjoying the sunshine. The Snows of Montora is now available in a print edition. We took the opportunity to update the text and stamp out some more typos. So, we're calling it a Second Edition. It is also available in the Kindle ebook format.
The sequel to Accidental Nazi will be out in December, so put it on your Christmas lists. This book continues the story of Heinrich Schloss and his life in a parallel universe in Nazi Germany. I have completed the second draft, so the book is substantially in its final form.
I am working on a dystopian story about Earth circa 2240 to 2250 A.D. Civilization has crumbled under the combined onslaught of a "Carrington Event" in 2035, and successive pandemics. A Carrington Event is a solar flare strong enough to disrupt electrical systems on the planet. Mankind struggles with a climate which has fallen into a glacial epoch. Lawrence Berthold struggles to complete his education under the guidance of academics who are shortsighted and penurious.
My wife and I recently completed a three week vacation that covered Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Western Illinois. After getting the bugs and road tar off the car, I am back in the saddle and working on my various writing projects. It's too hot to be outside right now, anyway.
Dynastic Ambition -- April 2017
Frank Nyman is back in the first of a new series of stories. His old nemesis Admiral Krause calls him in to investigate and quell unrest on the planet Clay in the Cardiff system. Along the way he is drafted to facilitate the unification of the nation-states on Caledon. He is challenged by a resource-strapped navy and a young, homicidal religionist, who is bent on killing him. He is joined, once again, by Smith & Jones along with Stephanie Howard and Hai Ciera for new adventures. Frank’s life is changed dramatically with new events and characters entering his life.
Accidental Nazi -- March 2017
Since the release of Accidental Nazi in December, the book has become the best selling of the Wagher novels. The print edition is also selling well. Ward is hard at work on the sequel and expects to release it in December of 2017. Many readers have asked questions about particular characters and events. All we can say it, wait for the next book in the series.