Damocles

Hello readers,

I know some of you are patiently anticipating my next writing installment.  Over the past few weeks I came across a great story around which I am developing a much longer piece of work. I am writing a novel of historical fiction, rather than another one-off piece.  This project will be released by chapters over the next year as I complete each in-turn.  I cherish every scrap of feedback I receive and look forward to a complete novel at the end of the process.  Please help me develop this book and let me know what you think of it as I release it.

Now, about the book.

The title is "Damocles", and it is a story of an empire at the height of its power.  To give you a little foretaste, here is a brief snippet of the Foreword:

By August of 1945 Allied forces had pushed the Japanese back across the Pacific Ocean, to the doorstep of the Japanese home islands.  Japan was losing the war.  An invasion of the home islands was planned for later in the year, while firebombing raids over Japanese cities continued relentlessly through the long-hot summer.  Each raid resulted in immense damage to Japan’s cities because they were built primarily from wood and paper. The Japanese were desperate to stop the bombings. The huge Allied bombers were flying from the island of Tinian in the Mariana Island Chain.  Therefore, Tinian became a primary target of Japanese forces. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, on July 26, 1945 the U.S.S. Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser, delivered parts of the enriched uranium for the atomic bomb Little Boy to Tinian. 

The March

Here is a short story of the 1938 meeting between Hitler and Mussolini told from the perspective of one of the over 50,000 Fascist youth who attended.

The March

Tank Vs. Battleship

Here is the latest piece of writing I've posted to Scribd. It is entitled Tank Vs. Battleship and is a short piece of historical fiction from a very unique point of view.

Flatcar

I just finished writing a short story of a young boy evacuating ahead of the advancing Soviet army during the winter of 1945. I look forward to everyone's comments!

Enemy Honor

Check out my latest piece of writing: Enemy Honor is a short story about an Italian Frog Men attack against British warships during World War II and the surprising friendship it engenders.  I look forward to any comments.

Every Morning

Darkness still blankets the world when my tired eyes reluctantly open.

Pulsating spherical stabbing emanating from my right hip ends the edge of slumber I cling to despite knowing it is over.

Toiling through the night, each quarter hour flipping, turning, rolling to find that perfect position.

Each quarter hour realizing that perfect position still needs to be found.

Eventually, the internal stabbing becomes too strong to force sleep upon my mind.

Consciousness, instilled with every insecurity I possess, floods my mind.

 This quiet time before Joshua and Jan wake is mine alone.

The bed is no longer comfortable.

My mind is no longer safe.

Rise

Start the day

Drowned the pain and quiet the mind through activity.

Mindless and without feeling I greet the world.

Stimulus: Good for me, not for you

I'm not surprised by the articles in today's Wall Street Journal about how the market sell-off of the past few days is due to the Federal Reserve claiming that it may start to wind down the QE(n's) of over $80 Billion a month it has been pursuing to keep interest rates down.  What is disconcerting to me is that the same folks selling off their holdings because they fear the Fed will no longer provide a stimulus, are those who complained about the government providing a stimulus during the heart of the financial crisis in 2008-9.  It is disingenuous of these Wall Street types to want stimulus for the financial markets, but not for Main Street America.  It's disingenuous, but wholly unsurprising.  I look forward to a return to as close to a market economy (without stimulus) as we can get when the Fed finally does wind down the QE's.  Until then, let the Wall Street folks lose a few bucks as their stimulus is withdrawn so they may join the rest of Americans who have been suffering for the past 5 years.