I’m proud to announce that book five of the Blue Dawn series, Patrons of Terror, is available now for paperback and Kindle preorder. The book drops on May 28. We have our fingers crossed that the audiobook will be available at that time. Military fiction fans and those that love political thrillers, this series is for you.
This novel has lots of interesting storylines. Readers will get a conclusion to the story arc for the Defiance in New Hampshire. The American forces drive west out of Texas and meet unexpected resistance. The Newmerican forces, bolstered by the Veterans Corps and other units, try a knock out punch into Texas. That counteroffensive goes off the rails in a great way. Judy Mercury is back with a special operation that is amazing!
For those of you that love the political stuff, there’s plenty of it. An operative goes to Tennessee to attempt to topple the struggling American government.
There are some great themes with this book – from gun control to how veterans are dealt with. The Second American Civil War has a lot of moving parts and as a writer, I’m enjoying playing with all of them.
The book has a rocking cover from the battle for New Hampshire. I’m going to dedicate an entire blog post to the cover. I figured if Mark Sibley could have a tank on the cover, so could I…and mine would be on fire!
Please feel free to order Patrons of Terror and spread the news on your social media feeds. The battle for America’s future has never been so precarious!
First, a shot at something free. My publisher, Defiance Press, is holding a raffle for a free audio book of Blue Dawn. Here’s the link for the raffle
Now onto some interesting findings. One of the neat features of Amazon’s Kindle is that when people highlight text, it shows that in your book. I was flipping through Blue Dawn a few days ago and saw the passages that had been highlighted by multiple people. It was fascinating to see what readers thought were pertinent to them.
So I decided to extract them from the books in the series so far, out of context, just so people could see if their favorite passages were akin to their own thinking. Enjoy!
They attract the weak, the uneducated. The radicals always convince people they are victims and deserve justice or revenge. That’s why professors like me were a threat. I didn’t follow their little rules. Totalitarians can’t have free thinkers.
“Run the DNA through the National Registry.” The registry had been a byproduct of the pandemic. The FedGov took a sample from anyone that got the vaccine. It was supposed to be for tracking purposes, to make sure that the cure didn’t have an adverse effect on someone because of genetic traits. The Secretary and the NSF had long realized the power of having access to 90% of the population’s DNA. Technically, she was not supposed to access the registry, but technicalities didn’t win revolutions.
“Right and wrong are subject to the politicians and the media.”
I came to learn that what defines our future is our past. You don’t erase it, you don’t change it to fit an agenda, you build off of it.
If you fight back, they riot and loot. They use fear to force compliance. They claim to desire peace and coexistence, but in reality, they are oppressors. They bully and subjugate people into falling in line, the line they draw.”
When you rule by violence, even a passive resistance cannot be tolerated.
Reconciling the two versions of history was difficult at first, but after a few days it began to make sense. It is about control. If you control what people think about their past, you can control them.
“Big Tech gave them the lists, the names of everyone that had ever supported conservative thinking. They had been monitoring every click and every ‘like’ we ever made.”
These people have been beyond the reach of the people they have harmed. Snot-nosed college pukes that thought it was funny to push their little political agendas with mass censorship and list-making for Newmerica. They thought it was funny. They painted themselves as the rebels in their own version of Star Wars, but in reality, they had become the Empire. In a few minutes, they will learn that there is a price to be paid for their ‘contributions.’
“Our enemy was at war with us, but we ignored everything until people were killed. That is what has happened again. We refused to see the obvious: that the left was at war with us, but we were not at war with them. That’s how they took control so completely and swiftly. We were convinced that we could arrive at some sort of middle ground, that we could compromise our way out of this, but in reality; they wanted nothing short of our eradication. They had no intent on compromise. We assumed that once things calmed down, we could restore the nation to a semblance of itself; they wanted our history rewritten so there was no going back.
“I look back now and see that the liberals were waging war with us long before the Fall; we just wrote it off as partisan politics. We looked the other way. In reality, they were waging war and we were oblivious.”
“They took away our means to protect ourselves by seizing our weapons. They rewrote our history. Over the years they have seized control of our colleges and have turned them into indoctrination centers for their ideology. I hate saying it, but they were brilliant. They made one major mistake.”
“History has shown us that to defeat evil, you must be willing to do some fairly dark things. In WWII, as much as we like to paint ourselves as honorable, we firebombed Dresden and Tokyo; we unleashed nuclear weapons on the Japanese. I’m not suggesting anything that brutal, yet, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t tell you that we are going to have to fight full-on-ugly before this is over. If we try and play fair, they will defeat us.” And if they defeat us, we are all dead.”
People are weak minded. If they hear or see something enough, they will believe it, even if it isn’t true.
We are at war. It is not for the hearts and minds of the people;˚it is for control of thinking.
Everyone thinks the military wins wars. It isn’t. They only know how to kill. It is control of language and control of what people can think that determines ultimate victory. For the first time in history, thanks to Big Tech and the media, we have the ability to manipulate people into thinking what we want out of fear. Control what people are willing to express and victory is assured.
“When everyone cheers, watch for the handful that doesn’t. They are the enemies.”
That is where we have failed as conservatives. We constantly compromise with our opposition. We give up something and they hold firm. Bit by bit it erodes our position until you end up where we are now, under siege and living in fear.
“It’s those damned churches,” Donna said. “You can’t have people out there—people not governed by the state—teaching other people what is right and wrong. It confuses people…gives them the wrong ideas. Consistency is the key to keeping people in line. Churches are more of a problem than a solution.”
“The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.” Maximilien Robespierre
“Razorback calls for us to utilize our military forces to take back the states and pockets where Newmerica refuses to capitulate or acknowledge the election results.
“Warfare is more than bullets and bombs; it is getting in the head of your enemy and controlling their thoughts and reactions.”
One thing we have learned from COVID is that people will set aside common sense and want to do what they are told to do, even if it is against their best interests.
The problem with Americans is that they have a rich culture that few of them take advantage of.
“Some people must be forced to see the values of diversity and inclusiveness.”
You think that defiance alone makes your feelings somehow important. Your feelings are not facts; they are not reality; they are simply emotions.
They call people “Nazis” while they act just like Hitler’s storm troopers. They are a mirror. Everything they claim they hate, that they claim is evil, is who they are. Their lies are their truths, which makes them dangerous.
We have to take down the system of indoctrinating students and turning them into socialist thugs.”
“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.” Montesquieu
“Desiring wealth is a sickness. A rich society is inherently corrupt.”
“Erasing the past paves the way to a brighter future.”
“The morality of these progressives is not like ours. Theirs is flexible; it’s situational; it’s subject to change based on their little needs and desires. That is where they are weakest. We have principles that we stand behind. For them, everything is based on what they feel at the moment.”
“Hurt feelings are the same as physical abuse.”
Yes, these are out of context, but they do give you a glimpse of what people are paying attention to. I hope if you haven’t checked out the series, this will prompt you to give it a whirl.
In the series, the oppressive Progressive regime inflicts a form of what they call, Social Justice. They are kangaroo courts, whose proceedings are televised with the intent on intimidating the population. Law has no meaning in them, they are show trials designed to sow fear.
Here’s two scenes from Confederacy of Fear, book three in the series. The first is the preparation of the court:
“Tess, it is good to see you,” the Secretary said nodding for the staff holding the outfits to leave them. “I trust that you have the set design ready?”
“Of course,” she said, tapping her iPad furiously. The image appeared on the large screen that dominated the far wall of her office in the TRC. She savored it for a moment. The flags of Newmerica, all sixteen of them so far, were draped in front of where the Tribunal would sit in judgment of Senator Lewis. Her office changed the flag often to ensure that every partisan group that made up the nation got its day in the sun. The previous flags of her nation had been retired, but she had insisted that they all be on display for this event. The visual effect was just what she desired. It looks as if the whole nation is putting him on trial.
The green bunting that highlighted the room had no hint of the old corrupt colors of the nation. It was in the room where the Senator would be tried for treason. The seat where he would be poised would be lower than that of the Tribunal. Tess had come up with that idea. ‘It creates the illusion that no one is above the state.’
The Secretary knew that Lewis was an innocent man—at least innocent of the charges of treason that had been leveled at him. Lewis had been planning to roast her publicly because of the documents that Leatrom had shot onto the Internet months earlier. The NSF was an elite organization that in her opinion did not need oversight to be effective. Lewis disagreed, and his hearings were going to be nothing but a witch hunt targeting the Secretary. So she had taken care of it. A team of her people had forged a wide ranging conspiracy with Lewis as a lynchpin. The hearings were forgotten now as Lewis was facing a death sentence.
“We should position his security attachment below the podium where the defendant stands,” she said. “I want him shackled, but there is no reason to have that appear on the air.”
“Good idea ma’am,” Tess said, making notes.
“About the windows,” she said. “Let’s put curtains in front of them.” “I’d recommend something semi-transparent,” she said. “The windows are behind the Tribunal members. I would like to have some light coming in there; it gives them a silhouette effect.” She changed the image on the screen for a stand-in of a Tribunal member. “We will still be able to see their faces, but it gives them a bit of a glow that I want to exploit.”
“Agreed,” she said. “Do we want that carpeting? It reminds me of the Senate hearing chambers.” “It will be expensive to change that out and it will take some time. We could go with something more utilitarian … perhaps a concrete surface?”
“Yes. It tells people that this defendant is not worthy of comfort. It makes us look like we are not doing something special for him. I want it to have a more utilitarian feel, industrial jail-like.” Of course it would cost more money, and that was the opposite of the message being sent, but the effect was important to foster the proper illusion for the watchers.
“I will have them start work on it right away,” Tess said.
“Excellent. Now about the broadcast. I’ve been thinking. We have a one-minute delay. Is that going to be enough? The Senator is bound to make a lot of wild accusations. Those things cannot be broadcast.” She expected Lewis to be defiant, to try to throw her under the bus. He won’t get the satisfaction.
“We can buffer it for two or more minutes. We will have a team standing by to do the on-the-fly editing. We have loaded the initial questions with things he will willingly say yes to. That way later, when he says no, we can replace his response with a yes.” As such, any additional time we give them will ensure that the presentation of the trial is more seamless.”
The next is from the trial itself…
“Earl Taft Lewis,” the Tribunal leader said in a deep voice. “You stand before this People’s Tribunal to determine your guilt in plotting and executing an assassination attempt of the Ruling Council and whether you are in league with the Pretender President’s administration in committing treason.”
Lewis was still defiant. A part of her admired that; another part knew that he didn’t realize yet the full gravity of the forces that were against him. “I’m innocent,” he said proudly. “Furthermore, I demand a legal trial, not this kangaroo court. I want a lawyer. I have rights.” The Tribunal leader shook his head. “Rights? You don’t have rights here. In this room, only the people have rights—not the accused. Denied. And your innocence is not what we will be discussing, but your guilt.”
Crimson rose on the older man’s face. He turned and glared at Daniel, then at her. She offered him nothing but an icy stare. “This isn’t a legal proceeding,” he countered. “Social Enforcement has no backing under the law to try individuals or dispense justice.” Another member of the Tribunal, Dorothy Rae, a large black woman spoke up. “Shut up or we will shut you up. You will talk when we tell you to talk,” she yelled pounding her fist on the elevated judges’ bench where the Tribunal sat.
Now to take a step into the real world…
Chilling, yet one must ask, are we seeing this unfold right now? This week the Fulton, Georgia judge overseeing the trial of Donald Trump, along with eighteen co-defendants, announced that he would allow live television coverage of the trial. He also would allow phones, computers, and cameras in the courtroom.
This was done against the wishes of the defendants in the case. While Georgia law does allow this, the judge did have discretion to not turn this into a circus. Instead this is being turned into a public execution. The verdict doesn’t matter, the media has tainted the nation as a jury pool. All that remains is the verdict.
The judge in this trail has laid the foundation for this to be a show trail, a real-life People’s Tribunal. The public will get a handful of seats, the rest will be for the executioners, the media, there to see their brand of justice inflicted. Regardless of what you think about the former President, you must question whether you would want to endure the same treatment yourself.
Then again, many will wrap themselves in their hypocrisy, and claim that America has a right to watch. They will savor every facial expression made in the court. They will daily wallow in the media’s pre-packaged highlights as if they were rooting for their college teams during football season. True justice won’t matter, what will matter is the show. And therein lies the danger.
With all of the left-leaning media thrust in the faces of conservatives…don’t you think we deserve some patriotic entertainment?
Today the Kindle and paperback of the fourth book in the Blue Dawn series, No Greater Tyranny, is now available for purchase. The audiobook is done and should be available any ti
TheBlue Dawnseries is an alternate history story where radical progressives overthrow the government. Conservatives become criminals, locked up in Social Quarantine camps. The True Reconciliation Committee censors the population, controlling the narrative. They rebranded America as Newmerica. In this new nation, patriotism is a crime. People are given Reparation Points to inform on each other. Social Enforcement gangs met out social justice as they see fit. History is rewritten. Finally, people are rising up for a return to normalcy. The second American Civil War breaks out. The struggle for freedom has never been greater.
As one reader put it, “We are only one or two bad days from this kind of stuff happening here.” I found that description chilling and accurate.
No Greater Tyrannyfollows several storylines. New Hampshire, which has resisted the Newmerican government, is the epicenter for an uprising. Several counties in Texas have rebelled against both governments, demanding independence. The Chinese have been adding fuel to the fire in the civil war. The Newmericans have a new military commander, a ruthless man determined to crush the Americans once and for all.
In the middle of this, great Americans have emerged. A Taiwan refugee couple are among the Sons of Liberty, fighting for freedom. A hacker has to penetrate the new Texas Republic to find out who is really behind it. The Newmericans are preparing show trials as the Vice President consolidates her power. A brilliant female commander strikes a devastating blow behind enemy lines.
The title comes from the following quote: “There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.” Montesquieu. This has long been one of my favorite quotations, especially coming out of 2020. It was entirely fitting given the different storylines in this book.
Like all of theBlue Dawn books, this one introduces some new characters and continues the arcs of those already introduced.
What makes the series work is that it is based on the things that actual politicians and pundits have suggested and said. It has ties to the real world. All I have done is amplify some of those, making their darkest dreams a nightmarish reality.
The first draft of the next book, Patrons of Terror, is done. I need to carve out some time to edit it. Lately I have had so many books in production, I just haven’t pushed myself to revisit the manuscript. Patrons will wrap up the New Hampshire/Su Hui story arc in a spectacular fashion.
I am often told, “You should get Hollywood to do this series on TV or in a movie.” To be clear, I don’t see that happening. This is book that paints progressive in a poor light, something that mainstream Hollywood would never do. Having said that, there are a few great media channels I am exploring that are not tied to the leftist California media machine…so who knows?
Some have said that reading this series is hard. Not because the writing is bad, but because it hits too close to home. Good. Excellent fiction should hit you on some emotional level…get you thinking about what might be. It should spawn debate and discussion. I’m proud of the fact that this series does that with people.
I recently posted the things that I have predicted in the Blue Dawn series that have come true. Well, add another to the list.
Per the New York Post today, the progressives have started to target NYC pizza restaurants that are using wood or coal for cooking. Seem extreme? Will this really impact alleged global warming? Or is this merely overreach?
Well, I called it in A Most Uncivil War, book two of the Blue Dawn series. Don’t believe me? Here’s a snippet:
College Station, Texas
Trip Reager was opening his pizza restaurant, Slice of Heaven, when the woman entered. He flashed her a smile and said, “I just started to fire up the oven, so it will be a few minutes. Please, take a seat.” The heady smell of yeast filled the air as he started the prep for the lunch crowd.
She gave him a quick, insincere smile. “I’m not here for a meal, Mr. Reager,” she said. “I’m Angel Jones, and I’m with the Green Tribunal out of Austin.”
The mention of Austin forced Trip to suppress rolling his eyes. It had been a hotbed of liberal thinking and support for the new administration. Since the Fall, the FedGov had tried to inflict a lot of changes. Trip was thankful that he lived in Texas and not on the East Coast, but even Texas had cities where support for the fake government ran dangerously strong. A lot of the craziness that much of the country was suffering was diminished in Texas because their Governor refused to play ball with the Ruling Council, declaring it an unlawful assembly. Social Enforcement gangs existed in the state, but only in the big cities, and they were smart enough to stay there. Any town with a university or college had some problems with SEs attempting their brand of vigilante justice. In College Station, where he lived, the students had gotten vocal and ‘protesty’ as he put it, but only to a point. Most understood that the citizens of Texas had little tolerance for the madness that other states seemed to be embracing. His daughter, Jessie, went to college at the University of Texas in Austin. Trip had misgivings about sending her to a place that supported the progressive overthrow in Washington, but she had been insistent and his wife Nancy had supported the move. She’s got a good head on her shoulders…but she is surrounded by left-wing crazies.
The thing he missed most was the ability to post what he wanted on the Internet. Big Tech had backed the coup in Washington DC and made sure that dissenting voices were quickly squashed. The Tribunals were a pain as well, but he treated them as what they were, annoyances. There were a lot of them springing up, courtesy of the temporary government in DC. The only one Trip had interacted with was the Veterans Tribunal because he was being denied coverage of a medication by the VA. They had taken the matter under advisement. It was an unnecessary layer of administration that he saw no value in. Like most people, he assumed at some point the nonsense of the Ruling Council was something that would eventually collapse or be taken down by someone else. In the meantime, you dealt with the fanatics when you had to.
“Is there some sort of problem?” he asked, moving from behind the counter and wiping his hands on his apron.
“I’m afraid you are going to have to shut down,” Jones replied curtly, pulling an envelope from her business suit and extending it to him.
Trip started to chuckle but stopped as he stepped forward and took the envelope from her. “Why is that?”
“You have been identified as a polluter, second class,” she decreed.
He opened the paper and his eyes swept its long-winded legal jargon. “I beg your pardon?”
“Your pizza oven burns wood. That’s a violation of the new Green Act passed by Congress. I’m afraid you’ll have to shut down, at least until you convert your kitchen to running on non-polluting energy.” There was arrogance to her voice. Having served in the military, he had heard it before. It was the tone of a desk officer, someone who thought that rank alone carried authority.
“You do understand that I have a wood burning pizza oven? People come here because we have wood fired pizzas. I don’t put out any more pollution that someone running a BBQ or a bonfire in their backyard.” He folded the paper tightly in his now-clenched fist.
“Sir, you are a polluter and that is a cease-and-desist order from the Tribunal. You are legally required to follow it.”
Quite a bit follows, but that is in the book. Needless to say Trip Reager does not put up with this BS. If you want the rest of what unfolds, check out A Most Uncivil War. Remember, the Blue Dawn series is fiction, but it is fiction that is damn close to home.
No Greater Tyranny will launch on August 8. The ebook is available for presale right now. The paperback will be available by August 8. I do not have a date on the audiobook.
The title of this book comes from one of my favorite quotes. “There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.” Montesquieu
When we last left our characters in Confederacy of Fear, Maddie’s family had begun the road of vengeance by going after those responsible for her death. Raul had been broken out of the Supermax prison; something that I’m sure will keep me on the no-fly list for years to come. General Reager had fought the battle of Stone Mountain, breaking the siege of Atlanta. In New Hampshire, the Defiance has started a campaign to liberate the state. In the District, kangaroo social justice courts are whittling down the internal opponents of the Newmerican government.
This book picks up from there.
I won’t spoil the book, but will drop some hints. New Hampshire is about to get hotter in terms of the conflict as the Sons of Liberty fight on against the occupation forces. In the south, the Newmericans are girding for a knockout punch, one that will crush the hope of America being rebooted. To the west, separatists in several counties of Texas have formed their own Texas Republic and threaten to take down the Americans from within. Worse yet, it shows the role of China for the first time. It’s not all bad news, there’s a stunning military raid that hopes to dramatically shift one front of the war.
The cover shows the battle in a well-known city in Tennessee. Look close enough and you’ll figure it out.
As with the rest of the series, you’ll get a few new characters introduced and see the existing characters continue on their arcs and journeys. Civil wars are bloody and ugly, and this one is no different. At any moment, America’s hopes could be squashed. This series is a mix of political and military thriller. It is written with conservatives in mind. The books are designed to present the readers with an alternate reality where the Progressives have gotten everything they want—right down to putting their opposition in Social Quarantine camps. It’s dark, gritty, frustrating, and entertaining.
Blue Dawn is the first book in a series by the same name. It’s about a violent progressive overthrow of the government and the second American civil war to take the country back five years later. Blue Dawn was written (first draft) two years before the 2020 election. While a work of alternate history, there are a lot of things in the series that I have written about that have or are about to come to pass. I don’t claim to be clairvoyant. What I do claim is that the radical progressive movement is relatively easy to predict.
I saw one reviewer say that I merely flipped the events of January 6th in terms of the players. That is incorrect. I wrote this book before January 6th. I was just ahead of the curve.
Granted, some things I have in the books have not come to pass yet, such as Social Quarantine Camps or the mass roundup of all firearms, or outright civil war, but there are overtones of coming tensions out there, we’ve all felt them. Let’s hope that the rest of what is in the series, doesn’t come to pass. Here are a few of the things I called out that are true.
The Truth Reconciliation Committee (TRC). In Newmerica (the rebranded United States) censorship is done by the Truth Reconciliation Committee, a government censorship bureau that works with Big Tech to control the narratives and smother opposing viewpoints. President Biden proposed a “Misinformation Governance Board,” to do exactly that. If you read the series, you see just how insidious the TRC is, mostly by their slogans at the start of each chapter.
The Systematic Removal or Renaming of Confederate or Other Undesirable Entities. In Blue Dawn, the banned statues, including Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and a myriad of Confederates and all parked in The Graveyard – left to rot. While that hasn’t happened, we have seen mobs and even governments taking down and destroying statues. The renaming and rebranding of streets, military bases, etc is happening daily.
One Political Party Completely Demonizing the Other. You want to believe deep down that things like this couldn’t happen in the US, but they do. With President Biden declaring that MAGA Republicans and the MAGA movement are existential threats to democracy, he has done something that only Hillary Clinton did – target the supporters of a political candidate. In my novels, nothing good comes from this; and I’m fairly certain this isn’t going to play out well in real life either.
“Can I get a Sieg Heil from the audience? Aw, come on man…”
The Weaponization of the Federal Government. Our current AG went so far as to direct the DoJ to investigate parents protesting at school boards as domestic terrorists. I will grant you, in the books, I go much farther with the government’s abuse of power, but the seeds for that are in place right now. At the core of the series is that the federal government becomes a tool of oppression. It sure feels that way during tax season.
Government Involvement in Medical Care. While the Tribunals are not in place just yet in America, the government is now attempting to set up boards to control pricing and access to drugs. The current American President pushes for more government control of health care, as if that is a solution.
The Deep State (the Military) Turning On the President. In the opening scenes of Blue Dawn, we have the military refusing orders of their Commander in Chief. When the book first came out, people scoffed at that. Then we learned General Milley said he would reach out to China if the President were to order an attack. In the Blue Dawnseries the military operates independent from the civilian government – which isn’t such a stretch of the imagination.
Reparations and Social Credit. In the series, Reparations and Social Credit manipulation are ingrained in the citizens in the Blue Dawnseries. They are given points for disparity, turning in their neighbors, etc., which can be cashed in. China has already started a Social Credit rewards (and punishment) system. California is exploring Reparations.
The Ruining of the Economy. Throughout the series the characters are exposed to an economy that is in the toilet, ruined to meet the Administration’s goals. We see this happening right now with layoffs, runaway gas prices, etc., all to meet green goals, etc.
Using “Incidents” as a Justification to Crack Down on Citizens. In A Most Uncivil War, a false flag attack is executed, a bomb at the US Capitol. This allows the government to start rounding up suspected dissenters. We see this right now with “MAGA Republicans” being painted as threats to democracy.
Mount Rushmore Targeted. USA Today ran an editorial calling for the destruction of the Mt. Rushmore memorial in 2020 – after the release of Blue Dawn. As you can see on the cover of the book, the Newmerican regime has been successful in fulfilling that twisted dream.
The Criminalization of Anything Patriotic. In the last three years there has been a twisting of our society to paint people who are patriotic as domestic terrorists. In the Blue Dawn series, the flag is gone, the National Anthem is changed, even the currency is altered to fit a political agenda.
Big Tech Being an Extension of the Left to Censor Americans. Two words – Twitter Files. Thanks to Elon Musk, we now know that our government and official conspired with Big Tech to censor the American people. I called this in Blue Dawn. One of my favorite parts of the book is when the characters strike back, and blow up the Big Tech headquarters.
Changes to the Constitution to Fit the Agenda. In the series, there are calls to throw out the Constitution and have a new Constitutional Convention. We see hints of this already with the cries to pack the Supreme Court, or to limit the terms of the Justices when the Progressives don’t get their way.
The Persecution of Conservative College Students. In A Most Uncivil Warand Confederacy of Fear, readers are exposed to the violence and intimidation of college students. I based this on actual conversations with college students, and merely amplified it in the series. This is happening right now.
Tiny Homes For the Homeless. I called this in the series, in California, and it is an abysmal failure. The problems of many homeless people is not that they lack a roof over their heads, but that they are suffering from a number of other issues such as drug addiction or mental problems. So what happened a few weeks ago? Gavin Newscom wants to do exactly what I called out in the series in California. I appreciate him reading the book, but I think he shouldn’t just cull it for bad ideas.
Renaming the Homeless. The left loves renaming homeless people, as if changing the name solves some problem. I heard on a Washington DC news radio program the use of the phrase, Living Disenfranchised. It was VERY close to one of the names I used in the series. In the Confederacy of Fearseries I refer to them as Housing Disenfranchised, Economically Displaced, Permanent Resident Estranged, and a few other nicknames. Is it hard to believe that progressives would adopt such names in the near future?
The Opening of the Southern Border. When I wrote Blue Dawnin 2019, it was hard to picture the crisis at our southern border, especially that it was caused by the government. Yet here we are. Raul Lopez’s (one of the key characters) migrated over the open southern border.
The Progressives Turn on Themselves. One of the underlying tales in the series is that eventually the progressive liberals turn on each other. Anyone even hinting at breaking the faith is a target. Does that happen now? Two words, Joe Manchin. Have you observed how members of his own party turned on him?
I’m not saying I’m channeling any special powers here to predict this stuff. Frankly, just watching CNN during my workouts the gym gives me a fairly decent roadmap to bad behavior by the left. They are far from secretive in what they intend to do. I merely observe, amplify, and weave stories around their ideas. The fact that I’m as accurate as I am should be chilling all on its own.
Today I finished book five of the Blue Dawn series – Patrons of Fear. First draft is at 125,000 words – so it is hefty and fun. I wrapped up some character arcs and storylines – which was great. Now begins the real work, rewriting and editing.
Book four of the series, No Greater Tyranny, is with the publisher.
People have been asking when the audiobook for Confederacy of Fear will be out. It is done and I have reviewed it, so now we are trapped in the waiting game for Audible to put it up. Confederacy is doing fantastic all on its own in terms of sales, though I have to admit, launching two books in two weeks is overwhelming – and awesome.
I have some book tour events/interviews lined up thanks to my publicist. I don’t mind doing interviews about my writing or current events. A big part of being an author is the promotional work you have to do.
Splashdown
That brings me to Land&Sea. Book five of that series is done and being reviewed by the Creative Juggernaut team before I start the editing. I have eight working titles on it – so clearly I haven’t settled on one just yet.
Book one of the series, Splashdown, continues to score high on bestseller lists on Amazon and has nearly 100 reviews, with 96% of those being four and five star. I am really happy people are enjoying it. Riptides, book two, drops on February 16. The audiobook for this should (fingers crossed) be ready the day of launch too. Then, in March, comes Storm Surge.
From time-to-time I send copies of my books to military units or personnel. I know how folks on deployment share these things. With Splashdown, I wanted to get a copy to the Marine Corps unit that I have stationed on Guam in the book – and to the Captain of the USS Virginia. The Marine Corps was great – one call, “Here’s your address, sir.”
The Navy – not so much. They have a web site for the ship, so I used the mailing address they had, but the Post Office said, and I quote here, “You are missing four digits at the end of the FPO line.” I tried to explain to them that was what the Navy had on their web site – but trying to use logic and common sense with the post office is often more frustrating than it was worth. Sidebar: I am willing to bet that the Post Office is wrong about this, but I can’t prove that at this stage.
So, I called the Atlantic Fleet, where the Virginia is currently assigned. I was routed around (twice) and got a voicemail box that was full. I live outside of DC, so I called the Department of the Navy. Surely they would know. Well, it took three calls, one of which I was on hold for 45 minutes. Finally the very nice lady told me that, “The Navy cannot release the mailing address of a ship due to security concerns.”
“Well, it’s on their web site. I’m not sure why they won’t just give me the correct one since they put it on the web.”
“What can I say, this is the Navy.”
I called Gloucester where the squadron is based and got a great officer who said he was going on vacation, but it is getting me the address when he gets back.
The moral of this story is that if the Navy can’t handle mailing addresses, I’m a little concerned if we have to go to war. I guess no good deed goes unpunished. I WILL get this book out to the captain of that boat.
Riptides release is coming up fast. I love this book because of three characters – two in particular. My absolute favorite is Adam Cain. His Rhino Class rig is on the cover. Cain is a whole lot of fun for me. He’s older (as am I) and has been there and done that. The graybeards are often the most interesting characters you encounter coming out of the military. They have seen some shit. Cain has some issues, but when the chips are down, this is the guy you want to have fighting beside you.
Cassidy Chen (CC) is a neat character in her own right. Riptides is where her arc really takes off. War has a way of shaping people, violently. I’ll leave it at that.
What’s Next
I have been asked to contribute a Mecha-centric book in a very popular military sci fi series. I have the outline sketched out – and starting this week, it will get written.
Then comes book six of the Land&Sea series. The plot is done. It is neat and takes the action away from the United States which should be interesting.
Then comes Season Two of Land&Sea. We’ve been toying with doing a trilogy each year that will advance the overall universe plotline. I have an outline done, characters profiled – it’s a matter of mapping out the storylines.
We are hoping some other authors will be joining us on this journey too, so that will eat some of my time up as well. Brent is working with Jason at WarGate on some new merch – which should be cool. Needless to say, I will be busy for the next few years.
Finally, my daughter wants to us back into true crime – so I need to dust off my notes on the case files for our next venture into that genre.
Out now in Kindle and paperback. The audiobook is coming soon!
I am pleased to announce that Confederacy of Fear has released. Published by Defiance Press, this book is the third of the Blue Dawnseries. This carries the story forward from the end of A Most Uncivil War.
For me, this series holds a special place in my heart. It’s not the details of the universe like Social Quarantine Camps, Reparation Points, the rewriting of American History, the corruption of our icons, the use of Social Enforcers, or the imposition of a Truth Reconciliation Committee. Those are merely window dressing, bits and pieces of a tapestry of a twisted and changed America. I based these bits of backdrop on real world policies, suggestions, or attempts on the part of politicians.
What makes the stories so exciting for me is the characters. You can’t tell good stories without remarkable characters. This series has a lot of them. Caylee, the former operative of the NSF. Raul, a young man caught in a whirlwind of defiant uprising, a prisoner of his own success. Charli, head of the Secret Service with her own dark past. Andy, a man forced into being a freedom fighter. Jack, the President’s Chief of Staff and the leader of the Sons of Liberty – a man that never let the fires of liberty die. General Trip Reager, a man that lost everything to the progressives, who is now charged with fighting a second American civil war. Deja Jordan, a Social Enforcer, now the darling of the Newmerican government for her capture of Raul.
Into this mix two new characters emerge – Su-Hui Zhou, a refugee from fallen Taiwan. General James Donaldson, a man that betrayed his former commander in chief who is in command of stomping out the Americans.
This is a book where political thriller meets contemporary military fiction. For me, this is where I like to play as a writer. This is a nation divided, with passions on both sides of the political spectrum. Readers will pick up where they left off. Raul has been captured and sent to the Supermax prison in Colorado. Caylee, Charli, Andy, and others are hell-bent on getting him out of there, setting the stage for some real fun and exciting tales. Meanwhile war erupts in Georgia and New Hampshire as the Newmerican government refuses to accept the election results. Fans of the series – buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride. Slap, rack and roll – there’s a war on. The audiobook for Confederacy should be coming any time now. Let your friends know if you like the series. Book four, No Greater Tyranny, is at the publisher right now and I am on the verge of finishing book five, Patrons of Terror.
Confederacy of Fear releases on the 24th of January. As with all of the Blue Dawn series, I introduce some new characters. One of my favorites is Su-Hui Zhou. He and his family are refugees from Taiwan. While I discuss this in the novel, I thought it might be good to actually provide the scene of his departure and what led to the fall of Taiwan in that universe. This story doesn’t have any spoilers – it simply fills a neat gap in a character background.
Is this feasible or realistic? Everyone is bound to have their own opinion.
So, to set you up for Confederacy of Fear allow me to present, One Island Alone.
Hualien County, Taiwan, Republic of China
Su-Hui hustled his family down the crowded streets. It was as if the entire city…no, the entire country, was rushing to the western side of the island in the last few hours. He understood the panic that was on the faces of everyone that he saw. Taipei had fallen to the Chinese the day before. People fled the invaders, even though they were on a small island and fleeing didn’t get you far. It was a deeply human reaction, to get away from danger.
The war for Taiwan had only recently turned bloody. The Chinese had savored to bring the ‘breakaway republic’ back under their thumb for decades. When they made their move, it was not what everyone had anticipated; a decisive military strike. Instead, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy interdicted the island, calling it a quarantine – blockading incoming food and fuel. They avoided the word blockade, purely for political reasons – blockades were acts of war. Even with rationing, the population had only a months’ worth of power and provisions. The Republic of China Air Force attempting to confront the PLA Navy, valiantly sinking one capital ship and badly damaging two others before being engaged in an air battle where the overwhelming PLA numbers devoured the brave Taiwanese. It was a brief and quick Battle of Britain moment, but this time the bad guys won.
Cries went out to the international community to come to Taiwan’s aid. There were pledges of weapons and humanitarian assistance, none of which had arrived. Transports and aircraft did not dare attempt to push through the Chinese interdiction zone that surrounded the island nation. The pleas to the United States were met with an eerie silence at first. The coup there that had resulted in the new nation, Newmerica, had put their foreign policy in a tailspin. Each passing day that the United States didn’t respond was a signal to the Chinese to continue to execute their plans of conquest.
Su-Hui had his own theories about the Newmerican’s involvement. They are almost as socialist as mainland China. There were stories of camps, Social Quarantine, coming from Newmerica. Dissident voices disappeared overnight. There were stories of an arrested President dying in prison, and other important officials simply being erased from online content. They don’t want to rock the boat with China. They fear for their fragile supply chain, and the Chinese know that.
At first, Su-Hui had continued to go to his job at Formosa Plastics, as he had every other day. Many people expected the invasion at any moment, but not him. He had served in the Republic of China Army (ROCA) for two years on duty, and eight years in reserve. Where other people fidgeted and feared what was coming, he knew it wouldn’t come until the blockade did its damage. They don’t have to invade, they can starve us to death. After two weeks, his business was shut down to conserve energy. Sabotage followed, blowing up several power transfer stations, plunging parts of the island into darkness. One group of Chinese terrorists struck at one of the national oil reserves, ensuring that power losses would be coming soon…and they did. We should have expected fifth columnists operating here…we should have known better.
The Newmericans claimed they would move air assets to the Philippines to support Taiwan but that nation denied them access. They had been courted by the Chinese before the start of the interdiction and money secured alliance. The Chinese sent a naval task force off of the coast of Japan – forcing the Japanese to pressure the Americans to not use their air bases in that country. That same task force put Okinawa at risk. The North Koreans began beating their war drums as well, keeping the Newmericans forced to counter their buildup along the DMZ. I wonder how the Chinese enticed them? A Chinese naval ship parked outside of the Panama Canal as well, an unspoken warning. China was playing chess, while Newmerica was struggling for a stalemate game of Tic-Tac-Toe.
The much touted sanctions Newmerica swore would being China to its knees were symbolic more than effective. The United States is more interested in keeping its Walmart’s stocked than saving us. Everyone was using the right language, demanding China end the quarantine – but none were willing to go to war with China to help his people. Words and threats are impotent against men with guns.
The day before he had moved his family, reports flooded the airwaves of Chinese forces landing. The Chinese were clearly over with their stalemate – they were coming in force. The sounds of battle echoed off the hills, the booms of distant firing.
Su-Hui saw the handwriting on the wall, Newmerica was not coming, nor was anyone else. That was why he relied on himself for survival. He had purchased the sailboat years ago and enjoyed short trips along the coastline of Taiwan. After the brisk and vicious battles to hold off the Chinese, the military began to dissolve. This was further fueled when his government began negotiations with the Chinese when the food supplies dwindled and riots broke out. There was no doubt that the riots and looting was spurred on by Chinese infiltrators. Now the Chinese had taken Taipei. The time had come to depart.
He had his brother in-law go to his sailboat and load it with supplies while Su-Hui assembled his family. Hatchi, his wife, wore an overstuffed hiking backpack, his young son dragged a duffle, and his daughter, Ya-Ting, pulled two roller bags. His mother had a bag slung on a shoulder. Su-Hui had his hiking pack filled as well, but the most important piece of gear he had, a handgun, was in his cargo shorts pocket. Most Taiwanese frowned on owning guns, but Su-Hui’s father had carried one for protection and he now carried it. He hoped it wouldn’t have to use it, but was fully prepared to do so.
The crowd seemed to get thicker and angrier the closer he got to the boat slips. There was a smell in the air, a mix of the ocean breeze nearly obliterated with the stench of human body odor. There were guards there, trying to keep people back…hopelessly outnumbered by the mob. The sound of all of the voices talking and yelling was indecipherable, it was as if everyone in an orchestra were playing at once, all a different song. Su-Hui elbowed and shoved his way forward so that he reached one of the guards with a clipboard.
“I am Su-Hui Zhou – I have a boat here,” he yelled.
The man seemed almost disinterested by the crowd surging at his security team. He casually pulled up the clipboard and flipped through the pages. “Identity card,” he said, apparently having found his Sui-Hui in his list. Fumbling for a moment, he pulled out his wallet and his ID card. “I have brought my family with me.”
The man didn’t make eye contact with him. Perhaps that makes his job easier, not looking at the people he’s holding back. He motioned them past one of the guards and they squeezed through the gathered crowd. Three others attempted to follow them. “We are with them!” the young man said, shoving forward.
Su-Hui looked at the stranger, then to the man with the clipboard. “Are they with you?”
A part of him wanted to say yes. There might be room on his sailboat, but he had no idea how long they might be at sea. Even with the food they had brought, it might be a long and hungry voyage. Bringing the strangers along would introduce a risk that he was unprepared to make, no matter how much he wanted to. It was a cold calculation to make. This is about survival – my families. “I don’t know who they are,” he replied. The guards at the boat slip pushed the strangers back into the mass with some degree of difficulty. There are so many people here, it is going to get out of hand at some point.
As they hurried to the dock where his boat was moored, he had expected to see his brother in-law at the sailboat, but he was nowhere to be seen as they board. Cries from the crowd some 80 meters away tore at him. “Don’t leave us…take us with you!” He did his best to ignore them.
Stepping board the ship, he turned to help Hachi and his mother aboard, then the children. He asked them to go below while he prepared to get underway and they did so without hesitation. When he moved to the cabin, he glanced in the cabin. The supplies looked like they were there, but there was no sign of Chun-chieh, his brother in-law. Hachi called his name out several times, but there was no response.
Hachi’s face slid to one of panic – at least he could see that. Hachi was good at hiding her emotions, but he saw it. “Where is Chun-chieh?” she asked.
Su-Hui pulled out his cell phone and tried to call, but only got a disconnection tone. The cell phone system on the island had been pressed to the limit from the start of the blockade. He tried two more times, but could not connect. “I cannot reach him.”
Hachi tried too, and Su-Hui heard the same tone. He moved to the sail storage and began the work of hooking them up and hoisting them up the masts. “Try texting him,” he suggested to his wife as he worked.
It took a half an hour to get the sails up and properly tied off. He wouldn’t need them until they were clear of the harbor. He went to the cabin and checked – yes, we have a full load of fuel. Mentally he went over the checklist of what he needed to do to get underway. All we have to do is untie and start the engine.
Returning to the deck, he joined his wife. “Anything?”
She shook her head. He was here at some point, that is obvious. Why did he leave? His brother in-law had always been a bit erratic. His train of thought was immediately derailed by a commotion at the edge of the pier. The crowd was starting to get violent, shoving the security people back, the volume of their voice rose, as did the terseness of them. It was clear that things were on the verge of getting out of hand.
One man pushed past the guards, then another, running for the docks. The man, in his 20’s, charged for Su-Hui’s boat, clearly intent on jumping aboard. Su-Hui drew the pistol from his shorts pocket and held it with both hands, aiming it the young man. “Stop right there.”
“Take me with you,” he demanded.
“Walk away.” I won’t put my family at risk for you.
“I can pay.”
Su-Hui was too tense to laugh, but he wanted to. Money no longer has meaning. “Stay back and you won’t get hurt.”
The young man cracked a coy smile, as if he knew something that Su-Hui didn’t. “You won’t shoot me. Just let me aboard. You can trust me.”
He put his foot on his boat, and Su-Hui fired. The gun kicked hard in his hands, making his elbows ache. The shot hit the man in the arm, a spray of blood squirted from the wound and the man spun under the impact, falling on the pier. He crawled back from the boat. His cocky expression had been replaced with one of pain and fear. Su-Hui regretted shooting him, but he was already taking great risk in trying to sail away. This was a matter of survival.
Su-Hui moved to the moorings and untied the boat with one hand, holding the gun with the other. Turning to Hachi, he handed her the gun. “If he or anyone else tries to get aboard, fire at them.” She nodded. He didn’t know where Chun-chieh was, it no longer mattered. Soon the guard would be overwhelmed and there would be a rush for every boat.
Reaching the cabin, he started the engine. Slowly his sailboat slid away from the dock – away from the only home he had ever known. Once he angled toward the open sea, he returned to the back of the boat where he found his family. All of them were looking back at the docks, back at Taiwan. He wondered if he would ever be able to return. What will be left of my country now that the Chinese are here?
Did you like this little freebie? Want to read more? Confederacy of Fear is available for preorder right now!
Notes From The Bunker 