James White was dumbfounded. The remains of nearly one hundred people were scattered around the ruins of a ramshackle fortification.
“The Roanoke Dead”
James White insisted those with him not attempt to locate the bones of Virginia Dare.
Tag: What If?
“The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost”
Developing intelligence early in the Cretaceous, these dinosaurs had escaped the destruction of Chicxulub and departed the Earth for a distant world.
After their return, the creatures described their origin to mankind. Developing intelligence early in the Cretaceous, these dinosaurs had escaped the destruction of Chicxulub and departed the Earth for a distant world. Continue reading ““The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost””
“Our Uncle on Proxima”
The tenuous atmosphere of Proxima Centauri b contained a relatively low level of oxygen, but this made no difference to Uncle or the children. The children were engineered to breathe the concoction of gasses present, and Uncle could actually do just fine with no atmosphere whatsoever.
I wrote “Our Uncle on Proxima” in the late summer of 2017. There was a great deal of speculation about Proxima Centauri b in the media at that time, and I was fascinated with the reports and suspicions about the planet that were appearing in Astronomy and other periodicals that year. The theories and hypotheses that were (and are) swirling around about Proxima Centauri b were (and continue to be) tantalizing. Continue reading ““Our Uncle on Proxima””
“Long Live the Tsar”
The Tsar was alive. His wife and children were alive. The story about their deaths in Yekaterinburg was fabricated by those hoping to liberate – rather than liquidate – the imperial family.
This month marks the 102-year anniversary of the February Revolution (New Style March 8 – 16, 1917). The events that transpired over the course of those nine days forever changed Russia, opening the door for the October Revolution and the creation of the Soviet Union.
The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II was one of the most pivotal moments of the Russian Revolution (which includes the February and October Revolutions). His subsequent assassination by the hands of the Bolsheviks was perhaps even more significant. The simultaneous murder of his wife and children proved to be one of the darker moments of this zealous movement, creating generations of folklore and myth.
Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the Tsar, allegedly survived the tragic end of her immediate family. Although modern research has mostly undone such legends, there were certain factions present in Russia that desired to save the Tsar and his family. On the other hand, the survival of any member of that family may have undermined the sweeping reforms that divided and overwhelmed Russia in the years to come.
“Long Live the Tsar” is a short story that I wrote in April and May of 2017 – a century after the relative lull between the February and October Revolutions of 1917. The action of this piece unfolds in early 1918 in a timeline that sees the Tsar and his family liberated and whisked away by the Whites at the last minute. However, salvation awaited only beyond the scope of the Russian Civil War (1917 – 1922) and only a gambit along the Trans – Siberian Railway offered a true means of escape.
“Long Live the Tsar” originally appeared with Slick Lit Magazine in May of 2017.
To read “Long Live the Tsar”, click on the image below.
Alaska Railroaders: A MLB Team of Free Agents
How would a baseball team of all free agents look?
I have loved baseball for a long time. When I was a young kid though, I was a somewhat fair weather fan. My favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, had a good run in the early 90s, but otherwise I tended to favor football and basketball over baseball. That changed dramatically in December of 1998, when the Pirates signed Ed Sprague to play third base.
Sprague had long been my favorite player, having spent most of his career at that point with my second favorite team – the Toronto Blue Jays. Sprague had a great season for the Pirates, earning a place on the National League All-Star team, and hitting .267/.352/.465 with 22 home runs. His OPS of .817 was the second highest of his career (for seasons in which he played full-time). While Sprague was with the Pirates, I couldn’t miss a game. I even had a chance to see him hit a home run in person. The Pirates had a fairly decent team in 1999 (finishing 78-83) and, if not for injuries, may have broken up that streak of consecutive losing seasons from 1993 to 2012. I had equally enjoyed the Pirates’ 2003 team.
Sprague signing with the Pirates had demonstrated to me that free agency could help a team (whereas in the early 90s the Pirates had been hurt frequently by free agency). Each season after Sprague’s tenure with the Buccos, I started closely watching the Pirates’ moves in free agency. Of course, as with many other fans, as a teenager I began to wonder how I might perform as a general manager – especially during free agency.
That curiosity started a tradition of mine. Each season, I tried to find a list of the players unsigned to a Major League Baseball team on opening day and construct a team from those players. My goal was to make the team as competitive as possible and use players with some MLB experience (with a few exceptions, as the KBO is going to lend me a hand this time). I also got into the habit of imagining this team as an expansion team without the benefit of an expansion draft. Obviously, there is a need to suspend reality to make this work and to just enjoy the entertainment value of imaging how this team would look. Before I go on, let me say Mark McGwire hates this idea.
Several years ago, I would post the rosters I created onto Facebook. I eventually got out of the habit of posting my “free agent team” online. However, yesterday I had nothing better to think about while landscaping for most of the day. I sat down last evening and starting doing some research. After a few hours, I pieced together a roster along with some statistical projections. I have always enjoyed the numbers associated with baseball. I decided that this blog would work well enough as an outlet for the finished product.
I’m calling the team the Alaska Railroaders. The team would play in Anchorage, which has a long railroading history. I am fully aware that Anchorage, with a metropolitan area of less than 500,000 people, could not support a MLB team. However, when I was a kid I was obsessed with Alaska, so that part of this entire scenario was nonnegotiable. The Railroaders would play at the fictional ConocoPhillips Field, which would be built in Bootleggers Cove. Visible through an opening in the grandstand behind center field would be the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet and downtown. A locomotive’s whistle would announce the hitting of a home run by the Railroaders. I imagine the team playing in the National League West division (for the purposes of constructing a roster, I am electing to have the team placed in the NL) and wearing white and gold uniforms with blue and black trim. This would allow the team to generally share the livery of the Alaska Railroad. I also assembled my roster as if the team would start play with the current 2016 season. Before I go on, I should share that I have three short stories involving baseball: The Shepherds and Game 7, Any Pitch is its Hit, and Devil on the Diamond. Each of these stories intertwine baseball and the supernatural. I have also used the “Alaska Railroaders” as a fictional independent league team in a few of my works.
Three subsequent posts will break the Alaska Railroaders’ roster into pieces: infielders, outfielders, and pitchers. I’m not claiming this team would win the pennant. That said, I would hope to field a team that could best the 2003 Detroit Tigers in a series.
I will share the Alaska Railroaders first signing in this post, as he is a player that will see time in the infield and outfield. The Railroaders’ first official player would be Garrett Jones. Jones was most recently with the New York Yankees in 2015, but is probably best remembered for his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2009 to 2013.
Jones is not technically a free agent, as he signed a contract with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball in December of 2015. However, for the sake of constructing this roster, we will deem Jones available since he would have most likely preferred to sign with a Major League Baseball club. Jones would serve as the Railroaders’ primary first baseman, although he would likely sit occasionally against left-handed pitching. Against right-handed pitching, Jones has a career slash of .265/.330/.473. Although Jones struggled in 2015 while seeing limited at bats with the New York Yankees, the 34-year-old (at the start of the season) could easily see over 600 plate appearances with the larger role of a first base platoon and the occasional start in right field. Jones also brings some home run power to the roster. He averaged over 19 home runs per season between 2009 and 2014. As far as a projection is concerned, I see Jones embracing this opportunity to the tune of .256/.324/.442 with 22 home runs and an OPS of .766 in 543 at bats. For the record, Jones is presently hitting .247/.331/.463 with 13 home runs across 231 at bats in Japan (as of July 21).
Up next: the other infielders.
A What If? or Two
Some books just do wonders for the imagination. What if you don’t read these two?
Few books have done more wonders for my imagination than What If? by Randall Munroe or The Collected What If?, which includes the texts of What If? (not Monroe’s aforementioned book) and What If? 2. The Collected What If? is a compilation of essays authored by several different historians from a variety of backgrounds.
Munroe’s What If? addresses hypothetical situations concerning various fields of science, whereas The Collected What If? focuses on content that is historical in nature. I would strongly suggest either to even a casual reader. Both of these books are easy to pick up, read for a few minutes, and sit back down, while still invigorating the mind and offering some refreshing perspectives. The content of each, generally speaking, is outside the realm of the standard nonfiction text and is often humorous.
To say that I have enjoyed reading each of these books is a serious understatement. I have selected my five favorite “chapters” (and I use that term loosely) from each book. These selections are those which stayed with me the longest after reading, often making me seriously ponder some aspects of both my life and writing.
Randall Munroe’s What If? is divided by question. Munroe has selected several hypothetical science questions, many of which are very unique (and certainly not easy to answer), and does his best to offer a calculated and rational solution for each.
5. “Facebook of the Dead”
4. “The Last Human Light”
3. “Hockey Puck”
2. “Rising Steadily”
1. “Interplanetary Cessna”
I laughed while reading “Interplanetary Cessna” and shared that particular passage first and foremost with anyone noticing Munroe’s What If? in my home (and the cover does tend to catch the eye of visitors). As a whole, Munroe’s What If? does a wonderful job at offering some very literal outcomes to several “science fiction” scenarios.
The Collected What If?, edited by Robert Cowley, is divided by essay. The essays cover a very wide variety of hypothetical historical situations. For example, the textbook used for the American History course I teach for Uniontown Area School District, asks the students to identify possible changes in the culture and geography of North America if the French had managed to fight the British to a draw in the French and Indian War. Such a topic would be appropriate for this particular book, as that type of scenario (perhaps the French emerge victorious at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759) is imagined and investigated within each individual essay.
5. “The Dark Ages Made Lighter: The Consequences of Two Defeats” by Barry S. Strauss
4. “Day Day Fails: Atomic Alternatives in Europe” by Stephen E. Ambrose
3. “Unlikely Victory: Thirteen Ways the Americans Could Have Lost the Revolution” by Thomas Fleming
2. “Furor Teutonicus: The Teutoburg Forest, A.D. 9” by Lewis H. Lapham
1. “Pontius Pilate Spares Jesus: Christianity without the Crucifixion” by Carlos M.N. Eire
For anyone mulling a serious historical fiction writing project, The Collected What If? is the ideal place to start. This book offers the type of reading that will genuinely get the wheels ustairs turning.
There are a handful of other books that have really served as an inspiration to me, and I hope to post about those (including one very important title) in the near future. What other books serve as good fodder for the science fiction writer? Are there other titles that might really help an author seeking to write some realistic historical fiction?
A Visit to the Idea Factory 