Into the Breach: The Marcher Lord in History and Legend.

As I await the arrival of the print novels I ordered from Marcher Lord Press, I thought I'd mention two of the e-books that MLP has also published.

The first is Into the Breach: The Marcher Lord in History and Legend.

This quickly became an invaluable resource to me as a writer. Castle expert Lise Hull's meticulous review of a number of (in many cases, still-standing) borderland castles and their operation in Medieval Britain illustrates the impact that the very concept of the Marcher Lord (A "March" or "Mark" being a medieval term for border) has, even today.

In addition to historical fiction, this book would be very useful to any writer who writes stories in genres ranging from post-apocalyptic "last stand" to gothic horror to westerns to science fiction (esp. "outpost"-type tales).

Any story that involves an imperfectly self-sufficient enclosed society at the frontier of security would benefit greatly from the information packed into this wonderful little e-book. In honor of Marcher Lord Press's launch, it has been discounted for a limited time to $3.

Life Before "Life After People"

I beat the History Channel to the punch, but only after they beat me to it first. Or vice versa.

Let me explain:

The History Channel will be airing a speculative documentary called "Life After People." It attempts to look at our cultural artifacts in a setting in which human life has abandoned or been stricken from, creation. Cherynobyl provides a case study.

The book I'm working on is a speculative story that attempts to look at our cultural artifacts before an apocalyptic* disaster. So, yeah, my book is sort of the spiritual pre-quel in fiction to Life After People. The other thing is that, in my book, the cataclysm isn't something currently popular, like nukes or disease or fire or demons or angels or spaceships. It is a relatively subtle, fundamental change to our social infrastructure.

So yeah, the book isn't published yet, isn't finished, even, and may end up in print ten years after Life After People airs, but, see, it comes first!

*I hate this term as it is used today. An "apocalypse" is NOT a widespread or total disaster that devastates a population. An "apocalypse" is something wonderful, like an unveiling at an art show.

Why "Strange Wind?"

There are really two reasons, one that I knew at the time when I started this journal and the other that only became apparent later.

The first reason stems from a project I'm working on right now regarding a pre-apocalyptic gainland (as opposed to a post-apocalyptic wasteland.) It is weird, dangerous, violent, familiar and hopeful.

The second is because of a passage in Jeremiah 4:

“At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be told,
‘A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the desert on my dear people.
It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.
No, a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding. Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’

Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind."