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This is only a draft of what will be part of my next novel. There will a little bit before and much after it. I am considering greed as the central theme. It's based on a historic earthquake that occured in the volcanic region of California where the Mojave desert meets the mighty Sierras. I just wanted to get started right

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The inspiration for this novel is the Victorian obsession with 'sanitising' history; changing, ignoring or deleting facts which they found unpalatable. One such myth is the belief that women did not go to sea in the ships of His Majesty’s Royal Navy. They did. Officially they were forbidden, but some captains and officers took their wives with them and allowed women to accompany some of their men. There were even enlightened masters who allowed troupes of resident prostitutes to sail on board to service the physical needs of the crew! Another myth is that the Royal Navy was an evil organisation run by sadistic officers handing out cruel, wicked punishments to men fed on putrid, rotting food who regularly indulged in acts of sodomy! The truth is, the royal Navy was a benevolent employer with a keen interest in the welfare of its men. Ships depended on vast amounts of healthy manpower to keep them afloat. Every ship carried a surgeon. Many of whom went on to become eminent physicians of their time and many discoveries and advances in medical science can be attributed to them. Injured sailors received a pension and, realising the value of healthy men, captains and pursers devoted much effort in procuring fresh water and food whenever possible. With the exception of voyages to America, West Indies or the Southern Ocean, ships were seldom far from land. The health and fitness of the men of the Royal Navy was a considerable contributing factor that enabled them to win every major engagement in which they were involved for over two hundred years. Britain did, indeed, rule the waves. It took a lot of manpower to work a man-of-war and every man was vital. A sailor flogged until his back bled was of no use at all, and the lash was used far more sparingly than we have been led to believe. Floggings did, however, occur when necessary. Discipline had to been maintained for the safety and efficient running of the ship and the most common offence was drunkenness, due to sailors hoarding or acquiring illicit supplies of alcohol. An inebriated sailor was a danger to himself, his mates and the ship. As water quickly became unfit to drink, sailors were, paradoxically, given a daily ration of beer and diluted rum which took care of their bodily need for fluids. The low alcohol content being worked off by the sheer physical nature of the work they had to do. Sailors, usually young men in their late teens and early twenties, had other bodily needs and the navy took care of that as well. Sexual frustration leading to fights, clumsiness and accidents was as much a hazard as drunkenness, storms or enemy action and not conducive to efficiency. As most voyages lasted about six weeks, sexual frustration, to the point of leading to sodomy, which was a hanging offence, did not occur. Prostitutes existed in abundance in every port and it was customary, before a ship sailed, to allow the women on board. 'Marguerite, Heroine or Whore' is at the moment, a working title. I am useless at coming up with good, imaginative titles that inspire the interest of would-be readers. The story is about Margaret, a destitute Huguenot silk weaver in eighteenth century London. When her husband fails to return from a rendezvous with someone offering him employment, Margaret goes in search of him and discovers that he has been pressed into service aboard a Royal Navy frigate. Having nowhere to go or means to support herself, she joins him on board but tragedy soon changes her circumstances. A naïve and righteous young woman she is determined to avoid the only salvation open to a woman in her situation and strenuously avoids descending into a world of prostitution but, in spite of her efforts to remain chaste, is raped and left with a child growing in her belly. A child that she believes, because of the circumstances of its conception, was sired by the devil. Adding to her misery she is afflicted with the scourge of the eighteenth century, the pox, the stigma of sin that could destroy her good looks and which she fears above all else. Sharing the trials and tribulations of a 'Jack Tar' Margaret survives a horrendous battle where, accredited with the killing of an enemy sailor, she assists the ship's surgeon in his grim task of amputating limbs and suturing terrible wounds. Called upon to interpret the language of a captured Frenchman Margaret is introduced to the soft comforts of gracious living and the low morality of the upper classes. In spite of her determination to avoid prostitution and unrequited love for the first lieutenant, she is abused by the captain. Unexpectedly finding the love of a decent man fate, however, is determined to deny her happiness. Following the cruel rape of slave women at the end of a voyage to the West Indies, she is attacked by men she once regarded her friends. Giving birth at sea to a child which, clearly, is not her man's, she is abandoned by him upon the ship's return to England. Once again alone, destitute and impoverished, hunger forces Margaret to forget her righteous principles and sell herself to anyone with cash in his pockets and lust in his loins. Determined not to remain a dockside molly, she sets out to attract a better clientèle and, as mistress to a gentleman, is presented to the most eminent fornicator in the land; His Royal Highness, The Prince Regent. Having climbed the social ladder, reaching the pinnacle of her hopes and dreams, fate cruelly intervenes when, in an argument with her benefactor, she believes she kills him and is forced to revert to her former means of survival; selling herself at the dockside gate. Now a fugitive, Margaret is determined to escape harsh, undeserved justice, and returns to the sea aboard a man-of-war commanded by Great Britain's most celebrated naval hero, Admiral Horatio Nelson. The story concludes with our heroin at Trafalgar and present at the death of the illustrious admiral and, having performed his dying wish, is denied her rightful place in British history.

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Operation Sarnia is the first in a series of books covering the adventures of young Jeremy Brock. In this first book, readers will see how Jeremy enters in to S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) service after his island of Guernsey is attacked by the Germans. He is tasked with the highly dangerous mission of infiltrating his own island - now occupied by the Nazi. I welcome any comments - most specifically those in dialogue.

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This is one of a series of stories that were designed as "oral histories" ostensibly recorded in the early 1970s by James Johannson, a tavern owner and retired mining engineer in the fictional small town of Caroline, Missouri. Caroline is situated about six miles from Mt. Vernon, the seat of Lawrence County in southwestern part of the state. This is part one of the story. Jake Bodre is a bachelor living on a farm near Caroline who one day decides to get married. Remember, this story is told by Jim Johannson, a retired mining engineer and avid hunter, so if he goes off on a tangent about Galena and Sphalerite and other things, please forgive him.

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This is not actually a novel but, again, a short story that is too long for the site's word limit, so it will be published in two parts. The story occurs in December of 1862 in a Confederate Army camp outside the town of Murphreesborough, Tennessee. The town's name is spelled "Murphreesboro" today, but the spelling was not changed, deleting the "ugh" on the end, until the early-to-mid 1870s. Though you see Civil War maps and histories with the shorter spelling, these histories were written and those maps were drawn after the spelling change occurred.

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Still another of Jim Johannson's "Caroline" stories that is too long to be classified as a short story, so it will be published in three parts. In this one, which occurs in 1972, it again features Jim as a central character and takes place after all previously published Caroline stories except the final chapter of "Between the Stalks."

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Actually, this is not a novel but either a long short story or part of a novella or, when coupled with "Possom Grape Wine" and "Ruby and the Wall," simply a continuation of one story. In this offering, Wyatt Henderson, son of Ruby Gutterman, comes to Caroline, Missouri, to visit his mother and stepfather on their farm near the town. Yet the first person Wyatt meets in Caroline is Jim Johannson, tavern owner and the narrator of the Caroline stories. What follows covers a friendship that survives over a period of several years. In part one, Wyatt meets Jim Johannson and they develop a relationship as hunting partners. Part two covers several years, in which Wyatt joins the Navy, becomes a Navy Seal and is wounded in Vietnam. Also featured is Ruby and Charles Gutterman, who move away from Caroline but sell their farm to Wyatt. Part three covers the first few years of Wyatt's ownership of the property.

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This is another of my "Caroline" stories and features some of the characters from the earlier posted "Possum Grape Wine." It actually predates the other story chronologically, taking place around 1965. In this story widower Charles Gutterman has recently married his second wife, Ruby Henderson, and brings her home to his farm near the Southwestern Missouri town of Caroline in Lawrence County. In this story Jim Johannson, the narrator of "Possum Grape Wine" again serves as the narrator and figures prominently in the story itself. The story text is a transcription of one of Jim's oral histories.

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Cheyenne Moon is an historical romance set in the eighteen-sixties. It is the story of the struggles and triumphs of a white woman and Indian Chief to be free to love each other.

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I posted this in 'Query Letters and Synopsis' but if you need some points, I could sure use the help. Although I am not reading much these days, I'd be happy to reciprocate if you take a crack at this. Just let me know what you want me to read. Thanks, Madison

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observations from someplace unimportant

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The long fabled history of Rome was built on the blood of its extraordinary army, the Eagles of Rome. Through centuries of vicious battles, the silver and red maniples created a world of power, dominance, and majesty. In a series of events that will make a hero out of a former member of the Roman mob, a young Quintas Fabius poses as a native prince to bring down a ruthless Gaelic king backed by the nations of Gaul. The year is 58 B.C., and the Consul Gaius Julius Caesar has brought his legions to Gaul, and Quintas Fabius is just beginning his military career. An inexperienced legionnaire in Caesar’s Tenth Legion, Fabius is part of the expedition to push Volusenus, the Wolf of Gaul and ruthless king of the Treveri nation, from his throne and bend the people of Gaul under the heel of Rome forever. To penetrate the Treveri capital city and make contact with Caesar’s spy being held prisoner there, Fabius is teamed with the Tribune Publius Gaius Sulla, son of the tyrannical Dictator of Rome, and a despised patrician. Success will make Fabius a centurion, but failure will see him thrown to the king’s wolves – or worse, see Caesar defeated and pushed out of Gaul. Picking his way through an alien world, Fabius realizes that a single mistake will mean disaster. Escape means life, but the cost may be horrific. Fabius is strengthened by the love of a beautiful woman – and by the sword of his mortal enemy. Theirs is a suicide mission, to lure the Wolf of Gaul from his fortress den, to pit the nations of Gaul against the invading leader of the mighty Roman army. Day after terrifying day they endure the wrath of Volusenus, buying time for Caesar to position his armies. Their only hope is the wife of the great Gaelic king, who plunges them headlong into the white-hot battle of Mediomarici where, alongside one another, patrician and plebeian find their identity as Eagles of Rome. Here, in a series of cataclysmic battles, the legend of Rome will be forged. And while Fabius and Sulla battle the forces of Volusenus and the hordes of the wilderness, Caesar maneuvers his legions to determine their fate. For Rome is Caesar’s destiny; and it’s the Eagles that will impel him across the face of Gaul and beyond, into triumphant legend. I am looking for feedback on the quality of writing and positive suggestions on how I might improve - thank you! JHawk

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