alternate history

Sneak Peek: If I Should Die, Chapter Three

Lynette M Burrows

I hope you enjoy this Friday’s Sneak Peek If I Should Die, Chapter Three. If I Should Die is my current primary WIP (work-in-progress). This sneak peek is part of a six-week project in which I share parts of this story. I look forward to your comments and reactions. What’s the Book About? Miranda has built a successful Freedom Waterway across the inland waters of the United States. Refugees from the religious oppression of the Fellowship find safety and freedom aboard her boats. But now her brother needs rescued so he can complete his mission. She’s committed to helping him, but she’s a peace-loving woman. Will she resort to violence and save lives or stick to her principles and sacrifice many? ReCap Chapter One: Miranda pilots her yacht, the Lady Angelfish, up the Missouri River to rescue her brother, but the U.S. Coast Guard and a Second Sphere agent stop her for a “routine” inspection. Chapter Two: Irene, Miranda’s sister, can’t believe she’s the wife of the newly appointed Prophet. Nor can she believe she’s at the White House sitting with President Joseph Kennedy Jr. But there are drawbacks to being the Prophet’s wife. When she’s offered a role in […]

A Novel Announcement and the Story Behind the Story

Lynette M Burrows

Recently I realized I’ve never made the official novel announcement here. News I shared several weeks ago on Facebook and Twitter, but not here. (For those of you who’ve seen Facebook or Twitter you’ll like the story behind the story.) My novel, My Soul to Keep, went live as an ebook on August 21st. It is now also available as a paperback book on Amazon. Other retailers can order it from Ingram. What’s the Story? This dystopian tale takes place in 1961, but America is not the nation you know. It’s an insular land of righteousness, repression, and fear. Drawn into a maelstrom of political intrigue, familial deception, and social upheaval two women, one peaceful and the other violent, seek truth and justice. To find the truth they will have to make sacrifices. Triumph will free them and the nation. Failure will mean a face-off with the angel-assassin, Azrael. How A Nice Girl Wrote A Dystopian Novel You might wonder how “a nice girl like” me came to write a dystopian novel. I moved seventeen times before I graduated from high school. No, neither parent was in any armed service. Seventeen different homes, seventeen different schools. Can you imagine a […]

9 Things Rarely Seen Today

Lynette M Burrows

I thought it might be fun to share some of the past technologies and images that inspired or were described in my soon-to-be-published novel. My Soul To Keep is the story of a young woman who escapes her sheltered life and discovers personal, social, and political wrongs that must be righted. It takes place in the United States but in an alternate history. I had fun combing historical vehicles, communications, manufactured goods, and fashion. This is a small sample from My Soul to Keep. Autogiro (or Autogyro) The autogiro is an aircraft with an unpowered horizontally rotating propeller that provides lift. It uses a powered, conventional propeller for forward propulsion. Created in the 1920s by Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish engineer, as a safe, low speeds aircraft. The Cierva Autogiro Company trademarked the term autogiro. Forcing other companies to use terms like Gyrocopter, gyroplane, and rotaplane.   An autogiro was the first aircraft to take off and land on a ship. It requires a runway to take off but has a very short or zero landing roll.   Costing less than a helicopter, Autogiros are not common, but in use all over the world. Used in the 2002 Winter Olympics […]