Shifting Reality into Fiction

From the behavior of certain politicians to the war in Ukraine to the leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the real world and the fictional world of The Fellowship Dystopia series are moving closer and closer together. When I started writing this series, it was fun shifting reality into fiction. Today, it appears we are shifting reality again. History became fiction and now fiction appears to be shifting into reality. You may see it too when you know the actual history that I shifted and sifted into a fictional world for my books, My Soul to Keep and If I Should Die.

Neutrality First

World War I, often called the Great War, began when a Bosnian Serb nationalist assassinated Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria, and his wife, Sophie, on June 28, 1914. Back then, most Americans believed the nation shouldn’t get involved in foreign affairs. They watched the conflict uneasily but weren’t concerned because the war was an ocean away. Then On May 7, 1915, an Imperial German Navy U-boat sent a torpedo into the passenger ship, the RMS Lusitânia, sinking it and killing 1,198 passengers, including 128 Americans.

Image is a black and white illustration of the passenger ship Lusitania being struck and destroyed by the U-boat torpedo an act shifting reality for many Americans

This unprovoked attack on civilians raised the concern of some Americans. In addition, news reports of atrocities perpetrated by Germans against Belgian civilians reached American papers. Some reports were accurate, some were exaggerated. They stirred anti-German sentiment in the United States. A sentiment that concerned President Woodrow Wilson, who believed the nation shouldn’t get involved.

On August 4, President Wilson gave a speech about how he felt the nation should react to the growing conflict in Europe.

The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men’s souls. We must be impartial in thought as well as in action…”

President Woodrow Wilson

The nation’s policy may have been neutrality, but that didn’t stop commerce. Over the next three years, American businesses and banks made huge loans to the Allies fighting the Germans.

As the war dragged on, it was clear that America would lose a lot of money if Europe lost the war with Germany.

The End of Neutrality

In January 1917, the British intercepted and decoded a telegram from the German Foreign Secretary sent to the German diplomatic representative in Mexico. It proposed a secret alliance between Mexico and Germany should the US enter the war. “The British passed the document to Washington, and it appeared on the front page of American newspapers” on March first.

During February and March 1917, the Germans resumed their aggressions at sea. German submarines sunk several US cargo vessels without warning.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war. On the fourth, 82 of 88 U.S. Senators and 373 of 423 members of the House of Representatives voted to declare war.

The first US infantry troops landed in France on June 26, 1917. And so the U.S. entered the Great War.

The End of the Great War

Black and white photograph of Woodrow Wilson in tailed coat onboard a Navy ship on the way back from peace talks after the Great War ended shifting reality once again

World War I, the Great War, ended on November 11, 1918 (now called Armistice Day or Veteran’s Day in the U.S.)

Some experts estimate that military and civilian deaths on both sides combined reached 24 million people. Of those, about 117,000 were Americans. The numbers are arguable, but the fact is a massive number of people died and the property loss was tremendous.

Many veterans and survivors of the war suffered disabilities or were “shell shocked.

It should be no surprise that by the 1920s, many Americans swore their nation should never enter another foreign war.

In 1928, the United States signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war as a part of national policy.

The Isolationist Movement

Image of an orange flyer from an America First Rally scheduled for April 4, 1941

During the 1930s, the losses of the Great Depression (1929-1933) and the physical, mental, and emotional scars of the Great War visited most Americans. Many of them vehemently advocated non-involvement in European and Asian conflicts and international politics. Called Isolationists, they felt the US needed to focus on issues at home like rebuilding the nation’s economy. By 1941, they held America First Rally’s across the nation.

The Isolationists had historic precedence to bolster their position. America’s founding fathers saw the ocean separating them from Europe as an ideal situation to create a new nation. Even President George Washington had advocated for non-involvement in European wars and politics.

The Isolationists also had the support of many powerful Americans. Pilot Charles Lindbergh strongly and vocally supported isolationism. Former Presidents Herbert Hoover and James Monroe each voiced support for isolationism. As the Isolationist movement grew, another movement was sweeping through America.

The Third Great Awakening

The Third Great Awakening (1850-1920s) was a period of religious activism in America. Dwight Moody (1837-1899), Billy Sunday (1862-1935), and Father Charles Coughlin (1891-1979) were some of the major players.

During his 1932 bid for the presidency, Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed Father Coughlin’s support and influence over urban Catholics. But Father Coughlin soured on FDR after the president did not give Coughlin a position on the president’s cabinet.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and Dachau, the first concentration camp, opened.

FDR worried about the rise of fascism and totalitarianism and wanted the US to be more involved in Europe and Japan. Most Americans were overwhelmingly against such action.

In 1935, Congress passed the first of a series of neutrality acts to protect the United States from world problems.

Father Coughlin began expressing anti-capitalist, anti-banker, anti-Wall Street, and anti-Semitic views. He blamed those ‘forces’ for America’s entry into World War I and worried those same forces would involve America in the turmoil in Europe.

Shifting Reality to Create a Fictional World

In the Fellowship Dystopia’s history, Giuseppe Zangara assassinates FDR before he can take office. This empowers the Isolationists and the Third Awakening. They join and become a religious-political machine, the Fellowship.

In tents and on the streets, a preacher’s sermons are full of the message that the Great Depression is punishment for America’s sins. People desperate for relief flock to his revival tents. The Fellowship seizes the idea and opportunity. They declare the preacher a prophet and “the way” to peace and prosperity. The Fellowship becomes a source of solace, a source of rules guaranteed to bring relief. With each passing year, more and more laws remove the people’s power and freedom.

America never enters World War II. Europe struggles valiantly, but the Federation of Germany assumes power. Japan rules Asia and the Pacific. And in America, the Fellowship and its Councilors grow more and more powerful.

Miranda, daughter of America’s premier preacher-politician, lives a charmed life as one of the Fellowship’s elite. Until she faces a life that will rob her of all rights.

The story of the Fellowship Dystopia is a story of a fight against tyranny in all its forms. The fight isn’t easy. It ranges from tiny and very personal to national to global. Miranda’s fight starts small and grows in My Soul to Keep. But it frightens her, so she chooses another path and in If I Should Die, events force her to choose different paths. And every path is a test that costs her dearly.

Pre-order If I Should Die now.

And The World Goes Round

At first, the changes in American sentiment over the past handful of years surprised me. I was shocked by how we seem to be on the way to creating a theocracy in reality. Reviewing my notes, reviewing our actual history… I am no longer surprised. I am saddened that we can’t seem to learn lessons bought with blood and tears.

The Pendulum Swings

To anyone who studies history, it is apparent that human behavior and belief systems, especially political ones, swing from one extreme to the other. It’s a pattern we follow to the detriment of us all.

Perhaps that’s where we are in today’s shifting reality. Perhaps we’re being tested. Will we pass these tests?

What choice will our nation make? What choice will you make?

Image Credits
  1. Illustration of a torpedo hitting the Lusitania: Winsor McCay, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Front page of newspaper, Houston Post, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. President Woodrow Wilson on Navy ship: Naval History & Heritage Command, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. Flyer for 1941 America First Rally: America First Committee, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Father Coughlin on Time Magazine Image: Keystone, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Man in the High Castle, a Review

Amazon Prime Video version

The Man in the High Castle is a book written by Phillip K. Dick and a television series (2015-2019) now on Amazon Prime Video. It is an American Dystopian alternate history thriller.  I’ve avoided reading the novel because it reportedly is similar to what I write and I didn’t want to inadvertently copy PKD’s work. After finishing If I Should Die, I took an opportunity to watch the series. I’m told the show is only loosely based on the novel. In this review I tried to keep spoilers at a minimum, but there is at least one. You may wish to skip that clearly marked section. 

Image shows a view of The Statue of Liberty and the New York Skyline. The statue wears a red Nazi sash and instead of a torch her upheld hand is in a German salute. The cover is an Amazon Original, The Man in the HIgh Castle.

The Set Up 

In The Man in the High Castle’s world, Giuseppe Zangara assassinated the United States President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. That sets up a situation where Axis Powers won World War III. Including Washington D.C. being turned into “The District of Contamination” by a Nazi atomic bomb.  

An aging Hitler still runs the Reich which rules Europe west of the Urals and the continent of Africa. It also occupies the portion of the United States that lies to the east of the Rocky Mountains, an area called the Greater Nazi Reich (GNR). Japan rules Asia and the section of the United States west of the Rockies, the Japanese Pacific States. The Rockies are a neutral zone. 

Image of the United States of America shows the eastern portion of the US in Red with the German cross over it. The rockies are gray, indicating the neutral zone. And everything west of the Rockies has a Rising Sun indicating the Japanese Pacific States as described in The Man from the HIgh Castle.

The story takes place in 1962 in locations in the United States and Germany. Former Americans in German and Japanese territories are attempting to adjust to their status as citizens of occupied territories as are the Occupiers who are all very far from their homes and bases of support.

The Plot

A major thread throughout the television program  (SPOILER ALERT) is the existence of reels of film that show an untold variety of outcomes of the war on parallel worlds. In some of the films the U.S. is victorious. In other films the outcomes are much worse than our story’s world. Some characters wish to protect and hide the films. They believe the information could help them free themselves from their occupation. Others characters want to destroy the films. And the Nazis scientists are experimenting with a way to move between the worlds. (END SPOILER ALERT).

There are many plot holes, impossible, and improbable situations. Once I got past the my mindset that the occupation of the U.S. couldn’t have happened in the way the story says, few of the holes and improbabilities bothered me. 

Be aware that there are cultural and historical  inaccuracies that could detract from your enjoyment if they are part of your mindset or culture. 

The Pacing and Sets

Overall, the story pacing held my interest. There is plenty of action and intrigue and danger. Warning: there are explosions and violent deaths, in my opinion they were handled pretty well. But if violence isn’t your thing, this isn’t the show for you.

The settings ranged from stark to opulent. Both the pacing and the sets (locations) worked well for me.

The Characters

The book cover for The Man in the High Castle has a female standing profile in the center with a Japanese man and a man in the uniform of a Reich officer flanking her. Behind them are two flags that represent the two occupied territories of the former United States of America.
The Man in the High Castle is available as an ebook, paperback, and audio book on Amazon and other retailers.

 The characters are diverse. There are multiple factions from underground rebels who seek to restore American freedom to former Americans being assimilated into their occupiers’ cultures. There are opportunists and there are sympathizers. Some have very clear loyalties. Some appear to switch sides. And some play all sides against each other. 

In this televised series, there are several interesting and strong female characters. And you know I liked that. 

What fascinated me the most about this show were the characters. Loyalties were divided, often within families. Betrayals and reversals and reversals of reversals happened. There were characters I grew to love who spiraled destructively and characters I hated that I grew to understand. For me, this is great story telling. 

The Man in the High Castle

The show was dropped by Amazon Prime after four seasons. I imagine production costs were reason enough but according to some sources there were “creative differences” also. 

I made a purposeful decision to not read the book before writing My Soul to Keep. Will I read the book? Absolutely, but I’ll still wait until after I’ve finished the Fellowship Dystopia series. There are enough similarities between the two stories that I don’t want to risk confusing myself. Do I think having watched the show will alter how I approach the third book in the series? I doubt it. In my opinion, there’s a huge difference between the foreign occupation in The Man in the High Castle and a take over from within like the one in the Fellowship Dystopia.

Also there’s a big difference between writing for television and writing a book. Besides with two books written, I’m pretty deeply immersed in the world of the Fellowship. Some of the critiques of the televised series will influence me in that I’ll try to avoid similar inaccuracies.

Do I recommend watching the show? If you love thrilling, alternate history with a science fictional bent…you will be hooked by the televised series of The Man in the High Castle.

Have you watched The Man in the High Castle? What did you think?

Image Credit: Middle image is by RedFoxJinx, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

First Lines From Histories You Don’t Know

The first line of a story, we’re told, must hook the reader. Implied is that the reader will not buy the book if the first line isn’t great. These entries are from Amazon, my personal library, or other online booksellers. Are you hooked by these first lines from histories you don’t know? Do you want to read more of these alternate histories?


The cover of The Children's War shows a foggy passage way with a shadowy man in a trench coat and hat. It's an alternate history or a history you don't know.

“As the London Divisions of the glorious troops of the Fatherland march proudly past the gauleiter’s podium, they salute the Thousand Year Reich!” the announcer intoned pompously.

The Children’s War by J.N. Stroyar 

August 2014

I am a good girl. It is my most defining feature. And that’s the truth. 

The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew 

The cover of Enemy Within shows the dome of the Capitol building in brown and gold tones with the title in red letters over the base of the dome.

The squalid little alley smelled of piss despite the February cold.  

The Enemy Within by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

It started when David came in from the lawn absolutely furious.

Farthing: A Story of a World that Could Have Been (Small Change Book 1)
by Jo Walton

The cover of American Royals Shows an illustration of a three-quarter profile of a young woman wearing sunglasses.

Prologue:

You already know the story of the American Revolution, and the birth of the American monarchy.

American Royals by Katharine McGee

“Get below decks!” Colm Bohannon shouted.

Angels & Patriots: Book One by Salina B Baker 

Clarification

There are no affiliate links in this post. I don’t make a cent off of the books listed on this page. I usually pull these quotes at random. They are here for your enjoyment. And to entice you to buy more books.

If you enjoy these alternate histories, you might enjoy my series, The Fellowship Dystopia.

Do You Want to Read More?

Did you enjoy these first lines from histories you don’t know? Check out previous First Line Fridays. You’ll put another enormous smile on my face if you tell me in the comments below— Which ones spoke to you? Did you buy it?

Sneak Peek: If I Should Die Chapter Three

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.

This yacht looks similar to Miranda’s. It is for sale in Portland.

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 new “secret” project, she’s more than intrigued.

Fellowship symbol rendered by Lynette M. Burrows © Robert Burrows this is part of a Sneak Peek: If I Should Die, Chapter Three of the Fellowship Dystopia Series...

Sneak Peek: If I Should Die, Chapter Three

By Lynette M. Burrows © 2020

Dark thunderclouds and rain blanked out the world beyond the Lady Angelfish, except when a burst of lightning cracked. Beryl did a practiced two-and-a-half step timed with the rock and sway of the boat and followed Miranda out onto the deck. A gust blew the rain slicker’s hood off Beryl’s head. Drenched in seconds, the wind blew and glued a wisp of hair to her face. She smiled. What happened to her didn’t matter. Miranda, on the other hand….

“You will get yourself captured or killed.” Beryl shouted over the torrent of rain drumming on the deck.

“He’s my brother. I can’t leave him out there,” Miranda’s shout cut through the wind that whistled around the Lady’s cabin.

“He hasn’t signaled. Maybe he was delayed.”

“Or captured, or in danger, or—his batteries died while waiting for us.”

“Maybe he’s hunkered down until the storm passes.”

Miranda looked up from the swim platform to Beryl. “You got somewhere else to be?”

She answered with a smile. I won’t leave you, Miranda. Not like she did her daughter. You want your brother? We’ll get your brother. She gripped the rain-slicked safety rails and descended the three steps to the swim platform. Waves broke over the platform. Flooded her deck shoes. Chilled her feet.

Miranda untethered the dinghy from the edge of the Lady. The little boat swung in the wind, held only by the crane-like davit. She punched the davit’s control and lowered the dinghy into the water.

Beryl grabbed the closest edge, the boat’s gunwale, pulled it close to the platform.

Miranda climbed in and struggled against the wind to detach the boat from the davit’s lifting harness.

The dinghy’s a large target. “It’d be safer to swim or walk across.” Beryl side-eyed the shore less than fifteen feet away. Too dark to see what waited there. “Anchor a little closer—”

“I will not risk taking the Lady closer to an unknown shore. The current’s strong, but you and I could swim it… and I know David is a strong enough swimmer. But are you prepared to carry the refugee through this current?”

Beryl screwed her mouth to the side, acknowledged Miranda’s point.

Miranda released the lifting harness, then grabbed the swim platform railing to hold the dinghy in place.

Beryl climbed aboard.

The wind buffeted them and the little boat bounced unnaturally. Thunder rumbled long and loud. And the rain drilled them and sizzled on the gurgling river water. It tested Beryl. Her smile faded and she white-knuckled the gunwales.

Miranda grinned and guided the boat toward shore. The little boat’s trolling motor fought the chop and slowly crossed the water.

Beryl had never grown to love life on the boat, not the way Miranda did. But Beryl tolerated it, would continue to tolerate it, for Miranda.

Three feet from shore, Beryl took her pistol out of her holster to keep it dry. Hopped into knee deep water. She gasped. Chill bumps raced along her skin. Determined, she sucked in air and pulled the dinghy behind her. In three strides, the waves lapped her ankles. She gave the boat a mighty tug and beached it. Hand up to Miranda for “stay put.” Pistol safety off, trigger finger alongside the trigger guard, she stepped further inland—barrel first.

A Work-in-Progress

What you read here is a work-in-progress, meaning it’s an early draft. It has not had the final edits and polish that the published version will have. Some things may end up on the “editing floor” and not appear in the book at all. If you missed the earlier chapter, you can catch up. Chapter 1. Chapter two

Readings

Originally, I had intended that this series of posts would be an adjunct to videos of me reading these chapters aloud. As you know, my video production came to a screeching halt on the first week because of technical issues. The good news? I overcame the technical issues. Video one is out. I hope to “catch-up” the recordings in short order.

In video one I read the entire first chapter of If I Should Die.

Stay Tuned

I hope Sneak Peek: If I Should Die, Chapter Three brought you a little break from the fear and difficulties surrounding the C-19 virus crisis. Please stay aware of how stressed you are. Take breaks from the 24-hour news. Use the telephone or internet to stay connected to your friends and loved ones. Find a small pleasure and a moment of gratitude every day.

I take pleasure in my morning cup of coffee, in the comic antics of my dogs, and in communicating with my friends and loved ones. Thank you for coming by—for reading—for listening.

In these trying times, one can’t predict what will happen next. The plan is that If I Should Die will be published in the late fall of 2020. Stay tuned here for reports on my writing progress. The sneak peek at chapter four will posted here next Friday. Please leave a comment to let me know how you are doing.

A Novel Announcement

And the Story Behind the Story

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.

A novel announcement for My Soul to Keep by Lynette M. Burrows
Click on the image for more about My Soul to Keep and see the new cover

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 more hostile environment? Neither can I which is why I am uniquely qualified to write a dystopian novel.

The Real Story

When I was struggling to find the right vehicle for the story, My Soul to Keep. I knew early on that incest would be a big part of the novel. I tried writing a fantasy with dragons. I tried writing a realistic, contemporary novel. I even tried to write it with aliens in the story. But the truth is, I cannot imagine a more dystopian society than the one with family units where a child is abused. When I created the dystopian alternate history and wrote the story, Miranda came alive.

If you’ve been reading this blog from it’s beginning you know that I once had nightmares like my character. My nightmares were far less clear than Miranda’s. I believe that I was sexually abused but I have no actual memory to support that and I have no proof. So having Miranda search for her truth was a natural extension of the story. But, that also mired the story in too much of my own fears and uncertainties. It took a while to get clarity personally and in the story.

I credit my mentor, William F. Wu, for a lot of that clarity. He indulged me in long rambling emails. He encouraged me to think about this or that in reference to a particular scene or theme. But he never tried to shape my story or my characters. He helped me realize the structure that existed in the mess of words I’d written. Encouraged me to trim the fat and expose my truths. That kind of mentor is worth so much more than a thank you.

When I decided to create a religious tyranny I drew on my past (granddaughter of a Baptist minister on one side and of a Nazarene Deacon on the other). And I researched many other religious traditions, choosing this bit and that. The hardest part was trying to decide how such a tyranny came about in America. I decided to expand on a dark time in American history, the isolationist period. At the time I was developing the novel this darker America seemed a far stretch. I had no idea that in the real world, America was going to take another dark turn. I should have guessed. Ideas, good and bad, cycle through history again and again.

A Happy Author

It’s an odd and exciting feeling to finally have a published book. There are so many firsts that it’s somewhat overwhelming. And it’s not the last. Watch for a new look to this website and sample chapters will be available. In my soon-to-be-released Burrows Insiders newsletter, there will be more announcements and some sneak peeks at a couple of new works-in-progress. 

My undying thanks to the people who have read My Soul to Keep and posted reviews. I’m delighted that the book has received 5 stars from all who’ve reviewed or rated it so far. If you have read it, please take the time to leave your honest review. Every review helps get the book noticed, even if you didn’t enjoy the novel. It’s “make an author happy day.” If you haven’t bought your copy—help a girl out, won’t you? 

Buy My Soul to Keep by Lynette M. Burrows from Walmart

My Soul to Keep is, in a way, an intensely personal story and yet, it isn’t my story at all. Miranda grew to be her own kind of character doing things I’d never attempt. The world is one I wouldn’t want to live in, yet it helped me explore ideas that I needed to explore. One of my readers said, “The growth Miranda achieves in her journeys empowers her to take action to change the world around her and do things she never would have thought herself capable of in the beginning of the book – a message I hope I can take to heart.” I couldn’t ask for more.