Progress Report 2025 Week 07

Plotting Wayland’s Forge is harder than I thought it’d be — for reasons I did not at all foresee. It was so hard that it took up almost all of the time I had. Unfortunately, even that little amount of time got hammered this week with not one but two Real Life Family Events (RLFEs). Did I get any plotting done at all? Let’s take a look at the numbers first.

Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers

I learned the hard way that, at least for now, I need a plot to start writing. That means I have to go through this step. Still, plotting time still feels like dead time — even though it most decidedly is not.

All zeroes. I wasn’t idle, because I have been investing heavily in research. Still, seeing those zeroes burn.

I mentioned in the intro that plotting this book has been hard. That’s because my research led me to a very dark place. Specifically, I finished Goering: The Rise and Fall of the Notorious Nazi Leader. To preface my comments, please keep in mind that I grew up believing Nazis were the ultimate evil, or as near ultimate evil as humans can produce at this stage of our evolution. I should find everything about them, particularly their leaders, loathsome.

That book, though, did a fantastic job of painting a portrait of a human who had consciously decided to become a Nazi. And I could not hate him. Not entirely. I should have expected that. I’m an Aristotelian Thomist. I’m well aware that insofar as a thing has existence, it is good, at least at a fundamental (i.e., existence) level. Still…

This posed a problem.

The Problem with Common Knowledge

I won’t get into the details, because I’m going to weave some of them into the theme. But the “problem” with the book was that it forced me to see Goering as a human being, and not a Nazi villain. More precisely, I saw him as human first. I say “problem” because it make me confront a very basic question:

Why are Nazis bad?

The problem with common knowledge is that it takes too much for granted. I have to wonder — and note it’s a question, not an assertion — if that played a part in so many Americans electing to jump enthusiastically on the path to Nazism. I want to believe that had they really understood, they would have let that particular train depart without passengers.

You might say that we’re not on that path. I honestly hesitated to make that statement, but I’m going to double down and say it more clearly: the current leadership in the USA is absolutely fascist, by the textbook (literally!) definition. That begs the question — are those leader also Nazis?

Before these reflections, I couldn’t answer that question, and that bothered me. The Nazis pegged the definition of evil to the point where, in my novels at least, demons deserted Earth because they were scared of the Nazis. I’m only partly fictionalizing that. I suspect it might be true. But it didn’t tell me what I needed to know — how does Nazism differ from fascism? And are our current leaders on that path?

Luckily for me, The Runway, a website from the Australian Air Force, featured a post about just that first question. After absorbing that fascinating post, I came away with two very important takeaways. First, I’m not the only one who struggled to answer that question. Scholars and historians argue about it, too. But this writer, Ambassador Kazi Anwarul Masud, laid it all out. Clearly. So much so that I came away a changed man.

And now I know. The post goes on to add detail and depth — very much worth the time to read.

I’m not kidding. Go read that post. Written in April 2024, it’s lucid, it’s clear, and as soon as I read it, I knew it was spot on. I can clearly articulate how Nazism is fascism with several (horrifying) additions. And yes, the current USA leadership nails all but one of them. And that’s just because they haven’t had time.

But they’re assembling the infrastructure.

But best of all? I can now say precisely why Nazism is evil. And I can say it in the context of what it means to be American. I mean, really American. Which is to say, someone who’s naïve enough to believe the words “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Yes. I believe those words. I think they elevate us. More importantly, I think they’re what should distinguish the USA from what’s come before.

Even worse? I believe those words apply to all citizens period. Crazy, huh? Crazy enough to help me write a coherent trilogy, I hope!

Progress against Last Week’s Goals

Here’s how I did against last weeks goals — keeping in mind that I went through two RLFEs that completely toasted my writing for those days.

1. Brainstorm Wayland’s Forge arcs for the three main characters. I anticipate this’ll take a week or two. Started! I actually have the hook written for Gerhard Wimmer and a tentative start for Owen Payne.
2. Create the Scrivener project for Wayland’s Forge Book 1: Conventional Forces: Done!
3. Complete the back cover blurb for Flanking Maneuver. Done!
4. Draft a back cover blurb for Bait and Bleed. Not started! Victim of one of the RLFEs.
5. Bid the cover for Flanking Maneuver. Done! Awarded the request to Miblart.
6. Draft the Amazon blurbs for Special Recon, Flanking Maneuver, and Bait and Bleed. Might as well get those out of the way. Not started! Victim of one of the RLFEs.

Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2025 Week 07

Here’s what I hope to accomplish this week:

1. Continue to brainstorm Wayland’s Forge arcs for the three main characters. I anticipate this’ll take another week or two. It’s kind of intense for me. I’m trying to dig deep into my psyche to, as Harlan Ellison suggested, put my guts on the page.
2. Draft the Amazon blurbs for Special Recon, Flanking Maneuver, and Bait and Bleed. Might as well get those out of the way.
3. Re-evaluate the Amazon Ads keywords I’m using. I have some data on which are working and at what price. I need to prune some keywords and find others to add.
4. Draft a back cover blurb for Bait and Bleed.

What Do You Think?

For your novels, did you ever research history and discover facts that challenged you? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!