A Writing Life

Some Changes to this Substack

I started this Substack last summer in the midst of restoring a two century-old home on the coast to its former glory; old homes deserve that.

I have published articles and books for more than a quarter-century and I found Substack was good practice, to convey whatever came up on a weekly basis; regular research and writing is simply good practice as much as regularly practicing a musical instrument or a sport. In the midst of various hobbies, teaching parttime, hosting the new podcast on The Senate, and other gigs, I’ll have the final draft of my fourth novel to the publisher by late June and continue, albeit slowly, on my next naval history book. This Substack has served as a weekly outlet on whatever topic came to my interest. Based on feedback, I’m adding a bit of structure to it with three weekly posts in three distinct categories.

On Mondays, readers will continue to have an opportunity to read a perspective on national security and politics (less, hopefully, the partisanship).

On Thursdays I’ll have “The Footnotes to History,” those figures in books who may only merit a line or a paragraph. I’ve published three naval history books and I found especially with the books on the Early Republic Navy, (“A Call to the Sea: Captain Charles Stewart of the USS Constitution” and “On Wide Seas: The US Navy in the Jacksonian Era”) there are minor characters who deserve a bit more, particularly since I have boxes of material I never used for those books due to limitations on book lengths or various articles or a couple of book drafts that have gone uncompleted. Other pieces may be on new material I encounter but can’t use in one of my current projects. People are generally lost to the history books; perhaps this is one way to showcase them - for good or bad or a combination thereof, such is our human nature.

Fiction Friday may be a short essay including either science fiction or posts about my Connor Stark series (thus far “Pariah,” “Privateer” and “The Philippine Pact”) or commentary on other fiction. It’s tough to believe that the first NavyCon - and the only in-person one - was in November 2017 in which experts in naval issues provided contemporary context for various science fiction topics. With fifty years of Star Trek content available, there’s still something new to discover in each episode or series that can either enhance the understanding of those stories or as a reflection of humanity itself or with our current global navies. Remember that Gene Rodenberry flew the B-17 bomber during World War 2. His perspectives on Star Trek were shaped by that military experience. Since I’m working on my fourth novel, tentatively titled “PLAN C,” I’ll be posting updates, some teasers, or stories about it, the first three, or the first unpublished manuscript that set everything down the path.

Consequently, of the various audiences who have kindly subscribed and might find something of value or entertainment, there will be something here for each group.

This Substack is open to all. I thank all the subscribers who have been here since the beginning, those who joined along the way, and those who have supported it financially.

If, however, you would like to support this effort with an annual subscription, that would be welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for following and Cheers,

CGB