Moe Lane's Blog, page 62

Arbutus Arts Festival tomorrow!

Temperatures in the upper eighties, but at least it’ll be cloudy. Either rain or actual shine would be a problem, in their own special ways. Light posting tomorrow and stop on by if you’re in the area!

…I have no idea how this is going to go. Hopefully there’ll be fewer propane explosions, at least. Once in convention season is fine (well, unless it’s your propane tank). Having a second one go off in my vicinity might get me tagged as a Jonah.

Book of the Week: The Fermi Resolution Worldbook.

This, obviously, should surprise nobody. But, yeah, the Fermi Resolution Worldbook is easily my book of the week. No apologies, no regrets. Get the books when you’re done!

#commissionearned

‘Some Notes on the Kamchatka Territory.’

This is not the next novel (TINSEL RAIN): it’s for the next novel after that.

Some Notes on the Kamchatka Territory

Purchased in 1867 along with AlaskaTerritorial capital is Seward (Petropavlovsk)Created as full territory by President McKinley in 1897First significant divergence in American history: 1904. Territorial Governor Charles Fairbanks not chosen as Vice President [Howard Taft remains governor of the Philippines until 1910]. Albert Cummins chosen instead.

Presidents of the United States, 1901-1933

Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909 [R]Albert Cummins, 1909-1917 [R]Champ Clark, 1917-1921 [D]Eugene Foss, 1921-1925 [D]Calvin Coolidge, 1925-1933 [R]Hiram Johnson, 1933-1933 [R]Al Smith, 1933- [D]

Territorial Governors, Kamchatka Territory, 1897-1933

Charles Fairbanks, 1897-1911Herbert Hoover, 1911-1917Woodrow Wilson, 1917-1919Edith Wilson, 1919-1925Herbert Hoover, 1925-1933Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-

History

United States enters World War I more or less on schedule. President Clark isolationist, but given no choice after submarine warfare escalates. Does not insult the Japanese Empire at the Treaty of Versailles, and his attempts to limit American involvement in Russian Civil War partially stymied by Territorial Governor Edith Wilson after 1919.The territory is bounded on the west by the Russian Imperial Republic (White Russian client state of America) and the Priamurye Protectorate to the south (Czech exile client state of the Japanese). Soviet infiltration attempts are common, but the Foss administration recognized both the RIR and the Soviet Union in 1923. The income tax, direct election of Senators, and women voter Constitutional amendments still pass.Prohibition does not. The Anti-Saloon League (ably led by the charismatic and venerable local missionary Howard Hyde Russell) is nonetheless a major annoyance in the territory. Prohibition on the United States’ mainland is very much a patchwork affair.Former President Teddy Roosevelt dies in 1927, during a hunting expedition in the RIR. It is widely rumored that he was assassinated by a Soviet kill squad, but only after having the satisfaction of watching the last assassin bleed out in front of him.Edith Wilson remains a terror to the Clark administration, and its successor after Champ Clark does not run for a second term in 1920. She stays in power until Coolidge finally removes her in 1925, and remains a power in the territory to this day.Russian influence on the territory is noticeable, both from the original inhabitants and later refugees.The 1929 stock market crash happens three months earlier, and President Coolidge was largely and popularly blamed for the stubborn recession that followed. The economic recovery does not come in time to prevent Al Smith’s election in 1932 on a ‘New Deal’ platform.The Japanese Empire and the United States have a better working relationship, not least because America has a permanent presence in the region that would be vulnerable to Japanese aggression. Note that neither the Manchurian Incident, the creation of Manchukuo, nor the Tsuyoshi assassination took place in this timeline.FDR is the new territorial governor. He did not contract polio in 1921. He is also highly ambitious.Patreon!

‘Happy Jack.’

Happy Jack, The Who

#commissionearned

Sorry. Real world stuff.

Nothing bad! Eldest is graduating from high school. Like, in a couple of weeks. There’s a lot of stuff going on with that, right now. …Also, I could stand a little organized downtime.

Is there, like, a best practices for Reddit?

Yes, I know, but apparently Reddit’s got good ad conversion rates. Getting a presence there might have drive sales, especially now that I’m unquestionably participating in the RPG space. I suppose I need a subreddit for the Fermi Resolution?

Moe Lane

PS: I also need to do more, or even just something, with the Discord.

PPS: Sales are very bad, actually – while at the same time being excellent, because apparently I have conservation of merchandising going on. It is difficult to describe just how frustrating this is. Is it too much to ask that I have a month where online book sales and in-person sales and the Patreon membership and RPG sales are all going well? Just as a baseline, maybe?

‘Steal My Sunshine.’

I heard from somewhere that they used the money the studio gave them for the music video to go on a beach vacation, then made the video using footage from it. …The heck of it is, that ended up working out for everybody.

Steal My Sunshine, Len

#commissionearned

Long day, productive day…

…but still a long day. I need to sleep in Saturday, for once. The arts festival isn’t until Sunday, so that’s all right, then.

The latest THE BOLD MARAUDER section is up!

You can find it here. By the way, it’s kind of busy around here right now. My eldest is graduating from high school, you see, because he is a legal adult and everything and we are trying to coordinate stuff over the next two weeks. If I seem distracted, it’s because of that. Well, that and the fact that my eldest son is a legal adult. This just sneaks up on you, you know what I mean?

Patreon!

Tweet of the Day, There’s A Fine Line Between YouTube Contests And Sadism… edition.

…and this one goes beyond sadism, and is now hovering around the level of ‘war crime.’ To answer the question: I would not last one day. I would not last one hour. I would not do this at all.

How long could you last in a room with 100 chickens if you were given 10k for each day? pic.twitter.com/CyDrAZlmTF

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) May 16, 2025

Via @HungarianFalcon.