Will Sharpens his Axe

A faire Tuesday morn, Stroock's Books fellow travelers. We had highs in the mid-70s yesterday and expect highs in the high 70s today. Shorts abound. 

The war on Iran continues. More interestingly at this point, it seems the Israelis are going to intensify their aerial campaign against Hezbollah - and there's fuckall the Hezbos can do about it. Hezbollah joining the war on Iran's behalf was a terrible mistake. 

This blog awaits Iranian or Iranian inspired terror attacks against a Israeli or Jewish target. 

So beware Victory Disease. 

Did reader(s) know that IRA man Gerry Adams is in court? It seems victims of a trio of prominent IRA bombings have sued him for damages. Heh. 

We decided to have some fun with Grok and asked, 'Is William Stroock Jewish?' here's Grok's reply.

Yes, William Stroock is Jewish.
He frequently uses Jewish greetings and references in his public writing, such as posting "Shabbat Shalom" (a traditional Jewish Sabbath greeting) alongside pro-Israel commentary, like "Good morning Substack and Shabbat Shalom. This is your Friday reminder that Israel is great." He also comments on Jewish community issues, antisemitism, and topics like the "Golden Age of Jews in America" being over, while strongly identifying with and defending Jewish/Israeli perspectives in his Substack notes and posts.His body of work includes multiple pro-Israel military fiction series (e.g., Israel Strikes and Israel at War), and he regularly discusses Jewish-related historical and current events in ways consistent with Jewish identity and advocacy. There's no public indication otherwise, and his online presence aligns clearly with Jewish cultural and religious markers.

Every word is true. Every analyses on point. 

DOGE report.

We went over the Battle of Ardee yesterday and...didn't like what we saw at all. We may just ax the whole chapter and start over. We've ample precedent for this. We cut a 15,000 word opening chapter from World War 1990: The Final Storm. Anyone else remember our blogging about the Battle of the Roki Tunnel? 

The Salyut station cosmonaut story progressed. We still don't know to what the story progresses.  

So we'd been holding off on posting about World War 1990: Ireland on Substack. Till yesterday. Our initial announcement got four clicks. We'll do another post or two today. 

Anyway, Yesterday World War 1990: Ireland climbed to the #9 spot in Amazon's alternate history category.

We are among the best there is at what we do. 

Monday Mid-rank

Good Monday, Stroock's Books stalwarts. 

When one lives with four women, clearing a bathtub drain is just gnarly. 

Temps are in the mid-30s now but will top off in the mid 70s today. 

World War 1990: Ireland is ranked #15 in Amazon alternate history. Ireland has certainly popped. But has it peaked? Uh oh. Some one on good reads gave Ireland a two-star rating. Wanker. 

Sigh...what do we got?

Operation Epic Fury continues. We're out of the spectacular phase with the fancy regime assassinations and down to the scut work of locating launchers, missile bunkers, bombing infrastructure, etc etc. Iran still manages to slip a missile or two past Israel's formidable air defenses. How? 

We haven't heard much, we think, about Iranian drones hitting Israel. What's Iron Beam doing? Grok says Iron Beam is deployed. 

The Trump administration is talking a lot, boasting a lot. We don't like it. We don't like it at all. We watched General Colin Powell during our formative years, who said bluntly of the Iraqi army, 'We're going to cut off its head. Then we're going to kill it.' We like that. 

We dread driving past a gas station today. Wish us luck. People may support the war (for now) but they're gonna see and feel those gas prices, and they ain't gonna like them. Not one bit. 

DOGE report.

This week is all about fixing the Battle of Ardee. Right now the battle ping-pongs between the British and Irish commander. We're gonna ax the limey, we think. 

We will continue working on our nuke novel cosmonaut story, comrades. We've got it set up pretty good. But we don't actually know where it's going. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 3/8/26

What the ef, daylight savings time? What the ef?

Okay, wow. Temps to be in the 70s most of the week. We may just wear shorts today. Why not?

Happy International Women's Day - Insert bad joke here -.

We bought a bottle of Japanese whisky last night, The Matsui. It was...decent enough. Later that night we received a warning from the Irish Whisky Police that we'd be interviewed under caution. 

This blog is not entirely certain bombing Iranian oil depots is a good idea. We'll see. 

So the United States and Israel have kicked the ever-living crap out of Iran. No surprise there. Lately the US and Israel are hitting Iranian police and IRGC assets. This blog wonders what's next. More protests? Exit question: does the lack of protests in the Iranian streets mean the protestors are coordinating with the US and waiting for the right time?

Related...gas around here is up 35 cents per gallon this week. 

As of this morning World War 1990: Ireland is #15 in Amazon alternate history. So far sales look like....the Normandy invasion, including the Krauts, + the Aussies. Ireland looks poised to have a big sales day. 

Meh, we're bored with Substack. We looked and see we hit 1,500 subscribers this week. And 41 of them are from Nigeria...Is posting at Substack even worth while? [It's nice to have a place to vent, no?-Ed]. We guess. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 3/8/26.

So what we got? World War 1990: Thatcher's War is at 45,000 words. World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is at 32,000 words. The 5th nuke novel is at 20,000 words and 3.5 stories. 

The Grognard really wants us to do World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap, keeping with our old one forward/one back juju. GIUK may be the last novel we write about the war. We got tons of post-war juju and we're going to use it. 

We shall see where things stand on Memorial Day. 

But one way or another, 2026 is the year of the three novels. 

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Book aficionados, and happy Saturday. As we write this the temp is 38 degrees, American, and will push on up to the high 40s today. Clock's springing forward tomorrow. Thank the Lords of Kobol and the Many Face God. 

Four days in a row at the gym. Yay. 

One week of war. The war on Iran...continues. There will be no American boots on the ground, Trump says. But what if they drop the 82nd Airborne Division on Tehran? Cool, no? But probably unnecessary. 

Hezbollah is impotent. Hamas is quiet. The Houthis are scared. 

Trump is calling Iran 'a loser' and demanding 'unconditional surrender'. 

Beware victory disease. 

Exit question: at what point does Epic Fury/Roaring Lion reach diminishing returns? Soon, no?

The Things.

World War 1990: Ireland has popped. It's ranked Number 17 in Amazon Alternate History as of this morning. Our strategy of not yet making Ireland available on Kindle Select is working. Two ratings, one review. We know that guy...

The rough draft of the recon force chapter in World War 1990: Thatcher's War is complete. We are mildly pleased. We go from farce to tragedy to, 'Taoiseach, a mob has gathered at the British embassy in London. What do you want me to do?' Do note that Irish protestors overran the British embassy in...1972, we think, after Bloody Sunday. 

We had a breakthrough of sorts yesterday on our nuke novel cosmonaut story. We intend to work on said story today.  

Friday Fook the Farsi Freaks

Happy Friday, dear Stroock reader(s), and shabbat shalom. 

A veritable deluge of rain yesterday. Which is fine. 

Bla-bla Iran, bla-bla Hezbollah. So the US and Israel have wiped out Iranian leadership, destroyed their air defenses, sent the Iranian navy to the bottom of the sea, and inflicted untold damage on their vaunted missile and nuclear programs. The Iranians have managed to piss off everyone in the region. The Israelis are smacking around Hezbollah to boot.

An observation. Not a peep from Hamas. Hezbollah's response to the Israelis aerial campaign is weak and flaccid, like the Jew hating retards we encounter on Substack. And where are the Houthis? 

So what's next? How does this conflict ratchet down? And what was the thing with the Kurds again? Final thought, do we even care who's running Iran if the nuclear program is crippled?

Kristi Noem....meh. Tulsi Gabbard has always struck s as far more effective. Deadlier than the showboat. 

Texas...much political maneuvering about Cornyn and Paxton. Both have serious flaws. Paxton's been impeached. Cornyn's a back stabbing bastard. Meh, again. Cornyn is probably the stronger candidate. If Trump told Cornyn to drop out, would he? Heh ever known a senator to just give up?

DOGE report.

We worked over the opening Thatcher's War invasion chapter. It's really coming together in tone and theme. Farce punctuated by tragedy.

World War 1990: Ireland, is getting ready to pop. Yesterday's sales number was good. Today's will be even better. As of this morning Ireland is ranked 63 in Amazon Alternate History. 

Yaaaaaaawnnnnnn

A rainy Thursday morn, Stroock's Books reader(s). Which is fine. Once more, New Jersey needs rain as evidenced by this chart on regional water supply indicators and this chart showing reservoir levels. [What is it with you and New Jersey reservoir stats?-Ed] Meh, it's something to follow. Actually if one looks at the combined Round Valley-Spruce Run reservoir chart (our reservoirs) we're fine.

The campaign against Iran continues...the Israelis are hammering Hezbollah. You know, we're on the verge of becoming bored with this whole thing. At this point Operation Epic Fury feels like the air war stage of Desert Storm, lo those 35 years ago. 

Okay, so the Americans and Israelis are destroying tons of regime infrastructure, but how many regime personnel are they actually killing? Does it matter? And what's the end game here? And what happened to the Kurdish thing that was happening last night? 

This blog admits all trends look positive. Nevertheless, beware of victory disease. 

DOGE report.

Same. This chapter ends with an IRA Active Service Unit attacking the British recon force. It probably starts with those guys being introduced, though readers will have seen their leader in World War 1990: Ireland.

Sales of World War 1990: Ireland are chugging along. As of this morning Ireland is ranked number 82. No reviews or ratings yet. Actually, let's check in on Amazon UK...Phew. Nothing yet. The Brits n Micks are going to hate Ireland [Brits n Micks. Really? - Ed]. Came up with that meself just now. [Don't be fooled, folks. Several times he's tried to 'convert to Irish' - Ed].

Related...rest in peace Lou Holtz.

We paid the formatters yesterday. We should make the expense back in under a month. We'll see. 

Reminder, after Ireland our four most popular books are The Great Nuclear War of 1975 series. We should really get back to that, yo. 

You Sank my Battleship

Baaah...after being up late the night before we had trouble getting to sleep last night and overslept by about an hour this morning. No big deal really, but our schedule is disrupted. We swipe at the air and drink our coffee. 

It seems the Israelis are refocusing on Hezbollah. They've ordered a mass evacuation of Lebanon south of the Litani. This is a big deal. 

Holy Hyman Rickover! A US Navy submarine torpedoed an Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean.

The greatest aerial campaign since Operation Desert Storm, it seems. But how much stuff can one bomb? And what's the endgame here? What can one say? Always trust Trump. Never bet against Trump. And don't get sick of winning. Right? [Right!-Ed]. Also, beware Victory Disease. 

Thirty years on....In 1996 we were attending a non-Jesuit University in Washington DC, and part of a friend group that included recent college grads, all friends because of the College Republicans. At least three had jobs on Capitol Hill, doing scut work in a congressional office for $19,000 a year. We were young, and dumb, and generally without a care. We'd drink on our apartment balconies or the M-Street Fridays, and hang out at the Jefferson Memorial. Heavy T's, we called it. Well, the wife of one of those friends just won the Republican nomination for Texas (08). Congrats Jessica Steinmann. Brandon looks exactly the same. We've all come a long way. 

DOGE report.

Same really. Working on the World War 1990: Thatcher's War recon force chapter, in which a company of Land Rovers are met by hostile and hilariously profane Irish civilians. This includes nuns, school girls, sanitation workers, and the West Dundalk Women's Peace Collective.  The chapter will be completed by Friday. 

When we started we looked at google Earth and saw American interstate-like highways and bypasses around major cities...they're there, but weren't there in 1990. Reminder, in 1990 Ireland was a Third World country with Third World infrastructure. Fixing this hasn't been as big a problem as we thought. 

World War 1990: Ireland is moving and slowly gaining steam. At last check it's 275th in Amazon's alternate history category. Yesterday Ireland was 500 something. Oh look, it's 86th in Amazon UK. We approach this fact with [Great fear and trepidation?-Ed] great fear and trepidation. 

Anyway, keep on rolling. Exit question, when should we enroll Ireland in Kindle Select? We cannot answer this question till we have more coffee.