Canada Bites the Silver

Good morning, Stroock's Books weather enthusiasts. At least a foot of snow is down with a few more inches predicted this morning. The snow seems wet, heavy. 

We are eager to fire up the snowblower and get out there. The snow should stop around 11 AM. 

Forty-six years apart.

In 1980 we were six years old. We vaguely remember the Miracle on Ice, and vaguely recall watching the gold medal game against the Fins, Laplander bastards. 

We watched all of yesterday's Gold Medal Olympic hockey game. 

A few notes...The Americans had no business winning. The Canadians were faster and quicker. The puck was on the American side of the ice for large swaths of the game. Goaltender Conner Hollebuyck was under siege throughout, (41 shots on goal!). He's the MVP. When the 3 on 3 overtime began, the Americans looked sharp and we had a good feeling about things. God Bless the above pictured Jack Hughs who Tucker Carlson no doubt thinks is a Mossad agent.

There is no better broadcaster than Kenny Albert. The man is informed and prepared. He tells the viewer what's happening without over explaining. Albert never says too much and knows to let a play breath. What a call yesterday. 

Of course we mocked and taunted our fellow North American, who claimed Canada had won the gold in 'God's greatest game', curling. 

A friend from a European country that has an NFL team named after its ancestors congratulated us on our hockey victory but noted, 'Hope you are satisfied with second place overall in the Olympics.' Norway won 41 medals overall, and 18 gold. The United States won 33 medals overall and 12 gold. This should prompt President Trump to call for regime change in Oslo, Scandi bastards. USS Gerald R Ford is on the way. 

Moving on....Iran, your guess is as good as ours. The SOTU is Tuesday and the talks are scheduled for Thursday. We're hearing a lot of chatter, scuttlebutt even, out there. Some are impatient. But Trump is nothing if not patient. He's acting like a man who knows he can deliver a mighty blow at the time and place of his choosing. Can't be said enough: Trump Always Chickens Out, they say. Then he bombs Fordow and abducts Maduro. Whoa, the US is evacuating the embassy in Lebanon. 

What Will's Watching: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, season finale. It's okay. It's pretty good. There was a lot of talking without much actually happening. Sorry, we just don't think AKotSK is as good as a lot of the punditry. Nevertheless, we were entertained. Ser Duncan the Tall and Aeg are fine characters, 4/4.

As for the week...we gotta figure out how we're showing the World War 1990: Thatcher's War riots in Belfast. For the love of Hollebuyk, no 8,000 word dirges with multiple POVs. Something succinct and pithy without looking rushed. Which is why we're thinking intrepid UTV reporter Finn Fahy should show the aftermath of the Belfast riots. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2/22/26

Happy Sunday, to all Stroock's Books reader(s) except the Canadians. Doom awaits you in the Olympic men's hockey gold medal game, you poutine eating bastards. 

The weather babe predicts (checks notes) holy Toledo, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, 18-25 inches of snow starting late this afternoon.  

The Iran axis...stuff keeps randomly blowing up across the country...students are protesting...the Israelis are prepping the battlespace in Lebanon...US troops evacuate vulnerable bases in the Middle East...American aircraft assemble at bases in same...Seems like war's afoot. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2/22/26...should World War 1990: Ireland have a late March release, you know, in synch with St. Patrick's Day? Probably not. But are considering delaying the release till we're closer to being finished with Thatcher's War. We dunno. We gotta go. 

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders. 

We are making blizzard preparations as the weather babe says we're getting a foot (or more) of snow Sunday into Monday. 

Various...

Sorry, my fellow MAGA hats, the Supreme Court is right. On to the next fight. 

USA v Canada in men's hockey tomorrow. Canadians everywhere are our mortal enemy. An American victory here could mark the beginning of the end of the Northern Menace. 

Related, we are informed by a fellow North American that Alberta is going to have an independence referendum. We vote 'eh'.

...The things.

As noted yesterday, we sent in World War 1990: Ireland for final formatting. We're nervous as hell. We've got the yips, as they say.  It is what it is, we say. What else can we say? At the moment we say we don't feel good about things at all. Which is bog standard.

We spent all week working on World War 1990: Thatcher's War. We are mildly pleased. 

Because of the way Ireland ends, Thatcher's War must have Belfast riots in the first chapter. We are vexed as to how to write these, as we don't want to get bogged down in a 10,000 word extravaganza, 'Shannon Shannahan marched down the Shankill Road, Irish Tricolor in one hand, garbage can lid shield in the other.' See what we mean? Maybe a bird's eye view? Maybe a journo (one's in Ireland, prepare to meet UTV's Finn Fahy) reporting the aftermath? 

World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 42,000 words. 

 

Friday Irish Fek n Fook

Happy Friday, Stroock's Books kibbutzim. 

Okay, we finished the World War 1990: Ireland read through. 

For the most part we found missing quotes, punctuation, a few typos, a few easts where there should have been wests, etc etc. Our proofer (who note, is not the editor) found the same. We fixed a few items that annoyed us. Why didn't our editor (who note, is not the proofer) find these?

Having read the proof, and made our corrections, and made our proofer's corrections. We are done. We just gonna have to have a little faith in all that research, all that writing, all that editing. The guy who read and re-read the book must have done something right. 

As is our wont to say, we are among the very best at what we do. We're a high midlist author in the top 15 or so percent of authors in the English speaking world. After hundreds of ratings to each, most of our novels are 4 + stars. In each of those novels we knew what we were doing. Why wouldn't we know what we're doing here?

We wanted to write a book about an interesting problem, Britain invading Ireland. Instead we wrote a WWIII novel about the Irish Troubles. 

The initial chapters deal with the first week after the signing of the armistice that ended World War Three. Actually, the intro shows several Irish characters the night the war breaks out.  Readers won't see most of these characters, save the taoiseach (pronounced T-shu), till the end of the book. 

Ireland show's some serious domestic political intrigue in the United States, as forces within the administration vie for position. Reminder, President Bush does not want to run for reelection. The administration splits into Quayle and not-Quayle factions, the latter led by James Baker. 

After whipping around the globe showing what's happening and setting the stage for Saddam's War and Ecercito Italiano, there follows the IRA attempt on Thatcher and the blowback. 

Then we've three chapters on the streets of Derry. We didn't mean to write an IRA, UDA, UDF, UFF, UDR, RUC* novel, but we did. The first two Derry chapters are good. The third is a little short and sudden. That said, how much urban paramilitary combat can a reader endure?

The final two chapter's lay the groundwork for World War 1990: Thatcher's War which as of this writing is 40,000 words. 

Alert reader(s) and friends (you people know who you are), know we like WW1990 books to have some differentiation. A World War 1990 novel should be somewhat different than the other World War 1990 novels. Norway all takes place in Norway. Nederland is basically five short stories. Castro's Folly has a unique two part structure and an interlude. 

World War 1990: Ireland is a novel different from the other ten novels in the WW1990 series. Ireland is a risk, a risky risk. As Mr. Trump once said on The Apprentice lo those many years ago, take risks. And so we did...we did. 

Both the Brits and Irish will hate World War 1990: Ireland. They'll find much to pick apart, the tossers. We shrug.

In recent years we've felt ambivalence when finishing a novel. We feel ambivalence now. We're just tired and sick of the whole thing. We just want to get it done.  And get it out. And so we did. And so we will. 

We're having ourselves a whisky tonight we can tell you people that for sure. 

*These fucking people. 

Thrust of Thursday

A faire Thursday you people of Stroock's Books. 

We've had excellent back-to-back days at the gym. We feel taught, tough, and based. 

Prince Andrew arrested! Holy hell....we don't care. 

Sports update. One more game before the US and Canada meet for an epic hockey rematch. Canada is the mortal enemy of every real American. Exit question: why does the US men's Olympic Hockey team look like the New York Rangers?

And so, the president assembles a mighty host. This is the greatest assemblage of American air and naval power since 2003, they say. Trump and the Israelis are maintaining strategic ambiguity as to the timing of the Iranian op. Each morning now we awake expecting to see, 'Operation Iranian Freedom has Begun'. Is there a wee bit of cynicism in our imaginary headline? Yes. But only a wee bit. 

Reminder, this operation almost certainly includes a massive Israeli effort against Hezbollah. The Israelis hit several targets in Lebanon yesterday and have been prepping the battlespace there for a few weeks.

As far as the Gaza Board of Peace goes, we haven't been following, because we don't care, because we don't think it'll go anywhere. Lol, their talking about developing Gaza's beach front. As if these people are capable of building, much less running, such an endeavor. What can we say? Enjoy your tents, guys. Bomb Gaza. 

Israeli polls are anyone's guess. All manner of polls show all manner of results. Hung parliament is the most common and most likely result. Pollsters are just guessing about what the elecotrate will look like on election day. Interestingly the Arab joint list (of three parties) gets between 12-15 seats in the 120 seat knesset. Netanyahu's bloc usually gets 50-55 seats. Some are speculating that Bibi would cut a deal with the Arabs. He could, he could. Bibi's gonna Bibi. Though we've no idea what he'd offer them. 

Brad R. Torgerson tweets about reading Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising for the first time. Torgerson was 13 he says. We were 14, and devoured RSR on a gloomy winter break in 1988. We also played NATO: The Next War in Europe. The post and subsequent comments went right to our brain. 'Dorky teens and middle aged men,' indeed. We've read RSR three times, February '88, August '88, and January '03. Do click over if you can. 

DOGE Report.

Yesterday was laundry and cleaning day, so we had a lot to do.

Between switching the laundry over and vacuuming we worked on World War 1990: Thatcher's War. 

We made edits to the World War 1990: Ireland MS.

Riveting. Just riveting. 

Meandering Midweek

Aye, a fair midweek to all you Stroock's Books reader(s) out there.

The weather babe says we may or may not get a nor'easter this weekend. The weather babe maintains strategic ambiguity. 

We awoke with a touch of plantar fasciitis in our right foot. [Why do your feet trouble you so?-Ed], Because we're 52 and spend a lot of time at the gym. Also, health wise we're just unlucky. We're programmed to drop dead from a heart attack in our mid-60s, as did our mother's father, from whom we get our middle name and our health. 

The war with Iran is imminent, they say. This seems true. This leak to the press could also be a negotiating tactic. We've said before that we in the West often get hung up on the notion that enemies in the East are mysterious and we really don't get them. Maybe. But it's also true that our enemies in the East really don't get us. Example, in 1990 Saddam made an appeal to the US for peace, in a two our long speech with lots of soaring rhetoric, in the Arab style. President Bush's message two Iraq was just a few minutes. 

The New York Post reports on Barry Soetoro's 'dour' and 'bizarre' presidential center, whatever that is. Actually, this architectural monstrosity perfectly invokes Barrack Hussein Obama, we think. The building is big, ugly, and without meaning. Barry's Iran Deal is long defunct. Obamacare didn't lower  costs it raised them and made healthcare harder to get. Barry's presidency never saw 3 percent economic growth. The Obama presidency is truly a failure. 

What Will's Watching: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. We don't like this GoT spinoff as much as the commentariat, but we do like it. Ser Duncan the Tall is a sympathetic character for certain. And we are charmed by Aeg, the thoughtful little Targaryen boy.  Many aspects of the joust, like the heir to the Iron Throne participating, strike us as farfetched. Nevertheless, we are entertained. 

DOGE report. 

We've got two more chapters to go in the Ireland read through. 

We were thinking about the Battle of Ardee in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. It bounces from the Brit commander to the Irish commander. Why not dump the Brit commander and focus on the Irish commander more?  

Our efforts on Substack have not juked books sales. We really don't know what to do other than get the next book out there. We'll have some thoughts on World War 1990: Ireland when the final edits are complete. 

Jackson and Jackson

A good Tuesday to you reader(s) of Stroock's Books. 

The leader of this blog's Confederate Contingent disagrees with our portrayal of Andrew Jackson. Indian Removal Act, Second Bank Battle (you need a bank, guys), Spoils System, Specie Circular...the man was a disaster. Take him off the $20 and replace him with Reagan. If one must support a Tennessee president, might one support James Polk?

The US and Iran are talking right now, they say, while the Pentagon amasses more firepower in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Israel is hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Iran is talking big. Iran is talking tough. The Iranians sound like Arabs. Don't make us say it....don't make us say it. The tough talk is a shield protecting Iran's weakness.* 

The Iranians are doing more than talking, though, including closing the Straits of Hormuz today for military exercises. What else might the mullahs do? Small boat attacks on the US fleet. We're dubious that these could do any damage. Missile attacks on US bases in the ME, these could do damage, or at least make a point. Missile attacks on the Gulf Arabs themselves to extract a price for supporting the US.

If war comes, the Iranians will bombard Israel of course. But how else could they hit the Israelis? Were we the Iranians we'd attack an Israeli embassy (why not Berlin, for symbolism's sake). Also we'd attack a large synagogue in the United States. We'd kidnap Gal Gadot. Exit question: of what are we not thinking? Post in comments. 

Death notices....

We heard the great Robert Duvall died yesterday. Everyone thinks his best line in Apocalypse Now is, 'I love the smell of Napalm in the Morning.' But really it's, 'Some day this war's gonna end.'

The Reverend Jackson has passed. While we have thoughts we'll hold them in check, we're not a leftist ghoul. The man had largely faded from public life this century. The last time we recall seeing Jackson on TV was election night 2008. But Jackson was a fixture of the 70's, 80's and 90's political landscape. 

Mark Steyn reminds us that Rush Limbaugh died five years ago today. We'll not see his kind again. 

DOGE Report.

The World War 1990: Ireland readthrough is 3/4 done. The proofer will get her copy in the mail to us today. 

We spent half of yesterday working on World War 1990: Thatcher's War. The first third is fine. We see many a problem in the second third.

We spent the second half of yesterday working on World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. The 32,000 words are more or less done. We had a revelation while researching. The Contras open the attack northeast of the main axis of advance.  We should have them use jungle infiltration tactics in this phase. In fact, this phase should be called Operation Chindit, IYKYK. 

*What are the unknown unknowns?