On Seas So Crimson
by James Young
GENRE: Alternate History
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James Young will be awarding a 9 x 12 print of the cover painting, "Death of Kongo" signed by the author and the artist Wayne Scarpaci (US ONLY GIVEAWAY) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please visit GoddessFish.com to follow the tour, remember the more you comment better your chances on winning.
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BLURB:
Adolf Hitler is dead. Great Britain has fallen. The Royal Family has fled to Canada, and the United States stands alone against the Axis.
On Seas So Crimson collects both novels of the Usurper's War into a single package. Acts of War (Amazon Bestseller in alternate history) begins this universe with London on fire, while Collisions of the Damned (recommended by Alternate History Weekly) continues it with the desperate defense of the Dutch East Indies.
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Excerpt:
“All hands, this is the captain speaking,” Gordon began. “Shortly we will be passing by the Hood. All available hands are to turn out topside to give three cheers for His Majesty. That is all.”
Eric stepped back from the sight, his face clearly radiating his shock. Gordon smiled as he came back up towards the front of the bridge with the officer of the deck.
“The King is going into battle?” he asked incredulously. “Isn’t that a bit…”
“Dangerous?” Gordon finished for him. “Yes, but much like your situation, circumstances precluded His Majesty’s transfer to another vessel.”
“What? That doesn’t make any…”
“His Majesty was apparently aboard the Hood receiving a briefing from the First Sea Lord when the Queen Mary was torpedoed,” Gordon said, his voice cold. “We were not expecting the German surface units to be as close as they were, and it was considered imprudent to stop the Hood with at least two confirmed submarines close about. Is that sufficient explanation to you, or would you like to continue questioning our tactics?”
Eric could tell he was straining his host’s civility, but the enormity of what was at risk made him feel he had to say something.
“I’m no expert at surface tactics…”
“That much is obvious,” Gordon snapped.
“…but the Hood is a battlecruiser,” Eric finished in a rush. “While I didn’t get a great look at the Germans before they shot up me and my commander, Rawles saw at least two battleships.”
“Your concern is noted, Leftenant Cobb, but I think that you will see the Hood is a bit hardier than a dive bomber.”
Okay, I’m just going to shut up now, Eric said. I may have slept through a lot of history, but I seem to recall the last time British battlecruisers met German heavy guns it didn’t go so well. A quote about there being problems with your “bloody ships” or something similar comes to mind. The Battle of Jutland hadn’t been that long ago, as evidenced by the Warspite still being a front-line unit. Eric sincerely hoped Gordon’s confidence was well-placed.
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Q & A with James Young
What did you enjoy most about writing On Seas So Crimson?
The process of working out how the various naval battles were going to work out. With very few exceptions (I did have a couple of untoward critical hits), I “let the dice decide” how the works was going to play out. Where possible, I did the battles a couple of times.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired by the fact it’s an amazing time for independent authors. With all the various means of publication out there, there are no longer the bottlenecks that kept a story from being told.
Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?
Tom Clancy, Harold Coyle, David Drake, and Harry Turtledove are some of the first names that come to mind. The first three for the different ways of pacing military action, the last for his influence on alternative history.
What do your plans for future projects include?
First and foremost, I will finish my dissertation by year’s end. Concurrently, I intend to release my next sci-fi novel, Though Our Hulls Burn…. There are a few other ankle biter projects also in the works.
Have you ever had one character you wanted to go one way with but after the book was done the character was totally different?
About the closest I’ve come with this was deciding not to kill secondary characters because he or she may be useful. But other than that, I don’t really change characters up that much from what I intended.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
James Young is a Missouri native who escaped small town life via an appointment to the United States Military Academy. After completing his service in the Army, Mr. Young moved to Kansas to pursue his doctorate in U.S. History. Fiction is his first love, and he is currently the author of the Usurper’s War (alternate history), Vergassy Chronicles (space opera), and Scythefall (apocalyptic fiction) series, all of which are available via Amazon or Createspace. Currently living in the Midwest with his loving, kind, and beautiful spouse, Mr. Young spends his time completing his dissertation while plotting new, interesting ways to torment characters and readers alike. As a non-fiction author, Mr. Young has won the 2016 United States Naval Institute’s Cyberwarfare Essay contest and the U.S. Armor Center’s Draper Award for a battle analysis of the Golan Heights. He has also placed in the James A. Adams Cold War History contest held by the Virginia Military Institute and been published in the Journal of Military History (“The Heights of Ineptitude”).
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