So what took so long? It’s been six months since I’ve cranked one of these out. I’ve recovered almost completely from my fall. I still have trouble going up and down steps or walking long distances, but the recovery has gone rather well.

To be honest, when I sat down to put this issue together, I didn’t think I’d written very much for having six months worth of writing time. Back in late May I volunteered to help put some computer labs together at the little private school my daughter goes to. That effort has expanded into making working computers out of spare pieces, trying to keep a network up and running, and a lot of other things. I’ve learned a lot, but the effort has cut into my writing time considerably.

I also got the second season of Angel on DVD, along with the Firefly DVD which accounted for about twenty-five hours of what might have been writing time.

By the way, if you haven't seen Firefly or you just caught part of an episode, it is definitely worth watching on DVD. Think Maverick in space with a little Twin Peaks (the first, good year)thrown in and you kind of get the picture. You probably don't want to watch it with the kids, but if you enjoy science fiction you'll probably like this one. It has well drawn, complex characters, good acting, good dialogue, and good production values.

As I put this version of the magazine together I saw that I’ve actually managed to get more writing time in than I thought I had. When I put everything I for the paper version of this issue into the same file it was well over ninety pages. You won't see all of that on-line. About half of the paper version was fiction, and I don't generally put fiction in the on-line version of the magazine.

There is something for just about any taste in this issue. There are two World War II scenarios, one on the American Revolution, one on Australia and New Guinea, an early Indian one and one on alternate biology.

I’m toying with the idea of putting together a compilation of my alternate biology scenarios and short stories and either publishing it as a book on demand or trying to get it published through a more traditional publisher. I haven’t sat down and figured out how much I’ve written in this area, but I get the feeling that between short stories like Winston and the many scenarios I’ve written there should be enough material for a pretty decent-sized book. Whether there is enough for a good book is another issue.

Alternate biology fans should make sure they take a look at the book reviews. There is good stuff there.

How is American Indian Victories doing? Amazon sales picked up steam for several months this summer, keeping the sales ranking in the 60,000 to 70,000 range for most of the summer. That means that 60,000 or more of the 3 million plus books Amazon sells did better. It was back down to the 300,000 range last time I checked. That’s not exactly a best seller, but not bad for a specialty book. I’ll probably never get rich from it, but I’m glad I wrote it and got it published.

Commentary Section:I decided to put most of the commentary section on-line again. As I mentioned last issue, I don't usually put those on-line because they are more like an off-the-cuff bull session than the stuff I normally put on-line. The last two have had quite a bit of general interest stuff, so I've included them, but do understand that my comments there are not necessarily going to be fact-checked as well as the rest of the zine.

Columns in StrategyPage.com: Most of my Revolutionary War scenario ran there back in July. There may be more AH coming there in the next few months if everything works out. Whether or not that happens, StrategyPage.com is worth stopping by. Drop by their website from time-to-time if you like military history, and tell them I sent you.