rlfj: Blog

I wrote much of this story before the current war in Ukraine started. Why do I mention that? Chapter 5 is a very dark chapter. Who can come up with the shit in this chapter? The same kind of people who think the Russian atrocities in Ukraine are a good idea. Do me a favor. If you think the Russians are misunderstood and the Ukrainians deserve what is happening to them, don’t send me an email. I don’t need it. Thanks.

My wife just started reading Martian Justice. (She reads incredibly slowly, and I had her read Greenies first.) Anyway, we were talking about the story, and she commented to me about the power of the mega-corporations, “I can almost believe that.”

I responded, “Imagine if Facebook owned every television and radio station, every newspaper, every network, every movie studio - that’s InfoGroup. Imagine if Exxon owned every oil well, every refinery, every gas station, every pipeline - that’s Jovian Gases. And imagine if Price Chopper [a supermarket she retired from] owned every grocery store, every farm and ranch, every warehouse, and every food processing plant - that’s AgriCorp. Think there might be a problem?”

She agreed. There might be a problem.

Meeting some old friends again. Enjoy!

As always, let me know of any errors and typos. I can always upload a fix. At the end of the story, I will upload a complete update to the published versions.

Martian Vengeance has been added to Al Steiner’s Greenies/A Perfect World universe. Chapter 3 has been put in the queue for posting; the last two chapters have been on Earth, now we get to Mars. Enjoy!

I was asked for my posting schedule. My norm is Tuesdays & Fridays, though real life gets in the way on occasion. Thank you to all who have purchased my story so far. I hope you enjoy it. Now I need to come up with a future project. My wife is pushing me to start writing a new story, so she can spend the money (thanks, honey!) I currently haven’t got a fucking clue! I’m on grand jury duty at the moment. Maybe I can do porn grand juror? Suggestions? Thanks.

A quick finish for the last story. I commented on a note from a reader who had said that knowing serial numbers was a way for service members to tell who the Walts were. I stated that I didn’t know what that meant, but I understood the idea. Several readers wrote that a ‘Walt’ was a Walter Mitty, someone who pretends they have military service. For those curious, I am not a Walt. While I know a fair bit about the military, more than the average American, I have never served and never pretended I did. (My family would disown me. Almost all the men have served.) Many thanks.

Anyway, it’s time for a new story, Martian Vengeance. It covers the third invasion of Mars by WestHem, and features many of the characters from Martian Justice, plus some new faces. If you liked Martian Justice, you’ll love Martian Vengeance! Enjoy!

For those interested, the full story is on Bookapy. In addition, I created a combo book, pulling Martian Justice and Martian Vengeance into a single book. For the conspiracy theorists out there, no, I didn’t plan this as a way to maximize revenues. When I wrote Martian Justice my overwhelming concern was to be true to the vision and integrity of the universe created by Al Steiner. The same goes with Martian Vengeance. I didn’t even start thinking about the second book until I was halfway through publishing the first. Both stories had to be approved by Al before I could finalize them and post them. I can’t thank him enough for allowing me to add these stories to his universe and for the editing assistance he provided.