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I monitor a social media group where writers discuss using AI to produce their books. Most days it confirms what I already suspect. Some days it hands me a gift.

A fellow author I respect recently shared some insights on the economics of being a writer. The results were not as detailed as I like, so I opted to have Claude do deep diving. After reviewing 471 sources, it came back with some interesting findings.

There’s a social media earworm: “What three words would you say to your 18-year-old self?” I laugh it off when I see it. But it came up again.

Let’s face it: most people hate history. They were taught to hate history in school. Read a few boring textbooks. Watch a boring history movie. “This doesn’t apply to my life!”

How many truly pivotal moments are there in a life? By my calculation, I’m on my eighth in a few years over half a century. I’ve served the government in some capacity since I was 19. After 35 years, I’ve retired with just enough runway for me to take off in a different direction. 2025 is the year I taxied.

November marked my return. Not just to writing, but to a version of myself I’d been waiting to meet.

There are few still living who were there for the revelation of the Great Fruitcake. Whilst debating with an evolutionist who said the universe came into existence on its own from a dense hydrogen mass, the revelation came to me. Now I pass this to you.

A point of divergence, often abbreviated as POD, is a specific moment in alternate history where events differ from actual history, leading to a new timeline. It serves as the starting point for exploring how different choices or events could have changed the course of history. But when I was at Author Nation, I referred to it as a period of divergence to a fellow author. He said he liked the sound of that.

For the past five years, I’ve gone to perhaps the largest conference for self-published authors. I wanted to go in 2019, but I didn’t think I was ready. I went in 2021, and quickly learned that nobody is ever ready for their first conference. It was 20Books Vegas run by Craig Martelle, but Joe Solari took over in 2024 as Author Nations.

We’re three years into the AI revolution. Among my fellow authors, there has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Some love it and plan to use it. Some hate it and anyone who tries. In truth, it’s complicated.

Pontiac’s War resulted in the Proclamation of 1763, which eventually led to events on 15 April 1775. While taxes and other actions provided propaganda material, the Proclamation itself was the true catalyst.

Some Americans might remember the French and Indian War from high school. Few could tell you much about the Revolutionary War beyond 1776. Ask them about Pontiac’s Rebellion? Blank stares.

I get it. Writers have heroes. We think we have competition. At the end of the day, we’re all trying to find the right way to write our novels.

My wife is amazed at how authors come up with stories. Some of us are full of it. She’ll tell you she doesn’t have any. I can conjure up an entire world and story in an afternoon. How?

Today marks 250 years since someone fired the shot heard ‘round the world at Lexington Green. I’ve been thinking about that moment while working on my alternative history novel, because understanding what didn’t happen helps me write what might have happened instead.