A few times last week I was emailed by people asking for my opinion on certain alternate history topics. I was more than happy to oblige since it just meant another way to feed my obsession. Of course, I am also kind of greedy. So at some point I wondered what would happen if I started charging people. Become an "alternate history consultant". I kind of like the ring of that. Sitting in my office, high above the multiverse, speaking words that could lay waste to an entire timeline...
Wait...I think I am confusing what a consultant does with an evil megalomaniac. O well, a guy can dream.
And now the news...
South Florida Wants To Be a State
As I have talked about in the past, when some group wants to separate their region from an existing American state, it is usually because the liberal/conservative majority in the state is ignoring the political minority located in the region that is trying to secede. The case of South Florida, however, has little to do with social or economic disputes, but instead is about global warming.
According to City of South Miami, rising sea levels threaten the more low-lying southern Florida counties and Tallahassee, far in the north, doesn't seem to care. There solution is to separate the 24 southern counties, which would include 13.4 million people and 69% of the state's revenue. Now I have complained before about the very wealthy proposing state secession to keep their taxes from being spent elsewhere, but in this case I find that South Miami has a much better argument.
Whether it will work is still unlikely. Besides having to convince not just the entire state of Florida, but also Congress, South Miami needs to convince the leaders of all of their proposed South Florida to back the idea. Only South Miami has passed the resolution, so they are just one small voice in the crowd. Perhaps that is the point. Despite their poor odds, maybe the only thing South Floridians want is attention from a state government who is ignoring them. Hey it worked for the Scots!
Your move Tallahassee.
Videos for Alternate Historians
O boy! Bunch of new videos this week. We begin with the return of Cody Franklin and the Alternate History Hub. I give you Fan Alternate Countries #3:
Links to the Multiverse
Books and Short Fiction
Download a Free Romulus Buckle Story from The Steampunk User’s Manual! by Jeff Vandermeer and Desirina Boskovich at Tor.
English department welcomes Phong Nguyen to share work by Bailey McDaniel at The Reflector.
Excerpt Thursday: SUCCESSIO by Alison Morton at Unusual Historicals.
Extract from Jasper Kent's The Last Rite at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist.
Fiction writer Anton kicks off new book tour in Northeast Ohio by Carlo Wolff at Cleveland Jewish News.
On My Radar: PACIFIC FIRE by Greg van Eekhout / THE JUST CITY by Jo Walton / THE COLLECTED STORIES OF FRANK HERBERT by Frank Herbert at SF Signal.
Review: The Mammoth Book of Steampunk Adventures edited by Sean Wallace at SF Signal.
Review: Silverblind by Tina Connolly at Mania.
Counterfactuals, History and News
5 Real-Life Horror Movies Deleted from Your History Books by Jacopo della Quercia at Cracked.
10 Bizarre Theories About The Pyramids That DON'T Involve Aliens by Mark Strauss at io9.
1914 Authors' Manifesto Defending Britain's Involvement in WWI, Signed by HG Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle by Nick Milne at Slate.
Alternate History: What If Katherine Parr Had Refused to Marry Henry VIII? by Alexandria Ingham at Wizzley.
MI5 spied on leading British historians for decades, secret files reveal by Richard Norton-Taylor at The Guardian.
Six Words: 'Must We Forget Our Confederate Ancestors?' at NPR.
What the Middle Ages can tell us about the GOP's big charity myth by Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig at The Week.
Films and Television
The 10 Most Expensive Flops In Television History by Diana Biller at io9.
MOVIE MODEL REVIEW U.S.S. Nimitz (The Final Countdown) by Christophe Montoya at Geek Syndicate.
Review: Doctor Who, S8, E9: Flatline at Geek Syndicate.
Sci-Fi Fantasy Fused with Specialist Factual History in Historical Documentary by Emma Hutchings at PSFK.
What the historical inaccuracies in “Dracula Untold” tell us about the rise of Islamophobia by Elest Ali at New Statesman.
Games
The Doctor and the Dalek -Educational Game by wedgedoc at Geek Syndicate.
Hot Button: Rejecting Canon by Walt Ciechanowski at Gnome Stew.
Interviews
Beth Bernobich at Team Tynga's Reviews.
Steven Moffat at The Guardian.
Ben Tripp at My Bookish Ways.
Podcasts
The Ratchet RetroCast Episode 39 – John Carpenter’s Escape From RetroCast at Earth Station One.
Show 16 – Edge of the Earth at Twilight Histories.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. Check out his short fiction. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
