Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
This year mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks. An event that changed the world for many, but for the 2016 Freshmen class, its just history. So as alternate historians, we must ask: what if 9/11 Didn't Happen?
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, a powerful isolationist organization attempted to keep the United States out of World War II. The Alternate Historian asks: what if they succeeded?
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Editor's Note
Ugh, I had a rough week. A combination of working a couple nights, a financial emergency and one painful headache later meant I had little time to actually commit to working on anything, especially my next video. It also didn't help that the sudden interest in the "alt-right" has led to many people on Twitter confusing the movement with, you guessed it, alternate history. Sigh, I may have to address that issue eventually.
In case you missed it, last week I posted a short video discussing a new series suggested to me by CountPeter on AlternateHistory.com that I am calling: Let's Read.
Here’s how it works: if you are a writer (aspiring or otherwise) who wants to draw attention to your alternate history, you can submit an excerpt of it to me and I will read it on my channel and include sound effects and music for atmosphere. It’s a great way to promote your alternate history by introducing potential readers to stories they may have overlooked.
Excerpts should be no longer than 3500 words. They can be from web originals that are posted on sites like AlternateHistory.com or from published or soon to be published works. Excerpts should be interesting to listen to or, to put it another way, after listening to it a person should want to read the full piece to find out what happens next. If you need help making an excerpt, check out Choosing a Book Excerpt at Indies Unlimited or 5 Tips For Creating A Strong Excerpt From Your Novel Or Memoir at Writer's Relief.
And, of course, excerpts should be alternate histories, but I will accept related genres, like steampunk, historical fantasies, time travel, etc. I also reserve the right to reject any submissions I don’t feel meet the standards of what I am looking for. If you have any other questions or would like to submit an excerpt, send it to ahwupdate at gmail dot com.
And good news everyone! We already got our first submission from Alison Morton, who sent an excerpt of her novel: Perfiditas. Thanks Alison and I look forward to reading more excerpts. If this proves successful I may find guest readers or create entire radio plays. Also Let's Read doesn't have to be a series devoted to just my channel. Anyone and everyone can join in, but don't forget to try The Alternate Historian first.
What David Peterson, the creator of Dothraki and Valyrian on Game Of Thrones, and Dr. Paul Frommer, the creator of Na'vi in James Cameron's Avatar have to say about conlags and Hollywood with Cracked.
The video where the world largest butt-shaped aircraft...crashes (via Gizmodo).
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
We are introducing a new video series called Let’s Read. Get excerpts of your works read and promoted on The Alternate Historian channel. Learn more watching by the below video:
Send submission to: ahwupdate at gmail dot com. If you need help making an excerpt, check out these articles:
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Did you ever wonder what Africa would look like if it was never colonized by Europeans? Well Swedish artist Nikolaj Cyon took a shot at it and The Alternate Historian is going to review his map.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
I got new bookcases, which means I also got a new set for my videos.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Matt and Alana discuss Stranger Things, Netflix's awesomely weird homage to the the 1980s.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Why does Hollywood love destroying California? We'll find out in this Patreon sponsored Trope Talk.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
What are the Sidewise Awards for Alternate History? Let's find out in today's episode of AH 101.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
How well does the infamous Jesusland map hold up in 2016? Find out in today's video.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans. Due to the holiday, I won't be posting a Weekly Update or a Map Monday today, but I got something even better. Check out my top 5 American Revolution what ifs that could have changed the outcome of the war.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
I've seen another alternate history map shared around the Internet in response to Brexit...but for absolutely the wrong reasons. Learn what I am talking about below:
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
My apologies for the long Editor's Note. I find myself writing this on the day I awoke to learn about the shooting in Orlando, FL and its hard to talk about the blog, my projects or alternate history in general.
First, my prayers for the survivors of the shooting that they may recover from the physical and emotional trauma they suffered with as little pain as possible. Second, and most importantly, my sympathies for lovers, families and friends who lost someone. We all share the pain of loss, it is something that unites us as humans. I know the pain you are feeling is terrible now, but stay strong.
In times like these, being an alternate historian gives you a unique perspective on the aftermath of these deadly shootings. Already the police and press are gathering evidence about the motivation of the shooter...and it really won't matter to many people out there what they really are. Consider the shooting of a black church in South Carolina. Despite mountains of evidence that the shooter was a racist, how many people claimed he did it solely because he was anti-Christian? Then there is the Isla Vista shooting? In that shooting some saw a man with severe mental illness, while others just blamed women for causing someone to go crazy just because they should have had sex with him. Or how about Columbine? How many "experts" and politicians claimed the primary reason for the shootings were violent video games?
The reasons for events like these are often manipulated and twisted to fit a personal narrative so someone's cause can be advanced. Was the shooter motivated by radical Islam or was he mentally ill? Was the shooting caused by the divisive opinions of a certain political candidate or is this a symptom of America's gun problem? Perhaps all of those causes are correct or perhaps none are, but it doesn't matter. People unintentionally alter history to fit what they feel is correct, relying on emotions and beliefs, instead of facts. Eventually our timeline will conform to one of these positions and the forgotten arguments will only ever be revisited again by future alternate historians.
The two important thing to remember in this situation is to a) not allow our emotions to dictate our actions and b) remember we are better then those who resort to violence. Lets help the victims, lets take reasonable measures to prevent this from happening again, lets protect those minorities who are often convenient punching bags and lets have civil discussions about this event. I'm sure there are already people being banned right now on AlternateHistory.com or elsewhere on the Internet because of their opinion...but its pales in comparison to the victims of the shooting and those being punished by someone for this. Its important for us to have hope that the future will be better and to not give into our violent nature.
Us alternate historians know enough about history to know that relatively speaking, the present is much better then the past. To paraphrase a famous song, things are getting better all the time. We need to maintain the courage to stay the course and not slip back into a darker era. Lets not let the people who died come to regret the world that was taken from them.
And now the news...
2016 Printer's Row Lit Fest
Last weekend Alana and I attended the 2016 Printer's Row Lit Fest. Its annual outdoor literary festival held every year in the Printer's Row neighborhood of Chicago. Alana and I have been attending it ever since I started publishing stories and we enjoy every minute. Admittedly this year was a hot one and we spent a lot of it indoors, but we still had time to go book shopping and meet up with a few friends. I even posted a short video of our adventure on my channel.
As part of our haul, I purchased copies of Wasteland of Flint by Thomas Harlan (which is set in a future dominated by the Japanese and Aztec empires) and Resistance by Owen Sheers (where the Germans capture Moscow and later invade Britain after D-Days fails...although I'm not sure why there would be a D-Day in the first place if Moscow had already fallen, but I guess I will find out why later). Hopefully I will read and review both in the future.
Now begins the long wait until the next Printer's Row.
Video of the Week Have you guys head of Atomic Robo? If not, you may want to check out Linkara's review of volume 3:
Also let me take this moment to say that the YouTube search engine that Blogger provides is awful. Just awful. It never finds the video I'm looking for. I put the specific title of the above video in quotations into the search engine and the first (and only result) was a Mr. T comic that Linkara reviewed last month. Blogger, I can't express how much you failed when it comes to this feature.
As for my channel, check out my response to your questions for my 1000 subscriber Q&A:
Sorry for all of the long-winded rants. I tend to do that a lot according to Alana. My next video will be a review of another famous alternate history map, but until then, maybe you should check out Shark Jumping's exploration of television shows that never were.
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
In case you don't follow me on social media, you may have missed some of my new videos. The first celebrates reaching 1000 subscribers by announcing a Q&A.
Already got a few good questions and there is still time to ask some more since I don't plan to answer them until next week.
A few days later I also posted the next Trope Talk video, which covers those timelines featuring the Chinese explorer, Zheng He.
Expect more videos throughout the month.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
For my first Patreon-sponsored video I answer the question: what if Operation Valkyrie was successful? If you want to see what I thought then you are doing to have to watch the video:
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
I today's video, I am joined by a special guest, Alex "SpanishSpy" Wallace, to talk about why alternate historians love George Orwell's dystopia classic: 1984. Enjoy (and sorry ahead of time for the audio issues):
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Alana and Matt discuss what they thought of Hulu's 11.22.63. Was it as good as the book for Matt? Was it able to stand on its own with Alana? Watch and find out:
Learn more about our adoption journey on our blog and GoFundMe page.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
Twitter spoke and I listened. Here is my video review of Terry Bisson's Fire on the Mountain:
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
For those who have watched some of the recent videos on my channel (The Alternate Historian) you may have noticed the art of a certain Marc Pasquin. He makes some great alternate history images and today's flags are no exception:
This is the "Flags of the North Atlantic Pact Organisation". Although there isn't much of a story with the flag chart, this is obviously a reverse Cold War timeline, especially with the reference Warsaw Treaty Alliance (although wouldn't the Eastern Europe Treaty Alliance be more appropriate?). I like to think the revolution began in the United States (i.e. Back in the USSA) and the other countries adopted communism after they were "liberated" from Nazi oppression. I especially like the flag of Canada. Its like what if Canada colonized the planet in Gears of War.
No honorable mentions this week, but seriously go check out Marc's work and consider hiring him if you need to commission some alternate history graphics.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.
