Hello to anyone reading this. The two of you. Maybe. Starting blogs is always weird. Am I talking into the void? And how to start in on topics that aren’t a new topic in life? Well, at least this time, I have new things.
First, today was the pre-order start date for Shattered Glass, the first in the This Thing of Ours series. It always comes up faster than you think. No, this isn’t the first book I’ve had published. I just disavow the others. Not so great, not these books, which is thanks in large part to their co-creator/co-author, Lisa Walls. To say we’ve done research is putting it mildly. Anything that can be historically accurate is, even small details. The weather, the phases of the moon, the laws, medical treatments available at the time like for bullet wounds, you name it. And that works into the second thing.
Second, I will be detailing out attempts at a Freedom of Information Act request for information in Operation Underworld, a now-declassified collaborative effort between the US government and the mafia during WWII. I know of two books about it, both written while information was still classified. Who knows how accurate those are? I got my hands on one, and ordered the other. The Luciano Project: The Secret Wartime Collaboration of the Mafia and the U.S. Navy, by Rodney Campbell, and Mafia Allies. The True Story of America’s Secret Alliance with the Mob in World War II, by Tim Newark, are both out of print. I suppose, if the FOIA request is granted, we shall see.
The War Years I and II, which are later in the series, take place during WWII, and the government and the mafia did collaborate. So it would stand to reason that some of the men in these books would possibly have had some involvement. Since we can research this, we will be. I’m not sure just yet which department I’ll need to petition. But when I know, that will be shared here.
We will also use this space to help promote other writers whose similar-vein work we can endorse. Right off the top of my head, I know of another writer also writing a mafia fic in the same era, who beta read Shattered Glass and whose input was invaluable. Big news from her would go in the newsletter, if she is okay with that when the time comes. Information is only shared with consent.
I guess that’s it for this first post. Nothing too extraordinary, but that will soon change!!
Yours,
Noelle Alexandria