Jack of Harts

Captain William Carter is a man of faith. Sometimes it is very explicit that he is a Puritan of New Haven Connecticut. Sometimes he is merely a man of faith who believes. It depends on the story and the type of story. In my purely alt history story about the Last Ride on the Asia Express, I did not advertise his nearly 200th birthday. He did carry a pair of antique cavalry sabers as a nod to that, but the story itself was purely alternate history, and he was just the viewpoint the reader had into what was happening. A reader of alternate history did not need to know that he was a monster hunter, so it was not mentioned. And the anthology didn’t want it, so it wasn’t there.

Of similar style is the story about combating drugs and other vices in Miami in 1988. There are enough monsters in that time and place to fight, that one need not delve into the lands of angels and demons to find a threat to face. Drug cartels are more than enough threat to deal with on their own. But the 1992 arcade story ties directly into the oldest parts of his life, dealing with the same Indian spirits he has dealt with his entire life, spirits who know full well that he is a Puritan of New Haven Connecticut beneath the uniform of the Texas Ranger that walks into the arcade.

I have not yet written a story closer to the modern day than that. I don’t know if I will. Two hundred years of history and world wide events gives me a great deal of real life situations I can twist into an interesting story. What ifs and maybe this, and what could this new article be hiding? Two centuries, a continent, and a world encompass a great many opportunities I can use to find a place and time I want to write a story about.