John W Egan
@authorjwegan.bsky.social
Author of alternative histories and an historical fiction duology. Historical board gamer. Family first. Veteran of the RUF War. A Canadian in the beautiful Ottawa Valley of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation. http://historicalalternatives.blogspot.com.
I play board games and made one for my alternate 6th century novels. Each player starts Ducemculi with 15 pawns and a dux in 2 rows with open flanks. Whoever captures the other player’s dux or 10 pawns wins. I also put actual 6th century games in the stories. Who else has games in their stories?
October 24, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I play board games and made one for my alternate 6th century novels. Each player starts Ducemculi with 15 pawns and a dux in 2 rows with open flanks. Whoever captures the other player’s dux or 10 pawns wins. I also put actual 6th century games in the stories. Who else has games in their stories?
It is a creepy honour to see my first novel is among the 1.5 million titles that META “took” to develop its AI. But then, Google’s AI gives a good summary of that novel. I guess the AI share data and so my reaction is, “AI, AI, Oh!”
October 15, 2025 at 2:54 AM
It is a creepy honour to see my first novel is among the 1.5 million titles that META “took” to develop its AI. But then, Google’s AI gives a good summary of that novel. I guess the AI share data and so my reaction is, “AI, AI, Oh!”
The Maple Leaf Forever. We value our good neighbours and families to the south but not a regime that is hostile to our freedom and wellbeing. Meanwhile, I will continue to write my stories set in an altered 6th century.
September 21, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The Maple Leaf Forever. We value our good neighbours and families to the south but not a regime that is hostile to our freedom and wellbeing. Meanwhile, I will continue to write my stories set in an altered 6th century.
My Roman Sky series sells well in the US, UK, EU, and Australia. Only seven weeks’ royalties has paid for the editing, cover, formatting, and author’s stock of my latest book, Justinian’s Torch. Yet I have few sales at home in Canada. So, I will try again to alter that trend at Canada’s bookstore:
September 6, 2025 at 9:32 PM
My Roman Sky series sells well in the US, UK, EU, and Australia. Only seven weeks’ royalties has paid for the editing, cover, formatting, and author’s stock of my latest book, Justinian’s Torch. Yet I have few sales at home in Canada. So, I will try again to alter that trend at Canada’s bookstore:
“Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War” was my first novel. It was about two girl rebels trying to survive the final months of the RUF War. It was also about my tour in the Sierra Leone Army then. It was easier to write fact as fiction. So, it was good to read this new review by someone who was there:
August 31, 2025 at 3:44 PM
“Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War” was my first novel. It was about two girl rebels trying to survive the final months of the RUF War. It was also about my tour in the Sierra Leone Army then. It was easier to write fact as fiction. So, it was good to read this new review by someone who was there:
Working on Empire’s Frost, Book VI of the Roman Sky series, but taking time to enjoy my surroundings. This morning’s mist and sunrise were greeted by loons’ haunting calls and fish breaking the water’s surface to breakfast on bugs.
August 21, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Working on Empire’s Frost, Book VI of the Roman Sky series, but taking time to enjoy my surroundings. This morning’s mist and sunrise were greeted by loons’ haunting calls and fish breaking the water’s surface to breakfast on bugs.
After one week, Justinian’s Torch has reached #2 in two sales categories and #30 in a third. And it placing 25,914 out of a million titles [or more] overall puts it in the top 3% of a huge market. This level of readership is great for an indie author to see.
July 13, 2025 at 5:42 PM
After one week, Justinian’s Torch has reached #2 in two sales categories and #30 in a third. And it placing 25,914 out of a million titles [or more] overall puts it in the top 3% of a huge market. This level of readership is great for an indie author to see.
I have begun writing Empire’s Frost. It takes place as a dark, cold haze blankets this alternate 6th century Earth, as it did ours. Despite this, Rome and Gothia must repel the invading Persians and their allies. So, my new story needs a new map with place names from six languages. But which six?
July 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I have begun writing Empire’s Frost. It takes place as a dark, cold haze blankets this alternate 6th century Earth, as it did ours. Despite this, Rome and Gothia must repel the invading Persians and their allies. So, my new story needs a new map with place names from six languages. But which six?
“Winter of 1813” sold well at Indigo yesterday. It’s an alternative history, but its Canadian theme attracted buyers. With me in the photo is my fellow author, John W. Partington. Today, I am reviewing the editor’s mark up of “Justinian’s Torch” my latest alternative history of the 6th century.
June 22, 2025 at 8:01 PM
“Winter of 1813” sold well at Indigo yesterday. It’s an alternative history, but its Canadian theme attracted buyers. With me in the photo is my fellow author, John W. Partington. Today, I am reviewing the editor’s mark up of “Justinian’s Torch” my latest alternative history of the 6th century.
I will be signing books at Indigo in Kanata on Sunday. This Canadian chain has all nine of my novels as ebooks and now carries five as paperbacks.
June 21, 2025 at 4:07 AM
I will be signing books at Indigo in Kanata on Sunday. This Canadian chain has all nine of my novels as ebooks and now carries five as paperbacks.
After weeks of dealing with a respiratory virus I have finished the last chapter of Justinian’s Torch and updated its map. Farewell to the Scoti (Irish) and Caledonii (Picts) as the airships must fly east to another alternative history. And I posted something about the Roman Sky series on Blue Sky.
May 26, 2025 at 7:47 PM
After weeks of dealing with a respiratory virus I have finished the last chapter of Justinian’s Torch and updated its map. Farewell to the Scoti (Irish) and Caledonii (Picts) as the airships must fly east to another alternative history. And I posted something about the Roman Sky series on Blue Sky.
This is the draft cover for Justinian’s Torch, Book VI of the Roman Sky series. It shows 6th century Roman airships fire bombing the Highlands, the parts held by the Scots. But Rome’s allies—Picts, Britons, and Druids—do not like this way of waging war.
April 13, 2025 at 3:48 AM
This is the draft cover for Justinian’s Torch, Book VI of the Roman Sky series. It shows 6th century Roman airships fire bombing the Highlands, the parts held by the Scots. But Rome’s allies—Picts, Britons, and Druids—do not like this way of waging war.
Reposted by John W Egan
Update on this story:
The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council has issued a statement announcing it can no longer accept emails about CTV Your Morning and Rachel Gilmore due to receiving a “large number of complaints”
www.cbsc.ca/make-a-compl...
The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council has issued a statement announcing it can no longer accept emails about CTV Your Morning and Rachel Gilmore due to receiving a “large number of complaints”
www.cbsc.ca/make-a-compl...
April 3, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Update on this story:
The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council has issued a statement announcing it can no longer accept emails about CTV Your Morning and Rachel Gilmore due to receiving a “large number of complaints”
www.cbsc.ca/make-a-compl...
The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council has issued a statement announcing it can no longer accept emails about CTV Your Morning and Rachel Gilmore due to receiving a “large number of complaints”
www.cbsc.ca/make-a-compl...
Planning the 6th century invasion of the Mull of Kintyre: forces, distances, terrains, names, times, winds, and sea-states—all for one chapter. Readers will not see all this detail, but I need such research and actual history to write a realistic alternative history. I am a plotter, not a pantser.
March 13, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Planning the 6th century invasion of the Mull of Kintyre: forces, distances, terrains, names, times, winds, and sea-states—all for one chapter. Readers will not see all this detail, but I need such research and actual history to write a realistic alternative history. I am a plotter, not a pantser.
Andrew Coyne wrote in the Globe and Mail today that 47 aims to ruin Canada with tariffs and annex it. “But what is essential at this moment is the demonstration effect: to show we are not afraid, our resolve is ironclad, and we are willing to pay whatever price we must to preserve our independence.”
March 5, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Andrew Coyne wrote in the Globe and Mail today that 47 aims to ruin Canada with tariffs and annex it. “But what is essential at this moment is the demonstration effect: to show we are not afraid, our resolve is ironclad, and we are willing to pay whatever price we must to preserve our independence.”
It’s what I thought, and that something more significant is being arranged. And why is the 21st century seeming more like the 6th century that my stories are set in?
thebeaverton.com/2025/02/trud...
thebeaverton.com/2025/02/trud...
Trudeau invites Zelensky to friendly pick-your-brain coffee chat about being invaded by warmongering neighbour
KYIV, UKRAINE - Citing a desire to “connect face to face”, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently reached out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with an aim to “share some insights” a...
thebeaverton.com
February 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
It’s what I thought, and that something more significant is being arranged. And why is the 21st century seeming more like the 6th century that my stories are set in?
thebeaverton.com/2025/02/trud...
thebeaverton.com/2025/02/trud...
Canada’s democracy is not at risk but trump’s greedy ambitions and musk’s techno-coup already threaten us. We help ourselves by helping our friends. Post the Card Campaign for Democracy link so our friends and families in the USA know that we will be a light in the coming storm.
cc4democracy.com
cc4democracy.com
Card Campaign for Democracy
Saving Democracy one card at a time. We provide downloadable digital files of cards written about the facts of most concern to most Americans—an objective and factual way to share with and educate vot...
cc4democracy.com
February 10, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Canada’s democracy is not at risk but trump’s greedy ambitions and musk’s techno-coup already threaten us. We help ourselves by helping our friends. Post the Card Campaign for Democracy link so our friends and families in the USA know that we will be a light in the coming storm.
cc4democracy.com
cc4democracy.com
My first novel was about my tour with the Sierra Leone Army during the RUF War. I chose to tell the stories of the RUF “Small Girl Unit” rebels who joined us to fight their former enslavers. Our stories meshed and no one else was going to tell their story. It was also my therapy.
a.co/d/4jI1Ji2
a.co/d/4jI1Ji2
Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War
Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War - Kindle edition by Egan, John W. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War.
a.co
January 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
My first novel was about my tour with the Sierra Leone Army during the RUF War. I chose to tell the stories of the RUF “Small Girl Unit” rebels who joined us to fight their former enslavers. Our stories meshed and no one else was going to tell their story. It was also my therapy.
a.co/d/4jI1Ji2
a.co/d/4jI1Ji2
While in the jungles of Sierra Leone, I found a pup on my cot beeping and rubbing himself on an oil stain. I did not know what he was and took a “flash” photo. He flew off the cot and out of the hut leaving a skunk-like stink. I learned later he was a civet. I called him Charlie, after the perfume.
January 14, 2025 at 9:39 PM
While in the jungles of Sierra Leone, I found a pup on my cot beeping and rubbing himself on an oil stain. I did not know what he was and took a “flash” photo. He flew off the cot and out of the hut leaving a skunk-like stink. I learned later he was a civet. I called him Charlie, after the perfume.
I always liked the original movie, “Red Dawn.” I also thought a sequel would be nice although not likely to bring a new angle to the story. But I have been inspired by ongoing events to write its sequel now, “Red, White, and Blue Dawn.” Yeah, Wolverines!
January 8, 2025 at 7:47 PM
I always liked the original movie, “Red Dawn.” I also thought a sequel would be nice although not likely to bring a new angle to the story. But I have been inspired by ongoing events to write its sequel now, “Red, White, and Blue Dawn.” Yeah, Wolverines!
I was on a long field exercise 45 years ago this month. The windchill averaged below -45 each day, with gusts of -70. On our last day, the wind died and it rose to -20, which felt warm. Years later, I was in a West African jungle where daily highs reached 45 [113 F]. Of the two, I prefer +45 to -45.
January 4, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I was on a long field exercise 45 years ago this month. The windchill averaged below -45 each day, with gusts of -70. On our last day, the wind died and it rose to -20, which felt warm. Years later, I was in a West African jungle where daily highs reached 45 [113 F]. Of the two, I prefer +45 to -45.
In Justinian’s Wall, Emperor Justinian seeks to conquer the Picts, something no one has ever done. After the Nika Riots, he needed a victory to show the Gods approve of his reign. The story also sets up a new challenge for the MC, Cillian. And, I wanted to write about my Pict/Scot/Irish ancestors.
January 3, 2025 at 8:18 PM
In Justinian’s Wall, Emperor Justinian seeks to conquer the Picts, something no one has ever done. After the Nika Riots, he needed a victory to show the Gods approve of his reign. The story also sets up a new challenge for the MC, Cillian. And, I wanted to write about my Pict/Scot/Irish ancestors.
In Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War, one of the title characters, Angel, wore a “war charm” as did many fighters in the RUF War. The charm she wore was actually my charm: a ricocheted bullet that hit me between the eyes years earlier. I still wear it. I often put my experiences in my stories.
January 2, 2025 at 6:11 PM
In Angel and Mercy: The Ceasefire War, one of the title characters, Angel, wore a “war charm” as did many fighters in the RUF War. The charm she wore was actually my charm: a ricocheted bullet that hit me between the eyes years earlier. I still wear it. I often put my experiences in my stories.
Empire’s Victory was inspired by the Nika Riots in which mobs were provoked by senators to overthrow Emperor Justinian. As parallel worlds tend to have similar histories, I changed only one word in Empress Theodora’s speech that stirred Justinian’s officers to win the day: ‘boats’ became ‘airships.’
January 2, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Empire’s Victory was inspired by the Nika Riots in which mobs were provoked by senators to overthrow Emperor Justinian. As parallel worlds tend to have similar histories, I changed only one word in Empress Theodora’s speech that stirred Justinian’s officers to win the day: ‘boats’ became ‘airships.’
Empire’s Shield is based on the Persian siege of Martyropolis, known today as Silvan, Turkey. In this alternative 6th century story, it is called Maipa, its earlier name, by a Roman Empire that remained pagan.
December 30, 2024 at 4:54 PM
Empire’s Shield is based on the Persian siege of Martyropolis, known today as Silvan, Turkey. In this alternative 6th century story, it is called Maipa, its earlier name, by a Roman Empire that remained pagan.