When drafting Boudica and The Butcher, I took a break to create a series of short stories set in the same period and location. The idea behind these 20 short stories was to focus on some world building outside the novel; what does the world of a future Second America Civil War look like?
Three of these stories are being made part of the novel, including what is now the first chapter “Harvest of Blood.” Another four provide backstories for characters in the novel. Meanwhile, the other short stories can be marketed as teasers to promote the story world while the novel is in editing.
As those stories started to become formulaic, I tried to develop different roles beyond that of Union and rebel soldiers. Thus, a smuggler: Tess.
She has a minisub to run the Union naval blockade of besieged Pilgerruh (current day Cleveland). Secretly she is The Butcher’s spy in the city, providing locations of key rebel supplies and monitoring conditions within the city. Her cover establishes her as part of the Canadian smuggling network supplying the rebels throughout the Great Lakes region.
Her teaser short story is particularly emotional as it involved a rebel sergeant trading five diamonds his soldiers looted from graves for a promise of a future food delivery. The sergeant’s motivation is that he wants his beloved men to be able to die in battle with food in their bellies.
Copilot created a sample image of her on the Pilgerruh docks for me.
Jaycee Woods 
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