Location: United States
Member Since: April 21, 2014

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Steven Newton

Biography

I'm a military historian who spent 20+ years in the US Army/Army National Guard, retiring as a Master Sergeant. I'm also a long-time diehard SF and Alternate History fan who first cut his teeth on Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague DeCamp, and A. E. Van Vogt, and later graduated to Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Harry Turtledove, David Weber, and David Drake.

After publishing nine books and dozens of articles on military history (chiefly Civil War and WW2 Russian Front), I decided to try my hand at fiction. With short fiction I've had modest success over the past two years, publishing at Everyday Fiction, Ray Gun Revival, and Aoife's Kiss.

The Fortunes of War series (of which MacArthur's Luck is the first installment) derives my realization one day that there really is no definitive "Patton fantasy" or "Yanks vs Reds" novel taking place at the close of World War 2. So I started working on what I thought would be the most plausible scenario to create that situation, and it just . . . grew.

In "real life," I'm Professor of History and Political Science at Delaware State University; chairman of the local Libertarian Party; husband of Faith; father of Marie, Alexis, and Michael; and grandfather of Shane.

Smashwords Interview

What are you working on next?
I'm finishing up "Stalin's Wager," which is the sequel to "MacArthur's Luck" and #2 in The Fortunes of War series. In this volume the main theater of action moves from Europe to Asia, and we watch the accelerated birth of television and the wholesale integration of major-league baseball back at home in America. Jackie Robinson's brief moment in the limelight as the officer commanding the first American detachment over the Rhine is followed by a horrific, life-altering encounter in Italy. Barry Goldwater finds himself with a curvaceous co-pilot and an atomic bomb in the back of his plane, and Ronald Reagan starts tracking down escaped Nazi war criminals.

I'm also working on a military SF series set in what is known as the Xinquess Reach, and which will hopefully give a nuts and bolts look at exactly how a mercenary company (now or in the future) has to be set up, and the choices facing would-be generals.
Who are your favorite authors?
I grew up with Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague DeCamp, and A. E. Van Vogt. For hard SF, military SF and alternate history I've always been a fan of Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Harry Turtledove, H. Beam Piper, David Weber, and David Drake.

On the other hand, however, I'm also a fan of other kinds of SF writers, and particularly the works of Christopher Anvil, Harlan Ellison, L. E. Modessitt Jr., and Cory Doctorow. Among "mudane" authors I like older W. E. B. Griffin ("Brotherhood of War"), Philip Wylie, Nevil Shute, and Larry Bond.

I think Adam Johnson's "The Orphan Master's Son" was the best novel of any genre published in the past decade.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Steven Newton online

Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/

Where to buy in print

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Steven-H--Newton?keyword=Steven+H.+Newton&store=book

Books

This member has not published any books.