Remember when I said that I wanted to set my next horror novel in the Ottoman Empire’s front lines?

Get in loser. We’re going to the Western Front.

Well, you see – the thing about horror that I have to pay attention to is the Other. The whole thing about the Other (an Ottoman soldier) surviving the horrors of war is by eating the flesh of the wounded and the dead is that it has to be something specific to him. If he’s among other Ottoman soldiers, then there’s a chance that the knowledge could be passed on to others. It kinda loses its punch. But if our Ottoman soldier is in the Western Front – there’s a lot more I can do with that.

Good thing I didn’t buy a lot of books about the Ottoman Empire, then?

When does it stop being a tax write-off and start becoming a problem?

I can see both sides of the argument. Making the German the Other in this story would make us a little more sympathetic to him (well, as sympathetic as we can get for a Hun) and his circumstances, especially if he’s put into a place where he can’t leave readily. Historically, there were Germans who served in the Ottoman Front, mostly as intelligence and training artillery. Whatever happens in this story, I want the historical aspects of it to be spot on.

However, having the Ottoman serving in the Western Front, which happened, can really key into our xenophobia, making the Ottoman the Other (The Other being a staple in horror) in more than one way. I’m still in the plotting stages of this novel, which I am not going to get to until year after next. Tyro is still the priority for 2026.

I am still outlining Tyro’s novel. I’m a third of the way through – Chapter 16 for those of you keen on numbers. I’m thinking this is going to have thirty-five to forty chapters at this rate. I’m slowing down a little because I am moving out of the chapters I have written in my head and moving into uncharted territory. It’s still fun for me, but I need to really buckle down and go when I am at the desk.

Well, the year is winding down for me. I am looking forward to taking a small break during Christmas – horror movies and hamburgers being a long tradition for me. If you have any suggestions for me, please put them in the comments below. I’m looking for some recent movies that I might have missed in the theaters. I’m thinking about watching Misery again. It’s such a classic horror movie. RIP Rob Reiner.

Well, that’s all for now. Just trying to settle on a spot for the novel and get the appropriate books bought and scoured through. I might stick with the Western Front because there seems to be a lot more information about it than the Ottoman Front. We will see.

Ta-ta for now.