Charles Bastille·PinnedMember-onlyTo Fix Racism, I Had to Delete the United StatesFor the novel I am working on, Restive Souls, I wanted to create a world where Blacks played key roles in governing and operating the nation. I wanted a world where Blacks in North America not only were equal partners throughout the economic, social, and jurisdictional strata of the continent…Writing20 min read
Charles Bastille·PinnedThe Trial of Summary JamesBuy it, review it! — A Great African Nation Has Risen in North America. But Something Is… Wrong. A crime and mystery story set in an alternative world This 99 cent Kindle book is a novella and teaser for a novel I’m working on called Restive Souls, an alternative history novel that takes place in a world where the United States does not exist because the colonial rebels…Alternative History2 min read
Charles Bastille·Jun 19Member-onlyIt’s Juneteenth, So I Wrote a Novel about the 1778 Emancipation of SlavesAnd the rise of a great African nation on the East Coast — Well, actually, I didn’t just sit and write it today. It has taken me two years of research and writing to invent a world in which the British defeat the colonials in the Revolutionary War and emancipate the slaves in 1778. The result is a novel called Restive Souls. I’ve…Restive Souls8 min read
Charles Bastille·Nov 28, 2021Member-onlyRestive Souls Sneak Peek is HereBut there’s only one way to read it — I don’t know about you, but I hate being asked to subscribe to newsletters. Especially by those annoying website pop-ups. But in order to encourage people to download and read this sneak peek into Restive Souls, guess what I did? I made it available exclusively to readers of my newsletter. …Fiction2 min read
Charles Bastille·Jan 13, 2021Member-onlyThe Day the World Got WokeFiction for a Broken Country — When I went to sleep last night, everything was normal. When I woke up, everything was different. Everything was Black. But not like, hip hop Black, really. Just, well, Black. Black culture, everywhere. With lots of Native American culture mixed in. And people referred to Native Americans as First Settlers. …Fiction20 min read
Charles Bastille·Dec 17, 2020Member-onlyCelebrating Josh Gibson and Other Black Baseball LegendsIn “The Trial of Summary James”, Joshua Gibson’s Major League status was never in doubt — In my novella, The Trial of Summary James, a bat with Josh Gibson’s signature plays a prominent role, sadly, in the death of the character that triggers the trial on which the title of the novella is based. So I thought it was cool that Major League baseball conferred Major…Josh Gibson4 min read
Charles Bastille·Dec 15, 2020Member-onlyThe Timeline for Restive SoulsThe alternative history behind Restive Souls (subject to change) — This is the timeline for the Restive Souls series. It is a work in progress and is subject to change as the novel and/or series develops. Let’s see if you history buffs can notice when the changes begin! Book One of the trilogy is centered around John Honeyman and the…Restive Souls15 min read
Charles Bastille·Dec 3, 2020Major Congregations in the Carolina UnionThese are the congregations that play key roles in the “Restive Souls” timeline. — Major congregations within the Restive Souls timeline as of this writing: Notes *Note: The Carolina Union Constitution requires all congregations to be Christian, but this rule is routinely ignored for Jewish congregations, as well as a number of…2 min read
Charles Bastille·Aug 15, 2020From Plantation to Congregation: How Plantations Became Christian Sanctuaries in the 18th Century Carolina UnionBy Emmet Bolo The repeal of slavery by the British Crown through the Cornwallis Code in 1778 following the end of the Colonial Rebellion initiated a mass migration to the Carolinas so that by 1800 there were roughly 450,000 people of African descent in the Charleston environs alone. …Alternative History7 min read
Charles Bastille·Aug 15, 2020Was Emmet Bolo the World’s Greatest Historian, or its Greatest Con Man?Just before Emmet Bolo died, he claimed to be 254 years old, which is ludicrous enough that many people have wondered how many people he actually was. Was he in truth several individuals spanning generations? …Alternative History2 min read