Novel Excerpts–The Boaz Stenographer, Chapter 51

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.

Book Blurb

Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.

Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman.  Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune.  She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.

Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.

Walt accepts two part-time jobs.  One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.

Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates  is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective.  The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.

Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation  and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?

Chapter 51

The next four months went by in a blur.  I was constantly busy with research and writing my book, teaching my class at Snead State, steno-recording for Rains & Associates, writing the Sand Mountain Reporter’s weekly editorial response to The Boaz Stenographer column, and snooping around as a hybrid double-agent of sorts.  To Pastor Tillman, Club Eden, and Professor Romanov, I was a reliable resource for Presidential history, and a surprisingly astute strategist.  To the Constitution Foundation, I was the closest thing imaginable to a heart monitor; I captured and relayed every move the higher ups at Kane Tribe were making.

I had never worked on a political campaign.  My work with Pastor Tillman and crew wasn’t exactly that anyway, but it was the behind-the-scenes engine for a multitude of campaigns across the country, including Justin Adams’ campaign for Alabama governor, and several dozen men and women running for a representative or senate position at the State level.  Pastor and crew were not focusing on national elections, even though every U.S. Congressmen and 33 U.S. Senators were up for reelection.  

I finally learned, after nearly a month faking my interest and support to Professor Romanov, that his and the Pastor’s goal was to create a team of State legislators who were willing to vote for a Constitutional Convention.  They believed this was the best route for

President Kane to obtain the power he needed to ‘Make American Great Again.’  I also learned the team I was working with was already convinced President Kane would win reelection in 2020.  Therefore, they were not directly expending resources on that aspect of the Kane revolution.  I thought it odd, but the Professor repeatedly said,

“President Kane will win reelection.  It is now assured based on his spectacular performance during the devastating double crisis caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.”  I thought Kane did a respectable job during these times—except of course for Maria—but I never could figure out the persuasive impact upon undecided voters.  I guess this is why I’m not a political adviser.

From late July until November 5th, ‘Bama Team,’ as it became known, at least to the inner circle, coordinated with similarly-structured teams throughout the United States.  The focus was on states that were democratically controlled.  That was only 13 states.  The teams all believed Republicans would maintain control in the other states.  I must say that Professor Romanov was an absolute genius in developing and coordinating this entire process.  He used a combination of newspaper articles and advertising, social media promotions, and town hall meetings to exploit Kane’s message of ‘draining the swamp.’  The thing I could never figure out was where all the money was coming from.  I suspected at the time, and still do, that the Professor was using his Russian ties to achieve Bama Team’s goals.

November 6, 2018 didn’t come too soon.  The entire team, including myself, had spent the prior week traveling across the United States.  I’m not sure why Pastor Tillman wanted me to go, especially since I didn’t have an active role, in public appearances, or back-room dealings with any candidate or his or her team, but I suppose it was my knowledge of Presidential politics from the past 35 years that fed an occasional word of wisdom to the Professor that justified my cost and presence.

Justin Adams was elected governor of Alabama by an impressive margin.  My hat was off to my sister DeeDee.  The Birmingham News even wrote a feature article on her the day before the election.  Republicans retained their control of both U.S. Houses of Congress with a hefty increase in what the Professor called, Kane Republicans.  The big victory, at least according to Pastor Tillman, was at the State level.  Kane Republicans won control in 8 of the 13 formerly democratically controlled states.  Now, it seemed there was no solid obstacle that would prevent two-thirds of the States from voting to convene a Constitutional convention, nor stand in the way of three-fourths of them from amending the U.S. Constitution.  Never in U.S. history, had the States so much power.  Never in U.S. history, was it on the brink of destruction— at least that’s the way I saw it.

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