Truth catches up to fiction. My fiction. Hmm.

 "Law and Order" used to boast its stories were ripped from the headlines. I stumbled across a headline ripped from the pages of one of my books. It put a new twist on "deja vu".

Yes, contemporary fiction.

The headline said:  Cheating on the SATs.

Yikes! That sounded familiar. I asked the Educational Testing Service people several years ago if kids could cheat simply by sending impersonators to another school to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test for them. I was researching a work of contemporary fiction and yeah, I go in for making it authentic, why not? Kind of old school in a world where reality television actors work from scripts to create the perception of reality rather than the reality itself (whew), but what the heck, I worship verisimilitude. (Snooky fans: Here's where to go when you see a word you've never seen before. ) I never got an answer from the Educational Testing Service folks, probably because they were too busy covering up the vulnerability of their test system. I mean, it's not like anyone would game their system just to get a scholarship to an Ivy League school or anything.Despite their silence, I couldn't think of any reason my scheme wouldn't work, so I included SAT cheating in "Swain's Folly." In fact a lot of the plot is "moved" by it.  I was spot on, by the way, with what the kids in Long Island got up to.

It's nice to be ahead of the curve.

It's kind of a variation on what I did as an investigative journalist. Then, I would imagine what would have to happen to confirm the process by which corruption and rottenness come about, then go look for proof. I imagined, in "Swain's Folly," what would have to happen for a student to impersonate someone else and take the SATs, then built it into the plot.  I got it right, apparently.

Imagine that. Well, yes, I did.

The next step, perhaps, will be to actually become a crook by envisioning myself with a million dollars and then implementing my imagination to get it. We'll see how the economy goes.

In the meantime, you can save me from a life of crime. Go buy the book, a fast-moving and not too serious adventure in murder, mystery and love on the real Jersey Shore. There's a few print copies left. And if the price of a meal at Ruby Tuesday is too high, here's a $2.99 digital version you can download in any format you want. That's less money than you'll drop at one stop at McDonald's, and my writing is a lot better for your health than a Big Mac.

Heading up Sitlington Hill one more time

Ration issue? Yup. Fresh beef. For 400.

A bunch of serious historians are going to be in McDowell, Va., in May 2012 to recreate the battle fought there 150 years before between Stonewall Jackson and some ill-advised Yankees.  Here's some photos from the 2008 edition of that event, taken by the accomplished professional photographer Julio Zangroniz, who has these and many thousands more Civil War reenacting photos available.

Kitchen for federal headquarters company

This is a special event. McDowell is a tiny town deep in the mountains of Virginia. The battle remains the biggest single thing to ever happen there.  "Event Friday" is spent by a cadre of reenactors doing living history at the only school in Highland County, which has about 400 students, K-12.  Saturday is "spectator battle" day, held for local folks and history-tourists to get a taste of combat.  Sunday morning is reenactors-only day, a hike up Sitlington Hill to try to dislodge the arriving Confederates.  It's 700 feet up in less than 3/4 of a mile, and we fight on the original ground.
That's not what makes it special, though. What makes it special is that a dozen or so years of reenacting the battle, partnering with local folks to put on the event, raising awareness and raising money led to the entire battle site being purchased for historic conservation.

Scot Buffington supervises company weapons inspection

It's also special because it attracts, as noted, serious reenactors -- those who take the history seriously and try hard to make as much of the event period-correct as possible.  There are always modern intrusions -- McDowell is a modern village, and life goes on.  But because only those passionate about history even show up, it's been a pretty good event for innovating, which in this case means "doing it the historic way with fewer modern shortcuts."  So we've had fresh beef issued, almost on the hoof, for 400 reenactors for their weekend rations; we've had canteens filled from springs; we've had civilian refugees who depicted the isolation of sheltering away from the army and others who depicted the intensity of feeling between the pro-Southern local population and the "invading" Yankee army.  It's also been possible to try maneuvers simply beyond the grasp of the typical mainstream reenactment, where what the troops on the field do is limited to what the least skilled of them can do.  We did a three-battalion passage of lines here, with one large battalion passing through two smaller ones and absorbing the enemy fire so the other two could back off and resupply with ammunition.
It's a good event.  Having backed off from accepting leadership at very active events like this one, I get a real treat. Scot Buffington of Third Battalion USV will be overall federal commander, first on my list among the younger fellows ready to step up and guide us through the 150s. He has suggested I be his chief of staff. Seems like a fair trade.

Yes, I'm tired, and that's the only photograph in the world where you'll find me wearing a necktie....

 Enjoy the photos, and appreciate the one with the marching federal troops: That corporal in the rear is getting ready to tee off on the only private out of step.