Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday, having been declared by President Biden in 2021, and it celebrates the end of slavery in the US. It marks the day, June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, and just over two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, when the people of Texas learned that they were all free under the laws of the United States of America.
Major General Granger of the Union Army made the announcement upon his arrival in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.
Here is the text of his order, now in the National Archives:
Galveston Texas June 19th 1865
General Orders
No. 3.
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.
By order of Major General Granger
F.W. EmeryMajor A.A. Genl
We leave it to you to divine the meaning behind the advice to the “freedmen” to remain quietly in place and keep working as hired labor. As we all know, this wasn’t the end of the story by a long shot.
It was, however, arguably the beginning of a new chapter in American history, and one that is well deserving of celebration.
The Smithsonian has a wealth of interesting archival materials and interviews about the holiday, which is well worth visiting. And here is a link to information about celebrations across the country. Galveston, for example, will host an annual reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.
WMG publishes a newsletter every week dedicated to holidays of various kinds, called Every Day’s a Holiday, in which we give away fiction and discounted workshops to subscribers. Today’s Juneteenth newsletter offers a short story, “Well-Chosen Words” by award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Legend has it that Abraham Lincoln scrawled the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope as he traveled to the battlefield to dedicate a cemetery. But the legend belies Lincoln’s struggle to carefully choose the right words. Words that must soothe a fractured nation, inspire change and chart the course for the nation’s future. Because his speech in Gettysburg will change history, but not necessarily in the way he hopes.
Written by a Sidewise Award winner for Best Alternate History, “Well-Chosen Words” first appeared in an anthology called Alternate Gettysburgs.
“Kristine Kathryn Rusch looks at the anxiety Lincoln had in selecting the ‘Well-Chosen Words’ he would speak at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, while his host, David Wills, fretted about the success of the event itself. The story is well written, with both characters coming to life…”
—Steven H. Silver, SF Site
We thought we’d offer the story to readers of this blog, too, in honor of Juneteenth. Just click here to download your free ebook.
And don’t forget to check out our many bestsellers and award-winners by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch at wmgbooks.com!
My daughter turns 13 this week. And while I can’t quite believe she’s a teenager already, she is taking this harder than I am. She told me this birthday is making her sad. She doesn’t want to be a teenager yet. She doesn’t want all the pressure and responsibility that comes with the teenage years. She said next year, she’d have to get a job already.
I don’t know where this is coming from. It’s certainly not coming from me. The job part is probably coming from the fact that we live in an economically challenged community, like pretty much every tourist town everywhere. The people with money are the ones who visit or have second homes or own the businesses where the majority of the community’s residents work for minimum wage (or these days, the minimum the market will bear). Most of her classmates come from homes that support tourism rather than profit from it. Those kids all need jobs as soon as they can get them.
That makes me very sad. School takes a back seat before these kids even start high school.
The rest of Nola’s anxiety, I can’t fully explain. But it’s something I’ll be working hard to get to the bottom of. She puts far too much pressure on herself sometimes.
It’s frustrating for me that as hard as I work NOT to put pressure on her, to let her enjoy her youth, we’re still here. But, of course, I’m not the only influence in her life. And these days, with as interconnected as our kids are to the world, that pressure is everywhere.
Which is probably why I find myself thinking of one of international bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s most haunting novellas, Coolhunting, which was a Locus Award finalist, and winner of the Science Fiction Age Reader’s Choice Award.
Here’s the synopsis:
Steffie makes her living as a coolhunter—someone who discovers an interesting look and makes it fashion, often overnight. She managed to escape her stifling upbringing, but her sister KD—genetically altered to remain a child—remains trapped.
Steffie left KD behind once. But when KD asks Steffie to help her run away from home, Steffie must decide whether to help or to abandon her sister for a second time.
In celebration of my daughter’s apparently bittersweet birthday, I offer this to you free for one week. Click here to download this powerful novella.
Meanwhile, I’ll be doing my best to make sure my daughter enjoys her birthday. A trip to the trampoline park is just the beginning…
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
First, it was recently announced as an Asimov’s Readers’ Choice Award winner! The novel first appeared in Asimov’s in two parts last year, and Asimov’s readers loved it, choosing both parts to win in the Best Novella/Novel category.
Congratulations, Kris!
The second piece of good news is that tomorrow, you can buy the novel in ebook, trade paperback, and hardcover everywhere!
Here’s the synopsis:
The Renegat Renegades finally learn their fate in New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades, the gripping new novel in her award-winning Diving series and an Asimov’s Readers’ Choice Award winner.
As the surviving crew of the Renegat face court-martial for mutiny—100 years in their future—the case makes everyone nervous. Prosecutors worry the survivors will prove too sympathetic to convict. The defense worries about the reliability of the defendants. But the survivors worry about what might happen should the truth—the whole truth—finally come to light. Set in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s expansive Diving Universe, The Court-Martial of the Renegat Renegades adds rich new background to this powerfully written series.
With shocking secrets, a deepening mystery, and a surprise witness, this spellbinding sf mystery mixes the best of legal fiction and space opera and proves Rusch’s place as a master of science fiction.
If you missed the buying novel in the Kickstarter we ran earlier this year or in the preorder phase, now’s the time to pick it up and see what all the buzz is about. Click here.
And don’t forget to check out the rest of the series here.
Go ahead and dive into this amazing universe!
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
I’m lucky to have not lost a family member to war, at least not in the past several generations, despite my family’s legacy of service. My grandfathers both survived in the Army World War II (although my maternal grandfather received two purple hearts). My stepdad served in the Navy during peacetime. My dad served as a Marine in Vietnam (and also received a purple heart). And my husband served as a security officer in the Air Force during peace time.
But my father and grandfathers lost many friends in those wars. They didn’t speak of it much. But the loss was palpable at times of remembrance, like Memorial Day.
I’ll never forget visiting the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., with my dad and watching him scan for the names of his fallen fellow Marines. It was haunting.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch captures that feeling in her powerful Anlab Award-winning story, “The Museum of Modern Warfare,” which is free for you to download for the next two weeks.
Here’s the synopsis:
When the Ambassador to the Dylft System—a veteran of the Dylft Wars—receives orders to lead a diplomatic mission to Craznaust, she wonders at the wisdom of accepting the assignment.
Still, when she arrives at the controversial Museum of Modern Warfare, she believes herself prepared to face the past and address whatever diplomatic issue she might find there.
But nothing could prepare her for what she finds deep within the museum. Something long buried. Something that could change everything she thought she knew about the war.
I’m back in the office this week after a fantastic week in Las Vegas for the Romantic Suspense Craft Workshop. It’s always such a treat to spend some time with our writers again in-person!
It’s also cool to see how Resorts World Las Vegas continues to expand its offerings. New restaurants, new shows, new shops. I even shared an elevator with the drummer from Katy Perry’s band (which is there in residency). Nice guy.
The hotel is really responsive, as well. They have a new art installation that includes loud music into the wee hours, which was disturbing some of our guests (including me!), and the hotel moved us immediately. The city view side was perfectly quiet, and bonus, I got to see what happens to the mountains outside Vegas when the thunderstorms move through and drop so much hail on them that it looks like it snowed…except it was 96 degrees in the city at the time.
If you’ve been hesitating to sign up for the upcoming Fantasy/Thriller Craft Workshop in July, I encourage you to get off the fence and sign up. These in-person workshops are one of the rare opportunities to learn the craft face-to-face from bestselling and award-winning writer and editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch. And Kris’ in-person workshops are legendary.
To view the full list of in-person workshops on offer, click here. And if you just can’t make it in person, you can do the study along version with bestselling and award-winning writer and editor Dean Wesley Smith. Click here to see those.
Speaking of Dean, don’t forget that the entire curriculum for all of our workshops (in-person and online) is available here.
What happens in Vegas definitely doesn’t stay there. What you learn at these workshops will stick with you for your whole career.
Allyson Longueira is publisher of WMG Publishing. She is an award-winning writer, editor and designer, working mother, and brain tumor survivor.
