This novel is a rewrite of the third novel I wrote, originally titled The Armageddon Project, which then became To Touch the Unicorn, and then sat for years gathering cobwebs until it reared its head again and became 72 Hours in August.

 

The reason for its continuous changes is best understood by explaining the novel itself. It originally took place during the Cold War (and was written during the Cold War), and the main character was involved in a plot to launch a nuclear strike against NATO by the Soviet Union after it has developed a nuclear shield over its territories. Then the Cold War suddenly ended, and I rewrote the novel after East Germany became a part of West Germany (becoming "Germany"). A huge part of the novel takes place in Germany. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and I had to write it again, so it became To Touch the Unicorn. Then Russia went through a bunch of changes that caused the book to be lost in time with so many changes that it no longer made sense.

 

For the longest time, I was going to go back to the time when I wrote it and just make it part of that period, but something didn't seem right. Then I started a master's degree program at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where I became intrigued with the narrative versus counter-narrative process that Boris Yeltsin had developed during the coup d'etat in the Soviet Union in 1991. I ended up writing my master's thesis on the events of that period, and as I researched more, I realized I finally found the time where this novel belonged.

 

Since then, I've been researching more information about that period because now it has its time and place. Soon, I shall be rewriting To Touch the Unicorn into 72 Hours in August.