John Dunn at 70,000 Words

My historical novel, JOHN DUNN, Heart of a Zulu is at 70,000 words, now, and the "Sihayo Incident" is happening. Those who are familiar with that part of history know that the "Sihayo Incident" is one of the key factors that led to the Anglo-Zulu War.

Sihayo was a Zulu Chieftain in the disputed territory along the Blood River, and two of his wives, after being caught cheating on him, fled into the white colony of Natal to escape capital punishment. But Sihayo's sons went in there and dragged them back into Zululand and killed them.

The British used that as an excuse to launch an invasion into Zululand, thus starting the Anglo-Zulu War. But they were looking for any excuse to do that, so even if that didn't happen, something else would have happened and the war would have started anyway.

I would compare it to the "John Brown Incident" that was a prelude to the American Civil War. The Civil War would have happened even without John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, just as the Anglo-Zulu War would have happened without Sihayo's sons crossing into Natal.

But that's what gave the British the green light to invade. So, the sparks are flying now. Looks like I'm on the home stretch. The war is about to begin and John Dunn is caught right in the middle of it.