Who Shall Be God follows the coming of age of Cincinnata, a young girl struggling against her heritage, milieu, and self-will. Set in post-Republic North America, where the mundane and mystical merge. Cincy loses almost everything that matters but finds the truth of it all in the end.

WSBG reveals the struggles between the Stadist and the Libertas families, who live in New Carrollton Center (38^th parallel north), the latest military district city established on the East Coast. Mandated Memoranda Publishing will release it on Amazon in 2022–23.

When we first meet her, Cincinnata Stadist is a rough and tumble seven-year-old whom we follow through her teen years as she matures into a young adult. Unfortunately, Cincy witnesses much more than she can appreciate at times. Throughout, she yearns for belonging. What will become of her?

Her father and mother arrived in town under shrouded circumstances, already on a downward slide they cannot reverse. The Libertas arrived soon after, they’re risk-takers who create unique opportunities. Both families get embroiled in the town’s politics. This puts their children at risk. Who wins, who loses?

The town’s people are indebted to a frail, tough, old woman, who’s seen everything clearly from the beginning. She’s a conductor on the straight and narrow road. Does she see the desire of her heart fulfilled before her own passage?

Always in the background, making things happen. Everyone wonders what this mysterious man, Joshua, is up to. Feared by those who do his bidding, respected by those who serve the town, and despised by those who serve themselves. Is he responsible for what goes on in the town?

One of the novel’s thematic undercurrents follows from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 57, verses 1-2 and 20-21:

“The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart;

Devout men are taken away, while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace;

They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness…”

“…But the wicked are like the tossing sea;

For it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”