Galena Grotto

The Founding Events

The Driftless Rivers franchise is an AI-driven, collaborative writing endeavor. Writers desiring to be published as lead authors for their own AI-generated contribution to the franchise are encouraged to use “Claude,” which is a constitutional AI assistant operating under the Anthropic umbrella. 

The first draft of the novel, “Confluence,” with over 50,000 words, was completed in less than 48 hours. Reading it for the first time was gripping and suspenseful, and yet I was the author!

Contributing authors are invited to submit works in the following genres:

  • Short Story
  • Thriller & Suspense
  • Mystery
  • 2SLGBTQ+ (as a genre)
  • Action & Adventure
  • Romance
  • Contemporary Fiction
  • Literary Fiction
  • Magical Realism
  • Young Adult (13-17 years)
  • New Adult (18+)
  • Graphic Novel

To work as intended, “Claude” will require an array of prompts, which are provided below. The contributing authors are instructed to compose one chapter at a time, doing a comprehensive read-through of each chapter before asking Claude to write the next chapter. 

Here are further guidelines that contributing authors will need to feed into “Claude” as prompts:

  • Each novel must take place in the fictional Driftless Rivers Industrial Revolution National Park, and should connect in some way to an existing, newly constructed, or planned Driftless Rivers Hostel.
  • The Driftless Rivers Industrial Revolution National Park has been (or will be) opened in the year 2032. Contributing authors are welcome to situate their fiction in any year (prequels or sequels), so long as the novel makes a connection to the founding events.
  • The founding events are political changes currently underway (in the summer of 2025) that are presumed to have succeeded. These political changes are what have allowed for the creation of the Driftless Rivers Industrial Revolution National Park and all the associated developments.
  • All seven incumbent members of Congress were defeated in the primary election of 2025 (all of which are described in detail in “Confluence,” the first novel of the franchise).
  • Two old senators (from Iowa and Wisconsin) were killed in a plane crash (see “Confluence” for details) and were replaced in the 2026 federal election.
  • State house and state senate elections in 2026 (and since then) also unseated extreme partisans in favor of a kinder, gentler politics.
  • The contributing authors will use the phrase “Gen-T” to reference young adults who started graduating from high school in 2024 and beyond.
  • This is in recognition of young adults who will have voted for the first time in a climate where the president of the United States was acting with contempt toward the word of law.
  • The climate was also hostile toward BIPOC immigrants.
  • Transgender healthcare had been stripped away from this generation, and trans athletes were being vilified.
  • Racism has returned to the United States in general, and the book that captures this climate in the proper context for the Driftless Area is, “White Rural Rage,” by Tom Schaller.
  • Each novel must mention the Driftless Rivers Membership Co-op and have some kind of connection to the #GYAO ethic (get your ass outside).
  • In other words, outdoor recreation is the driving force for everything in the Driftless Rivers franchise.
  • As expanded in “Confluence,” by 2032, outdoor recreation is pushing the envelope of environmental-friendly technology.
  • Most road transportation will be EVs (electric vehicles).
  • Personal transportation has also been revolutionized. Every-season e-bikes, where the back wheel can be swapped out for an all-terrain track and the front wheel with a ski, becomes a winter trail mode of transportation. Same with scooters.
  • Snowmobiles and jet skis are also electric, but boats are still gasoline (house boats, pontoon boats, ski boats, tour boats, etc.)
  • All these recreational vehicles, and a host of other equipment required for outdoor recreation of every type, are available for use by members of the Driftless Rivers Membership Co-op, which is seen as the “Amazon Prime” for outdoor enthusiasts.
  • As part of their annual membership dues, co-op members also get a significant discount on accommodation at the hostels.
  • The list of supported outdoor recreational activities supported by #GYAO and the Driftless Rivers Membership Co-op is too long to enumerate here, but any contributing author is encouraged to base their work on their own ideas of what happens in the great outdoors (in a city, in the wild, in the air, on or in the water).
  • Inasmuch as the park boundaries are defined by major rivers instead of land-based boundaries, the Driftless Rivers Industrial Revolution National Park does not have convenient highway points of entry where entry fees can be collected by visitors in their vehicles.
  • Instead, visitors to sites are required to download an app on their phone, like modern parking apps.
  • Visitors can pay-as-they-go (a few visits a year), pay for a week (or a month) of access, or buy an annual pass.
  • Park rangers simply scan license plates, and rather than issue tickets, charge the unpaid user fee to the vehicle owner (just like toll highways).
  • Driftless Rivers Membership Co-op members get their annual national park pass as part of their benefits.
  • The Driftless Rivers Express is a new north-south Amtrak train, and in 2032 its first stations are just opening.
  • As explained in “Confluence,” it started in the planning stages in 2026 (shortly after the “founding events”) and made its inaugural run from the Twin Cities to the Quad Cities in 2032.
  • For its first six months, as demand builds, it runs north-south on one day and south-north the next day.
  • It only runs on the east side of the Mississippi, with passenger-only stops at every major city or town.
  • Shuttle buses get the guests from the downtown stations to the more rural Driftless Rivers Hostels, which are located near to outdoor recreation access points (typically 10-15 minutes outside population centers).
  • Twice a week it is also an auto train (identical to the service from Washington DC to Orlando). Currently there are only two stations for the auto train: one north of I-90 in Onalaska (La Crosse), and between I-80 and I-74 in East Moline (Quad Cities). Plans are to eventually run the Driftless Express to New Orlean, with auto train loading and off-loading near St. Louis and near I-10.
  • The Driftless Express is also the world’s first scheduled equestrian train, with specialized cars for horses. Plans are to have six Driftless Rivers resorts along the Mississippi River that have an equestrian hotel embedded in the complex.
  • Eventually, plans call for equestrian hotels along multi-day pack-horse trip routes.
  • Galena, IL, is home to the corporate offices for the Driftless Rivers coalition and the flagship Driftless Rivers Hostel. The complex was built on six parcels of land on Bench Street.
  • Described in detail in “Confluence,” the core hostel development incorporated St. Michael’s Catholic Parish, the old Grant History Museum (originally the Barrow mansion), a parking lot, and the former Galena United Methodist Church parish, which was not historical and was demolished.
  • The key feature is a parking garage with its entrance on Bench Street, and the exit, five levels above, on Prospect Street, next to the Osprey House.
  • Due to the tight turns of the ramps, the parking garage cannot accommodate SUV’s or trucks and is designed to cater to EV owners.
  • The 1858 Galena United Methodist Church building was also included in the project, but it is one lot removed from the hostel. It has been rebranded as Grant’s Church, and the ground floor was converted to an “engagement engine” for social media content creators.
  • Further south on Bench Street, at 413 S Bench Street, the former St. Michael’s School is currently being restored (in 2032).
  • A future novel will expand on what this building will become, but it is likely to include a major development on the vacant lots across Bench Street (with a frontage at 403 S Main Street, which has space for a three-story parking garage against the cliff, built with the same design as the hostel).
  • The sanctuaries of both the Galena United Methodist Church and St. Michael’s Catholic parish were both preserved and restored and continue to be used by their respective congregations every Sunday.
  • Religious “pilgrimage” groups for Sunday morning worship services receive special rates at the hostel.
  • Future novels are encouraged to build on this theme.
  • Due to its reputation as a center of tourism with 1.4 million visitors a year, Galena, IL is a unique station along the passenger train route. The Driftless Express leaves the Mississippi BNSF tracks on a 3 ½ mile long CN spur line. The train then backs out to continue its journey. 

The introductory chapters of “Confluence” will introduce new contributing authors to the how these prompts form the foundation of the Driftless Rivers franchise.