One finished project, one ahead

The finished one: A new And column out, on why tolerance and intolerance are not the same thing. This was sparked by a commenter on a previous column asserting that me stating there’s no reason for Gingrich and Bachmann to target Muslims other than bias made me intolerant (because I don’t tolerate their intolerance). I think this column settles that point.
The new project, the story for a theme anthology, which I realized I haven’t detailed. It’s set in a world where Godzilla-style monsters exist, and governments control them as the equivalent of nuclear weapons. The editor of Big Pulp recommended me to the Monster Earth editor and after some discussion, we wound up with my story concept: In 1972, a winged Vietnamese monster enters the Vietnam War on the North Vietnamese side. Up until this point, the war has remained low-key (no ground troops) which enabled LBJ to win a second term in 1968. Now we send in our monster (a gigantic sasquatch type) to settle things—but instead of meeting him, the Vietnamese terror just adopts guerilla tactics: The US monster shows up one place, the Viet monster flies somewhere else, does more damage. Guerilla tactics for monsters.
When Nixon takes office, it’s obvious we’re on the losing end. But we have a plan …
While I know my focus character (the US monster’s handler) I’m not sure exactly what his (or her) story is yet (the story must have a human element rather than just monsters smashing into each other). Or how it plays out over several thousand words. Browsing lots of books on the war is helping me form my ideas but I imagine the real discovery, as it always is, will come when I write.
It’s due at the start of November. Wish me luck.