“There, the Genevans killed my father. Hung him by the neck, like a common house-breaker. Even left him there to rot, refused to return his remains to my mother,” the Savoyard said, looking ahead at the gate. “Didn’t know that, seigneur,” Gervais said, using his breathless state as excuse not to use the younger man’s [...]

Rotterdam “What will we do now, Mother?” “Do?” Anneke van Ruyper stood silently for a moment, watching as the men set to work filling the grave. “I believe the first thing to do is sell the ship.” Marritje looked, if anything, more stricken than before. “Then how would we live? The sea is what we [...]

May 1634, Granville, France Henri Beaubriand-Lévesque was lounging comfortably in his favorite chair in front of the fire, a globe of finest brandy warming in his hands. Putting his nose over the rim of the glass he inhaled gently, savoring the bouquet. Then he swirled the amber liquid in the glass and took a sip, [...]

  There was a flash of light . . . . . . followed by the sound of two bodies running smack into each other, a third and fourth falling over them, the tinkle of shattering glass, and a blue streak of Amideutsch. That in turn was cut short by “Fire! Gunter, you’re on fire!” [...]

  June 1634, Stockholm “It’s a dump,” Sandra whispered as she looked around the city her lunatic husband had dragged her to. It was only remarkable in its appearance of bland unattractiveness. She could tell its inhabitants were energetically improving it from all the construction going on, but compared to Grantville and Magdeburg, it seemed [...]

Grantville December 1636 Manning Assisted Living Center Roscoe Shaver pushed the bedroom door open with his elbow, moving with care as he balanced the tray. The coffee in the cup sloshed, but didn’t go over the edge, so he counted that as good. He carried the tray over and put it on the bedside table, [...]

April, 1635, Western Pomerania Joe Plotz could barely hear himself think over the hissing and honking of the geese in the pen before him. It was the loudest and most bellicose display he had ever heard, and he was pleased. Back up-time in West Virginia, his grandfather searched for years for birds like this, but [...]

  Chapter 3: Sunday Jagdschloss of the Duke of Sachsen-Eisenach, Marksuhl, Thuringia Late on March 25, 1634 Maximiliane von Pasqualini lay in her king-size bed staring at the dark ceiling. Had it really been only yesterday when she had arrived here, a man ready to present his plans of the New Wartburg to this old [...]

  In this part, I will consider what kinds of engines exist, and what characteristics they must have in order to be useful as airship engines. When I move on to specifics, it will be with respect to internal combustion engines; steam propulsion will be covered in Part Three and more exotic systems in Part [...]

I've had an amazing reading experience this spring. I teach week-long writing craft workshops, and I assign reading. I expect the students to finish the reading before the workshop, so that we have a common pool of stories to discuss. One of the workshops I will teach this year is how to write short stories. [...]

Eyes straining in the dim light of a tallow-candle stub, Estefan worked a carpenter’s marking pencil around the curve of a second-hand protractor, sketching the precise lines of a thaumaturgic diagram. His paper, one side defaced with a smeared broadside advertisement, had been discarded from the printer’s down the row. Soon he’d be doing this [...]