In this week’s Chuck Wendig Challenge we have to write 1000 words in a ‘something’-punk subgenre of our choice – a made up one, not a standard one like steampunk. I ducked the opportunity to devise a new one and
Friday Flash Fiction: Hijack!
Vacuums and Vehicles
In which Victor witnesses the pleasures and perils of technology This 1500 word Princelings story/extract is an introduction to the changing technology in the realms. I thought of Victor seeing people pass through Seventh Happiness, imagining stories for them, and
Uplifting Experience
In which Professor Saku discovers a delightful side-effect of a new invention. This is a short (1800 word) story that fits in the Chronicles of Hattan; it’s sort of back story for Saku and Mariusz (before the start of Traveler),
Explosive Mixture
This is an extract from a book I started then realised I wanted to place in a different part of the Princelings timeline. Either that or bring certain characters in earlier. There are some more extracts from it later in
George, an intelligent engineer
George and I are back home in Castle Marsh after our five day trip to southern Gaul. It was a fascinating and, at times, scary trip. George flew us round the castle as we got lower in the sky, preparing
Saku, the Professor, reveals his past
I’m still at Castle Hattan, the weather is still damp and windy, but I am safe in the bowels of the castle, surrounded by the hum of the Wozna brewing machinery. I am with Saku, the scientific genius behind the
Victor on love and life at the Inn
Here we are for the second interview in the series, and Victor is sitting in front of me, swapping his feet over and generally combining an air of nervousness with barely contained excitement. He tells me he has never been
Zymurgy
Zymurgy is the science of fermentation. I confess I went through the dictionary to find something interesting I could finish on, and this is a new word to me. It’s rather nice though isn’t it? Very useful for Scrabble. Of
Flying
I’m sure I introduced a plane into the third story just for the fun of it, because a blue biplane flies over our house most days in the spring and summer. When he was out in the garden George always
Energy and the energy drain
The first book could have been called The Princelings and the Great Energy Drain as this was the best I could think of when I first approached agents with my trilogy. I needed a problem for them to solve and