Category: weekend warrior

Illegal Aliens 2

wewriwa
Welcome to weekend writing warriors. Many fine authors, and me, contribute short snippets for your delectation. This is the start of a new work, Illegal Aliens. It is something of a cross between a horror story, a science fiction tale, and a romance.

Roland, an archaeology instructor at Reading University (academic ranks in the UK are different than in the US, he’d be an assistant professor in the land of the free), is on his way to London. He’s on call when something unusual turns up in the works on the new underground. Something dashed odd has turned up and he’s on his way. This continues the conversation he’s having in the train.

“People didn’t always believe that; the prayer I’m working on is to Bastet, Goddess of cats, and healing; would you like to hear it?”

The boy shrugged, “My family is from Egypt.”

“I call upon thee, Bastet queen of my heart, to come and succour me, upon thee I call, o Bastet my queen.” Roland looked up at ceiling; the train carriage seemed lighter, somehow filled with the fragrance of flowers. “That’s as close as I can make it in English – they often wrote palindromes – to reinforce the magic.”

“What’s a palindrome?”

“Now leave the poor man to his work.” The boy’s mother said, “Enough of your silly questions.”

“A palindrome runs the same backwards and forwards.”

“Neat.”

My close collaborator dabbles in these sorts of things. I quote him below:

The jug with the falcon (of Horus) reads:

For my strong staff, the god Osiris, my spirit adores him.

The one with the baboon reads:

For my strong staff, the gods Osiris and Hapy

Illegal Aliens 1

wewriwa
Welcome to weekend writing warriors. Many fine authors, and me, contribute short snippets for your delectation. This is the start of a new work, Illegal Aliens. It is something of a cross between a horror story, a science fiction tale, and a romance.

Roland, an archaeology instructor at Reading University (academic ranks in the UK are different than in the US, he’d be an assistant professor in the land of the free), is on his way to London. He’s on call when something unusual turns up in the works on the new underground. Something dashed odd has turned up and he’s on his way.

Roland settled back in his seat on the 15:11 from Reading to Paddington, and pulled a sheaf of papers from his bag; he was working through them when a young boy committed the social solecism of asking what he was doing.

“Are those hieroglyphics?”

Roland studied the boy for a moment; he was about six, maybe seven; his son Thomas, if he weren’t at the bottom of some lake in Wales or rotting in the heather nearby, would have been that age; he said, “Not quite, they’re Demotic, almost hieroglyphic, but…”

The boy’s mother started to apologize for her son.

“No, it’s fine; I like children; this is how ancient Egyptian people wrote; something like cursive instead of printing.”

“Cursive?”

“I guess they don’t teach penmanship in school these days.”

“What’s it say?”

“This is a religious book, a codex to the book of the dead, invocations and prayers to the Gods.”

“Gods, they teach that there’s only one God at my mosque?”

Great Britain and England in specific, is layered with history. You can’t stick a spud in the ground without finding something (well you can, but you know what I mean). Reading University runs an excavation at the nearby Roman site of Calleva, where they are doing their best to undo the depredations of earlier, less skillful archeologists.
IMGP3173 This picture, from 2010, shows the works.

Calleva itself, was roughly the size of Londinium, but for a number of reasons (mostly that it isn’t on a navigable river and the Anglo-Saxons sadly let the road network go to Hades) was abandoned. Today it’s a walled livestock field about 10 miles to the south of Reading.

You can, if you are somewhat bored and insane, sample my writing here.

A Designing Woman 6 for #wewriwar

More from the Steampunk book

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  This is a sample from my latest work in progress, “A Designing Woman”, and I hope you enjoy it.  This is the start of the next chapter and introduces more of the family. Continuing from last week, this snippet describes conversations between Amanda’s parents. Dark things are afoot, especially now that they understand her hobby, which they have tolerated, could be worth real money.
(The Last snippet)


“That’s true; Do you think she’d like to visit Bath?”
“Only to see the ironworks.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“While she was away, I could do something about her workshop, maybe. She’s not twenty-one is she?”
“No,” Lady Caterham smiled, “So as her father you’re her legal guardian; your word is the one that counts, isn’t it?”
“Get her to Bath, and I’ll deal with the rest; have to check with my solicitor, but I should be able to sell out her share of that company. It should pay for her dowry.”
Lady Caterham replied, “George, love, I knew there was a reason I married you.”
Her husband, realizing he was dismissed for the night, dutifully kissed his wife and returned to his port.

This is a work in progress. Here is the link on tablo. It’s also on writeon, but I have no clue how to link there. Apparently Steampunk implies Victorian, Dieselpunk the 1920’s. What-punk should a Regency period book be? Horse-punk isn’t right.

Despite being told in no uncertain terms that “steampunk” meant Victorian with ubiquitous steam technology, I’m calling this steampunk, although given the amount of time they will later spend on the river, maybe “Steampunt” is better. Amanda is working on what will become the defining technology of the 19th century, steam. Although, a few things, like the Napoleonic war will get in the way.

Google Blogger has gone back to making things difficult. Arghhh – doesn’t play well with firefox and privacy badger.

Time to look at wordpress. It’s being funny on Linux which takes some doing.

Thank you for reading. The heroine’s family thinks they’re doing the right thing by her. Ha! She doesn’t get to the Bath ironworks, but if it’s any consolation, she gets to do a small amount of smithing in the village of Philadelphia so that she isn’t compromised by staying the night with a totally unsuitable suitor.

A Designing Woman 5 for #wewriwar

More from the Steampunk book

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  This is a sample from my latest work in progress, “A Designing Woman”, and I hope you enjoy it.  This is the start of the next chapter and introduces more of the family. Continuing from two weeks ago (scout leader training interceded), this snippet introduces Sam, her mechanic. It’s not very romantic, but it gives a hint about the future course of events.
(The Last snippet)


Amanda smiled; then said, “Yes. It’s the precision that matters, and we’ve been making the tools to do precise metalwork.” She noticed Sam was unusually quiet, “Do you need to get the forge started?”
“No, Miss. But it’s best that they leave. Doesn’t do to tell too many people about what we’re doing. At least not before the patent’s approved.”
“A patent you say?” There was an avaricious glint in Lord Caterham’s eye. “Are you saying this is worth something, real money?”

This is a work in progress. Here is the link on tablo. It’s also on writeon, but I have no clue how to link there. Apparently Steampunk implies Victorian, Dieselpunk the 1920’s. What-punk should a Regency period book be? Horse-punk isn’t right.

Despite being told in no uncertain terms that “steampunk” meant Victorian with ubiquitous steam technology, I’m calling this steampunk, although given the amount of time they will later spend on the river, maybe “Steampunt” is better. Amanda is working on what will become the defining technology of the 19th century, steam. Although, a few things, like the Napoleonic war will get in the way.

A Designing Woman 3 for #wewriwar

More from the Pre-steampunk book

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  This is a sample from my latest work in progress, “A Designing Woman”, and I hope you enjoy it.  This is the start of the next chapter and introduces more of the family. There is excitement in the air; Amanda finally shows some interest in a young man.
(last weeks snippet).

The next morning, Lord Caterham and his son Frederick thundered into the stable-yard on their hunters. They had ridden hard from Ewelme manor in Dursley after receiving important news the night before via a messenger from Lady Caterham. Lord Caterham rushed into the house, while Frederick ensured that the stable hands properly rubbed down, cooled off, watered and fed their horses.
“Elizabeth,” Lord Caterham shouted after he entered the hall, “Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“Amanda finally has a beau.”
“Quiet, please; let’s talk in the parlor. Things are, I think, at a delicate stage and I don’t want to upset them.”
A few minutes later, in the parlor, behind a closed and latched door, Lady Caterham filled her master and helpmate in on what had happened.

“They met at the assembly. Danced three dances; would have danced a fourth had manners allowed; then he rode here yesterday, ostensibly to see how we had recovered from our exertions, but”
This is a work in progress. Here are links on tablo and authonomy.  Apparently Steampunk implies Victorian, Dieselpunk the 1920’s. What-punk should a Regency period book be? Horse-punk isn’t right.

I’m calling this proto-steampunk simply because I was told in no uncertain terms that “steampunk” meant Victorian with ubiquitous steam technology. Amanda’s working before that and during the Regency, so it cannot be steampunk.

A designing woman #2 for #WeWriWa

More from the Pre-steampunk book

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  This is a sample from my latest work in progress, “A Designing Woman”, and I hope you enjoy it. Mr. Williams has come for a visit, the day after the assembly, and is now walking with Amanda on their way to the riverbank. They’d have seen her workshop, but for wearing their good clothes. He’s just asked her about the papers he read (in last weeks snippet).

“What papers?”
“The ones in the library; I must say, you have a fine hand.”
“I hope you didn’t mix them up, they were in order.”
“No, I could see that.” Then Mr. Williams gently chided her, “May I add, that ‘Principles of Mechanics’ is an unusual read for a young lady. I’d have thought ‘the Mysteries of Udolpho’ or some such romance would be to your liking.”
Amanda stopped short. She was about to reply sharply, and then noticed the smile on his face, “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I never saw the point in those books, all heartthrob and passion in some made up land; I want to do real things.”

This is a work in progress. Here are links on tablo and authonomy.  Apparently Steampunk implies Victorian, Dieselpunk the 1920’s. What-punk should a Regency period book be? Horse-punk isn’t right.

Google’s being dashed odd – the only way I can reply to comments is to edit the post. Oh well, there’s always wordpress. Turns out, Google and Firefox don’t get along on windows, but they do on my trusty Linux box.

I’m calling this proto-steampunk simply because I was told in no uncertain terms that “steampunk” meant Victorian with ubiquitous steam technology. Amanda’s working before that and during the Regency, so it cannot be steampunk.

A Designing Woman 1 for #wewriwa

More from the Proto-steampunk book

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  This is a sample from my latest work in progress, “A Designing Woman”, and I hope you enjoy it. Mr. Williams has come for a visit, the day after the assembly, and is waiting in the library. Like most libraries of the time, it was more for show than reading. He’s found his way to Amanda’ corner and is strangely interested in what he finds.

Instead of the unused order that characterized the rest of the library, he came to a section that was in active chaos. He picked up one book that was lying open, face down, and read, “Principles of Mechanics.” He frowned at the equations it contained. Then he smiled to himself and put it back. A disorderly stack of pages was tucked into a corner of the room nearby. They were full of drawings and calculations; all were done in a fine feminine hand.
He paged through the sheets and studied Amanda’s work. As he gazed with interest at a calculation of the optimum size for a piston, he was interrupted from behind.
“That’s my daughter’s trash. I try to remind her to be tidy.”
This is a work in progress. Here are links on tablo and authonomy.  Apparently Steampunk implies Victorian, Dieselpunk the 1920’s. What-punk should a Regency period book be? Horse-punk isn’t right.

Google’s being dashed odd – the only way I can reply to comments is to edit the post. Oh well, there’s always wordpress.

I’m calling this proto-steampunk simply because I was told in no uncertain terms that “steampunk” meant Victorian with ubiquitous steam technology. Amanda’s working before that and during the Regency, so it cannot be steampunk.

After the convergence #4 8-10 sentences for #WeWriWa

More about Sarah

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  This is a sample from my latest work, and I hope you enjoy it. It continues after Alan has been interviewed by the machine. This selection is part of where Sarah Gonzales is introduced. She’s important, mostly by her absence in the first part of the book – she disappears – but takes a much more active role later. She’s just gone through “the selection”, a rather brutal sorting out of who is smart enough to go to “the academy” and work with or on “The Machine.” It’s done in school, in front of everyone. However, after that there seems to be a problem. While it’s not really emphasized, this is a critical clue to what’s happening in the story.




The machine beside him spoke, “Mr. Anderson, please, I don’t make that kind of mistake.”
They proceeded to discuss her as if she weren’t there.
“She doesn’t seem to have the depth we require; she is decent in logic and is highly imaginative, but.”
“Have you checked the date and signature?”
Sarah drifted off into her own world.
Lord Pershore pulled his sword and stealthily approached the highwaymen. They bound Lady Sarah Jane Gonzales and were carrying her off to their lair, a run-down public house near the Bath road.
“Ms. Gonzales, pay attention, please,” it was that man again. She stood and said, “Well if I’ve failed, I’ve failed; I’ll just go now.”
“No you haven’t; it looks like someone from the resistance has been at work; you don’t know anyone in the mutual impedance society?”

This work was recently published and is available for Kindle, including Kindle unlimited. It is a dark, noir detective story set in the near future, after machines have become intelligent. It uses a number of engineering/science puns – the “mutual impedance society.” 
Available here.

After the convergence  #1 8-10 sentences for #WeWriWa

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors. This is my first posting. This is a sample from my latest work, and I hope you enjoy it.


“There’s this man, my boyfriend, I want him followed.”
“Stalking’s illegal,” I said, “Unless you need information, but why not ask?”
“The machine? No thanks. Anyway he’s a geek, a real hacker. Knows his way around the net.” She paused, “and outside of it.”


I wondered if we were meeting with a member of the mutual impedance society. In which case, Paul and I were in for a few days of intense questioning. That is if we were innocent. 

This work was recently published and is available for Kindle, including Kindle unlimited. It is a dark, noir detective story set in the near future, after machines have become intelligent. It uses a number of engineering/science puns – the “mutual impedance society.” 
Available here.