Previous instalments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 “Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” Silversmith kicked off a centrifuge to retrieve a bung that had floated out of a Buchner flask. Henkel floated in the doorway, looking bemused. He…
Monthly Archives: October 2016
Under the Hooked Cross – 9: Chemistry
Tagged with: Alternate history, science fiction, short story, Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
The Way it Was
Belinda put the handbrake on and turned to her father. “How does it feel to come back here?” Her father said nothing for a while. He sat and looked at the cottage she knew he’d left fifty years ago and…
Inspirations: A world of villainy
Actor Toby Jones narrated an hour-long podcast investigating the fictional villain. Villainous archetypes may be diluted over time in a ‘cycle of adjustment’. The performance of a particular actor may redefine a villain. A villain may be acting out a…
Under the Hooked Cross – 8: Beerkellar
Previous instalments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Henkel lingered for a moment, but Silversmith said no more. Henkel pulled himself out of the octagon and Silversmith allowed tension to ebb away. Could he remember a time when it…
Tagged with: Alternate history, science fiction, short story, Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
Team Leader
If a smile could win over an audience, our manager would not have needed to say a word. No such luck. “Good morning and I hope you’ve had a good weekend,” he said in a tone that conveyed no concern…
Non-fiction Review: The Trigger by Tim Butcher
Sarajevo, 28th June 1914: a bullet passed through the jugular vein of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the empire of Austria-Hungary. A second bullet struck his wife, Duchess Sophie of Hoehnberg. She fell into his lap. He…
Tagged with: Balkans War, First World War, Gavrilo Princip, History, The Trigger, Tim Butcher, Travel, World War One
Posted in Book review: non-fiction, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Book review: non-fiction, Wednesday Pontification
Under the Hooked Cross – 7: Henkel
Previous instalments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Henkel’s face was still pale, but Silversmith saw a brightness in his eyes that could have been excitement or welling tears. Henkel’s gaze turned away from the Reich and toward the pod…
Tagged with: Alternate history, science fiction, short story, Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
Veterans
“She’s a beauty.” I pointed at the tug. “She’s filthy,” said Elizabeth. “She’s all black. She looks as if she’s wearing a gown of her own smoke.” My sister was two years older than me and when she didn’t have…
Tagged with: Flash fiction, historical fiction, HMS Temeraire, JMW Turner, Microfiction, The Fighting Temeraire, Victorian
Posted in Saturday Hooptedoodle
Posted in Saturday Hooptedoodle
The but balance of critiquing
Most critiques take the format of positive-but-negative. Most critiquers make sure they include positive points even if they can’t find any. Different writers will give different amounts of attention to the positive and the negative. The writers that pays most…
Under the Hooked Cross – 6: Dublin and Jerusalem
Previous instalments: 1 2 3 4 5 Silversmith found his gaze drawn to a corner of the Mediterranean where sea met desert. A memory of his father’s voice echoed in his mind. May my tongue cleave the roof of my…
Tagged with: Alternate history, science fiction, short story, Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
Posted in Under the Hooked Cross
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