I contributed the novella “Probationary” to this volume, featuring an alternate history version of the Falklands conflict told from the perspective of a rookie British ace, Rory Campbell a.k.a. “Archimedes”. (It’s a war story, so there are lots of battle scenes.)
The other stories in KNAVES OVER QUEENS were written by Paul Cornell, Mark Lawrence, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Emma Newman, Peter Newman, Peadar Ó Guilín, Melinda Snodgrass, Caroline Spector, and Charles Stross. It’s a stand-alone volume full of British-centric stories, and while it helps to know the Wild Cards universe, you don’t need to have read all the books in the series to make sense of this one.
Then suddenly Merry felt it at last, beyond doubt: a change. Wind was in his face! Light was glimmering….But at that same moment there was a flash, as if lightning had sprung from the earth beneath the City. For a searing second it stood dazzling far off in black and white, its topmost tower like a glittering needle: and then as the darkness closed again there came rolling over the fields a great boom.At that sound the bent shape of the king sprang suddenly erect. Tall and proud he seemed again; and rising in his stirrups he cried in a loud voice, more clear than any there had ever heard a mortal man achieve before:
Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
With that he seized a great horn from Guthláf his banner-bearer, and he blew such a blast upon it that it burst asunder. And straightway all the horns in the host were lifted up in music, and the blowing of the horns of Rohan in that hour was like a storm upon the plain and a thunder in the mountains. Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of the first éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken. Fey he seemed, or the battle-fury of his fathers ran like new fire in his veins, and he was borne up on Snowmane like a god of old, even as Oromë the Great in the battle of the Valar when the world was young. His golden shield was uncovered, and lo! it shone like an image of the Sun, and the grass flamed into green about the white feet of his steed. For morning came, morning and a wind from the sea; and the darkness was removed, and the hosts of Mordor wailed, and terror took them, and they fled, and died, and the hoofs of wrath rode over them. And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was on them, and the sound of their singing that was fair and terrible came even to the City.
This is half a mile from our house. I go for a stroll down there quite often and set up a little folding outdoor chair to write in the fresh air (and away from WiFi/LTE.)
Other people pay money to come here on vacation, and we get to have this any time we want. I won’t get to see many of my friends and family in person this year, but if you have to stay socially distant, this place is far from the worst for that.
It seems that it’s July already, which means that 2020 is officially halfway over. Let’s hope that the first half of the year wasn’t just a warm-up.
Things are going pretty okay here at the Castle Frostbite Magic Novel Factory. We are still doing the social distancing thing and have been keeping to ourselves since March, and from the encouraging COVID-19 numbers for NH, the vast majority of New Hampshirites (yes, that’s the official term) have done the same. I go out once a week for groceries, we wear masks in public, and playdates/hang-outs with friends are still a no-go. International travel will not be a thing for us in the foreseeable future, which means I won’t be able to see my German family and friends in person this year. But that’s why we have Zoom and Skype and WhatsApp, and those are cheaper than airplane tickets anyway.
I do find it a little harder to concentrate on the work due to all the background anxiety from COVID-19 and the general political situation, but like a smart person once said–the difference between an amateur and a professional is that the pro shows up for work every day regardless of mood. I am on schedule to turn in CITADEL, the third novel in the Palladium Wars series, by the end of July. Then I have a Wild Cards and a Frontlines novelette on my calendar for August and September, and the last three months of this year are blocked off for writing Frontlines #8, to be delivered at the end of December. (I can’t give you a release date for that because I haven’t even started it yet, but if I turn it in on time, I am guessing it will be an end-of-year release for 2021.)
Last month marked the one-year anniversary of my ditching of social media, and I can honestly say that it has been a massive improvement for my productivity and my overall mental state. I can’t even imagine the anxiety levels I’d feel if I still spent a good part of my day cycling through the noise on Twitter and Facebook.
That’s what’s going on here at the Castle—work, work, work, and keeping my head above water in this dumpster fire of a year. Hope you’re all staying safe and sane out there. Wear your masks, keep your distance, and be kind to each other, because there’s more than enough angry noise out there already.
