It’s Abigail Lane’s turn in “At the Burning Dog,” chapter 14 of The Dragon Lady of Stockbridge. See how a professional government magician conducts an investigation. Abigail goes “by the book” because she wrote much of it. But will it be enough to keep her safe in her undercover assignment?
I just got word the other day that one of my previous blog posts, “Beyond fan fiction, a personal account,” has been selected as worthy of a broader readership and will be “Freshly Pressed” on WordPress.com’s home page in a day or two. Hooray! Considering people used to joke that I thought in semicolons, I guess my writing style has improved. Either that, or it was the embedded YouTube link to the introductory theme for the old TV series The Green Hornet; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” gets them every time!
So, for first time visitors to this blog, here’s the scoop. This is a blog about writing and reading about “magic and mystery,” as the blog’s title says.
Every Friday I post a new bit of writing, and add a blog entry to announce it. Currently I’m posting chapters for The Dragon Lady of Stockbridge: A Tale of Magic in the Gilded Age. If you want to start at the beginning, here’s a link to chapter 1. All the chapters are linked forward and backward, there’s a table of contents, and you can always use the link that’s part of the header at the top of the page. I put this out there for people to read, so I appreciate comments, and will try to respond intelligently.
Every Monday or Tuesday, I put up another post. Some have been on the background of Dragon Lady, while others are more general. I even did a book review . . . for a book written in 1890! Maybe I need to be more timely. I don’t have a fixed agenda for these posts, save that they relate to the general purpose of this blog.
There are some other odds and ends here on the blog. You can go to my “About” page for a description of them, an explanation for how this blog came to be, and a one-sentence autobiography.
I hope you find posts and pages worth reading, that they provide enjoyment, and stimulate interesting thoughts you’ll share with me.
Sillyverse 
Congratulations, Brian! I enjoyed your “Beyond fan fiction” post very much, and I hope it introduces a lot of new readers to the Dragon Lady and your writing in general! Looking forward to reading chapter 14…
Thanks, Russell. Russell’s been one of my steady readers and commenters, so a shout- out for his story-in-progress, “Edward & Amelia vs the Vampire King,” is in order. It’s a different kind of magic, a different kind of story, and worth a look here: http://thewilderlands.wordpress.com/chapter-one-a-strange-saturday/
Thanks very much for the kind words and the link, Brian. May we promote each other to fame and fortune!
I love the fact that you are so willing to freely post your work on the internet like this. I am incredibly nervous about revealing my work to the world. How on earth do you do it?
Trial runs, Henry, trial runs.
I wrote over 150 pages of the first “Sillyverse” story before showing it to anyone. It was on what I called draft 5 by that time. I didn’t actually finish the story until draft 7. And no, it’s not perfect. I let a few friends read it. They liked it. But I know it needs work still.
Maybe that’s one of the turning points: when you understand writing well enough that you can take criticism and understand what’s valid and what’s not, when you can put down that great piece you wrote one day, pick it up a week later, realize it’s flawed, and NOT get upset, but just figure out how you’ll eventually improve it.
That’s probably as good a time as any to show your work, in my not-very-humble opinion.
How did you get interested in doing a book review for a book written in 1890?
I started a tradition last year of digging up a “moldy oldy” story of the supernatural to read on Halloween. Figured since I was reading it, I’d write about it here. I picked an author some of whose work I had already read.
The explanation in more detail is here: https://sillyverse.com/2012/10/29/the-2nd-annual-halloween-read/
The actual review is here: https://sillyverse.com/2012/11/05/review-crawfords-the-witch-of-prague-1890/
How awesome and exciting! Thanks for sharing. http://www.segmation.wordpress.com
I’m enjoying your DLS series, and congrats on the impending “Freshly Pressed” status!
The post went live on “Freshly Pressed” around noon today, and I’ve been watching a record number of hits and comments on my blog today. But it’s good to see the “old team,” if I may call you a member of that, showing up, too. Thanks on both counts!
Oh, nice! Haha I’d be glad to be a member 🙂
LOL, I commented on the freshly pressed article….you are having so much fun..looks like. It is nice; congrats!!
Thank you. I am most definitely having fun, as you’ve seen going between my blog entries. It helps that I’ve usually managed to stay 2-3 chapters ahead in composing “Dragon Lady” before posting it; makes writing it more of a pleasure because there’s less time pressure.
I’ve only now begun reading the first chapter of ‘The Dragon Lady of Stockbridge’ and I’m already strongly drawn in.
I may just be your newest fan!
As of this moment, literally true!
Welcome on board, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.