(blurbs) The Birka Chronicles

[vg_ford]

What would you do if you woke up one morning to discover that you'd become a person who only existed in your mind? A person who merrily lived a life of danger and intrigue - exciting when you've written about it, daydreamed about it, but that's it. Would you embrace it? Run screaming? Curl up in bed with the covers over your head and hope to God it goes away?

Cassie Stevens goes to the annual Birka event intending to drink, hang with her friends, shop, fence a little and generally have a good time at one of her favorite SCA events. What she does not intend to do is wake up from a night of carousing to find out that she's actually become Captain Cassandra Hobbes, pirate captain to the oddest crew of ragamuffins to ever roam the spaceways. Nor did she intend to deal with the local constabulary when one of the locals ends up dead, and all fingers point to one of her crew. Top it off with a spacefaring three-masted schooner and a planet on the verge of war, and you have a volatile situation.

To put it mildly.

At least she's got rum. And a band of assorted nuts that she sort of recognizes to help her find the real killer and get back to her own dimension. There's just one more problem.

She's not sure she wants to go back.

***

This will be the serial I'm working on for Carved In Granite, starting in February. I will also be running the episodes here on the blog. If you'd like to subscribe, leave me a note in the comments. Feel free to spread this to other SCA journals/blogs as well - I'm going to be giving this away as a freebie.

Comments

[aulus-poliutos.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun.

I sometimes wonder if, in case time travelling were possible, I would really want to go and have a look at the Varus battle.

Maybe on the German side. :)

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm hoping it will be fun. We'll see.

Of course, knowing my luck, I'll try for fun and lighthearted and end up with a massive body count and tragedy. :p

[aulus-poliutos.livejournal.com]

But massive body counts are fun, too. :)

[camilla-anna.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a fun story, Val. I look forward to reading it.

But that said...

Should it really be in Carved in Granite? That's an official publication, and this isn't really SCA related or period. (Space pirates?) Maybe you should publish it on the unofficial Stonemarche website, not in Carved in Granite.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

It got requested by the Chronicler. :p Actually, let me clarify.

I got a request to write a story for CiG from the chronicler. I replied and let him know that I really don't write period stories, but I was playing around with an idea involving a parallel universe where Stonemarche was a planet and hosted a two-week intergalatic festival and stuff like that, and he came back with "Great! Can we serialize it?" :)

So yeah, it's going in CiG. :p

[shade53.livejournal.com]

This sounds wicked interesting!

~S

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[hakerh.livejournal.com]

Hm. That sounds like a really fun story for your LJ, but I gotta echo Anna's question about being suitable for publication as an official SCA document.

This isn't a case of me being against pirates - if you wrote some fantasy about pirates in an "SCA" context, that would be neat. But pirates in space is that extra point of weirdness (to use the heraldry term), you know? I would like to read it; it does look fun. But perhaps a better place would be links off the Stonemarche Yahoo group?

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Like I said to Anna, this was a requested story. I'm just sending it in to him (he's already aware of what it is), and he can choose not to publish it if he wants. But I've made him very aware that this is not a "period" story, in any way, shape or form.

I think his interest in it is that there is going to be a lot of Stonemarche in it - many of the characters are based on the current inhabitants of the barony, and the world itself is a reflection of our SCA world. It's sort of like Alice in Wonderland, SCA-style.

If that makes sense. ;)

[time-testudinem.livejournal.com]

I am looking forward to reading that. Umm, Am I on this crew? It seems to me that Lady Julian would be at home being propper and running the household (very well thank you) while her scallywag of a musician hunband runs about with pirates. She is so much more upper class and, well womanly, than I will ever be.

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Hehe - we can arrange that. ;)

[caitlindancer.livejournal.com]

LOL!! Is he aware you're looking at it like this?? :P

Re: OOOH

[vg-ford.livejournal.com]

Okay. :)

[elfmagics.livejournal.com]

Sounds great and yeah, if you're looking for crazy members of the crew add a young girl ready to get out there and fight but doesn't want to do anything to scare off her loving fiance who is a bit of a rouge but lovable. lol

[evulkoneko.livejournal.com]

Oooh ooh! Me me! You hooked me. :D

[suelder.livejournal.com]

Yes, please. I should like to read this Captain. :)

Suelder

[caitlindancer.livejournal.com]

Gotta laugh!

[snitchcat.livejournal.com]

About time! Captain Hobbes arrives. (^_^) Yes, please. Sign me up.

Thank-ee! (^_^)