Uncle Jim: Blog

I am planning on starting a new series next Friday the 16th of August.

The story will be entitled "Broken Witch" and it will be Book One in the Ley Line Witch series. The start date is dependent on editing, but I expect to be able to start then.

Keep Well,
uncle jim

I received a number of corrections from a friendly reader for this story, and will be reposting a number of chapters with the corrections. I started with chapters 1, 2, and 4 today. They will be available shortly.

Keep Well,
uncle jim

The new chapters have been sent to the Moderators for posting.

This week's final chapters open with midterms and Spring Break. The Semester ends in late May, and Will, Mare, and Nick work for Ski at the space port for a week or so. With eight days off following that, Will convinces Mare to visit some of the free attractions in Denver. The rock miners also go with them.

At the start of the Fall Semester, Will is worried about how Mare will react to the Explosives Engineering class. He is surprised that she is so interested in it. There is a practical exercise part way through the class. Mare and the rock miners handle most of the dangerous work for the exercise.

November and Thanksgiving find them back at the space port as do Christmas and New Year.

The spring Semester has a trip to an underground mine in the Leadville mining district. They are down in the mine when there is an earthquake, trapping them. Mare immediately assumes control. They eventually make their way back to the surface when there is another collapse in the mine.

Professor Berritt, their old Geology Professor, refuses to go anywhere with Mare again, as there hadn't been an earthquake on the Pendery Fault in 39 million years until that day.

On the trip back to school, Mare has a problem because of a mine collapse she had been in on Telchines. Will takes care of her then and all of that night.

They graduate after the final short Summer Semester. It takes four weeks for them to reach Telchines. Mare has concerns because of the low levels available of the ship's exercise equipment.

Will visits Telchines with Mare, but quickly discover that it was a poor decision. Mare stays with him until he returns to the space station. It isn't until he is boarding his ship to Vespa II, that Will realizes that he will never see Mare again.

Arriving on Vespa II, Will realizes that those there have not changed, but that he has, thanks to Marianne. He vows to not accept what those in his family may choose for him, but to find a mate he can love, one who is strong and caring.

Writing these final two chapters was a challenge. While I was familiar with Military Explosives, having been in the Engineers and having taught Military Explosives, those used by civilians are considerably different. This required considerable research. The mine part of the final chapter also required a lot of research, as I have no experience with underground mining.

The final part of the story seemed to write itself, but I liked the way it ended. I hope you have enjoyed Marianne, and will consider looking at some of my other stories. I have several new stories in progress, but none of them are ready to appear at this time.

Keep Well,
uncle jim

The new chapters have been sent to the Moderators for posting.

This week's chapters open with Thorn, Ralph, and Mare going back outside to replace the last thruster. It gives them some trouble.

Later, back inside, Mare gets some sleep, while the rock miners get the ship back on course. On awakening later, she receives a big meal from their geogology professor, who is also a cook.

They eventually reach Terra Station and return to school, but are pestered by reporters anxious for a story. Two weeks after returning, members of the Power Lifters Association arrive at the gym. They doubt the claims they saw in a news video that Mare was lifting 800 pounds. They learn differently.

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, both Will and Mare work for Ski at the space port again.

The Spring Semester is boring until they leave for a trip to an open pit mine in February. The trip to the mine covers the remainder of chapter 7. Mare and the rock miners have a problem with being outside all day.

Chapter 8 opens after lunch with their inspection of the on site crushers and the conveyor system that moves the crushed material to the processing plant.

They spend the night at their hotel, but Mare has a real problem with all of the open space. So do the rock miners.

While looking for the exercise room the following morning, Mare and Will help move a large broken garbage bin out of the hotel. It isn't something Mare can't handle.

The remainder of that day is spent touring the concentration site, the smelter, and the refining plant to see how the raw ore is processed to remove and refine the copper and other elements in it.

Enjoy these chapters. Next week, the final chapters and the surprising ending.

Keep Well,
uncle jim

The new chapters have been sent to the Moderators for posting.

This week's chapters open in the middle of summer break. Will takes Mare to the school pool in early June. She is not enthusiastic about lying out in the sun, as it isn't done on Telchines. Will persuades her to try swimming, but that doesn't turn out well, even with Nick's help.

Mare is very interested in their Geology classes and has a question for their Professor. This again leads to some interesting happenings. She and Will meet with several of their professors later who have a proposition for her. Mare finally agrees to collect samples for them when she returns to Telchines.

Between the summer and fall semesters there is a trip planned by the school to the asteroids, so the students can learn first hand about rock mining. During the space suit inspection, the rock miners led by Thorn insist on a thorough and complete inspection. Later they help the other students move around with out gravity.

Trouble arises a few hours into the return trip after visiting the asteroid mines when the ship ceases to function. At a meeting, the rock miners reveal just how bad the problem is. Among the several problems found, the most pressing is the broken thrusters. Following calming the students, Thorn, Ralph and Mare go outside the ship in their space suits to deal with the broken thrusters and move a couple to obtain even thrust for the rest of the return trip. Mare has some trouble adapting but is able to help in moving the two thrusters to their new positions.

On returning inside, they learn that things are better but not great, as there are still problems. They eventually arrest the Captain of the ship and convince the crew to surrender. They aren't finished yet though, as there is still one more thruster to be moved, and a hidden fuel tank to be located.

Enjoy these two chapters; more next week.

Again, thanks to all of the readers who voted for Maureen in the Clitoride Awards. The story finished Second in the Best Erotic Fantasy Category. Also a big thanks to my Editors for their help with that stories and all of the others.

Keep Well,
uncle jim