Rewriting the Rules is the final novelette of Revin’s Heart, my steampunky fantasy adventure with pirates and airships and a trans protagonist, available on June 23 from Water Dragon Publishing. In the series, there are seven novelettes in total that clock in at about 62,000 words. People have asked me why I wrote it as a series of novelettes rather than simply publishing it as a novel.
The boundaries between different story lengths are debatable. But generally Flash is considered less than 1000 words, Short Stories run up to around 8000 words, Novelettes are below 20,000 words, and Novels are 50,000 words and above. And Novellas fit uncomfortably in between Novelettes and Novels.
To be honest, I don’t set out to write a story of any particular length. I usually begin with a character or characters. Or a setting. When I first started writing, I tended to “pants” everything and just start writing to see what happened. Now, I outline obsessively and, even if I often deviate or stray, I generally have a pretty good idea of where a story is going to go when I start writing. But length doesn’t really play into my decision making: I just write stories the length they need to be.
What I originally wrote was just a short story. But as an inexperienced author, I wasn’t good at writing short stories and many of my early works were really more like the first chapter of a novel. So it was with the earliest versions of The Third Time’s the Charm that clocked in at about 5000 words. I thought it was exciting and raised a whole lot of interesting ideas related to the larger story I wanted to tell, but readers told me didn’t really have a satisfying resolution. As I gained experience as a writer, I did a revision that added a few thousand words and overlaid a single-coherent story arc that had a satisfying payoff. But the larger story was still there.
When my story was selected by Water Dragon Publishing, I had a conversation with the editor about getting serialized to write more novelettes that would tell this larger story. He was, very reasonably, somewhat skeptical. I was a new, untried author. And serialization is much less common than it once was.
In the past, many stories were originally published as serials. Most of Dickens’ works were published serially, as was The Three Musketeers. But, more recently, it’s become rare to find serial story-telling. At least in the US for fiction. (With some notable exceptions, like Kindle Vella.) In some places, like Japanese manga, you see it all the time. In fact, I suspect my storytelling has been highly influenced by reading manga and that this was part of what drove my interest.
I wrote the second one, For the Favor of a Lady, and after reviewing it, the editor was persuaded and offered me a deal to write more novelettes, to be released about 4 months apart. When we began, I wasn’t sure how many novelettes it would take to tell the story. But, I was energized and over just a few months, I wrote 5 more novelettes, culminating with Rewriting the Rules, and wrapped up all of the loose threads in a very satisfactory bow.
This is not to say that there is no more story to tell. Along the way, I identified three more side-stories that I wanted to tell: how the pirate captain and his first mate meet and fall in love, how the pirate captain had known his first mate’s father many years before, and, finally, I wanted to tell the story of Revin’s transition. These stories will be included when the collected novelettes are all published together next winter.
Furthermore, I have two more novellas in preparation that tell of the events that happen after Revin’s Heart. And more ideas for more stories after. I hope you enjoy Revin’s story and follow along with his adventures.
When peace is no longer possible, one must either go to war or run away.
Abandoned by the nobility, everything goes wrong for Revin and he makes a run for it, ready to give up all hope. But when confronted with the choice he must make, will his heart lead him true?
Warnings: violence.
About the Series
Revin, a young man from a poor mining town, has pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become the student apprentice of a law professor. But then, everything goes wrong: their airship is captured by pirates and Revin loses his mentor. Born female, Revin must make his way in a world oriented toward men while he struggles with his own identity.
Set against the backdrop of a war between island nations, Revin must navigate a world divided between the aristocracy and the common people. And, as a promising young man, he must choose whom to align himself with — and to serve. But what does Revin’s Heart say?
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The Queen of Belleriand approached the coast of Havelock in the pre-dawn hours at a high altitude and then turned to skirt the coast. Grip cranked down the ramp while Will helped Revin strap himself into the glider.
“Unassisted, you should have no problem reaching the coast,” Will said. “But even a small towline will probably be enough to keep you aloft until the city.”
“And you’ll be ready?” Revin asked.
“As soon as the Baron launches the assault, we will watch for your signal.”
With this assurance, Will gave Revin a pat on the shoulder and helped him out onto the ramp. Revin had worn two extra shirts for some extra insulation, but was still shivering, though not entirely from the cold. He was familiar with heights having been on airships many times. But jumping off of them was something else altogether. He pulled out the monocle he had gotten from Will and fixed it over his eye. Then, taking a deep breath, he took a running start and leapt off the ramp into open air.
At first, he panicked when it felt like he was going straight down. He struggled to get his feet up into the supports, heart racing. But once he’d picked up a little speed, he felt the glider start to gain lift and the dive flattened out into a long glide.
With the monocle, he studied the etheric flows and made an attachment to a strong flow going the right direction. He felt the glider pick up speed and it actually started to climb! He grew increasingly confident as he overflew the coast.
He had chosen to approach the city from the East, to stay well clear of the aerodrome, but it meant approaching the city from an unfamiliar direction. He strained his eyes trying to look for familiar landmarks and trying to spot Lidja’s apartment building. He was practically straight above it when he finally recognized it. He panicked for a moment feeling like he’d missed his chance. But then he just cut the towline and began turning lazy circles, dumping altitude, until he was just above the rooftops.
The building with Lidja’s apartment had a mansard roof and looked forbidding to land on. But the adjacent building had a large, long flat roof. Revin lined himself up, then realized, with the wind behind him, he was going too fast and would overshoot the building. In a panic, with the roof of Lidja’s apartment rushing at him, he found another etheric stream, and made the biggest towline he could. He squeezed his eyes shut as he started to climb and just barely cleared the roof. He climbed for a few minutes, then cut the line and looped back for another try. Heading into the wind this time, he lined up well in advance of the roof and judged the height better. As he cleared Lydia’s roof, he dropped his feet out of the supports and touched down at a run. He almost lost his balance and nearly tumbled, but just managed to stay on his feet and bring the glider to a stop. He had never wanted to kiss the ground more.
After he unstrapped himself, he ran to the edge of the building and, looking down a few feet, identified the window of Lidja’s bedroom. He pulled a few copper bits out of his pocket and threw one against her window. And then another and another, until he saw she was opening the window to look out and see what was going on. She looked up and caught sight of Revin and her face broke into a huge smile.
“Revin!” she squealed. “What are you doing here?”
“May I come in?”
“Yes, of course!”
Revin sprang across the narrow gap between the buildings and scrambled over to the window and climbed inside. Lidja seized him in a hug and pulled him down onto the bed.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” she said, kissing his face over and over. “I’ve missed you so much! But, look at you! What happened to you?”
She put hands on both sides of his face and looked at his black eye and bruises that were finally starting to fade. She kissed his eyes very gently.
“I’m here,” Revin said. “And that’s all that matters. What’s been happening here?”
“Oh, it’s really bad, Revin,” Lidja said. “There are soldiers everywhere now. They’re stopping everyone and searching everything.”
“Are you still driving the coach for the Seneschal?” Revin asked.
“No,” Lidja said sadly. “They said that until the crisis is over I should stay home.”
“It just means I’ll have you all to myself,” Revin said. Lidja hugged him even tighter and then kissed him on his mouth when he tried to say something else.
“But there is something I want to do,” he said, when Lidja finally came up for air.
“Mmmmm,” Lidja said, giving him little kisses on his neck and throat and working her way lower.
“And it’s dangerous,” he continued as she began to unbutton his shirts.
“Mm-hmm,” she said, reaching around to unhook his chest binding.
“And I’ll need your help,” he said.
“Mm-hmm,” she agreed as she kissed him on his chest and belly.
“I’m not sure you’re taking this seriously,” Revin said.
“Hmm,” she said, loosening his trousers and working her way even lower.
Revin closed his eyes, leaned back, and gave himself over to her completely.
Steven D. Brewer has been a fan of science fiction and fantasy stories for as long as he can remember. He still remembers getting scolded for not reading chapter books in fourth grade because he was avidly consuming the Hobbit, late at night, by flashlight under his covers. And he probably got his copy from his older brother and most important mentor.
As an author, Brewer identifies diverse obsessions that underlie his writing. His early interest in natural history, life science, and environmentalism he learned from his father, an ecologist and ornithologist. He attributes seeing his mother study German for his abiding passion for languages that led him to major in Spanish (as well as Biology) and subsequently learn Esperanto and use it for international correspondence and travel. His fascination with Japanese culture grew from writing haiku and haibun in Esperanto. And his mania for information technology and the Internet led him back to graduate school where he earned a Masters in Earth Science and a PhD in Science Education.
His scattered interests led to an eclectic employment history. He did farm work and food service growing up in southwest Michigan. He has worked as a large-animal caretaker, an archeological faunal analyst, a hunter of the fastest lizards in the world, a gas-station attendant, a bilingual teacher’s aide for a migrant-worker education program, and an edutainer with live animals and a portable planetarium. For the past quarter century he has served as a non-tenure-system faculty member in higher education.
Brewer currently teaches scientific writing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with his extended family.
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