What started out as an experiment turned into a bit of a nightmare. My hope was to update and re-release In the Wake of Newton as a Kindle Vella. It seemed pretty straightforward after releasing several books on Amazon.
However, having already released the book on a limited release basis four years ago meant that I could not release it as a Kindle Vella. No matter how many times I tried to force it through. I even tried changing the title to no avail.
The one positive out of my first endeavor with Kindle Vella is that I like the new title Michaelmas. So I have kept the title and released the story as an ebook.
When I first sat down to write this tale it was part of a writing course through Writer's Digest back in 2010. The instructor asked us to come up with a story based on a holiday. I was in a very English mood back then and settled on Michaelmas because of its similarity to Thanksgiving.
Years later, when I was rewriting Garage Sale I wanted to come up with an origin story for all the madness in that omnibus of horror. Sir Isaac Newton was the perfect character out of history to focus on. He was not only a brilliant mathematician and scientist, but he was also a secret alchemist.
Back then, he had to keep this information under wraps because the Church of England considered the practice heretical in the vein of witchcraft. To have that information come out would have jeopardized his career.
He lived at the perfect time for my purposes. It was the end of the time of superstition and the beginning of the Age of Reason. What better time to place the origin of all the mysterious objects we find at the Garage Sale.
Michaelmas was and still is for some the celebration of the change of seasons. Goose Day as it was called by some. A holiday not unlike Thanksgiving in the states in some regards.
The day was meant to honor the Archangels who cast Lucifer out of heaven and into a bramble of blackberries. Not only was it a day of celebration but also a day when taxes were due. So it was not a day of celebration for some.
The story is set after Newton had passed away. I debated whether to have Newton in the story but felt it added more mystery to have him recently deceased with the other characters discovering what he had been up to with his practice of Alchemy. Something that was still considered heretical at the time of his passing.
So these learned men are brought in to investigate the behavior of Newton's heir. Their curiosity for the great man brought them in the middle of the night to Newton's childhood home. The place with the infamous apple tree and where Newton made most of his world-changing discoveries during the plague years of 1666 and 1667.
The thought that he had made more mysterious discoveries that he could not share with anyone for fear of his persecution was intoxicating to me. What other discoveries might he have made? Why the items we see at the Garage Sale of course. Each imbued with the mysteries Newton discovered using Mathematics, Optics, Science, and the dark arts of Alchemy.
Head on over to Amazon or any of the other places you buy your books and check it out.
