Grantville Gazette, Volume 67 Read online

  Table of Contents

  The Story So Far…by Walt Boyes

  Minicon at Fencon by Joy Ward

  Death by Makeup by Terry Howard

  Overflow: A Hair Club 250 Story by Terry Howard

  It's the Little Things by Nick Lorance

  The Monster Society: Snowbound by Eric S. Brown and A. G. Carpenter

  The Winter Canvas: A Daniel Block Story by Meriah Crawford and Robert Waters

  Etude, Part 1 by David Carrico

  About the Faces on the Cutting Room Floor, Number Five: The Word According to Whom? by Charles E. Gannon

  Hungary and Transylvania, Part I by Gábor Szántai

  Life at Sea in the Old and New Timelines, Part 3: Shipboard Lighting and Fire Prevention by Iver Cooper

  Notes from The Buffer Zone: Women of Futures Past by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  This Issue’s Cover – 67 by Garrett W. Vance

  Grantville Gazette, Volume 67

  Editor-in-Chief ~ Walt Boyes

  Managing Editor ~ Bjorn Hasseler

  Grantville Gazette, Volume 67

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this magazine are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by Grantville Gazette

  A 1632, Inc. Publication

  Grantville Gazette

  P. O. Box 7488

  Moore, OK 73153-1488

  Grantville Gazette, Volume 67, 1 September 2016

  Table of Contents:

  Read Me First:

  The Story So Far…by Walt Boyes

  Minicon at Fencon by Joy Ward

  Fiction:

  Death by Makeup by Terry Howard

  Overflow: A Hair Club 250 Story by Terry Howard

  It's the Little Things by Nick Lorance

  The Monster Society: Snowbound by Eric S. Brown and A. G. Carpenter

  The Winter Canvas: A Daniel Block Story by Meriah Crawford and Robert Waters

  Continuing Serials:

  Etude, Part 1 by David Carrico

  Nonfiction:

  About the Faces on the Cutting Room Floor, Number Five: The Word According to Whom? by Charles E. Gannon

  Hungary and Transylvania, Part I by Gábor Szántai

  Life at Sea in the Old and New Timelines, Part 3: Shipboard Lighting and Fire Prevention

  Columns:

  Notes from The Buffer Zone: Women of Futures Past by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  This Issue's Cover—66 by Garrett W. Vance

  The Story So Far…by Walt Boyes

  Welcome once again to the seventeenth century, and the Ring of Fire Universe. In the time since 3500 people and their town of Grantville appeared in Thuringia about halfway through the Thirty Years War, the technology, and most of all, the attitudes, philosophies, and existence of this town from the future have had a terrific effect on the world, even for those who have never ever met an up-timer.

  As always, the Grantville Gazette brings you a varied slice of lives this month. In “Death by Makeup,” Terry Howard shows how even the understanding of the dangers of using lead-based makeup can change lives and make them better and longer—while making the Hair Club 250 some serious money. And in “Overflow,” Terry shows another side of Club 250 as the Thuringian Gardens hires the Club for an overflow event, with chaos ensuing.

  And in “It’s the Little Things,” Nick Lorance gives us the love affair between Sergeant Hartmann and Marta Karcher. Love is made up of little things, many little things, that amount to a set of lives shared.

  Eric S. Brown and Anna Carpenter give us another Monster Society installment. This time, the Society runs up against something big and white and living in a cave. Yeti? Maybe.

  In “The Winter Canvas,” Meriah Crawford and Robert Waters give us the further tribulations of one Daniel Block, artist. Will Block’s stubborn temper get the better of him again?

  In our serials, we bring you “Etude, Part One” by David Carrico and in our nonfiction section, we have another look behind the curtain at Chuck Gannon’s novel writing for Papal Stakes, and our column by Kristine Katherine Rusch.

  We also bring you part three of “Life at Sea” by Iver Cooper. Did you ever wonder what life on a sailing ship was like? Here’s what it looked like, tasted like, and smelled like. It is not a life most of us would choose, but it is the life that made the Age of Discovery possible.

  Last, but certainly not least, we bring you “Hungary and Transylvania, Part One” by Szántai Gábor. Gábor (his first name) is a new author in the 1632 Universe and is from Hungary. He thought we should know about Eastern Europe in the time of the Ring of Fire, so he gave us a great nonfiction article.

  Nothing from the Annex or the Time Spike universe this issue, but hold onto your hats-- some great stuff is coming soon, like in the next issue.

  Enjoy your trip into the world of the Ring of Fire. Remember to buckle your seat belts, and keep your hands and legs inside the ride!

  Minicon at Fencon by Joy Ward

  Are you only living in 2016 because you missed the Ring of Fire? Do you wish you could use up-time info to devise cool, weird tech? Do you really want to sell some Barbie dolls in Vienna?

  Sounds like you need a Ring of Fire fix!

  No better place than FenCon in Dallas, September 23-25, 2016. Many of your favorite RoF writers, fun 1632-based panels and the biggest ever chocolate tasting! Strut your 1632 cosplay! Learn how to become a 1632 writer! Be one of the first to hear upcoming plot twists and hear about the new books from Eric Flint's Ring of Fire Press! Form a team to win the first ever Ring of Fire Trivia Contest with a real prize!

  Authors attending the Minicon include Eric Flint, Walter Hunt, Virginia DeMarce, David Carrico, Iver Cooper, Walt Boyes, Joy Ward, Kevin and Karen Evans, Bjorn Hasseler, and many more.

  We have some great panels this year.

  As always, we present the weirdest tech around. Rick Boatright, Walt Boyes, and Kevin Evans talk about the strange trips technology is taking in the 1632 Universe.

  Writing for 1632: Walt Boyes, Joy Ward, David Carrico, and Bjorn Hasseler teach a short master class in writing for the Grantville Gazette—a professional SFWA venue paying professional rates.

  Virginia DeMarce will present her Sexuality in the Seventeenth Century panel

  David Carrico will show and tell how music is likely to change in the 1632 Universe.

  Dance master Iver Cooper will talk about how dance will evolve in the 1632 Universe.

  We will be introducing the New Improved Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire Press with new titles and new authors.

  Of course we will be Snerking the Plots.

  And in the evening, we will have a 1632-style chocolate tasting with a 1632 trivia contest, so bring your tastebuds and your memory!

  We will also offer a prize for the best 1632-inspired costume at Snerking the Plots, so get your seventeenth-century duds on and shine!

  Bring your books for autographs, bring yourselves for fun in the 1632 Universe!

  And we are already hard at work on the 2017 Minicon, which will be co-located with Balticon 51 in Baltimore over Memorial Day Weekend. This is a Four-Day con, and the 1632 Minicon will be offering FOUR WHOLE DAYS OF PROGRAMMING, JUST FOR YOU!!!

  Meanwhile, mark your calendar for the 2017 Minicon at Balticon May 26-29, 2017!

  Death by Makeup by Terry Howard

  November, 1635

  Hair Club 250, Grantville

  Gripping the arms of the salon chair tightly, Dana Hudson said to the owner-stylist, "Mrs. Beasley—"

  Kim Beasley and the petite, young woman in the chair looked a bit alike. Both the salon owner and the clien
t had natural strawberry blonde hair and high cheekbones. Kim took the plastic roller clip out of her mouth, "Dana, call me Kim. If you call me Mrs. Beasley, I'll end up treating you like one of my daughters' friends. And you were never foolish enough to run with that crowd."

  "Kim," Bethel, Kim's oldest employee—she'd worked part-time for Kim before The Ring of Fire—said from the next chair where she was working, "You ain't being fair to your girls. Who were they going to run with but a rough crowd when one of them was a Hart, and the other one was a Beasley? Though goodness knows, they both turned out alright anyway."

  Kim chuckled. "Yeah. Harts an' Beasleys, the two rowdiest clans in the county and I married into both of them. Don’t say much for my good sense does it?" But while she chuckled a sense of pride still came through.

  Dana sat in the first of three chairs where the bar used to be when the salon was just Club 250 instead of Hair Club 250.

  "Kim, what you need in here is a makeup station."

  "A what?" Kim asked.

  "A makeup station." Dana rushed to finish. "Add another salon chair." Dana glanced at the empty spot on the floor in front of the old back bar with its mirror and woodworks. It was obvious the chairs had been stationed to leave room for a fourth one. "Get a palette of makeup so when a woman gets her hair done she can have a free makeup makeover if she wants.

  "I worked through the summer at Stoner's lab," Dana continued. "And even with the articles on how dangerous down-time makeups are, Stoner's safe makeup line isn't selling very well. The local women are buying it at the drugstore, but visiting down-timers aren't. Now, since any tourist with the money comes through here, if you signed up as a distributor, and hired me to be your in-house cosmetologist, I can tell them all about the risks they're taking with the old makeup while I'm doing their face and sell them a supply to take home."

  "You want me to put in another chair, buy the supplies and hire you to give free makeup makeovers on the off-chance that I can sell enough cosmetics to pay for it?"

  Dana blushed as only a redhead can. Her grip on the chair arms tightened. "Yes. That is exactly what I want. It's going to make a lot of money and help a lot of people. I can get the lab to place the products on consignment. And I'm willing to work on commission. When a woman sees what she looks like after I do her face, she's going to buy a supply to take home, and we'll start seeing mail orders in no time. And I can charge for teaching their personal maids how to do their makeup for the best results.

  "But the kicker will be when I tell them just how dangerous down-time makeup is. After all, no woman wants her hair falling out."

  The customer, leaning back in the next chair, having her hair washed over the copper-lined sink where the back-bar used to be, sat upright.

  Bethel yelped and grabbed a towel. Sopping wet, soapy hair fell onto the oilcloth cape and beyond.

  "Lady Clifford, please," Bethel's plea was tinged with an overtone of scolding, "lean back, you'll ruin your dress." Anne, Lady Clifford, ignored her request. Bethel pushed the hair to the side over the shoulder where the oilcloth cape kept it off the yoke of the client's dress. It was sewn with seed pearls and worth a small fortune. Bethel draped a towel on the back of client's neck to stop any more soapy water from reaching her clothes. Then she grabbed a second towel and wrapped the wet hair. After that, she started sopping up.

  "Excuse me." Lady Anne Clifford said. "I really could not help overhearing. Do I understand correctly that makeup can make one's hair fall out?" She spoke Shakespeare's English, but she had been in town long enough to handle West Virginian dialect fairly well.

  Kim raised an eyebrow and turned her hand toward Dana.

  Dana nodded. "Lead and mercury are poisonous and can make your hair fall out."

  "Oh." Lady Anne was clearly relieved. "That's all right then; we don't use lead and mercury."

  "Do you use Venetian ceruse?" Dana asked.

  "Sometimes, when I can't get Spirits of Saturn," Lady Anne responded.

  Dana smiled and clasped her hands under the cape. "Everybody these days does if they want to lighten their complexion. But Venetian Ceruse and Spirits of Saturn are both powdered lead oxide. It takes years, but using it can make your hair fall out if you live long enough."

  "Oh my word!" Lady Anne paled under her pale makeup. "Kate," the English noblewoman called.

  A comely woman in good, if plain, clothing sitting at one of the tables in the waiting area stood up and bobbed a slight curtsy. "Yes, mistress?"

  "Go find my Aunt Frances at the dressmaker's shop. Tell her I said for her to come here. She will argue with you, of course. She always does. But tell her she isn't coming to get her hair done. She is coming to get it looked at because they know why her hair is falling out and how to fix it."

  "Yes, my lady." With another curtsy, Kate headed for the door.

  The English lady turned to Dana. "And you up-timers have safe makeup?" She didn't wait for a response. "Well of course you do. This evening, bring samples out to the Holiday Lodge. If you have something which will meet my needs, I will be interested in trying them."

  ****

  When Kate returned, Anne had her nose in an Agatha Christie novel and her head under the copper beehive of a hair dryer hood that a tinker had made to Kim's specifications. Anne pushed the hair dryer up so she could hear.

  Frances's maid pulled out a plain wooden chair at the table closest to the row of hair dryers. Lady Anne's Aunt Frances collapsed in the proffered chair.

  Dana looked at the gaunt, out of breath, tired-looking woman and said, "You are suffering from fatigue, weight loss, nausea, and headaches."

  Frances turned to her maid and huffed indignantly. "Tell this impertinent young woman that she is being entirely too familiar!"

  "What she said is completely true," Anne replied before the maid could say a word to Dana.

  "You had no business telling her," Frances told her niece.

  "I didn't," Anne returned.

  "Then how did she know about my private life? Is she a witch? I told you the place is full of witches!"

  "Frances. Are you trying to get the lass burned at the stake? They don't do that sort of thing here in Grantville. They don't believe in witches."

  "What utter nonsense," Frances objected. "That is like not believing in the Bible or not believing in the sunrise."

  "Besides," Lady Anne said, "it doesn't take a witch. Anyone with eyes can see what you look like."

  At the accusation of witchcraft, Kim and Bethel exchanged glances. There was no chance of it being taken seriously in town, but if they took it home with them, the claim could still cause trouble.

  "These are symptoms of poisoning," Dana said.

  The old woman yelped. "I've been poisoned? Anne, I told you that fish Margaret served tasted funny, and you know—"

  Dana cut her off. "You've been poisoning yourself with the makeup you've been using."

  "I've done no such thing!"

  "Frances," Lady Anne said, "it turns out that Spirits of Saturn contains lead. And it turns out that lead is poisonous if used over a long period of time, and you've used Spirits of Saturn every day of your life for years."

  "Well, yes, I have," Frances agreed. "A lady needs to look her best in this fallen and depraved world if she wants to hold her husband's attention."

  "And a lady will have to find another way of looking her best if she wants to live to see her youngest son married," Anne replied.

  "Well, this is only true, if they're right about Spirits of Saturn having lead in it, and if they're right about lead being poisonous." Frances's tone of voice told all who were listening that she didn't believe either one.

  "Aunt Frances, how many horses were pulling the coach that brought you here from the dressmaker?"

  "You know there were no horses," Frances answered sharply.

  "And how many birds were pulling the flying machine we watched leave the ground yesterday?"

  Frances huffed and folded her arms over her ample
breasts, but she didn't say a word.

  Anne's voice was quiet and even when she said, "I think we can take their word for it if they say Spirits of Saturn contains lead, and that lead is poisonous. Don't you?"

  Frances responded with the argument, "Anne, women have been using Spirits of Saturn for years."

  Anne nodded in agreement. "And old women have had their hair falling out for years too."

  "Yes, that is true," Frances conceded.

  "So." Anne said, "Take off your wig, please, so they can look at your scalp."

  "Anne? What? In public?" Frances objected.

  "This isn't in public, Frances. It's a hair salon." There was a chuckle in her voice.

  "This is where they take care of ladies’ hair. They really should call it a boudoir, not a salon. But you know how strange their English is. But there is no one here except us and Mistress Kim’s staff."

  "Well, I suppose-"

  Kim stepped away from the chair where she was almost finished rolling Dana's hair. She moved to the middle chair Anne had vacated. "Would you take a seat, please?"

  Frances with some hesitation and clear reluctance did as requested.

  Bethel immediately covered her with a cape and closed it behind her neck.

  "We're going to take your wig off now," Kim told her.

  Bethel grabbed a wickerwork head for holding a wig from under the sink. The wickerwork head was newly made. It replaced the Styrofoam heads that had come back in time only to be sold as up-time artifacts. Kim took the wig off Frances's head. Bethel set the wickerwork with the wig on the back bar behind the sinks on the remaining shelf that once held bottles of booze and now held shampoo, conditioners, and other needed items. The rest of the shelves were gone so the full mirror could reflect the perfection of each client's hair when the stylists were finished.