Self-Made Man

I'm not really convinced that it works or is one of my better stories, but for what it's worth I finished a new Grandpa Anarchy story today, Self-Made Man.  This one sprung from an idea I got while listening to Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum.  Specifically this passage:

The castle gates swung open, and Count Magpyr stepped out, flanked by his soldiers.
This was not according to the proper narrative tradition.  Although the people of Lancre were technically new to all this, down at a genetic level they knew that when the mob is at the gate the mobee should be screaming defiance in a burning laboratory or engaged in a cliffhanger struggle with some hero on the battlements.

It occurred to me that I needed at least one Grandpa Anarchy story that began with such a struggle with a villain -- a vampire or mad scientist -- while the lab burns.

On Saturday I managed to sketch in a rough beginning for such a story, with a goofy sidekick courtesy of an idea from David, and with a possible twist based on a comment from Mike.  But I really didn't have a solid narrative for the story until I began to reflect on the nature of the relationship between the villain and his creation.

Anyway, it's probably not a great story and may need some reworking, but for now, I have a new story for the first time in four days.  I'd really written nothing much all weekend -- not Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

This puts me at three stories out of four for July.  We're two weeks into August now, so technically I'm three stories behind my overall goal.  I need at least two more stories this week to catch up.