The Third Time's the Charm

By Steven D. Brewer

When an airship is hijacked by pirates, a young man with a secret loses his mentor ... and his future.

After twice thwarting the pirates' plans, he must finally come to terms with the pirate captain and decide whether to ally himself with him ... or to confront a hostile future alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Water Dragon Publishing
• Release date: Nov 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781957146027

Steven D. Brewer

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, Steven 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.Steven currently teaches scientific writing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with his extended family.

Book preview

The Third Time’s the Charm

Steven D. Brewer

Copyright © 2021 by Steven D. Brewer

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for the purpose of review and/or reference, without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design copyright © 2021 by Niki Lenhart

nikilen-designs.com

Published by Water Dragon Publishing

waterdragonpublishing.com

An imprint of Paper Angel Press

paperangelpress.com

ISBN 978-1-957146-02-7 (EPUB)

FIRST EDITION

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Author’s Note

The Third Time’s the Charm began as a pastiche of Treasure Island, imagining what if Jim had ended up going with ol’ Long John. When I wrote it in 2004, it was perhaps my most ambitious piece of fiction to date. I submitted it once, it was rejected, and I never sent it out again. But, at that time, the narrative ended abruptly and even I could tell the story was incomplete.

After I had written more stories, I discovered that I have an unfortunate tendency to want to write the first chapter of a larger story. So I pulled the file back out, added another 3,000 words, but then reorganized the pre-existing story significantly to create an arc that could be resolved in a single story.

I also find it challenging to manage tension as an author. When I introduce tension, my instinct is to resolve it immediately. Several readers offered helpful comments to improve the build-up of tension and sharpen the focus. One reader felt it was important to allow the main character to own and to share his secret himself, rather than to have it revealed by someone else.

I’ve explored issues of non-binary gender in my writing before. It’s important to me, because I’ve watched friends and colleagues struggle with self-exploration at the same time our society has been evolving dramatically regarding gender. The protagonist of my award-winning 2016 short story Krepusko sub Fago (Twilight under Beech) was also a non-binary youth.

I hope readers enjoy my first publication of speculative fiction in English!

The Third Time’s the Charm

Do not neglect your reading, young Revin! Professor Dirge said.

Revin, startled out of daydreams, looked away from the tiny, half-translucent window, back toward the heavy leather-bound book of 3rd century property laws on the tiny cabin table. He blew on his fingers, trying to warm them, before turning the page. Professor Dirge peered with watery eyes for several minutes while Revin pretended to read, but eventually he began to write again,