Chuck Rothman

Mrs. Lake lunged for him, but Pablo was too quick. He darted away and she fell onto the dirty cobblestones. "I ain't trusted you since you kept the finger," he said. "It's for England!" Mrs. Lake rose from the stones, her dress covered with mud and manure and took two steps toward Pablo. But the rats stopped her, covering her legs in an instant. She struggled against the gray storm of rodents. "And for England, you would do this to me?" The woman raised her head against the onslaught. "Yes," she said. "I have sacrificed everything for it." "Seems like it ain't worth the effort," said Pablo. "I also reckon it has nothing to do with England and everything to do with you."

#WIPSnips "storm"

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Not in the slightest.

You'd need separate impeachments for each of them.

New photo · Monday, Jan 26 📸 Tap to view!

Got over a foot of snow. It was light, fluffy stuff, but still had to dig out. Glad I got a new snow thrower a couple of years ago.

photos.app.goo.gl/nCJN7PbFurZH...

Hawthorn didn't look at the dress until he returned to his quarters, a single cellar room beneath a chandler's shop in Bishopsgate. He had left his cart in an alley -- no one would think to take it -- and climbed down the steps. The interior was much like the library of a gentleman's country home, though if anyone cared to examine the books, they would have been perplexed by their titles. A gentle light, not unlike sunlight, suffused the room. There was very little furniture -- a carved mahogany chair with leather padding, a maple rope bed in the corner, a cast iron stove, and a small mahogany table the doubled as a desk. A small niche held a bust of Homer -- a poor likeness, but few would notice it these days.

#WIPSnips "notice."

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Jamison was cutting through the cadaver's ribs with a saw, the sound a background rasp as Sheppard lectured. "Now, gentlemen," Sheppard said, "pay particular attention to the man's lungs. This was an unusual case and -- " There was a crack as Jamison pulled back the bone to expose the left side of the chest. Curwood fainted. Sheppard paid him no heed. Curwood was a handsome boy, but Sheppard had felt he might not have the stomach to be a surgeon. "Move him aside, Sadler," he said. "He will become conscious presently, and might rethink his future occupation."

#WIPSnips "bone."

From "The Cadaver Princess."

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"I do have a question for you," she said. "While you slept, your sleeve . . . well, I saw your arm." "That ain't -- " "Why do you have a tattoo of me on it?" "You?" "It looks like me. The real me, I mean. Not the body I currently inhabit." Pablo pushed his sleeve down. "It ain't you." "Who is it, then?" He realized she would not give up the subject. "It's my sister Ogechi." "She looks like me?" "No. I mean." He took a breath. The thought of her still pained him. "She's dead."

#wipsnips "tattoo"
From "The Cadaver Princess."

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"I know, my dove," said Sir John. His voice was as smooth as honey. One good thing about women: they were easily swayed by soft words and attention. "But you saw what I did to Victoria. Has she not changed her attitude?" "Less rebellious," said the duchess. "Exactly. Whenever she becomes queen, my Kensington System will make her our puppet. Even if by some chance she is of age." Once the King died, Princess Victoria would replace him. And he controlled Victoria. Or, rather, the girl who inhabited her body. But she was only a street seller, barely more than a beggar. She would know to listen to her betters. "Do not fear, my dear. Things are set in motion." "Things? What things?" He patted her hand. "Do not worry about it," he said, then gently lifted it to his lips for a chaste kiss.

#wipsnips 1/20 "troll"

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I name them right away, but sometimes change them as I learn more about them.

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Dogs don't usually plan, but a vague idea came to mind: If Master had died because Jacob hadn't protected him, maybe he would come back if Jacob killed what had murdered him. He remembered the scent, the vision that had made him run. Jacob stood up. There were millions of scents in the world, but he knew he would remember the scent of the creature who killed Master. He would find it and bite through its throat until the blood flowed like water in a drainpipe. It gave him strength and purpose, though he didn't know the concepts. He sniffed at the ground, trying to pick up the scent. It led off and down the street. Jacob's course was clear. He would follow the scent. He would find the murderer and make him suffer and die. If he were human, he would call this a thirst for revenge.

#wipsnips
From "The Cadaver Princess." "drain"

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He stared at the two bob the pawnbroker had given him. Not as much as he wanted, but it wasn't likely anyone was going to give him more. Just a trinket, the pawnbroker had called it and -- to be honest -- Bishop knew he was telling the truth. But it was valuable to Mrs. Lake. He wondered why. Bah, he thought. Wondering gets you nowhere. It's coin that you want. Two shillings wasn't much, but he knew the saying about taking care of the pence. The problem was, there was only so much you can buy with a penny. He would have to talk to Sheppard again. The man was atop a gold mine. Bring the dead back, and the world was yours. And Bishop could be there at the beginning. Sheppard would go along. All men had secrets, and Bishop had been gratified that his comment had gotten such a strong reaction. Oh, Sheppard had pretended that nothing was amiss, but Bishop saw in his eyes that the words scared him.

‪#wipsnips
From "The Cadaver Princess."

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Are you familiar with SHIFT/F3?

Don't you have a shift key?

The Peter Principle is no longer in effect.

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The Cadaver Princess by Chuck Rothman (art by Ron Miller)

#bluepit

London, 1831. A corpse sits upon an anatomist's slab and claims to be Victoria, future Queen of England. A hidden historical fantasy where real people are part of the plot, and the orphan Pablo must save the empire.

"Like Dickens crossed with Poe" - Allen Steele
#p #f #hs #poc

It means, "always prefer drama over narrative."

It's especially important for beginning writers to grasp that.

That's what I meant by "essentially 30 fps" - two half scans at 60 fps. The difference between that and 24fps caused interference patterns. There would be a series of fuzzy horizontal bars traveling down the screen when filmed.

Very much so, though with an occult twist.

#awesomeCharacters

My antagonist's most important relationship is with the mother of the future Queen Victoria to make the queen his puppet.

He's a real historical character, John Conroy.

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8:13 PM · Jan 12, 2026

There were technical issues filming a TV screen. Film ran at 24 frames per second. TV used essentially 30 fpm. The difference led to interference patterns. Any TV screen in a film of that era is a film, not a broadcast.

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None. The backstory happens as I write the novel. I then use it later.

E g., I wrote that my MC in "The Cadaver Princess" worked as a child performer. Many chapters later, I found a way to use that.

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Cops who kill civilians always brag about their own cowardice.

Sir John opened the seal on the letter. Grabbing the candle from Mr. Watson, he started to read. He nodded several times. Then he folded the letter back. It was awkward with him holding the candle, and he dropped it onto the floor, where it floated like a leaf away from him to slip underneath a table not six feet from where Bridget was working. "Bah," he said. "I'm going to my rooms. Burn that letter." Brigid nodded. "Very good, sir."

#WPSSnips "table"

From "The Cadaver Princess."

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Hit 50K on my current #wip

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He stepped into the hallway to lock the door. There was a servant there. She looked very startled to see him. "You!" he shouted. "Who are you?" "Bridget, sir. I'm the -- " Sir John didn't care about her station. "What did you hear?" "Nothing!" "I don't believe you. Your kind will lie as soon as you would breathe air. What did you hear?" Bridget trembled. "Music, sir. Beautiful music." He gave her a look through narrowed eyes. "Nothing else?" "I swear on the grave of my sainted mother," said Bridget. "Just the music." Sir John stared at her for several eternal moments. "If you lie . . . well, I can call up forces that make you sorry you were ever born. Is that understood?"

#wipsnips
From "The Cadaver Princess"

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"I have had many names in my life. These days, I am Hawthorn." Pablo jumped in. "Why did you choose that?" "To teach himself humility," said Homer. "His supply of it is quite low." "Enough of that," said Victoria. "My friend is hungry. Act like a host and offer him food." She said that with such certainty, thought Pablo. Like she were queen.

#WIPsnips from "The Cadaver Princess": "low"

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@wipsnips.bsky.social

You can read the chapter here:

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She knows something's up, not so much about him, but about how Victoria is acting out of character.

"One should not speak ill of Mr. Grey," said the rat. It had scampered atop the table. Bishop heard the threat behind those mild words. "But you may benefit. There is a corpse." "A corpse?" "Yes." The little creature stood on its hind legs like a man. It was even more disconcerting than hearing it talk. "You traffic in such things, do you not?"

#wipsnips
From "The Cadaver Princess."

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