Monthly Archives: May 2018

Scattered Progress

It seems that I am going to have to upgrade my web development tools. I have been satisfied with HoTMetaL Pro, which I have been using for years, but the site has expanded beyond its ability to track the link structure, so I am switching to a new editor. I may have to learn CSS, which I have been resisting doing as well, but if that helps me improve the site’s appearance, so much the better.

I have cycled my studies of history around to the early 17th century. There is some coverage of the early settlement of North America, but most of the action is centered in Europe.
For the early mid 17th century, there is more settlement of North America and some coverage of England and Europe.
For mid 17th century, I have reference to the English Civil War, and still more settlement of North America including Canada.

I prefer to announce what I have finished, rather than what I am working on. Personal studies are now connected to details of anthropology, and Science is now connected to details of culture, which is an important advance.

More story

Although I had been working on a story, I like the research process too much to stop and write straight fiction. I’ve been thinking about a historical fantasy series, but that wasn’t working, because I wanted to work from the beginning and there is too much that needs to be connected and developed from later periods. So, I’ve changed tracks yet again.
I started in early modern history and created a fictional society, with a founder, that I will be using as a starting point for exploration. I carried this forward for a few centuries, and like the results enough to go back for another pass, with a little more detail, corresponding to areas I have developed or am developing. I liked this, too.

I was going to post the results of the third pass here, but decided not. For one, it’s in much too embryonic form; one paragraph to cover the 6th through 11th centuries, restricted mostly to France and Italy. Second, I think it would be better to keep work I may want to publish as historical fiction off the blog. I will say that, although I am not a member nor a great fan of the Roman Catholic Church, it did serve as a unifying, civilizing force throughout medieval times. Critiques will come up later as I get more details.