A few months ago, someone announced a forthcoming anthology of reworked Grimm Brothers tales. I thought that sounded like a neat idea, so I started sorting through the stories for one I could transform a bit. I was struck by “The Aged Mother,” which I’d never heard before, and immediately thought of a way to play with it.

The anthology never materialized (to my knowledge, anyway), but the story did.  Behold “The Destiny Engine”:

The Brothers Grimm meets steampunk.

Elizabeth Haden Smith is in need of a miracle. B. Pinkham James might be able to provide it. Word of the inventor’s destiny engine gives her hope for breaking her great aunt out from her stupor of grief. But James’s inventions have a habit of working too well. He was run out of New York and San Francisco before he came to the wilds of Wyoming. Will he be running again?

Sometimes it’s better to let the unknown remain that way.

Available now exclusively at Amazon, including Kindle Unlimited.