I have enjoyed several of Nathan's stories and this was among them. He's very good at providing the details that make the story exciting -- for me at least. I appreciate the effort that goes into preparing a story and hope he'll continue.

Bill

I have to admit that torture such as this is not the type of story I can really get into, but Nathan has a way of relating that just cannot be denied or resisted.

I wanted to comment earlier and compliment Nathan on another excellent story, but I thought I'd let the tumult die down. I hope you won't be discouraged, Nathan, there are a lot of us who really enjoy your stories.

Thanks guys. Actually, I've LOVED all of the attention that the story "Hanged..." got. Pretty controversial in some ways, but it did pull on the emotional strings and more than few got worked up by it. For me, as a writer, thats SUCCESS!!!!

It inspired a new tale....just couldn't resist the temptation after the replies I got back from "Hanged by His Balls..." I hope you guys enjoy the next saga....I titled it: "Unmanned by the Guillotine..." LOL.

Thanks for the notes, letters, and comments. For a writer, its those that take the time to make the comments that make the writing worthwhile. I could care less if the comments are "pro" or "con." If I screw up a story or it doesnt work for someone, thats good to know. If it doesnt work for enough people, then I make modifications to the next one.

Later.........

Nathan

Nathan,

I likked it! I read it twice before anyone ELSE got to, too! 2. whatever.

:p :p :p

Bill (imported) wrote: Tue May 14, 2002 10:13 am I have enjoyed several of Nathan's stories and this was among them. He's very good at providing the details that make the story exciting -- for me at least. I appreciate the effort that goes into preparing a story and hope he'll continue.

Bill

let's see, let's see -- what more can i add that Bill hasn't already said? oh yeah, i know -- i wish i had written this one!

Nathan, the story was well done and an enjoyable read -- really good. i don't quite understand what the controversy was about, but that's what made me go to "hanged by his balls" first. so something good came of that little tempest.

i always enjoy your stories and look forward to more.

david

Nathan (imported) wrote: Tue May 14, 2002 4:25 pm I hope you guys enjoy the next saga....I titled it: "Unmanned by the Guillotine..." LOL.

I liked the story, but I am bothered by a historical consideration:

Did the state of Texas even exist at the time of the French Revolution?

Not that this has much to do with the enjoyment of the story. It doesn't ring true as you read it.

Dave

I had to respond to the Dave's question concerning the accuracy of the timing of the story. Like him, for a story to work for me, it has to “ring true” or it starts to fall apart. This story as I wrote it takes place in the year 1873. The reader is made aware of the year by the first sentence of the story and again, later, by the description on the brass plate on the side of the machine.

Certainly, by 1873 the guillotine was not at its hayday, but it was still in regular use in France. The history of the machine goes back more than 800 years, but the “modern” guillotine was born out of a discussion in the French government in 1789, and was “fully invented” by 1792. By 1799, the recognized end of the French Revolution, it had been used to decapitate more than 15,000 people. That’s a lot of heads. According to one source I found, some guillotines exceeded more than 50 people in a single day.

After the revolution, the guillotine executed fewer and fewer people. Like my story, the beheadings were not THAT unusual, but they certainly didn’t happen everyday, and so for an American to be visiting a city and just “happen” to be there to witness an execution would have been fairly “lucky.” I tried to convery that in the story.

Realize that the guillotine did not die with the ending of the revolution. That might be a common misconception. From one source I found: “...Leon Berger, an assistant executioner and carpenter, improved and developed a new guillotine between 1870 - 1872. Among the improvements were the spring system, which should stop the mouton at the bottom of the groves, and the lock/blocking device at the lunette. The new release mechanism for the blade, was also developed by Berger. All guillotines built after 1870 are made according to Berger's construction. The executions continued in France, and capital crimes were punished with the machine in public executions.”

The last prisoner to be publically executed in France was Eugene Weidmann, a man convicted for six murders. He was guillotined on June 17th 1939. For those who have the morbid interest, pictures of his execution are available at:

http://www.metaphor.dk/guillotine/Pages/Weidmann2.html

Thus, the only real question for the story is on the use of the word Texas. The main character is from “Texas” and he witnessed a hanging in "Texas." On March 2, 1836 the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed by members of the Convention of 1836. An ad interim government was formed for the newly created Republic of Texas. After that time it would seem to me, as a writer, than an individual from the republic of Texas who was visiting France 37 years later might certainly refer to himself as a Texan and would say that he had seen a hanging in Texas as a teenager.

Anyway, I hope this clarifies the concern of the reader, and also demonstrates that I try to make my stories accurate and believable whenever possible. Still, there never was a cock&nad chopping guillotine, but hey, I HAD to can the accuracy somewhere to make the story! LOL.

-Nathan

Did the state of Texas even exist?

Dave

Gee, Golly, please accept my apologies. I am on my knees begging forgiveness!!!!!

I guess Texas did exist at that time. Thanks for the historical information.

Clearly this is an outdated thread, but if anyone finds this reply, I would like to know what happened to this story. I found it several years ago and then I checked back recently, the index changed and the story is gone. I do love the new archive but its still missing stories. Of course if I've missed something redirect me to the right place.

Thanks.

Closing the thread and hopefully saving your ass before the Dark Lord finds it.

If you want to know about the missing stories, I suggest you look through the forums for one of the dozen plus threads talking about what's going on before posting about them again.