Michael Z. Williamson is variously an immigrant from the UK and Canada, a retired veteran of the U.S. Army and USAF, a nationally best-selling and award-winning SF author and editor, and a consultant on disaster preparedness. In his free time, he is a bladesmith, a gunsmith, and a reenactor who favors the Viking era. He lives near Indianapolis with his wife, Jessica, their children, and a variety of animals that are staff or livestock.
Jessica Schlenker is a professional geek with an MS in information security and a BS in biology. Her interests include homesteading, gaming, and reading (and dissecting) scientific papers in various fields. She lives with her husband, Michael Z. Williamson, and their children, cats, and her various homesteading animals.
Skjaldmóðir
Michael Z. Williamson 
and Jessica Schlenker
My son was called a monster.
Perhaps he was even born a monster through no fault of his own, merely a victim of the gods’ whims.
I did not regard him so. I knew him best as my sweet boy, bringing me bunches of newly opened spring flowers, or asking I tell him the stories my mother told me as a child.
Perhaps I brought it down on him, through my own actions, in the years before his birth. But I had taken up a sword to defend my family; surely the gods would not punish us for that?
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