Setting Transplant Complete. . .

Well, almost. I have re-written the first half of the novel with the exception of a couple of scenes I'm relocating. Interesting exercise, and using an actual historical period did a lot to open up the novel— despite the fact that the physical setting is fairly constrained, the addition of a subplot about the rivalry between Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire and Pope Gregory IX, and their twin patronage of the Teutonic Order, goes a long way toward giving a sense of the wider world. It also gave me the one teeth-gnashing villain in the book, and— surprise— he is not a German crusader. (No, not a pagan either.)