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Mayken Brünings

@maykenalanna.bsky.social

570 followers 110 following 2.7K posts

I write fantasy & speculative fiction for kids. 📚 My blog about Paris & published short stories 👉 https://www.maykenbruenings.com/ Trilingual swimmer 🏊🏻‍♀️ and SCBWI member. I love cows and Brittany.

www.maykenbruenings.com

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · Oct 18

12yo Charlotte spends alternate weeks with her time protection agent parents in the 16th and the 21st centuries. All is well until it isn't. History goes off the rails, Charlotte is stranded in the past, and a royal princess needs saving. #TimeTravel

A French Renaissance palace is reflected in the water of the Loire river

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 19h

80s & 90s. Hook is one of the few I recognise in that collage.

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 19h

As long as that still works, I'm happy to help.

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 19h

#WIPsnips 14

Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips 14: ultimate

Jim finds out his workday isn't going to go smoothly.

#ScienceFiction #SciFi

(I wish BlueSky would fix the bug where some people's posts aren't showing up in hashtag feeds. 😞)

Marilyn and Shaheen barged through the control room door. “Everyone out,” Marilyn called with authority. She glanced at me. “Good, Jim, you’re here. You stay.”
All we did was stare at them. Sure, Marilyn was ultimately in charge of the Time Eye, but you did not scrub a run five minutes from initiation on anyone’s say-so. Each Viewing cost an ungodly amount of computer time in precalculations alone, leaving aside the millions of Euros in prep costs.

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 19h

She said something like "you probably did this in 4th grade" but I'm sure we still did grammar in 10th.
Please don't get me started on math. I did 13 years if math in German and only 2 in French.

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 21h

15yo, attending a French school with a program for German native speakers, has a test on commas today. She didn't believe me that we did the same stuff at her age.
I might have to dig my school stuff out of storage.
(Yes, I kept some. Not sure if that includes grammar lessons.)

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#TimeTravelAuthors

Julie Bihn (Titanic Voyage free on Hoopla!) @juliebihn.bsky.social · 1d

Is anyone else in #TimeTravelAuthors besides @ringles.bsky.social and I having hashtag troubles?

(Not like anyone will see this 🫠)

Reposted by Mayken Brünings

Julie Bihn (Titanic Voyage free on Hoopla!) @juliebihn.bsky.social · 1d

Is anyone else in #TimeTravelAuthors besides @ringles.bsky.social and I having hashtag troubles?

(Not like anyone will see this 🫠)

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

And here it is!

An astrolabe from the 16th century, about 20-30cm in diameter, brass or brass-colored.

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

The royal children never did anything unsupervised. Charlotte is almost old enough to get married, so she's allowed to stand in for an official chaperone. The princess prefers her, obviously

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#TimeTravelAuthors Day 13
The Princess thinks I'm fun to be with. She can probably guess that there's something different about me. I talk too much when we're alone about stuff I shouldn't. But it's nice to spend time with her. I hope she sees me a bit like a big sister and not like a chaperone.

#TimeTravelAuthors
October 2025
Answer as a character!

1. Introduce yourself and the story
3. Your first appearance and/or line of dialogue in the story
5. Why are you important to the story?
7. Something odd/weird you've experienced
9. Favorite person
11. Saturday excerpt (optional word: most)
13. What does someone else in the story think of you?
15. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: give/gave)
17. What life advice would you give?
19. Proudest moment
21. If you got to write the story, what would you change?
23. Tell us about your enemies
25. Saturday excerpt (optional word: back)
27. How do you feel about time travel?
29. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: now)
31. Character's choice/promo

All time-travel authors and published works, WIPs, etc. welcome!
To join, just answer the prompts on odd days, using the hashtag #TimeTravelAuthors
On even days, post what you like!
Questions? @juliebihn@bsky.social

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#TimeTravelAuthors Day 13
Maddie 🐶 thinks I'm a cool buddy. Dad says I spoil her too much. But hey, she saved me from that big mean dog when I was a kid. Now I save her from Theo throwing books. (And other things.)

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#TimeTravelAuthors Day 13
I know for a fact Guy & Raoul think I'm good at what I'm doing. We're a team, after all. And if we succeed in this mission, we'll be a team officially too. I'm not going to screw up. If I get some more coffee soon.

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#TimeTravelAuthors Day 11
Dad had moved to his desk which was covered in instruments. The most glorious of them was a giant brass astrolabe. By giant, I mean it was nearly the size of my head. Dad said it was the largest type in existence at the time, and it allowed him to locate 51 different stars.

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

That's...inconvenient.
I hope they get it fixed soon!

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

Done!

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips

Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 1d

So I'm a victim of the current BlueSky bug, where my posts with hashtags don't show up in the hastag's feed. Many users have been seeing this since October 7th.

Followers and people who check my profile can see them. As an experiment, could someone quote-post this and add the #WIPSnips hashtag?

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

#LettersFromParisAndOtherMissives
www.maykenbruenings.com/cupolas-of-p...

Cupolas of Paris

Numerous cupolas or domes grace the Paris skyline. This new series, Cupolas of Paris, looks at what's beneath them.

www.maykenbruenings.com

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 1d

Walking in Paris on my afternoon off.
#LifeInParis #MyPicsFromParis
Curious aboit the building with the cupola? Read my blog ⬇️

Looking down a narrow Paris street. At the end of the street there's a building with a cupola.

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Reposted by Mayken Brünings

Andrew Varga @andrewvargaauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Thanksgiving!

I don't even really like turkey, but we will be having it tonight, just for tradition's sake.

I hope all my fellow Canadians are sharing the day with people they love.

#Canada #Thanksgiving

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 2d

We went to the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française yesterday, and they had a shelf full of translations of The Little Prince, including regional languages snd local dialects. This is a bit more than half of the shelf.

A shelf filled with translations of The Little Prince.

Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 2d

I checked the first hashtag, couldn't find you. Julie of #TimeTravelAuthors has the same issue, she reported it and was told she's not alone.
Report it. The more they are, the higher it'll move up in their list of stuff to fix.

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Reposted by Mayken Brünings

Rien Gray @riengray.bsky.social · 2d

“Halve this synopsis wordcount”

Marjorie James Keenan @unenthusiast.com · 3d

In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

rm -rf ~/

hammancheez @hammancheez.bsky.social · 3d

"The chancellor approved it"

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Mayken Brünings @maykenalanna.bsky.social · 3d

Mir auch nicht! Lustig. 🙂

Reposted by Mayken Brünings

Tony Divey @tonydivey.bsky.social · 5d

Here are two Romano British triskele brooches from Verulamium (left) and Wroxeter (right) that I have recently been comparing for an EH article. The design was as old when they were made as the brooches are now. #FindsFriday

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Reposted by Mayken Brünings

Asterix Archiv 💎 @comedix.de · 5d

Völkerverständigung am #Welthundetag auf Seite 37 in Die große Überfahrt: Idefix trifft Møpsen, West-Highlander trifft Dogge. "Wau! Wau! Wau!" - "Jåul! Jåul! Jåul!". Wenn der Canis lupus familiaris das kann, sollte das für uns doch nicht so schwer sein... #Asterix

In diesen Szenen aus einem Asterix-Comic geht es turbulent und tierisch komisch zu: Eine große schwarz-weiße Dogge versucht, wie Idefix, zu jaulen – offenbar will er sich bei dem kleinen Hund beliebt machen oder dazugehören. Obelix, Asterix und mehrere Wikinger stehen daneben und schauen verwirrt zu. Idefix macht es der Dogge nach und kurze Zeit später jaulen beide in der jeweiligen anderen Hundesprache.
Inmitten des Chaos meint Asterix trocken: „Ich weiß nicht, die regen mich langsam auf!“

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