More Steampunk - Random Linkups

I've been puttering around the internet doing "research" on steampunk for my new book, ENIGMA, and it's sort of like trying to get your arms around a cloud nebula. It seems that steampunk is a very loosely defined genre that appears to be ever-evolving, not unlike the technology that is employed in these stories. It's quite fascinating to read about the different worlds that have been created and identified as steampunk: Some are futuristic, some anachronistic, some Victorian, others set in a completely different landscape. I found a fabulous article over on io9 that has pictures of steampunk projects. Take a look here. And there's another article that discusses steampunk novels and gives us a review of several current and upcoming works.

To give you a hint at just how popular steampunk is becoming, there's several pictures floating around the internet right now of a dystopian Disneyverse, which rumor has it, are from a game in development for Disney-owned Junction Point Studios. And yes, that appears to be the remains of Epcot Center...



Interesting stuff and certainly leaves the door open for new ideas. What are your thoughts on what makes a steampunk novel? Goggles and Gears? The future? The past? The future in the past?

The Dove's Pacific Coastal Cruise

On May 31, 2009 Unique Travel Concepts planned a cruise for us with Royal Caribbean that we will never forget.

The ship left from Los Angeles and its first port of call was San Francisco. We purchased two tours one to the Muir Woods and the other tour was to Alcatraz.

This is our view from the boat taking us to Alcatraz.

Our next tour was to the Muir Woods we were awe struck by the beautiful redwoods.

Our next Port that we stopped at was Victoria, British Columbia. We went to Buchart Gardens and had a picnic.

Here are some pictures of what we saw at Buchart Gardens








Our last Port of call was Seattle. This city is amazing and we took many pictures here are a few







































Thank you Unique Travel Concepts for a perfect 7 days.....

Greetings from Montana!

Check out the view from my brother's patio - not bad, eh? What you don't see is the 360 degree panorama that surrounds this beautiful plateau on which his house is perched in the hills outside of Missoula. If you ever think about running away to the country - run here. (Although at the moment there is a mountain lion alert as one has been spotted in the area and appears to be habituated to people and therefore a possible threat...so now I've got a new excuse not to jog... ;-)

Anyway, back to writing as a topic: Though in real life my brother is a world-renowned avian evolutionary ecologist, he is also one of my beta readers for my YA novels, as well as my number one cheerleader throughout my pursuit of a writing career. My husband and daughter and I are here, along with my parents, to celebrate my brother's birthday - so yay! for Tommy!

Speaking of beta reading, he has just finished reading DARK SHADOWS, the sequel to my debut novel, THE FAERIE RING and shared some great comments. I've got a little bit of work to do on that before I ship it off to my agent and editor to read and then I'm back to work on my newest novel.

I love starting a new WIP, discovering my characters, their personalities and imagining the worlds in which they live. There's a great article over on The Enchanted Inkpot about the X factor in characers. Read it here, or catch up on debut author Michelle Zink's new release PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS, which sounds totally awesome.

What traits do you like to see in a hero or heroine? Who is your favorite main character that as the X factor?

Patience and Steampunk

Yay! I finally got to talk to my fabulous editor, Susan Chang, about THE FAERIE RING today and she was just as lovely as I imagined her to be. It's so exciting, yet surreal, to actually be talking to a real live editor about MY book.

I am, of course, READY to dive into revisions and get this party started, but alas, as with ALL things publishing related, speed is never involved. It seems there are several other books that need Susan's attention before mine and therefore, don't expect an editorial revision letter for a couple of months.

Oh.

Well, when opportunity knocks, I open the door, so I figure this is the perfect chance to write my NEXT book, which is going to be steampunk, set in London, approx 1895. The title is ENIGMA. My protagonist is Jack Bailey, commonly known on the street as Blackjack Bailey. He's up and got himself invited to attend the Westgate College for Boys, Academy for the Gifted. Head over to my website here and read the opening under "What I'm Writing Now."

My goal is to have a first draft done by the end of October. Want to come along for the ride?

How about you? What are you writing and when are you shooting to have it completed?

THE FAERIE RING to be published!

I've got FANTASTIC news to share! My awesome agent, Kate Schafer Testerman, has sold my debut novel, THE FAERIE RING, to Susan Chang of TOR Books! Here is a short blurb about the story:

London, 1871

Orphaned and living in an abandoned clockmaker’s shop adjoining Charing Cross railway station, sixteen year old Tiki picks the pockets of passing travelers to survive. Her efforts support not only herself, but her ‘family’ of orphans, including fragile five year old Clara.

When Tiki steals the Queen’s ring, she thinks she’s solved their problems. That is, until Rieker, a tough from the north end, shows up in Charing Cross and informs her that the ring is really a reservoir that holds an age-old truce between the world of faerie and man. Unless guarded, faeries will search for the ring and destroy it, as well as anyone who has knowledge of the ring’s location...

I am SO excited and can't wait to work with Susan on this book! Stay tuned for more details of my road to publication!

Michael Phelps - American Hero

I was going to tie this post in with Joseph Campbell's A Hero's Journey, but instead I'm just going to talk about an American Hero.

Have you been following the World Swimming Championships in Rome? If so, you've probably heard of the controversy over the polyurethane suits that will be outlawed at the end of the year, as well as the news that Milorad Cavic has been trash talkin' our hero, winner of 8 Gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, Michael Phelps. As we all remember, Phelps beat Cavic by one one hundredth of a second in the 100m fly in Beijing. 'Fantastic Finish' took on new meaning after that race. Cavic has been claiming that he won in Beijing, even though Serbia dropped their protest after reviewing film footage that clearly showed Phelps touched first.

At the Worlds in Rome this last week, Cavic didn't hold back with the predictions of beating Phelps and feared "when" he beat Phelps, people would say it was due to the suit, rather than his swimming, so he offered Phelps a similar suit.

Phelps declined.

Though Cavic wore the soon-to-be-prohibited suit, believed to provide an unfair advantage to swimmers (consider the 43 (!) world records set in Rome) Phelps chose to stick with the suit provided by his sponser, Speedo.

Michael's response to all of Cavic's lip-flappin? "I do my talking in the pool."

Well, in the best tradition of heros, Michael Phelps did do his talking in the pool by beating Milorad Cavic again without the aid of the controversial suit, without any question and by setting a new world record in his Speedo. If you didn't see it - watch it here because Michael Phelps is an American hero that will make you proud.