It’s our first time in our fellow lands of the Antipodes. We’ve met new friends and shared tea and cake (thank you to Angele Beesley-Mackenzie for inviting us).
The Steampunk Festival is just gearing up and we’re here! This is the Harbour Street Victorian Precinct where most of the events will be held. Can’t wait!
10.30am – 2.30pm (Australian Central Time)
Join me for the FB virtual book launch of The Department of Curiosities,
and celebrate Tillie’s birthday!
I’ll also be posting pics on Patreon, Instagram and Twitter during the day.
Welcome to my final book blog tour stop with steampunk author and astronomer, David Lee Summers’ blog for an excerpt from The Department of Curiosities.
Tomorrow is book release day … and Tillie’s birthday. (It just happened that way… cue Twighlight Zone music.)
“Karen J Carlisle is one of those rare gems who’s storytelling captivated me from the first page and carried me expertly through a marvellous world of mysterious occurrences, secret societies, wondrous devices and characters I both loved and loved to hate.”
…
” this is a fabulous ‘gateway’ book for anyone new to Steampunk and for old hands it is an expertly woven tale incorporating everything we love about the genre from mad scientists, secret societies, strong heroines, dastardly villains, marvellous mysteries and incredible devices ; yet another another absolute treat from Karen J Carlisle.”
You can read the full review on Penny’s blog, Blake and Wight.
Join me for the virtual launch party on Facebook: 22nd May, 2019.10.30am – 2.30pm (Australian Central Time)
The Department of Curiosities Book Launch Blog Tour – This is a sneak peek at the blog post on David Lee Summers’ blog, due to be posted on date: 21th May, 2019 (GMT time)
Good morning everyone and thank you to David for allowing me to guest post on his blog.
So far on this blog tour, I’ve written about why The Department of Curiosities was written, introduced our heroine, Tillie Meriwether, and other characters and exposed some background on one of the many competing groups. I’ve chatted about mechanicals (gadgets), shared book trailers and a new short story and The Department’s Australian connection.
The Department of Curiosities is a tale of adventure, a heroine, a mad scientist, traitors and secrets. All for the good of the Empire.
Buckle up and get ready for the adventure…
Now there’s just one more day until my new book goes live on 22nd May. It’s also Tillie Meriwether’s birthday! (I chose Tillie’s birthday in the first draft – and had forgotten the date. Imagine my surprise when I realised it was the week of the intended release date. So why not make them the same day?)
To celebrate the official release, and Tillie’s birthday, here’s an excerpt… Everyone does the first chapter, so this time I’m sharing the second scene from chapter eighteen:
The crew had assembled in Little Nessie’s lower hold. Only the pilot and boilermen remained at their posts. The General had yet to arrive, and Harrow was conspicuous by his absence. Tillie frowned, and wondered what mischief he was orchestrating.
She stood behind the troop of operatives gathered before her. She stretched up on tiptoe to observe the proceedings.
Six strapping men, some of England’s finest; each wore a harness wrapped around their torso. A life-line of thick silk rope attached them securely to the winch. They were armed with pistols, grappling hooks and devilish-looking knives. Strapped to their backs were over-sized blunderbusses: a silver ball jutted from one side surrounded by brass tubes, which coiled along the rifle’s barrel to the muzzle. A mini-grappling hook perched on top of the barrel end; its cord funnelled along a tube back to a cartridge on the other side of the rifle body.
The troops eagerly jostled each other as they circled a large hatch in the floor of the hull. They checked their equipment, donned their goggles and readied to jump into oblivion below. The hatch intrigued her, as did the large brass winch secured to the floor near its rim. Sir Avery checked the gauges on the body of the winch assembly and swallowed. The colour drained from his face, until he resembled a wide-eyed Ghostman. His moustache twitched.
<<It quivered,>> said the Orb.
<<Don’t be horrible,>> said Tillie. <<If you can’t say something nice, then don’t speak at all. Or I’ll ask the General to bring his cane.>>
The Orb shuddered. The corner of her mouth curled in satisfaction. She’d finally discovered something to curb the Orb’s increased bullying.
“Are we not joining them?” she asked Sir Avery.
He stared at the floor hatch and didn’t reply.
<<Reckless,>> said the Orb.
<<Not your choice,>> she said.
The Orb fell silent.
The door behind them clanked. The men snapped to attention.
There was a faint chuckle beside her ear.
“Yes, you are going, my dear,” said the General.
“We get to fly?” Tillie squealed with delight. “How?”
Sir Avery managed only a weak smile.
“You get these.” Harrow stepped into view, carrying a large cylindrical contraption on each arm. “Personal Flying Machines.”
“Confiscated from an Australian smuggler,” said the General.
Sir Avery relieved Harrow of one of the flying machines and held it at arm’s length.
“The cylinder contains a pressurised gas…”
His words faded as Tillie ogled the brass cylinders. So shiny. She could see her own reflection in their brilliance. She ran her hands along the pipes and grabbed the harness.
“How do I put it on?” She spun around, slipped her arms through the harness straps and pulled the contraption onto her back.
Sir Avery halted his lecture and blinked; his hands, still holding the harness straps, now encircled her waist. Her bustle nudged his arm as she snatched the ends of the straps from his hand and buckled up the harness.
He took a quick step backwards, transferring his hands to cradle the gas tanks until the straps were secure. The colour had returned to his cheeks.
Harrow handed Sir Avery the second Personal Flying Machine. Sir Avery donned the contraption and demonstrated how to adjust the pack to sit securely.
“You’re not accompanying us, Harrow?” she asked.
“I have my orders,” he replied. “I am to stay here with the General. The Personal Flying Machines are restricted to those with Lower Level clearance.”
Harrow’s face remained fixed, showing no emotion. He was up to something.
The Orb jittered. Tillie eyed Harrow out of the corner of her eye. She was not comfortable with leaving him alone with the General, in such close proximity of a gaping hole hundreds of feet above the countryside.
Harrow smiled at her. It was faint, but it was there.
<<He knows I suspect him. What should I do?>>
The Orb did not reply. She frowned; this time she wanted its opinion. She glanced at the General’s cane and frowned. Blessings could also be curses.
Sir Avery jiggled the gas canisters and tapped on the pressure gauge. Tillie relaxed her muscles, trying to look as calm as possible, and returned her attention to the Personal Flying Machine.
“How do I start it?” she asked Sir Avery.
“First we…”
He swivelled two metal pipe-handles over her head. They clicked in place. She grasped them.
“Steering?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “Just apply pressure in the direction you wish to travel.”
She pushed forward. The handles moved under her guidance.
“This,” he indicated a switch at the bottom of the main body of the pack, “is the ignition switch. And this…” He indicated a large button on the right side of the pack, about elbow height. “This will get you back to the ground if you lose power.”
Tillie grinned. It seemed simple enough.
The General stepped forward.
“Miss Meriwether and Gentlemen, I will remind you this is a retrieval mission. I have direct orders from Her Majesty. We need the Inventor alive.” He turned to the troops. “And intact. Is that understood?”
The men nodded.
“Once he is retrieved, and you are clear of the train, Little Nessie will descend to facilitate your extraction.” He turned to Harrow. “There is an extra flying machine prepared for you. Stop the train if there is any danger to the passengers.”
Harrow narrowed his eyelids.
“Sir?” he said. “I thought-”
“Change of plan. We need to ensure the safety of the other passengers on board. That is your priority.”
Harrow slipped on the flying machine and clicked the harness in place.
“Miss Meriwether, you are to accompany Sir Avery to First Class to apprehend the Inventor. The rest of the men will keep the Ghostmen from interfering.”
There was a murmur of assent.
She carefully lifted her goggles over her head, hoping it would not disrupt her coiffure, and wrangled a ringlet back in place. The dirigible and the General would be safer with Harrow on the ground, though she’d have preferred to have someone accompany him, to keep an eye on him. At least he wouldn’t have a chance to warn the Inventor.
The floor vibrated beneath her feet. A loud ratcheting echoed throughout the hold. A jet of air rushed through a crack at the rim of the hatch. The crack widened slowly, as the hatch slid open in front of them. Wind roared beneath them, whistling at the edge of the gaping maw.
Harrow stepped toward the hull hatch, flicked the ignition switch and stepped into the chasm. He hovered for a second, then plummeted out of sight.
She leaned forward and watched as he turned and sped northward toward the engine as it neared the bridge.
Little Nessie was now directly above the middle carriage, almost in position to drop the rest of her human cargo.
Sir Avery closed his eyes and ignited his flying machine. He winced as it rumbled into life, then took a deep breath and edged toward the hatch.
Tillie flicked the switch on her own contraption. A dull twinge gripped her rib cage as the initial vibration knocked on her spine. She took a, not too deep, breath and struggled to relax the muscles in her torso. The vibration settled into a gentle rhythm. The twinge eased until it was only a mild irritation.
Sir Avery leaned close to her. “Are your ribs still causing discomfort, Miss Meriwether?” he whispered. “You should inform the General.”
“They are healing as expected,” she replied. “There is no need to bother the General.”
He nodded. “Very well. Then follow me, Miss Meriwether, into the heavens.” He stepped into the air, screwed his eyelids shut and lowered himself out of sight.
Tillie stepped up to the edge. Her skirts fluttered in the churning air currents.
<<Oh dear, I didn’t think this through.>> She grabbed the back of her overskirt with each hand and folded the edges forward, tugging them tight to tie a knot and tucked the ends into the harness strap, then stepped forward and descended into the void.
***
The Department of Curiosities will be released 22nd May, 2019.
Watch the book trailers: https://karenjcarlisle.com/books/the-department-of-curiosities/book-trailers-the-department-of-curiosities/ or on my youtube channel: https://youtu.be/kkZKisvU1Ks
If you want to follow the rest of The Department of Curiosities book launch blog tour, check out the links on my blog post: www.karenjcarlisle.com/DOC1bookblogtour
You can pre-order your eBook copy of The Department of Curiosities (for special price of US$2.99) at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/934976
or sign up for my newsletter at: https://karenjcarlisle.com/sign-up-email-list/
Meet Lord Professor Avery Allington and other characters when I return to Penny Blake’s Blake and Wight blog on this stop of the book blog tour.
Next stop: 21st May: Join me for my final book blog tour stop on steampunk author and astronomer, David Lee Summers’ blog for an excerpt from The Department of Curiosities.
Actually, she has several.
Find out more after 22nd May, 2019
in The Department of Curiosities.
And it’s off early!
Fellow Aussie author, Lynne Lumsden Green, has let me loose on her blog, Cogpunk Steamscribe, to chat about the Australian connection in The Department of Curiosities.
Next stop: 21st May: Join me for my final book blog tour stop on steampunk author and astronomer, David Lee Summers’ blog for an excerpt from The Department of Curiosities.
22nd May: Tillie Meriwether’s birthday and FB virtual book launch.
For ‘The Department of Curiosities’, I was determined to get organised. This time I managed to finally send out ARC (Advanced Review Copies) before the official book release date!
When I checked my messages yesterday, there was a link from one of the reviewers. My first review was in!
Thanks to Mark Hayes’ Indie April (May) Book Reviews on his blog, The Passing Place. Here are a few excerpts:
“A spendiferously splendid tale of adventure among the high teas.”
“Karen spins a great yarn, its light when it needs to be light, dark when it needs to be dark, funny and absurd but always believably so. At its core, its a fun read about a resourceful young lady in an armoured corset.” …
“If, as I very much suspect, they are as well written, as entertaining, as delightfully absurd in all the best ways, and just as bloody good storytelling, then I can’t wait to read them. ”
– Mark Hayes
You met them in The Adventures of Viola Stewart The Men in Grey return with more nefarious plots to take over the Empire…
Find out more after 22nd May.Writing has been a long journey for me. In highschool I’d dreamed of becoming a writer (amongst other things). I dabbled in the eighties, then again in the nineties, but never thought I’d be publishing my fifth book one day.
Join me on fellow Aussie steampunk writer, Felicity Bank’s, blog where I talk a about my writing journey, mental health and how The Department of Curiosities was created.
Next stop: 11th May: I return to Blake and Wight to talk more about the characters in The Department of Curiosities.
Thanks to Steampunk Journal for sharing the book trailer HERE.
