Egads! This is why I'm not an accountant.

First: a BIG THANK YOU  to all of my Patreon supporters. I am in awe that you are willing to help support me, which allows me to continue writing, creating and sharing with you.

Second: another BIG THANK YOU to anyone reading this and are considering   supporting me. It is because of you I can get up every day and continue to create, aim to avoid depending on government handouts, and quell that black dog that keeps scratching at my door.

With the new year, it was time to revisit all my pages, sort out my budget for the year and set my goals for 2019. One of those was creating more rewards for you all.

But, egads! I got a shock.

It was scary when I realised I jumped into Patreon without doing my numbers properly    (indlcuding Patreon fees in US dollars). With accumulative rewards comes *accumulative costs* and fees. And that’s something I forgot to take into account in my  excitement to share my creations with you.

It was even scarier when I realised I’d under-estimated costs (at the higher tiers I would be making a potential loss). So, I sat down and crunched the numbers again.  Eep!

It’s time to rethink and re-launch my rewards and tiers.

I cherish ALL my supporters dearly; be assured no one already signed up will be affected. All my existing patrons will get MORE for your support.  I’ve also added in some shorter term goals for you to think about.

The major change is in the higher level tiers, where I hadn’t taken into account all the costs of the rewards and the exchange rate between Australian dollars and US dollars (which meant my costs went up) – big, humungous OOPS! This meant I was potentially losing money.

After a few polls, it seems most of you would prefer I keep the lower tiers over the higher tiers. As a result I’m removing the $15 tier and rolling most of its rewards down to the other tiers. The two upper tiers have been increased to cover costs (but have more potential  rewards).

I appreciate your patience and understanding in this reshuffle. The updated tiers will appear before the end of February, as will the new lower level goals – with more potential rewards for everyone. The new awards commence in March – with the first Behind the Scenes video done and scheduled.

Here’s a sneak peek at the Video Intro I created for them:

https://youtu.be/Op86LupdxNIhttp://

So, if you’ve been thinking about checking out my Patreon page, now is the time. New videos, new short stories and new books on the way.

Enjoy.

Egads! This is why I'm not an accountant.

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The Department of Curiosities: (almost) everything you need to know)

It’s starting to come together. Slowly, but surely: all the bits needed to publish my next book.

The rewrites are  progressing and the complete title for book one is finalised. The chapter titles have been wangled and reordered, with only five more to go. (-ish…)

Now is time to collect the last few bits.

Back in August 2015 I wrote a blurb – that enticing bit of prose that you read when you pick up a book…

I revisited it again today, prepared for a complete rewrite but was pleasantly surprised. It seems the narrrative has stayed true to the original vision I had when I began Tillie’s story back in 2013/4.

Since then I’ve completed the photoshoot (at the splendid Larg’s Pier Hotel) and finalised the book cover, did a film shoot for the book trailers – both the trailer teaser and the full length book trailer.

So here you are: (Almost) everything you need to know about The Department of Curiosities.

The official (full) title, Book #1: The Department of Curiosities: For the Good of the Empire

Series title: The Department of Curiosities

Final Cover: 

Book teaser trailer: https://youtu.be/6pYsILcik8k

Full book trailer: https://youtu.be/kkZKisvU1Ks

Main character/protagonist: Miss Mathilda Meriwether (Tillie).

(For a fleeting moment in 2015, she was nicknamed Tilda, but decided she preferred Tillie.)

Sidekicks/Secondary character:  Sir Avery Allington.

Sir Avery has also had a few name changes. Back in 2013, he was Henry Avery – but in 2015, Viola Stewart’s sidekick was named Henry Collins. So Sir Henry became Sir Nicholas Allington (as published in the first chapter as a bonus in the paperback copies of ‘The Illusioneer & Other Tales’). But he wasn’t happy. Sir Nicholas became Sir Avery. (I know, alliteration again – but he refused to change it one more time).

Other characters: Mr Harrow, Mr Saunders, Mr Smythe, Grace, General Sabine, oh, and Queen Victoria. They were all reasonably happy with their names. The General and the Queen are historical figures, so names were obvious. The ‘big bad/antagonist’ has several names, one being a codename he gave himself. Currently it’s: The Inventor, but may be changed to The Professor or The Engineer, depending on beta reader feedback.

Name finalised:  I have finally decided on the name of a major background character, thanks to my Patreon supporter Narrelle Harris. Prof. TK is now officially:  Professor Nathaniel Kempthorne.

Chapter names: still in flux and won’t be finalised until the final edits are finished.

Webpage: https://karenjcarlisle.com/books/the-department-of-curiosities/

Blurb: (with a little tweaking):

Book #1: The Department of Curiosities: For the Good of the Empire

Miss Mathilda Meriwether has a secret. Actually, she has several. One of them has shaped her adult life. Another now controls it.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria has control of the Empire. She is the Empire, and creator of its secrets.

Sir Avery works for The Department of Curiosities – the keepers of secrets – especially if they are useful to the Empire.

When Tillie finds herself in the employment of The Department of Curiosities, she realises this is the perfect opportunity to uncover the truth she has been searching for.

But the Queen has other plans for her.

And lastly, the social media teaser cards are ‘in progress’. You’ve already seen one:

Here’s another one:

and this one’s for Supanova Adelaide and Brisbane:

 

The Department of Curiosities: (almost) everything you need to know)

Steampunk Hands Around the World, 2019: This is Me.

I had planned to do two or three posts for this year’s Steampunk Hands Around the World. One was a photo montage of various steampunk outfits and events I’ve attended. The other was about my writing and steampunk books. But that isn’t my whole story.

I have a confession to make. I’m not the person I used to be. And this infuriates me. I used to be spontaneous, always the first to volunteer, to be out front and centre. I loved meeting new people and doing new things. I loved a challenge.

I used to love dressing up in costume, trying on a new persona, the more outrageous and gregarious the more fun I had.

I daydreamed. I laughed out loud at the ideas that popped into my head. I wrote. I drew. I created… stuff.

Then the Black Dog sniffed me out. His name was Anxiety. He whispered in my ear, destroying my confidence, crushing my creativity and stamping his mark on my soul.

It happened slowly; a toxic work environment and increasingly stressful situations piled on top of each other over several years. My health deteriorated. My smile faded. It was hard to get up in the morning. It was even harder to drag myself to work. My faith was my only armour, giving me hope to trudge onward.

And it was exhausting.

It wasn’t until a specific, and dramatic, attack at work that I realised I was no longer ‘me’.

That was 2012.

Two years later my world collapsed. While I struggled to find myself, to pull myself out of the sucking great hole that is anxiety, the work situation deteriorated. It was quit or sink. The black dog won this round.

I quit.

My career was over.

It wasn’t until last year I had a name for the particular mongrel black dog who beat me. His name was PTSD.

‘What has this got to do with steampunk?’ you ask.

I know this sounds depressing, but I assure you there is a glimmer of light outside this particular kennel. Let me explain.

There’s a saying: It’s always darkest before the dawn. There’s also another saying: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  When I was a child, my grandma used to say this. And she was right – as usual. Sometimes it takes a kick in the guts to find out who you really are.

And this is my story.

Like many other steampunks, I always found the aesthetic intriguing. I’d seen movies (yes, I know, everyone always mentions ‘Wild, Wild West’), read books but it was years before I knew it was a ‘thing’ – and it had a name: steampunk.

But it wasn’t until 2006 that I delved into it seriously.  The following year I had completed my first steampunk outfit. Then I discovered there were other people out there, in the wild, doing things! I’d found my tribe. There was an entire community – not just local, but worldwide!

Over the next several years my world slowly changed. I gradually retreated from my favourite pastimes. I didn’t know why. I just trudged along, wallowing deeper and deeper. Then 2012 happened. I retreated from the world to lick my wounds. When I ventured back in 2013, the world was a different place – or I thought it was.

I wrote steampunk stories in my lunchtimes to escape. I attended steampunk social gatherings, meeting the most amazing, creative people in a community which encourages individuality and imagination.

While I’d enjoyed twenty years plus of his historical re-enactment and re-creating garb, it now felt restrictive, claustrophobic. I didn’t just want to re-create history, I wanted to twist it, control it, shape it into something new.

I wanted to break the rules. I wanted to rebel. I wanted whimsy.

I’ve written about whimsy before (A Whimsical Notion ).  What I’ve realised since then is, whimsy is my shield against the black dog. While my faith and hope always remained, what I’d lost – what Anxiety and PTSD had stolen from me – was whimsy.

And steampunk provided that whimsy.

So here I am. 2019: just over six years later. I now create my own steampunk worlds and have embarked on a new career – that of writing.

I still feel like a fractured mirror, each shard reflecting a different aspect of my soul. The black dogs of Anxiety and PTSD are still there, sniffing around my feet, trying to trip me up – and possibly always will be. They still leap up and drag me down – way too often.

But there always remains hope. Hope I can fight the black dog for as long as it takes. And to help fend it off is whimsy.

In the past several years I’ve often wanted to hide, to be someone else. In reality I was searching for the old me – the person before the black dog sunk his teeth into my soul, the person who daydreamed, who created, who laughed out loud.

Now I can hide behind my shield and just be me. I’ll never quite be the old me, but I can be the ‘new’ me.

The real me. And this is me.

Steampunk Hands Around the World, 2019: This is Me.

Get the Most out of your Patreon Pledge

I’ve updated my Patreon rewards.

Are you thinking of supporting an indie author, or are you already a supporter contemplating increasing your pledge?

Why not make the most of it?

This is how to do it:

• It’s almost March.  My new book is due out in late May.


• Patreon processes supporting pledges on the 2nd of the month.


• If you sign-up to support me BEFORE then end of April,  you get access to ebook/paperback copy of Aunt Enid (depending on your chosen pledge tier)


• In May – you get a ebook/paperback copy of my soon to be release book: The Department of Curiosties.

Check out your rewards at: https://www.patreon.com/join/KarenJCarlisle

Get the Most out of your Patreon Pledge

Our Books Are Not Free Posts

Curious about the FB event? You can follow my posts here:

Post 1: Intro and elevensies

Post 2: It’s hot – Aunt Enid, born of summer heat

Post 3: Aunt Enid – child hood memories and Lemon Butter recipe.

Post 4: Steampunk poll

Post 5: What is steampunk?

Post 6: Viola Stewart – Doctor Jack: how to fight anxiety and PTSD

Post 7: Department of Curiosities – info

Post 8 (final post): Thank you, links, Patreon

Feel free to join the conversation. I’ll be haning around for a while longer.

– Karen J

Our Books Are Not Free Posts