MORE CAMPAIGNS

On June 4, 2023June 4, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn KickstarterLeave a comment

I know, I know. I literally just posted about Kickstarters, but here are a few super-cool ones I didn’t know about then, and in the indie press community, we support our own and help spread the word where we can, so here’s another post.

Visions: The Art of Jeff Sturgeon

I wanted to let you know about this first one now because anyone that backs before noon EST today will qualify for the First Backer Bonus, a one-of-a-kind digital sketch created specifically for each backer, and an add-on option that lets you get a print copy of your unique sketch.

Also, there are a bunch of amazing campaign-exclusive rewards and bonuses you don’t want to miss out on. It is about to conclude the first 24 hours and it is only $1320 away from hitting goal! It will be running for 59 more days, but you don’t want to miss out on the early bonuses!

Nevermore

The next one is from Falstaff Books, an amazing operation run by eSpec author John Hartness. He is funding a dark fantasy anthology inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, who endlessly inspires authors to this day. Knowing the quality of fiction produced by Falstaff, and the authors involved, I am sure you don’t want to miss this one! They have 26 days left and are $8642 away from goal, so let’s help them out!

Zombies Need Brains Presents: Year Two

This campaign is to fund the second year of Zombies Need Brains’ online magazine venture. Again, amazing authors, and quality content. They have 27 days remaining and are $3621 away from goal.

Trust me, you won’t regret supporting any of these creative ventures.

CURRENT KICKSTARTERS

On June 2, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn KickstarterLeave a comment

I feel so behind at the moment, but that is no excuse to let things go, right?

eSpec author Danielle Ackley-McPhail is running a personal campaign to kick herself into gear. Nineteen days to go on The Town of Ground-Down Gears. Goal has been met, but now to unlock the bells and whistles!

eSpec authors Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger) and Keith R.A. DeCandido have paired up to fund a weird western anthology The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny featuring some amazing authors, such as R.S. Belcher, Laura Anne Gilman, Aaron Rosenberg, John Hartness, and others.

And eSpec friend and fellow author Alex Shvartsman is funding an audiobook production of Kakistocracy.

We hope you’ll check all three out.

eSPEC EXCERPTS – MISTY MASSEY – GREASE MONKEYS

On February 24, 2023February 18, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn eSPEC EXCERPTS, KickstarterLeave a comment

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Yes, we are funding more books. Yes, we would love if you would check them out, maybe show your support. But don’t think you have to do it blind. Here is a taste of Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, an anthology that takes a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running and even mod it out beyond its original capabilities, striving for efficiency and peak performance or just keeping things going.

The other two books funding through the campaign are Grimm Machinations – the sequel to Gaslight & Grimm, bringing you even more steampunk faerie tales; and A Cast of Crows, a Poe-inspired steampunk collection created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, but more on those later.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be sharing these excerpts so you can get to know our authors’s style.

My Mechanical Girl
Misty Massey

Billie glided onto the stage to the applause of the audience, positioned herself under the lights on her mark, and struck a pose. Her music swelled. “It’s the loveliest of days when I’m near you,” she sang, “Robins chase the clouds out of the sky…”

Billie’s the headliner at La Fantaisie. Me, I’m her mechanic. I polish her steel face until she glows warm under the electric lights, lubricate her joints, and spend the dough to dress her in glam. I didn’t create the valve system that lets her sing in a voice like warm molasses spilling down the back of a velvet chair nor the hydraulics that allow her to spin and dance, but I know how they work, and I can build off what the old inventor did. My grimy fingers carry permanent stains from years in a factory. My nails are bit back to the quick and I cut my own hair. At any time, there might be a streak of ash or oil on my face where I scratched an itch without bothering to wipe my hands first. The powerful gentlemen who frequent the Fant expect to see people like me fixing their cars, not standing in the club watching them drink brandy. It’s okay, though. I stay out of sight, watching from the wings while my girl entertains the room. It’s best that way, considering how I make the lion’s share of my money.

La Fantaisie has always been popular with the higher-ups in the military, thanks to it being so close to the capitol building. Colonels and congressmen spend their evenings drinking expensive liquor and talking important talk while my Billie sings. I’ve installed nearly a dozen songs into her voice system, all the ones I like best. In between sets, she roams around the room on a magnetic track I built into the floor, stopping at every table to say something flirty. She knows eight different phrases, and I’m working on three new ones.

She’s a toy. Metal arms and legs. A complicated hydraulic on the inside to keep her moving. A series of delicate valves connected to a circuit board that serve as her voice box. She’s a mechanical girl. But I love her like she’s real.

George Dupree, owner of the Fant, used to hire human women to sing in his nightclub, pretty ones with white-blonde curls who sang and danced and sometimes slid the necks of their dresses down to show off their bare shoulders. Between that Hitler guy and his Nazi thugs in the newsrags and women being found burnt to crisps in alleys, the military brass ordered their bigwigs to stay away from ordinary singers and dancers. Might have been for fear of them spilling secrets over pillow talk, or maybe the burnt-up women were the results of some experiment gone wrong and the generals wanted to put distance between their scientists and the victims. Who can guess? George was left without dames for his customers to ogle, and business dropped off. He was on the verge of closing down until he met my Billie.

Billie finished singing, took a bow, and the music for her next song began. “It’s always summer when you smile at me…” she sang. Suddenly her chin jerked, and she stuttered, like a record player needle skipping. The music continued on, but instead of singing, her jaw fell open with a click, and words poured out, words I didn’t understand. “Eian saprue prace sius ceva iot…”

The audience stared at my girl, as confused as I was. This gibberish was not one of the phrases she could say. After a few seconds, someone at a table said, “Is that German?” Silence fell again, until another said, “Sounds like a numbers station.” Like a dam breaking, the whole room burst into chatter, and some of the officers rose to their feet.

I ran out onto the stage, grabbed Billie’s arm, and drew her with me into the wings. “Sorry, folks,” I called out. “Show’s over for tonight.” George met us backstage, his face redder than his cummerbund.

“Why the ever-loving hell did you teach her German?” he hissed. “You’re going to get me shut down!”

It hadn’t sounded like German to me. But George wasn’t wrong. These days, the whole country seemed to be on a witch hunt, and Germany was the devil. It was time to hit the road before the bigwigs out front found their way backstage. “This ain’t my doing. It’s likely radio interference,” I said, turning my girl toward the street door. Her full-length coat hung on a hook next to it, so I slipped it over her shoulders and buttoned it at the neck, sliding the hood up to shadow her face. She’d stopped talking at last, thank goodness. The noise out on the main floor rose, and I heard snatches of unpleasant comments. Things like “spy network” and “treason” and “federal custody.” “I’ll recalibrate her vocal valves. Something’s just gone out of whack.”

“Send me a message tomorrow,” he said, pushing his shoulders back and straightening his tuxedo jacket. “It’s apology time, and I don’t want her anywhere near here if she’s spouting more of that kraut nonsense.”

Thudding footsteps echoed from the direction of the stage. Time to make tracks. Billie has wheels set in the soles of her feet, so she rolls instead of walking. Tonight I was glad of it.

Misty Massey is the author of the Mad Kestrel series of rollicking fantasy adventures on the high seas. She is an editor for several small presses, and an instructor for the Speculative Fiction Academy. When she’s not writing or editing, Misty appears on the Authors & Dragons podcast sister show, Calamity Janes, as the cheerful, sundrenched cleric, Malibu. She’s a sucker for ginger snaps, African coffee, and anything sparkly. You can keep up with Misty at mistymassey.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Learn more about Misty Massey here:

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – HEATHER E. HUTSELL – GREASE MONKEYS

On February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, KickstarterLeave a comment

The end draws nigh on Full Steam Ahead!

There are many, many bonuses to be had, and an amazing prize pack to be won, not to mention fantastic stories in the books themselves. Here is where you get to meet the authors. Heather was actually a stretch goal bonus, contributing to Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, taking a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running and even mod it out beyond its original capabilities, striving for efficiency and peak performance or just keeping things going.

eSpec Books interviews Heather E. Hutsell, contributor to Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and John L. French.

eSB: Grease Monkeys is a collection of dieselpunk stories, a genre that doesn’t seem to get as much attention as its older sibling, steampunk. What challenges did you face transitioning from one to the other? What did you find similar, and what was different?

HH: Dieselpunk is brand new to me as a genre to write about. I love the aesthetics of the decades it covers, so I’m already very familiar with those, but the punk aspect was something I had to explore. Steampunk has always felt more natural and familiar to me, so I haven’t found it as difficult to write. Between the two, I’ve found that the characters who share those worlds also share the inability to stand still. There’s so much drive to invent more, improve more, and, for better or worse, change more. And as gritty as both genres can get – literally and figuratively – there is still some element of elegance maintained, and that’s something I can identify with.

eSB: What was your favorite aspect of writing for this collection and why?

HH: I really love the challenge that comes along with writing a dieselpunk story. Again, it’s so new to me that I’ve really had to stretch my wings and get into it; see what it’s all about. I’ve probably been aware of it for about a decade and have no idea why it’s taken me so long to get a closer look. I also love just being a part of a collection with other authors. We all come at a contained vision like this from so many different backgrounds and approaches and bring such rich ideas – it’s just great fun to see what everyone has come up with, and have those, ‘Whoa! I never would have thought of that!’ moments.

eSB: Did you base your story on your own previous literary setting or did you embrace the faerie connection? Or hey, did you do both?

HH: One of my original ideas for this story stemmed from my steampunk series, The Case Files. There is some time travel that puts a few of the prominent characters right in the middle of the dieselpunk world, and as tempting as it was to lean into that, I just couldn’t settle on a vignette that could be made short enough. The Case Files get a little… complicated!

eSB: No spoilers, but what was your inspiration for your story and did you introduce any easter eggs for either the dieselpunk aspect or your own body of work?

HH: This is a tough one to answer without giving anything away! I had a few loose ideas when first asked to contribute to Grease Monkeys, but after some brainstorming, things really fell into place quickly! Part of the inspiration for my story comes from a real-life event that happened to a close friend of my paternal grandfather, who also happened to be friends with a major icon from the late 1920s. The event itself is only mentioned as something upcoming in my story, but I felt compelled to put this family friend in there because he is such a great bridge between a few key elements. Coincidentally, a story my mother recently shared with me about her father and his role in the military also plays a part. It’s really sort of amazing how the two completely unrelated events could be so easily woven together to create something I’m really excited about.

eSB: Are there any interesting details that you incorporated in your story to harken to the historic period of the genre? Are you the kind of ’punk who reveals in the period-appropriate technobabble, or do you dig deep into the research to include period-accurate touches?

HH: This definitely required some research so I could get the timing and setting just right. Since there’s an element of the occult going on in my storyline, and a handful of true events playing a role, I needed to make sure I kept the chronology of those in mind. As it turns out, I could not have written history itself more perfectly to suit my story. I also needed to know the details of certain technological elements, and both of those for the circumstances of the story also happened to work out just so.

eSB: What is your favorite dieselpunk fiction? What is your favorite dieselpunk movie? Share with us why.

HH: I have seen The City of Lost Children described as both steampunk and dieselpunk, and regardless of which it is, it has been one of my favorite films, even long before I ever heard of either genre. It’s simply gorgeous, humorous, thought-provoking, disturbing, and it has inspired many fascinating and unsettling dreams-turned-stories of mine. If Jungpunk ever becomes a thing, that movie will be the epitome of it.

eSB: What advice would you give aspiring authors considering participating in a themed anthology?

HH: It’s great to participate in an anthology on a subject you love. Even better if it’s one that challenges you, or even makes you uncomfortable. The ones that make you feel like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this’ – definitely do those. The anthologies I have written for so far – sci-fi, pulp, superhero, and this one – have all terrified me at the onset, but I ended up loving, not only the stories, but the process involved for approaching and writing them.

eSB: Could you tell us about one of your most amusing experiences promoting your books?

HH: As someone who is terrible with marketing, and just can’t seem to sit down and really invest the time necessary to make social media work for me, I make sure that I make the best use of marketing time at conventions. I’ll do readings, speak on panels, and appear at every meet & greet and book fair I can, just so I can speak to people about my books in person. I have had several people ask to buy whatever book I was reading from right out of my hands, before I can even leave the room – or sometimes, the panel. I am both amused and fascinated by it every time it happens. To have someone say, “Oh, my gosh! I want that book right now – can I buy that copy from you?” – it never gets old.

eSB: What is one thing you would share that would surprise your readers?

HH: I don’t actually enjoy writing vampire or werewolf stories – but that didn’t stop me from still doing it four times! And since I have a sequel in mind for one, and plans to complete a trilogy for another storyline, it looks like I’ll be doing it again at some point. There are a few people out there who will be thrilled to know that.

eSB: What are some of your other works readers can look for?

HH: On the subject of ’punk writing, the first five of eight books of The Case Files are available. As mentioned, I also have a few romantic horror novels and novellas (By Blood, By Moon and By Heart, By Sun; In the Clothing of Wolves and Blood Mettle), and my first gothic, paranormal romance (Nevermore, Inc.) is available. Or, if you just don’t know where to start, 366 Tales: Stories Year-Round is exactly that – a one-page story for each day of the year, spanning all genres.

eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up?

HH: Having recently finished book five for The Case Files, I’d like to get moving on the next one, though I’ve had requests to do more paranormal stories and another collection of mixed-genre short stories, so which one I go with next is a little up in the air at the moment. As long as I’m writing, I’m pretty happy.

Heather E. Hutsell is the authoress of over twenty titles, including the steampunk mystery series The Case Files, short story compilations The Doll Collection Volumes 1 & 2, and an epic poem, The Merry Widow of Frankenstein. Her other works include fantasy, romantic horror, absurdist fiction, dystopia, and fairytales gone awry. Her most recent publications are the paranormal novella Nevermore, Inc., and 366 Tales: Stories Year Round, a collection of flash fiction. Heather has also written two historical documentary series for Lionheart Productions, LLC, contributed numerous articles to OneUnitedLanaster.com, and has stories in three anthologies put out by Crazy 8 Press. You can learn more about her projects at www.heatherehutsell.com.

Learn more about Heather E. Hutsell here:

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – DOC COLEMAN – A CAST OF CROWS

On February 21, 2023February 7, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, KickstarterLeave a comment

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

This one is unique in that A Cast of Crows, one of the collections being funded, has been created in conjunction with a first-year steampunk event called Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, in Hunt Valley, MD. Excerpts from all of the stories in the book will be used for an interactive scavenger hunt at the festival. We hope you’ll check out both the Kickstarter and the convention. Many of the authors will be in attendance, some of them coming from as far away as New Mexico!

The other two books funding through the campaign are Grimm Machinations – the sequel to Gaslight & Grimm, bringing you even more steampunk faerie tales; and Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, our first foray into dieselpunk.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be featuring these spotlights so you can get to know our authors—and the projects—better.

eSpec Books interviews Doc Coleman, contributor to Forgotten Lore Volume One: A Cast of Crows, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail.

eSB: This collection is unique in that it is a key part of the upcoming Tell-Tall Steampunk Festival, a first-year event kicking off with a Poe theme. What challenges did this present when choosing what to write?
DC: Well, most of my writing has been built around my Adventures of Crackle and Bang series. When I’ve been asked for short stories, I usually find a way to insert Crackle and Bang into the theme and come up with a vignette. With this story, the constraints didn’t allow that. I needed to make the story shorter than I usually write, and my usual narrator’s voice didn’t work for that. But this also became an opportunity. If I couldn’t bring in Crackle and Bang, I had the chance to explore some of the things that happen when they’re not around, which opened possibilities for a much darker story. That fit well with the Poe theme, so I got to play with a storyline that was more magical.

eSB: As an author, what drew you to participate in a collection of Poe-inspired steampunk?
DC: Well, it’s always nice to be asked. But I’ve been asked to participate in other anthologies and had to turn them down because a story just didn’t come to me in time. I think part of it was the chance to do something a little more gothic horror in terms of steampunk. I don’t really do a lot of horror, but I have noticed that a horrific element usually sneaks into my stories. This became a chance to play with something dark and to do something that was less technology-driven, and more fantasy driven. One of the things I love about steampunk is that in the Victorian era, anything was possible, so it all goes into the pot. In this case, I got to dip into something a little different for me.

eSB: Did you base your story on your own previous literary setting or did you embrace the Poe connection? Or hey, did you do both?
DC: I think I did a bit of both. As I mentioned before, I couldn’t do my usual Crackle and Bang tie-in, so I started to write something that was disconnected. Something in a completely Poe-like world. Then I realized that even if I couldn’t use my main characters, the World of The Eternal Empress was big enough to have all kinds of dark corners to explore. And from the outset I made magic just as much a part of that world as technology, even if my main characters don’t really see it. You kind of have to when you start with Queen Victoria being an immortal. But this was my chance to play with the hidden magics. Smaller magic users who avoid the spotlight and just want to live out their lives in their own way.

eSB: No spoilers, but what was your inspiration for your story and did you introduce any easter eggs for either the Poe aspect or your own body of work?
DC: Well, I was told the story had to contain a crow, and we were given a list of names to choose from, and an element that went with those names. As it turned out, one of the names on the list was the same as a good friend of mine, and to me she did kind of embody that element. So you could say that she was the inspiration. Then I tried to look for a twist. Something that would give the story a different angle. The only real Easter egg is the setting, and some of the phrases used because of that setting.

eSB: Are there any interesting details that you incorporated in your story to harken to the historic aspect of the genre? Are you the kind of ’punk who reveals in the period-appropriate technobabble, or do you dig deep into the research to include period-accurate touches?
DC: Normally, I like to play with the technology, and dig up creative ways to describe getting futuristic effects from the more primitive period-appropriate tools. But this story didn’t have room for that. This one is much more about people who live simply and close to the land and how it stirs things up when a stranger blunders through. I did get to dig into ancient beliefs and a little witchcraft to try to give it the right flavor.

eSB: What was your favorite aspect of this project and does it inspire you to continue writing with the characters you created, or in the same universe?
DC: Oh, now that’s an interesting question. My favorite part of this project is the relationship I set up between the woodsman and his wife. I’d go into more detail, but I’m afraid it would be too spoilery. Let’s just say that they each have their own secrets, and those secrets keep them together and keep them apart. When I came up with the story I just thought of it as a one-off, but now that you’ve asked the question, it might be interesting to have one of these characters show up in a Crackle and Bang story. I think we’ll all have to just wait and see.

eSB: Is this your first time writing for a themed anthology? If so, how did you find the experience? If not, what draws you to them?
DC: This is actually the third time I’ve written for a themed anthology. The first one was The Way of the Gun, a Bushido Western Anthology, edited and published by Scott Roche. That one was fun because we got to play with western gunplay using the code of Bushido, and because Scott included a group of pacifists into the world known as the Followers of the Clockworker. I got the chance to flesh out a steampunk religion based on the idea of a clockwork world built by the Great Maker. It was great fun weaving threads of different cultures together and seeing how well they came together. By the time I finished that story, I’d laid the framework of at least four different philosophical religions.

The second time was a charity fundraiser called Paradise Found: Tales from the Library. That was intriguing because the setting was Paradise City, a city that is at the intersection of all possible afterlives, and because the library in question is the Library of Alexandria, which was not destroyed, but was taken up into the afterlife to preserve it. This story was fun because I got to play with gods as characters, and because I pulled Crackle and Bang into the afterlife. And this particular story has hooks into stories I haven’t published yet. When they’re all out there it will be a fun easter egg for my readers.

Anthologies are great fun, and a challenge as an author. You have to fit the constraints of the theme, but at the same time they let you explore aspects of culture and worldbuilding that usually get bent in service of a larger narrative. It is freeing to write a short where you’ve got enough background to build, but other than that you’ve got a blank slate and can do almost anything.

eSB: What is it about steampunk that you like most as an author? And what do you like about it as a reader, (presuming the answer isn’t the same)?
DC: I love the endless possibilities. I mentioned earlier that one thing that attracts me to the Victorian era is that people believed anything was possible. It was a time when you could have a man build a rocket to the moon in his garage so he could fight off Venusian invaders, while his brother is stalked and killed by a mummy’s curse so that his poor widow would have to take solace by visiting with the fairies in the bottom of their garden. People considered themselves worldly and educated, but would take all of that together without blinking an eye. It was a time when people did great and terrible things. By adding steampunk to the mix, you can make all the stories true and see where that leads you. It is a setting that creates opportunities for endless conflict, and endless wonder. There are just so many stories to be had there.

eSB: What advice would you give aspiring authors considering participating in a themed anthology?
DC: Don’t worry that you’re not good enough. Writing stories is how you get better. Don’t be afraid of someone telling you “No.” Most rejections from open calls to themed anthologies aren’t because of the quality of the stories, it’s from the sheer number of quality applicants. And even if your story is bad, it is a chance to learn how to write something better. Get to know the editors. It won’t get you into an anthology, but it may help you learn what they’re looking for, and that can spark your creativity. Most of all, don’t give up.

eSB: What other events are you doing this year—steampunk or otherwise?
DC: My schedule still hasn’t firmed up yet, but I’ve got a few things I’m planning on for this year. I’m planning on going to the Tell-Tale Steampunk Convention, of course. Then come Memorial Day Weekend, I hope to be back at Balticon. I’m also going to try to get a table for the Gaithersburg Book Festival this summer. In August, I plan on returning to the Key City Steampunk Festival. I’ve also got a couple renaissance festival book signings in the works. Hopefully, this fall I’ll be back at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for a signing at the Page After Page bookstore sometime in September or October, and then in November I’ll be down at the Carolina Renaissance Festival for Time Traveller’s Weekend on the 11th an 12th. Who knows, I may be able to add another convention to the list.

eSB: Could you tell us about one of your most amusing experiences promoting your books?
DC: One of the things I like about doing a signing at the Maryland Renaissance Festival is that I can people-watch. Steampunk is popular with a lot of the renaissance crowd, but not everyone, but I can usually pick my customers out of the crowd. The top hats and corsets tend to be a giveaway. But the people who are just there for the day, they’re a little harder. My big advantage there is the cover of my novel, The Perils of Prague. It is eye-catching. Mostly because there is an eye staring out at you from the broken face of an automaton. I can watch people walking along and see them get a glimpse of the cover and do a double-take. Most of the time, if I can get them to come over and take a closer look, I can tell by the second or third question that I’ve got them hooked. Sometimes it is enough to just describe the books as “Steampunk Comedy Adventure.”

eSB: What is one thing you would share that would surprise your readers?
DC: I hated writing as a kid. I especially hated it when we had to write stories for English class. I didn’t start writing until I was in my 40’s. Now I’ve got ideas for about a dozen novels in my head and no time to write. Writers should really have patrons. Having to work a day job really takes up a lot of good writing time.

eSB: What are some of your other works readers can look for?
DC: My first novel The Perils of Prague, Book One in the Adventures of Crackle and Bang is out there, as is Paradise Found, mentioned above. I also have a collection of short stories, The Shining Cog and Other Steampunk Tales. There are also a couple stand-alone short stories out as ebooks: The Gift, and Welcome to Paradox.

eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up?
DC: Later this year, I’ll be releasing The Kindred of Kali, Book Two in the Adventures of Crackle and Bang. As you’ve no doubt guessed, this will see Crackle and Bang heading to India, and trying to track down a kidnapped princess. It’s a little more intrigue, but still a lot of comedy and adventure. It’s a story where nothing is ever quite what it seems. I hope people will enjoy it. I’ve just a got a few more tweaks to make before it is ready…

Doc Coleman never dreamed of being a writer. He dreamed of being an actor, of making movies, and telling stories. He dreamed of going to space. He just didn’t work hard enough at it. So he ended up going into IT.

But he always had a way with words. He still wanted to tell stories.

One day a friend told Doc that it takes 10,000 hours to master a new skill. He didn’t know how true that was, but he did see something in that was true: You don’t get better at things you don’t do.

So, he set about getting better at writing.

He started a blog, writing about something he did know about: technology.

About six months later, he started writing short stories. And submitting them.

Doc’s stories have appeared in The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences’ Tales from the Archives, the Way of the Gun Bushido Western Anthology, the Steampunk Special Edition of Flagship magazine, and in the charity anthology Paradise Found: Tales From the Library. In 2017 he published his first novel, The Perils of Prague, the first book in the Steampunk Comedy/Adventure series The Adventures of Crackle and Bang. In 2018 he published The Shining Cog and Other Steampunk Tales, a collection of Steampunk short stories. In 2023, he plans on publishing the second Crackle and Bang Adventure, The Kindred of Kali.

Doc has been a perennial guest at Balticon, RavenCon, Capclave, and Continual. He is also known as a narrator and a voice actor.

When he isn’t juggling projects, making a living, or mainlining podcasts, Doc is a gamer, an avid reader, a motorcyclist, a home brewer and beer lover, a fan of renaissance festivals, and frequently a smart-ass. He lives with his lovely wife and two cats in Germantown, MD.

Learn more about Doc Coleman here:

Website * GoodReads * Amazon Author Page

Follow Doc Coleman on social media:

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – PATRICK THOMAS – GRIMM MACHINATIONS

On February 20, 2023February 19, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, KickstarterLeave a comment

Final days left for our campaign Full Steam Ahead!

Grimm Machinations is a fun follow-up to our collection Gaslight & Grimm. More steampunk faerie tales, only this time, all of the tales the stories are based on are about makers or conmen, playing with the dual meanings of “Machinations.”

The other two books funding through the campaign are A Cast of Crows, Poe-inspired fiction created in conjunction with the Tell-Tall Steampunk Festival; and Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, our first foray into dieselpunk.

eSpec Books interviews Patrick Thomas, contributor to Grimm Machinations, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and Greg Schauer.

eSB: As an author, what drew you to participate in a collection of faerie tale-inspired steampunk?

PT: I was standing out on the corner holding a homemade cardboard sign that read “WILL WRITE FOR FOOD.” Danielle came by and gave me some ginger and a few cookies and here I am. But seriously, I had a blast writing stories for two of Danielle’s previous steampunk anthologies and leapt at a chance to do another mixing in elements of a fairy tale, in my case the Pied (Bag)Piper.

eSB: Did you base your story on your own previous literary setting or did you embrace the faerie connection? Or hey, did you do both?

PT: I used my own setting. I have a series of Playworlds, entertainment planets run by aliens for their own amusement with different themes where most the people have no idea what is really going on. The most popular of these is my Steamworld steampunk setting which I revisited for my Grimm Machinations story. Although the queen is mentioned in the story, what isn’t is that the Royal family has been genetically modified by the aliens to resemble faeries, including having pointed ears.

PT: Knowing the devotion of Steampunk fans, I was a tad intimidated. Like any writer, I do my research, but what if I got some crucial aspect of the Victorian-era horribly wrong? That’s when I came up with a way to make sure that didn’t happen. Or if it did, to ensure it didn’t ruin the story. I invented the concept of the Playworlds, alien-developed settings based on popular aspects of human media. Once I made my setting the city Thames (which had the river London running through it), the rest came easy. And by setting it on another world, I was able to have more fun with the story by incorporating Victorian-era themes with several twists.

eSB: What advice would you give aspiring authors considering participating in a themed anthology?

PT: Embrace it. It can be a lot of fun and a chance to get outside your comfort zone, stretch your writing muscles, and write something great that you might not have come up with if left solely to your own devices. And beyond that, if you are fortunate enough to participate in multiple themed anthologies, consider using the same characters or even just the same world and setting. That way after several anthologies, you will have enough stories (hopefully with some original tales added in) to build your own collection.

eSB: What other events are you doing this year—steampunk or otherwise?

PT: I’ll be at both Hunt Valley Monster Mania cons, Balticon, Wellsborough ComicCon, and Twin Tier ComicCon.

eSB: Could you tell us about one of your most amusing experiences promoting your books?

PT: John French, the late great and much-missed C.J. Henderson, and I used to play reader pong. Since we had all been in many different anthologies, written books, and edited anthologies together. Heck, we even wrote a story with all our bylines that crossed over CJ’s Lai Wan, John’s Bianca Jones, and my Agent Karver of the Department of Mystic Affairs. Whenever we sold a book where one of the others appeared as well, we would send the reader over to get it signed. (We tend to do this with other authors as well.) It’s a way for the reader to collect more signatures and a chance for the other author to try to interest them in another book. And if that book should happen to have one of the others in it, we’d wash, rinse, and repeat. We often managed two or three such pongs, but sometimes it would be more. The record for the three of us working in concert was eleven pongs. I was the one who got the last pong when I was informed that the reader would not be buying any more books that weekend.

eSB: What is one thing you would share that would surprise your readers?

PT: One time at a convention, I sold the shirt off the back of an artist sitting next to me.

eSB: What are some of your other works readers can look for?

PT: Murphy’s Lore is a humorous urban fantasy set in the NYC bar at the rainbow’s end. Owned by a leprechaun, Hercules is the bouncer, Dionysus is one of the bartenders, and various folks from myth and legend, along with everyday New Yorkers come in. Since the owner bought the bar with his pot o’ gold, rainbows lead those in trouble to the bar where they can find help. (The extended universe includes two Startenders books set 20+ years in the future where they go out into space, not in starships but barships.)

I write the dark and twisted Dear Cthulhu humorous advice columns, which can be heard monthly on the Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction radio show.

There is also the Mystic Investigators paranormal mysteries and the steampunk collection As The Gears Turn. Cryptid Fight Club is part of the Systema Paradoxa series about a PI who tries to rescue a Batsquatch and Dingbat from an illegal fight club in Las Vegas. There are three Terrorbelle books, featuring a half-pixie/half-ogre woman who works for Nemesis and fights big bads in New York City. Bikini Jones is a fun SF/F series about a woman cursed by a witch to wear a bikini who saves the world on a semi-regular basis.

eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up?

PT: Over the next year, I have several books due out including We Will Fight In The Stars (the first Tales of The 142^nd Starborne military science fiction series); Detectives Of The Abyss (Co-written with John L. French) and The Abyss Stares Back (a novel and anthology set in the Agents of the Abyss universe where classic monsters get involved with international intrigue ala James Bond), Cthulhu Take The Wheel (the 7^th Dear Cthulhu collection). Writing as Patrick T. Fibbs, readers can expect two middle readers Ain’t Seen Muffin Yet (Book 2 in the Babe B. Bear Mysteries) and It’s My Party And I’ll Die If I Want To (Book 2 in The Undead Kid Diaries) and the YA Emotional Support Nightmare. A bit after that will be Bikini Jones Vs. The Emperor of Planet Z (Book 3 of Bikini Jones), Before Twilight (the 10^th book in the Murphy’s Lore series), and the new Mystic Investigators book, all written as Patrick Thomas.

There’s been a debate among certain obscure and drunken literary scholars about whether PATRICK THOMAS was raised by Cthulhu or a leprechaun in a Manhattan bar. What there is no arguing about is that Patrick is the award-winning author of 50+ books, including the beloved fantasy humor Murphy’s Lore series, the darkly hilarious Dear Cthulhu advice empire, as well as the Bikini Jones books, the Mystic Investigators series, and the creator of the Agents of the Abyss. His other books include the Hexcraft and the Terrorbelle series, Exile & Entrance, Cryptid Fight Club, and the mystery Assassins’ Ball co-written with John L. French.

Dear Cthulhu has expanded from magazines and books to broadcast monthly on the radio show Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction. Over 100 of his stories have been published in magazines and anthologies. A number of his books were part of the props department of the CSI television show, and Nightcaps was even thrown at a suspect’s head. His urban fantasy Fairy With A Gun, at one point, had been optioned for film and TV by Laurence Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy Productions. Top Men Productions has turned his Soul For Hire Story, Act of Contrition, into a short film.

As Patrick T. Fibbs, he writes middle readers, including the Babe B. Bear Mysteries, The Undead Kid Diaries, Joy Reaper Checks Out, the YA Emotional Support Nightmare, and the Ughabooz books for younger kids.

Visit him at www.patthomas.net and www.patricktfibbs.com.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – JOHN L. FRENCH – GREASE MONKEYS

On February 19, 2023February 4, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, KickstarterLeave a comment

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

While we are not the first to explore the realm of dieselpunk, it is fair to say there isn’t a lot out there. And I can say with full confidence no one else has gone in this direction! Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk takes a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running and even mod it out beyond its original capabilities, striving for efficiency and peak performance or just keeping things going.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be featuring these spotlights so you can get to know our authors—and the projects—better.

eSpec Books interviews John L. French, contributor to Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and John L. French.

JLF: This is my first time writing about either, although as an editor I have edited some steampunk novels and stories. As for the difference, Let me compare the two subgenres to types of crime fiction – steampunk is closer to the cozy mystery while dieselpunk is closer to hardboiled.

eSB: What was your favorite aspect of writing for this collection and why?

JLF: I generally don’t write either dieselpunk or steampunk fiction. So writing for this collection was a way to try something new, to stretch my writing muscles so to speak.

eSB: As an author, what drew you to participate in a collection of dieselpunk fiction?

JLF: I was invited to do so by my co-editor, who had faith enough in me to believe that this was something I could do.

eSB: Did you base your story on your own previous literary setting or did you embrace the faerie connection? Or hey, did you do both?

JLF: Neither. I did some research into both steam and dieselpunk and some of the aspects of the latter and as I did, I suddenly had the story. It was not one I expected to write. After I wrote the first one (“No Man’s Land”) another idea occurred to me and I wrote the second one (“The Return of the Diesel Kid”).

eSB: No spoilers, but what was your inspiration for your story and did you introduce any easter eggs for either the dieselpunk aspect or your own body of work?

JLF: I love putting Easter Eggs in my stories. There is a series of them in “No Man’s Land” that relate to a novel Patrick Thomas and I write if anyone gets them, it should tell them where the story is going.

eSB: Is this your first time writing for a themed anthology? If so, how did you find the experience? If not, what draws you to them?

JLF: No, I’ve been contributing to and editing themed anthologies for almost as long as I’ve been writing. I like them because the theme will not only suggest a topic about which to write but act as a challenge to take a topic like zombies or mermaids and write about it a way no one else has. I also think that readers take to themed anthologies because they know what to expect.

eSB: What advice would you give aspiring authors considering participating in a themed anthology?

JLF: First of all, read the guidelines. If the anthology is about police detectives, don’t write a story about a dog-walker who stumbles on a murder unless the dog-walker is an off-duty police detective. If it’s a topic with which you’re not familiar, do some research. If it’s a well-known subject like Sherlock Holmes or the Lovecraft mythos, go to the source material, read the original stories rather than rely on what you think you know. Once you do that, don’t be afraid to do something different.

eSB: What other events are you doing this year—dieselpunk or otherwise?

JLF: Several conventions of various kinds, Monster Mania, the Balticon (hopefully), the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, the Frederick Comic Con, and the Pulp Adventure Con. It’s always fun doing conventions, meeting old friends and fans and making new ones.

eSB: What is one thing you would share that would surprise your readers?

JLF: While it’s no secret that I was once a CSI for the Baltimore Police Crime Lab, I also “worked” for Captain James Gordon of the Gotham City Police in that city’s crime lab. I provided forensic advice to C. J. Henderson when he wrote a few Batman comics and as a thank you I was drawn into the comic as myself.

eSB: What are some of your other works readers can look for?

JLF: There are the novellas I wrote as part of Systema Paradoxa’s ongoing Cryptid series – When the Moon Shines, which features snallygasters and dwayyo, and Chessie at Bay, which features Chessie the Chesapeake Bay sea serpent. There’s also my Bianca Jones series about monster hunting in Baltimore (Here There Be Monsters, Monsters Among Us, and The Last Monsters. And a two-book (so far) series about a CSI who becomes a private eye then goes to work for the Baltimore City State’s Attorney.

eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up?

JLF: Hopefully, I will have a few books coming out in 2023. My first fantasy collection from Padwolf Publishing (In the Ruins of Caerleon), a hardboiled detective collection from Bold Venture Press (The Wages of Syn), and a novel set in Patrick Thomas’s Agents of the Abyss series (The Detective of the Abyss). 2024 will see the release of Daylight Comes, my third book in my cryptid series, which features the return of the dwayyo along with at least one other monster.

JOHN L. FRENCH is a retired crime scene supervisor with forty years’ experience. He has seen more than his share of murders, shootings, and serious assaults. As a break from the realities of his job, he started writing science fiction, pulp, horror, fantasy, and, of course, crime fiction.

John’s first story “Past Sins” was published in Hardboiled Magazine and was cited as one of the best Hardboiled stories of 1993. More crime fiction followed, appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the Fading Shadows magazines and in collections by Barnes and Noble. Association with writers like James Chambers and the late, great C.J. Henderson led him to try horror fiction and to a still growing fascination with zombies and other undead things. His first horror story “The Right Solution” appeared in Marietta Publishing’s Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak. Other horror stories followed in anthologies such as The Dead Walk and Dark Furies, both published by Die Monster Die books. It was in Dark Furies that his character Bianca Jones made her literary debut in “21 Doors,” a story based on an old Baltimore legend and a creepy game his daughter used to play with her friends.

John’s first book was The Devil of Harbor City, a novel done in the old pulp style. Past Sins and Here There Be Monsters followed. John was also consulting editor for Chelsea House’s Criminal Investigation series. His other books include The Assassins’ Ball (written with Patrick Thomas), Souls on Fire, The Nightmare Strikes, Monsters Among Us, The Last Redhead, the Magic of Simon Tombs, and The Santa Heist (written with Patrick Thomas). John is the editor of To Hell in a Fast Car, Mermaids 13, C. J. Henderson’s Challenge of the Unknown, Camelot 13 (with Patrick Thomas), and (with Greg Schauer) With Great Power …

John’s Amazon Author Page * John’s Facebook Page

eSPEC EXCERPTS – CHRISTINE NORRIS – GRIMM MACHINATIONS

On February 18, 2023February 4, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn eSPEC EXCERPTS, KickstarterLeave a comment

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Yes, we are funding more books. Yes, we would love if you would check them out, maybe show your support. But don’t think you have to do it blind. Here is a taste of Grimm Machinations – the sequel to Gaslight & Grimm, bringing you even more steampunk faerie tales.

The other two books funding through the campaign are A Cast of Crows, a Poe-inspired steampunk collection created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival; and Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, an anthology that takes a look at the mechanics that keep the tech running, but more on those later.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be sharing these excerpts so you can get to know our authors’ style.

The Six Clockwork Swans
Christine Norris

Based on The Six Swans

Kadie’s footsteps were all but silenced by the thick Persian carpet as she crept across the library. The tall windows that lined the one wall showed a clear night sky full of stars and a full moon that made turning on the gas lamps unnecessary. Thick shadows lay in corners where the moonlight didn’t reach. The last of the church bells’ midnight chimes still hung in the air, its resounding gongs giving Kadie the perfect cover for her journey down the stairs, across the marble hall, and through the library door.

The household had been in bed for hours, except for the night maids, who were in the kitchen gossiping over their tea. As mistress of the house, it was her right to be in the library whenever she pleased, so sneaking shouldn’t be necessary, but she knew she was being watched. And being so close to breaking the curse, she couldn’t take a single chance.

The library seemed to hold its breath as she passed the shelves of books. The framed portraits of generations of her husband’s family stared down from above, their dour expressions silently judging her. She had been told all of their names but didn’t recall a single one at this moment. There were only six names that mattered to her.

Her foot caught on something, and suddenly she was falling. She flung her arms forward to stop herself and slammed her palms into the edge of her husband’s enormous heavy desk, her knee into the side. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, and she gritted her teeth to hold back her cry of pain and shock. After a few seemingly eternal moments, the pain passed, and Kadie was able to gather herself enough to stand. She looked down and saw the architect of her stumble—a wrinkle in the rug. She silently cursed it and resumed her trip to the farthest corner of the library.

She tossed a nervous glance over her shoulder to make sure she was still alone. No one had heard her unfortunate crash into the desk, it seemed. She stood on tiptoe and reached as high as she could, the tips of her fingers grasping the edge of one of the books on the top shelf. With a snick softer than a whisper, the bookcase swung open. Kadie grabbed the oil lamp she kept on a shelf just inside the door and lit it with the matches she kept in the pocket of her skirt. A few yards down the stone-lined passage, she pushed on one, worn smooth, and the hidden door swung silently shut. The little oil lamp only put out a small circle of light, but she walked with quick and sure steps, her footfalls echoing along the narrow passage. She could have had no light at all, and she would know the way, so often had she traveled this corridor.

She had discovered the secret passage completely by accident, just a year after Daniel found her in the tiny cottage in the woods and brought her to his home. His was a magnificent manor house at the center of the city over which he reigned as Duke. A far different place than her home in so many ways.

The library had been her refuge from almost the moment she had arrived, and one rainy afternoon while she was looking for something to read and hiding from her mother-in-law, she reached for the book that opened the door. The passage had been dark and full of cobwebs, obviously unused for many years. But with a little sweeping and the hidden lamp, it had become almost welcoming.

The other end of the passage opened into a comfortably sized room with windows near the ceiling that allowed the moonlight to pour inside like silver. Kadie had never been able to figure out where this room was within the house, either from the inside or looking at the house from the outside. It was as if it existed just for her.

She inhaled deeply, letting the scent of machine oil and dust fill her nose before she placed the lamp on a small table beside the door and, in a few minutes, the rest of the lamps were lit, and she was ready to get to work.

The flickering yellow light bounced off the glass doors of the cabinet where she kept the collection of tools she had gathered in the last six years. She never took them from the room; if she were ever caught with even the smallest screwdriver, it could mean her death. In this realm, technology like clockworks and machinery were heresy.

Her workbench stood against the back wall. Beside a small pile of spare gears and cogs, five small music box movements sat in a neat row, gleaming in the light. The first was the largest, and each decreased slightly in size. In front of each sat a small card with a name written in her own elegant script—Albert, Broderick, Charles, Dorian, Edgar. The sixth movement lay in pieces on the bench in front of a small stool with a cracked leather seat. Its label waited off to the side. Flynn. Kadie gazed at the names, picturing each of her brothers in turn. Their faces had begun to blur in her memory. If all went well, she would see them again today.

Kadie sat and took a deep, cleansing breath before lifting the small screwdriver in her callused fingers and tightening the screw that held the cog in place. Almost done, and yet still so far to go. It hadn’t been easy to keep her work a secret; these stolen moments in the workshop had been harder to come by, especially with her mother-in-law keeping an ever more watchful eye.

This would have been so much easier if she had been home, or even still at the cottage. Her father’s realm was a hive of mechanical things. Clock shops, mechanical vehicles on the streets, airships in the skies above. Her father loved anything mechanical. Her room in the palace had been filled with clockwork toys, many he had made himself and given to her on birthdays and holidays.

That had been before he had married again.

Her stepmother hated her and her siblings. Kadie had no idea why, nor why she had been spared from her curse. When her brothers had disappeared, she had grabbed what she could carry and ran. From the capital city and into the forest, she ran so far she had no idea where she was. She followed the forest road until she discovered an abandoned cottage. Inside, she found a corner and cried herself to sleep.

That was where her brothers had come to her. At sunset, six clockworks swans landed in the yard outside her door. One by one, they transformed into her human brothers.

Once Upon a Time, Christine Norris thought she wanted to be an archaeologist but hates sand and bugs, so instead, she became a writer. She is the author of several speculative fiction works for children and adults, including The Library of Athena series, A Curse of Ash and Iron, and contributions to Gaslight & Grimm and Grimm Machinations. She is kept busy on a daily basis by her day job as a school librarian in New Jersey. She may or may not have a secret library in her basement, and she absolutely believes in fairies.

Learn more about Christine Norris here:

Website * GoodReads * Amazon Author Page

Follow Christine Norris on social media:

Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – MISTY MASSEY – GREASE MONKEYS

On February 17, 2023February 4, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, KickstarterLeave a comment

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Over the course of the campaign, we will be featuring these spotlights so you can get to know our authors—and the projects—better.

eSpec Books interviews Misty Massey, contributor to Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and John L. French.

eSB: As an author, what drew you to participate in a collection of dieselpunk fiction?

MM: I’ve written about fantasy pirates for so long that jumping into a much more technological world was a treat. Like being allowed to eat ice cream for dinner because I finished all my homework – writing about the mechanic and the metal girl was a new experience that gave me a thrill.

eSB: Did you base your story on your own previous literary setting or did you embrace the faerie connection? Or hey, did you do both?

MM: Golly, no! My Kestrel novels take place on wooden pirate ships in a fantasy world, and the story for this anthology had to be set in pre-WWII Washington. Night and day!

eSB: No spoilers, but what was your inspiration for your story and did you introduce any easter eggs for either the dieselpunk aspect or your own body of work?

MM: Originally, I was going to write about a troupe of mechanical dancers, an idea that came from my experience dancing in troupes over the last decade or so. But once I got started, I realized I’d built much too large of a cast of characters for a short story, and I wasn’t going to be able to do it justice. Besides that, I found that I enjoyed the intimacy of the mechanic having a single metal friend to care for instead of a crowd.

MM: I’m definitely not someone who knows much about how machines work, so I tried not to go overboard explaining the metal girl’s internal arrangement. (I did run it past a more mechanically minded family member to make sure it wasn’t completely nonsense.) For me, diving into historical research to add the appropriate touches is my jam. Even an era so close to the present can feel like a long-ago past when we study language and customs. I made sure to pepper everyone’s speech with believable slang, for instance, and included mentions of the uncomfortable political situation of the time. I also read lyrics of popular songs from that period to familiarize myself with their cadence and vocabulary so the metal girl could sing without my editors having to worry about licensing issues for printing someone else’s lyrics.

eSB: What is your favorite dieselpunk fiction? What is your favorite dieselpunk movie? Share with us why.

MM: I’m a big fan of Richard Kadrey’s The Grand Dark. Unlike his Sandman Slim series, this book is heady and lush, filled with the thrill of post-war opportunity and shadowy dealings that underpin every connection. And my favorite movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a wonderful example of secret magic hiding just out of sight in the comfortable industrial world we think we’ve tamed.

eSB: What advice would you give aspiring authors considering participating in a themed anthology?

MM: Don’t look at the big names who are sharing a table of contents with you and start thinking you aren’t up to snuff with them. Your story has every right to appear and could very well end up being some reader’s favorite one in the whole collection. Believe in your work and yourself.

eSB: What other events are you doing this year—dieselpunk or otherwise?

MM: I’ll be appearing at Ret-Con (Cary, NC), SAGA (Winston-Salem, NC), Atomacon (Charleston, SC), and ConCarolinas (Charlotte, NC) this spring. There may be other events added later, so you can check my website for updates!

eSB: What is one thing you would share that would surprise your readers?

MM: Well, I was a performing belly dancer for over ten years and belonged to a couple of professional troupes. Readers from the Carolinas might have even seen me on stage at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. I was the 1980 TriCounty spelling champion in high school. I look like a middle-aged mom, but I’m a big fan of bands like Rage Against the Machine and Rise Against. Oh, here’s something that might surprise people – I can write my name in cursive, forward with my right hand and backward with my left, at the same time. Ta da!!

eSB: What are some of your other works readers can look for?

MM: I mentioned the pirates earlier, so you can look for Mad Kestrel and the recent sequel, Kestrel’s Dance, from Loreseekers Press. If you’d like to check out some of the other themed anthologies I’ve been involved with, you can try The Weird Wild West (e-Spec Books), Lawless Lands (Falstaff), Submerged (ZNB), or Cinched (Falstaff).

eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up?

MM: I’m releasing the Dead Man series, a three-novella weird western saga featuring Doc Holliday returned from the dead later this year from Falstaff Books, and a fantasy-noir tale, The Big Smush, as part of the Shingles collection. And, of course, I’m hard at work on the third of Kestrel’s pirate adventures, with any luck coming in 2024 from Loreseekers Press.

Learn more about Misty Massey here:

Website * GoodReads * Amazon Author Page

Follow Misty Massey on social media:

Facebook * Twitter

eSPEC EXCERPTS – JESSICA LUCCI – A CAST OF CROWS

On February 16, 2023February 16, 2023 By eSpec BooksIn eSPEC EXCERPTS, KickstarterLeave a comment

We are at it again! Kicking off the year with a brand-new campaign: Full Steam Ahead!

Yes, we are funding more books. Yes, we would love if you would check them out, maybe show your support. But don’t think you have to do it blind. Here is a taste of A Cast of Crows, a Poe-inspired steampunk collection created in conjunction with the Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival.

Over the course of the campaign, we will be sharing these excerpts so you can get to know our authors’ style.

Annabel Lee
Jessica Lucci

The ball was off to a superb start, with a classical orchestra playing lilting songs on a calm sea. At the captain’s table were the usual dukes and duchesses, other would-be royalty, lords and ladies, and one very outspoken red-headed woman of a certain age. Madame Jane d’Avery by name, a round, robust socialite who had earned her place at the table through her vast riches gained in her widowhood. A savvy art collector, she had made herself another small fortune in the art trade. She traveled not only for pleasure but to transport her treasures from port to port for exorbitant sale.

Madame d’Avery wore such a large bustle that she had to sit sideways on her chair. Her face was flushed with laughter in quite an unladylike way, in Captain Edgarton’s opinion. “Gadzooks,” he whispered to Annabel. “She is telling bawdy jokes.”

The table roared with laughter as Madame d’Avery chugged another glass of red wine.

“What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole that it’s often poked before?”

The titillated group called out all the wrong answers. “Do tell us,” urged Annabel. Captain Edgarton groaned.

Madame d’Avery took a large breath, creating a suspenseful pause. Her large bosom threatened to pop out of her rounded bodice. “A key!”

The table erupted in laughter. Edgarton wished there was something stronger than wine in his glass. He nudged Annabel Lee and spoke just barely above a whisper. “Don’t laugh. It will only egg her on.”

Madame d’Avery had sharp ears and observant eyes. She saw the elbow of the captain meet the thin, silked arm of his fiancée. She heard the words uttered from his mouth.

“We all deserve a good laugh,” she said into the air, addressing no one in particular. But she saw the crimson flush of anger start at the base of the captain’s throat above his cravat. She knew she had been understood.

After the dinner, the grand ballroom filled with excited dancers, couples and pairs who had met onboard the HMS Annabel Lee. The automaton servants even seemed to step more gaily as they attended to their duties.

Masterminded by the greatest engineers, the servants were created to be mechanical soldiers. Yet, in this time of great peace, there was no need for articles of war or fighting metal men. So they were redesigned as workers aboard ships such as the Annabel Lee, from automatons feeding coal to the steam engines to the serving staff, rolling on well-oiled wheels with brakes that stopped the progress of the shiny creatures in rough waters. All the details of daily life on board were regulated by clockwork, creating a smooth transition for busy socialites to easy ocean faire.

Annabel excused herself from the hustling swishes of cloth and clogs. She made her way furtively to the deck in search of the cool night air. As she exited the ballroom, she was side-swiped by a large object at her hip.

“Oh! Do pardon me,” exclaimed Madame d’Avery. She adjusted her bustle with an easy flounce, causing her entire backside to bounce.

“No need for pardon,” Annabel said. “We all suffer for our fashions.”

Madame d’Avery eyed Annabel’s wasp-like figure. “Some suffer more than others.”

“I will say the captain appreciates my efforts, but it does make laughing difficult.”

“Then I must ask your pardon again, for I did see you laughing, if only the best you could under the circumstances.”

“Under the circumstances, yes,” Annabel agreed.

Madame d’Avery hooked her arm with the younger woman’s. “Since we both seem headed in the same direction, we might as well hobble together.”

Annabel smiled. “Indeed.”

The two women stepped out onto a balcony. The dark ocean loomed beneath them, with small cresting waves blinking in the reflection of the starry night.

“Do you not have someone to accompany you?” Annabel asked.

“I have been a widow long enough to be able to navigate the sea solo. Of course, at times, I must remove my glove to pronounce a solid slap across the mug of some more forward of the masculine kind, but as I get older, those occasions have become fewer.”

“You are still a looker.”

Madame d’Avery guffawed in a deep throaty laugh that Annabel was growing to love. “As long as you and I think so, that’s all that matters.”

After taking in some air, the chill coaxed the two women back into the ballroom. They pranced arm in arm to the punch bowl.

Captain Edgarton watched disapprovingly from across the room. He excused himself from his conversation and shifted his way across to Annabel. He tugged her elbow, causing her to spill her punch upon the elaborate tablecloth. He grabbed the crystal goblet from her and slammed it down onto the table so that more of the red liquid jumped up and out. He steered her away, his teeth gritted, and his lips pulled back in a false smile. He spoke between the gaps in his mouth.

“What are you doing consorting with that American trash?”

“But you are American, too.”

“But I am not THAT kind of American. I know my place in the world, and it’s time you learned yours.” His grip tightened. She shook her arm to remove his hold, but he only tightened his grip. “Don’t embarrass me,” he growled.

Just then, a brush of wings touched Annabel’s cheek. The crow flew between the couple’s heads before resting on top of the captain’s.

“Annabel Lee” cawed the crow and dropped a silver dessert fork. Annabel caught it before it fell to the floor.

Captain Edgarton yelled out an oath unbecoming of a gentleman. He thrashed at his head, missing the black bird as it took wing and swooped down at him. The orchestra stopped playing, and the crowd strayed from dancing to encircle the feisty scene. Gasps of shock gave way when one throaty voice laughed. Soon the entire ballroom was in hysterics.

“Here, let me help.” Annabel reached for the crow, holding the silver fork out like a perch. The captain swatted her away and stabbed himself with the tiny fork in the process.

“You she-dog! You stabbed me!”

The crow flew away, out past the balcony, and into the night.

“I did not mean to,” Annabel wailed.

Edgarton heard all the laughter and raised his arms in false joviality. “This ball is for more than just the birds!” His voice rang broadly through the crowd. “Please, continue your festivities!” He grabbed Annabel’s waist and whispered seethingly. “As for you, you are taking a break.”

He led her back to her quarters and threw her to the floor.

Jessica Lucci is a poet and steampunk fantasy author who writes about modern issues while maintaining historic integrity. She makes her home in Waltham, MA, USA, with her time-traveling budgie, Lamarr.

Her poetry has appeared in The Edible Anthology of Poetry Greatest Hits, edited by Peter Payack, and also in Lucidity Poetry Journal. Her steampunk novel Subton Switch was a finalist in the 2019 Lesfic Bard Book Awards for science fiction. Other works include Waltham Watch, Gustover Glitch, Salem Switch, Steampunk Leap Year, Steampunk New Year, and Steampunk Pride.

Learn more about Jessica Lucci here:

Website * Blog * GoodReads * Amazon Author Page

Follow Jessica Lucci on social media:

Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest * Instagram

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