Book Reviews and Free Copies

If you want a free copy of my book in exchange for an honest review posted to Amazon and Goodreads, hit me up in the comments here or on my About page, or email me at the first initial last name at the Google mail address thingy.  ;)  Or let me know if you want to beta read my upcoming manuscripts Galvanic Swans and the overhaul of Life of a Foundry Moth.

And Now the News

The first book reviews are out for Gaslight Carnival this week, and I’m very excited to share them with you all.  Like I’ve mentioned before, the worst thing that can happen is that you write a book and no one reads it.  I’m happy to have people read my book, even knowing there’s a chance for less than exemplary comments.  Hey, I know my books won’t be for everyone, but I hope to get them into the hands of the right people.

And which audience would that be, Tracy?

Photograph by Rebeca Saray

Well, readers who like speculative fiction is a good place to start, but I also don’t think that my stories are so heavy on the sciencey stuff that someone with eclectic tastes couldn’t enjoy it too.  Gaslight Carnival and the upcoming Galvanic Swans have an adventure angle and a romance angle, but I wouldn’t call them “steampunk romance” either.  No one is taking off their clothes in these books (not that I don’t enjoy a “steamy” steampunk story, but I don’t want to overpromise, then under deliver on the undergarments by overstating the romance aspect).

The protagonists aren’t young enough to be YA, but I think many of the themes about figuring out who you are and what you believe it apply across many genres.  (You might also enjoy these books if you get like me and experience snark fatigue from YA novels from time to time.)

I would actually call these books gaslamp fantasy instead of steampunk, but since that isn’t a category on Amazon yet, I’ll stick with the science fiction catchall.

Onto the Reviews!!

I have my first review on Amazon, which was soooo exciting to see as a baby author taking her first steps in the crazy publishing world.  So here’s a shoutout to Elfshanx, thanks for taking the time to leave a review, and I’m so happy you enjoyed my story. :D

I’ve never really read any steampunk before, but if it’s all as exciting as Gaslight Carnival, then I need to dive in. Margo’s world of alchemy and Leonard’s carnival are rendered in vivid and gorgeous language. Brilliantly colorful elixirs, reagents, reactions; terrifying and strangely beautiful “freaks” who were sometimes more human than the un-augmented people walking the streets. The story was crazy and imaginative and I loved it. So yeah, five stars, and sign me up for the next Dreamless City Story!

And Louise Truscott did a very thorough review on her blog Single White Female Writer.  I won’t post all of it here because I want to head on over to her site, but here’s the first part for your perusal.

Gaslight Carnival slides somewhere into the in-between of science fiction and fantasy. It is the story of Margo, a young and unlicensed alchemist struggling to keep her father’s alchemy shop going after he sold her twin brother to the eponymous Gaslight Carnival and then succumbed to accidental poisoning. The money went towards paying Margo’s medical bills after an unsupervised alchemy accident and she feels a terrible responsibility.

She has received several unwanted and menacing offers from a local gangster to work for him, essentially as an illegal drug manufacturer. But Margo has a plan: she is going to buy her twin brother’s freedom so he can come home. They will be a family again, her debt will be repaid, and no one will threaten her or her business anymore.

Of course, it’s never going to be that simple. When Margo goes to the carnival, the ringmaster takes the large amount of money she has saved and says she will only let Leonard, Margo’s twin brother, go if Margo can perform a series of difficult tasks, all of which are designed for Margo to fail.

And Off to Dragon*Con

So it has been a lovely week this week, and I’m excited to head to Dragon*Con tomorrow so I can get my geek on.  I will be seeing the knowledgeable Jody Lynn Nye, who I took a two-day workshop from three years ago.  I will also be taking a few classes from Michael A. Stackpole and Timothy Zahn, which I wanted to do in past years and couldn’t fit into my schedule.  I believe that part of being a writer is continuing your education, so consider this my class for the fall semester. xD

Have a great weekend, and enjoy your Labor Day if you’re in the US!!