Sunday 28 April 2013

Yuletide Miracle - A Christmas Steampunk Novella


Everything came together ahead of schedule and like clockwork for Yuletide Miracle, so I decided to release it on Kindle a few weeks earlier than anticipated. It's available for free until May 1st, so grab it in the next few days.

It's had a rather strange road to publication, but then my best stories often do. I wrote it for Carina Press's Christmas steampunk anthology back in early 2011, knowing it probably wouldn't have much of a chance without romance. To my surprise, the Carina team loved it, and while it didn't fit the anthology itself, they signed it for solo publication.

I hadn't planned on including it as part of The Steam Clock Legacy series--it's set in that universe, but it arguably works better as a standalone tale. So when my editor suggested I find a place for it in the series, I knew I'd have to write a couple more books first (you'll realise why when you read it). Unfortunately, Carina decided to discontinue the series in order to focus on my regular science fiction instead, which left Yuletide Miracle homeless.

Rather than seek out another publisher half way through the series, I chose to retain complete control, to make sure the subsequent books reached my readers exactly the way I intended. And here it is, after a two-year delay, with all its Victorian holiday magic intact, for your enjoyment:

http://amzn.to/ZImUOr

By day, London's Steam Emporium is a bustling Christmas market, an all-ages toyshop full of technological marvels. By night, its volunteers assemble--a ragtag community of wounded servicemen and women--under the tallest Christmas tree in Europe. They are the empire's forgotten heroes, fallen on hard times.

But this year they have an exciting addition: old Red Mulqueen, newly arrived from abroad, has fighting spirit and the most extraordinary clockwork leg. He is here on a mysterious mission, and is wanted by the Leviacrum, Britain's tyrannical authority.

Red's plans take a turn, however, when he saves the life of a troubled young schoolboy, Edmond Reardon, and becomes the object of the lad's incorrigible curiosity. They strike up an unexpected friendship. But when danger descends on the emporium, Red, Edmond and their veteran friends must band together to fight for what matters most during Christmas--each other.

A Steam Clock Legacy novella.

27,000 words

Read the first chapter here!

Buy your copy on Kindle here!

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Imperial Clock - Out Now

I have some exciting release news! Imperial Clock, the second novel in The Steam Clock Legacy series, is out now on Amazon Kindle.

A quick heads up--it will be available for FREE from April 18-22, so be sure to grab your digital copy. The paperback version will be available within the next few weeks.

The story begins in 1913, and covers the events that unfold whilst Professor Reardon is imprisoned in the Leviacrum tower, so it runs parallel to the final few chapters of Book One, Prehistoric Clock, rather than being a direct sequel. It also introduces two intriguing new heroines. Here's the description:

Facing a time of great turmoil across the Empire, Meredith and Sonja McEwan are the teenaged daughters of a disgraced scientist in Southsea, England. They've grown so close, so insular over the years, despising the world that despises them is all they know. But things are changing. Sonja has caught the eye of a dashing young teacher, and is falling in love, while Meredith, jealous, throws herself into solving the mystery of a powerful secret society in London, with devastating consequences.

Tidal waves, assassins, mind-boggling steam technology and women's denim trousers are about to arrive in a big way. Meanwhile, the legacy of Professor Reardon's time jump continues to throw up surprises in an age where nothing is certain. And no one is who they seem to be.

Book Two of The Steam Clock Legacy

93,000 words
 
 
I also have a release date for Yuletide Miracle, the holiday-themed novella I wrote for the same series. It will debut on May 14 on Kindle, then I'll see about putting it out in paperback, maybe with a couple of other steampunk shorts. I'm dying for you all to read this one as well. It's magical.
 
Robert