The fantasy of techno-Victorianism

Ask me to name one of the most beautiful, fascinating women who ever lived and I won't hesitate. her name was Tasha Tudor, and here's her picture:

Tasha passed away in 2008 after living her 94 years exactly as she wanted to. She was an author/illustrator who often said she'd been born in the wrong era. But rather than long for what she could not have, Tasha Tudor created her own little reality. On her picturesque farm in Vermont, she existed as one would in Victorian times. Tucked away in an idyllic world untouched by modern influences, she wore period dress, lived without electricity and in her contentment she created wrote and illustrated beautiful books like Corgiville Fair, Pumpkin Moonshine, The Doll's Christmas and Around the Year. 

I don't just admire Tasha Tudor. I strive to be Tasha Tudor. Like her, I'm drawn to the Victorian era. I love tea sets and flowing dresses and formal dinners. I love having a dashing man offer me his umbrella in the rain, even when I have my own. But unlike Tasha Tudor, I love my technology. Show me a gadget and watch me light up. Usher me into a pretty parlor full of books and tech toys and you risk losing me entirely.

So what's a modern girl to do when she loves both the rituals of the past and the latest inventions? She embraces Steampunk.

What is Steampunk? It's hard to describe. The simplest definition is that steampunk is a sci-fi genre
set in the past, where everything is powered by steam. Steampunk is Victorian futurism where the worlds of tradition and stuffy customs collide with fantastical steam-powered inventions that never existed, and never will. Imagine a world with massive dirigibles and submersibles, automatons and mad scientists, dashing men and gutsy women - adventurers all. And then there are the monsters, from leviathans to robots, and villains armed with whatever weapons exist in your mental arsenal.

The action can take place in Victorian London or the American West or the East Indes or even distant planets. Those of us who are more traditional are happiest setting our stories in London, especially those of us who think we were not only born in the wrong time, but the wrong place.

I love the idea of mixing traditions of the past with an imaginary technology that surpasses even what we can do today. I love mixing corsetry with sidearms. I love the idea of charting unexplored lands and returning to a cozy parlor overlooking the Thames. I just love everything about it.

I love Steampunk. I love it so much that after years of writing for my own personal pleasure I decided to share my love of this fantastical realm with others. So I wrote a book.

It's my first, and I'm quite proud of it. I do not yet know how it will be received. It's not typical of other books I've read. This one has more sex - enough, in fact that it's been picked up by Blushing Books, which publishes some very sexy reads. And the book contains some spanking. That may not be everyone's cup of tea but again that's the beauty. In Steampunk you create your own world and in mine there are sexy scientists, intrigue, animal attraction and some discipline.

The release date is February 12, and I was advised to start this blog by some more experienced writers who were kind enough to advise me that the best way to market one's book is to market one's book. A blog is, apparently, a good tool for the marketing type. So here we are.

I'll be writing on topics other than my book, but for today this is enough. If you are interested in this book, or have any questions or comments there's a place for them below. I look forward to hearing from you.