On Writing What I Love and... 💖⚙️📚
🎁 Open for a free book!
Hello!
I hope you’re having a wonderful week! I’ve been busy with wrapping up a WIP. At the time of this writing, I have just under four chapters to go until the first draft of this book is done! Then the real work begins with revisions and polishing the book until it’s ready for readers. I know some authors dread the revisions process, but it’s my favorite part of writing because it’s when I get to take my fun idea and craft it into the story I wanted to tell all along.
This week, I have a virtual author visit at a school. The students read Something Happened on the Way to the World’s Fair, the first short story in Monsters and Machines, as part of one of their class units. I’m excited to answer their questions about the story, what makes a monster, the World’s Fair, and my writing process!
It feels surreal to be talking about the first short story I ever published with a group of students, but I’m honored that I get to have this experience. You can read the longer version of how the world of Strange Happenings came to be about here, but basically, it came down to me being tired of waiting on “some day” to start publishing. I took my love of monsters, steampunk, Nikola Tesla, and history and blended everything into the plot with characters that I adore. Writing those stories helped me get through a tumultuous time and I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had since then.
Since I have the author visit this week, I decided to offer the eBook version of Monsters and Machines for free through Sunday, December 15th! While this collection is always free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, anyone can grab a free copy while the promotion is running. (If you are a KU subscriber, make sure to click purchase for $0.00 so that the eBook remains in your library and isn’t counted as one of your borrows.)
If you came to my newsletter through reading Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast and haven’t read any of the Strange Happenings stories, here are a few things to know about Monsters and Machines:
While the stories are not romances, found family and characters who love each other fiercely are featured in these adventures.
The first story is born from my love of Frankenstein. In my personal library, I have 13 copies and counting of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in various forms and different commentary. It’s one of my favorite books!
It’s an all-female cast set in an alternate timeline with more of Nikola Tesla’s inventions.
If you liked the mad science in Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast, there’s even more of it in Monsters and Machines.
The stories are meant to be read in order. I released these short stories as installments to be read sequentially. It’s the same characters on an adventure set around an alternate version of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
If you’re trying to squeeze in one more book for a yearly reading goal, this collection makes for a fast read!
For more about the real Chicago World’s Fair, you can check out the slides from my presentation about Strange Happenings at the 1893 World’s Fair here. I also highly recommend reading Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City! It’s a fantastic blend of the history of the fair that almost wasn’t along with the terrifying events surrounding H.H. Holmes.
Revisiting my debut while preparing for the author visit this week reminded me of how lucky I am that I get to write about the things I love most. While Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast was my love letter to one of my favorite fairy tales, Something on the Way to the World’s Fair will always hold a special place in my heart because I got to write about my favorite monster tropes.
My newest book, The Clockwork Coffin, bridges the gap between my love of fairy tales and the Gothic. There’s curses (generational and literal), automatons, slow-burn romance, “only one piano”, alchemy practiced in a teapot, a semi-feral heroine, a cinnamon roll hero, and of course, a monster. You can read more about my new book here (or pre-order your copy here.)
Happy reading!
Kelsey
