You're invited! Join me for a virtual reading? 💖⚙️📚
🎁 Open for BRAND NEW TeslaCon panel updates + more bookish fun!
Even though summer is in full swing, I’ve been longing for coziness. This has meant wearing comfy clothes and blankets while I’ve been working on revisions (my office runs cold), trying out recipes from the Elder Scrolls and D&D cookbooks, rewatching favorite movies, and playing lots of board games. These comforts have certainly made the heat more bearable after venturing out for adventures or recovering from barre class!
Looking for something to do on your own cozy night in? We are one week and one day out from my virtual reading hosted by Strong Women, Strange Worlds! I have more details below, along with news about my TeslaCon panels. (Yes, I’ve added more! 👀)
6 Authors, 8 Minutes. One Night Only!
I’m so excited to be one of the authors reading for Strong Women, Strange Worlds on July 17th at 7 pm EDT! Join Pauline Barmby, Joyce Chng, Amanda Nevada DeMel, Karen Eisenbrey, Glori Medina, and me for a fun, free virtual reading by pre-registering here. (And if you’ve already RSVP’d, invite a friend!)
The event will be held on Zoom, which is why even though the event is free, you need to register for the link. Come spend an hour of stories ranging from sci-fi, fantasy, and horror from the comfort of your home! Each author has an eight minute slot to read and answer questions. I’ll be reading from Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast, a steampunk fairy tale retelling.
About Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast
If you’re new to my work or only read Monsters and Machines, here’s a quick look at my stand-alone fairy tale retelling, Forsaken Beauty and the Etherbeast. (It’s also the August book club pick for Temporal Textual Talks!
Author of strange steampunk and inverted fairy tales, Kelsey Josephson's stand-alone fairy-tale retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in a fantasy world with steam-powered airships, sentient automatons, and slow-burn romance.
An unconventional beauty, a tormented beast, and the ether that binds their fate…
After her own father sells her to the Ringmaster, Belle thinks she’ll spend the rest of her days performing strongwoman stunts until she succumbs to her ether-poisoning, a deadly condition that has disfigured her appearance and given her unnatural strength. A chance encounter with a beast by her solitary campfire changes everything.
With fractured memories of the horrific experiments that transformed his body, Beast’s only desire is to escape his creator. When he encounters the camp of the Circus Illume, a strange but kind woman awakens what’s left of his humanity...and unwittingly leads to his capture.
Belle hatches a daring escape plan to free them both, but freedom is fragile. With both the Ringmaster and Beast’s creator pursuing them, Belle and Beast must learn to trust strangers and the complicated desires of their hearts.
NEW and Updated TeslaCon Panel List
A few weeks ago, I announced that I’m returning to TeslaCon from November 6th-9th, 2025 as both a vendor and a panelist. Now I can confirm two more panels that I’m participating in!
This year’s theme is The Tear of Odin, with lore seeped in mythology, fairy tales, and steampunk. My first three panels really lean into these themes and are presentations with slideshows that I will make available after the convention:
Understanding Automatons
Come learn about the fascinating origins of automatons and their influence on steampunk! We'll discuss real examples of historical and often intricate clockwork machines before diving into the role of automatons in literature, comics, and movies.
Fairies, Folklore and Superstitions of the Later Victorian Age
Come learn about the real influence of fairies and folklore during the Victorian age! Topics will include the origins of the London Folklore Society, clashes between academic folklorists and fairy-beliefs among spiritualists, debates on ‘Psycho-folklore’, and strange superstitions.
Magic and Machines: Steampunk Fairy Tales
What happens when you mix the world-building of steampunk and combine it with the beloved lore of fairy tales? Come learn about examples of steampunk fairy tales in all kinds of media, then listen to a reading of The Clockwork Coffin, a Gothic fairy tale retelling with a steampunk twist.
On Sunday of the convention, I’ll also present a lecture-style panel, On Writing Steampunk: Beyond Cogs and Gears, from 11:30 am to 1 pm. This one won’t have a slideshow, but I’ll have a resource page to share. I’ll be talking about everything from story structure to genre-blending. Hope to see you there!
Speaking of steampunk conventions, the Chicago Steampunk Expo already has rooms available for the 2026 con, The 1893 Exposition’s Adventures in Wonderland! You can find out more here. (Also, I need to start planning panels to pitch for that show. I still have time, but if there’s anything you’d really love to hear me talk about, please let me know!)
Happy reading!
As someone who's unlikely to make Teslacon, for Chicago panels, the Automatons and Fairies panels sound really interesting!