steampunk – Kristen Brand

Free Ebook Friday: Nyssa Glass and the Caper Crisis by H.L. Burke

Being a bookworm ain’t cheap. Fortunately, there’s a ton of free ebooks out there. Unfortunately, sorting through them to find one you like can feel as tedious as searching through receipts during tax season.

Free ebook Friday spotlights a free ebook I’ve personally read and enjoyed, and hopefully, it’ll help you find a good read. The posts come out on random Fridays, not weekly, and the books featured will probably be speculative fiction.

This week’s pick is:

Book Description

Orphaned cat burglar Nyssa Glass intends to outwit her rotten fate.

“Adopted” by her incarcerated uncle’s gang of thieves, she breaks into homes and picks pockets to repay her family debt and one day buy her freedom from their dark enterprise. Mechanically adept and determined, Nyssa longs to attend Miss Pratchett’s School for Mechanically Minded Maids and make an honest life she can take pride in. Continue reading Free Ebook Friday: Nyssa Glass and the Caper Crisis by H.L. Burke

Free ebook Friday: Balanced on the Blade’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker

This week’s pick is:

Book Description

Colonel Ridge Zirkander isn’t the model of military professionalism—he has a tendency to say exactly what’s on his mind, and his record has enough demerits to wallpaper the hull of an airship—but as the best fighter pilot in the Iskandian army, he’s used to a little leniency from his superiors. Until he punches the wrong diplomat in the nose and finds himself issued new orders: take command of a remote prison mine in the inhospitable Ice Blades Mountains. Ridge has never been in charge of anything larger than a flier squadron—what’s he supposed to do with a frozen fortress full of murderers and rapists? Not to mention the strange woman who shows up right before he arrives… Continue reading Free ebook Friday: Balanced on the Blade’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker

What to read if you liked The Ghost Machine

Paperback and hardcover editions of The Ghost Machine have popped up on Amazon, which is super exciting. Clockmaker hasn’t been re-released yet, though, so what should you read while you’re waiting for another gothic steampunk novel?

Here are a few similar books I’ve enjoyed that you might like, too. Continue reading What to read if you liked The Ghost Machine

Why Steampunk is the Little Black Dress of Speculative Fiction

Steampunk is a weird, niche little genre, when you think about it. Merriam-Webster defines it as “science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology.”

That’s pretty darn specific. It’s not like the post-apocalyptic subgenre restricts its stories to the 23^rd century, or space opera specifies the power source that spaceships have to use.

The boundaries of steampunk seem pretty restrictive at first glance, so it’s not surprising many authors bend and break the rules. Steampunk has branched out and evolved as creators and fans innovate, which brings me to the strength of the genre:

Steampunk goes well with anything. Continue reading Why Steampunk is the Little Black Dress of Speculative Fiction

8 Steampunk Heroines with Fabulous Fashion on their Book Covers

Fashion is part of the appeal of steampunk for me. I love seeing cosplayers at conventions and am fascinated by the styles of the Victorian Era. Not gonna lie–the main reason I set The Ghost Machine in the 1880s is because I like the style of the dresses in that era with the bustle in the back.

There are lots of different types of steampunk fashion, but this article isn’t a costuming guide. I want to spotlight some steampunk book covers that have their heroines looking particularly fierce and fabulous. So let’s take a look at the leading ladies of steampunk and what they wear on their adventures. Continue reading 8 Steampunk Heroines with Fabulous Fashion on their Book Covers

The Ghost Machine is live! (Again)

Haven’t felt a chill run up your spine in a while? Missing the ghostly whispers in your ear? Is there a lack of menacing metal automatons in your life?

The Ghost Machine hasn’t been for sale over the past few months as Silver Empire Publishing prepared it for a grand re-release, and release day is today, my friends! The Ghost Machine is back online, ready to give you haunted castles, airship battles, and a heroine solving mysteries while wearing a frilly Victorian nightgown (as gothic heroines do).

If you’ve already read it, this new release doesn’t have any changes to the actual content. But if you’re curious or are one of the readers who’ve emailed me about why it’s not available for purchase, now’s your chance to download a copy for your Kindle or Kindle App. Continue reading The Ghost Machine is live! (Again)

Shocked by The Ghost Machine Kickstarter

So my publisher set up a Kickstarter to fund the relaunch of The Ghost Machine and Clockmaker earlier this week. I was originally intending to write this post to ask everyone to consider helping it reach its goal of five hundred dollars, which I was worried it would never manage, but… well…

It met its goal 24 hours after launching.

It’s currently marching towards the $750 dollar stretch goal, which gives all backers a copy of my short story, The Strange Stairs at the Aldebourne Estate. Head over to Kickstarter to see the full range of rewards, which include ebook copies if you don’t already have them, along with signed paperbacks and hardcovers. (Have I mentioned how excited I am to have print editions of my books? I’m pretty excited.)

A big thank you to all the backers, and to everyone who supported these books the first time around. You guys are the best!