Gaslamp Fortnight: A Steampunk Book Tour – October 27th – November 7th

Authors L.A. Witt, Alexis Hall, and Cornelia Grey come together on a Steampunk book tour to celebrate the releases of Precious Metals, Prosperity, and Circus of the Damned.

Join us on adventures through the lawless, untamed, kraken-infested skies! Trek the snowy wilds of the Klondike in the company of a Mountie! Visit a soul-stealing circus where entertainment is at your own risk! Riptide’s Gaslamp Fortnight will tempt you with the steampunk and gaslamp worlds of Cornelia Grey, Alexis Hall, and L.A. Witt.

And Gaslamp Fortnight is featuring a fabulous giveaway! Comment on the tour stops for a chance to win a $250 gift certificate to Harlots and Angels Steampunk Corsetry and get your own custom corset or personalized steampunk gear.

About The Circus of the Damned

 

Magician Gilbert Blake has spent his entire life conning drunkards in the seediest pubs in the darkest towns, careful to hide the true depths of his power. But when he spends a little too much time in Shadowsea and the infamous slumlord Count Reuben gets wind of his abilities, hiding within the Circus of the Damned may be Gilbert’s only chance at survival.

But there’s more to the Circus than meets the eye. Every time a performer dies, a new one must take his place, or the entire circus suffers the consequences. And while the handsome ringmaster Jesse isn’t one to coerce unwilling performers into giving up their souls to the devil, a recent death in their ranks makes Gilbert exactly what they need.

Yet the longer Gilbert stays with the Circus, the more danger he seems to bring them. Being with Jesse is more than Gilbert could have hoped for, but as Count Reuben’s men continue to search for Gilbert and the Circus loses another performer, they all face running out of time long before the Devil claims his due.

Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for having me here today for a little chat about my latest release – paranormal novel The Circus of the Damned!

 

When I write, I always listen to music. Putting on my headphones helps me detach from whatever’s going on around me and focus on the story – and that’s especially helpful when sharing a house with half a dozen flatmates! I usually pick a few songs for each story – depending on the scene, on the mood of the chapter, on the atmosphere I want to convey at any given moment – and play them on loop. It helps me set the tone of my writing, and to keep it consistent – whenever I sit down to carry on writing, going back to the familiar tunes helps me get back into the right mood.

 

Listening to the same song in a loop also has something like a hypnotic effect – it helps me immerse myself in the scene, shutting out all distractions. If I was listening to different songs, instead, I would constantly be distracted whenever a new one came along, and bounced from one emotion to the next depending on the mood of the song…

 

Music played a fundamental part in the first book of the Deal with a Devil series, since the protagonist was a bluesman and Farfarello himself, the devil, was very keen on blues and rock. While The Circus of the Damned is set in a different world altogether, Farfarello’s fondness for music remains and, as a matter of fact, I have scattered a few musical references here and there in the story… as an ‘Easter Egg’ of sorts. Let me know if you can find them!

 

I would like to share with you a few of the songs I was listening to while writing Circus! I hope they will fit the atmosphere and tone you have in mind… 🙂

 

 

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Florence and the Machine – Blinding

 

Florence and the Machine set just the right tone – mysterious, somewhat haunting, just what I needed to be lulled into the circus atmosphere. I first heard this particular song a few years ago and it has been part of my writing soundtrack for quite a few stories – something about it just puts me in the right frame of mind to write.

 

Actually, as I was working on the last rewrite and edits for Circus, I discovered another song by Florence and just fell in love with it. I listened to it mostly while working on the final chapters.

 

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For more melancholic scenes, I turned to one of my favourite artists of all time. Summertime by Janis Joplin never fails to stir something in my chest and squeeze my heart a little, no matter how many times I listen to it. I like to write at night, when everything is quiet and asleep around me and, in the silence, this song sets just the right atmosphere…

 

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For more energetic scenes, instead, I turned to another of my soundtrack staples. I heard this song years ago in a music video: I had never heard anything from this band before and, to this day, I don’t really know much about their other works apart from this particular album. But something in The Chemicals Between Us by the Bush just clicks with me and, after all these years, it can still awaken my emotions just as it did the first time I listened to it.

 

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And finally, a song that made me think of the Circus’ performers and their life on the road, of the challenges they have to face and the comfort they can find in each other and their ragtag family. It’s by an Italian band I love, the Modena City Ramblers, and it still makes my skin prickle and my feet tap following its rhythm…

 

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I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my writing soundtrack, and I hope these songs resonate with you and with the impression you got from The Circus of the Damned! I am also always looking for new songs to add to my playlist, so by all means feel free to suggest your favourites in the comments…!

 

Thank you for stopping by!

 

Cornelia xxx

 

 

Cornelia Grey is a creative writing student fresh out of university, with a penchant for fine arts and the blues. Born and raised in the hills of Northern Italy, where she collected her share of poetry and narrative prizes, Cornelia moved to London to pursue her studies.

After graduating with top grades, she is now busy with internships: literary agencies, publishing houses, and creative departments handling book series, among others. She also works as a freelance translator.

She likes cats, knitting, performing in theatre, going to museums, collecting mugs, and hanging out with her grandma. When writing, she favors curious, surreal stories, steampunk, and mixed-genre fiction. Her heroes are always underdogs, and she loves them for it.

Connect with Cornelia:

• Website: corneliagrey.com
• Blog: corneliagrey.blogspot.com
• LiveJournal: corneliagrey.livejournal.com
• Twitter: @corneliagrey
• Facebook: facebook.com/corneliagrey
• Goodreads: goodreads.com/Cornelia_Grey

 

 

$250 gift certificate to Harlots and Angels Steampunk Corsetry and get your own custom corset or personalized steampunk gear. Each new post you comment on earns you an entry into the drawing, so be sure to check out the rest of the tour schedule  too!

 

 

Harlots and Angels Bio

 

Hello I’m Sharon Ince and I own Harlots and Angels. We are a UK based company that creates unusual sewing and crafting patterns, clothing, corsetry, props and accessories with a wide range of themes from Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Victorian, Gothic and Burlesque.

 

We have produced work for a large diversity of clients, including The Disney Corporation, the BBC costuming department, Sky TV, Working Title films as well as several Hollywood production companies and local theatre and film productions.

 

I have always loved to design and I’m self-taught. In fact I started at the early age of about 5 years old and have never stopped. I love to work with leather, sew natural fabrics, sculpt, and build my house with stone and wood; though my real passion is to design.

 

When I am starting out on a new design the hours fly by and I’m lost in the perfect bliss of experimenting, mathematical calculation, followed by the thrill of seeing the idea become reality.

 

My love of Gothic literature, mad inventors and scientists and all things Victorian has always filtered through my thoughts and designs, so when I first discovered the emerging Steampunk community some years ago many of my creations found their family niche.