Madeleine D'Este's Blog, page 20

What inspired The Antics of Evangeline stories?

Now, what inspired the stories inThe Antics of Evangeline?

Since I was a child, I’ve loved the weird, the wonderful and the supernatural. I am a big fan of Dr Who, Whedon-worlds, Hammer horror, the X-Files, folktales and all manner of forteana.

The Antics of Evangeline combine a steampunk setting with an exploration of folklore and the paranormal.

The Victorian era was an interesting time, where the spiritual and the scientific went hand in hand. And people saw no dissonance in being interes...

The Deepest Black by Rainy Kaye – launch and giveaway

Today, we’re celebrating the release of THE DEEPEST BLACK by USA Today Bestselling author Rainy Kaye. THE DEEPEST BLACK is 99 cents for a limited time! Check it out, then scroll all the way down to enter to win a $10 Amazon gift card!

Ember has a little problem…fairies want her dead.

Ember spends her Friday nights lurking in the bad parts of town, killing fairies. It’s either that, or become a victim to their flesh-eating hung

Then she meets Remy, a fae who, despite getting on her nerves...

Why the Monthly Twitter Writing Challenge rocks – join for June

I’ve been a part of the Monthly Twitter Writing Challenges for over a year now. Finally in June 2016, I’ve stepped up to lead the challenge. The Challenge has helped me build a regular writing routine, but there are plenty of other reasons to join the ride.

Sometimes reading counts as plotting, right?

Why the Monthly Twitter Writing Challenge rocks it’s achievable and sustainable – you only commit to 500 words per day or 1 hour of editing it’s a great online community – Monthly Writing Cha...

Evangeline and the Alchemist : Cover Reveal & Pre-order

A very exciting day!

I’m thrilled to revealthe cover for my first ebook novella Evangeline and the Alchemist and announce the release date of 16th June 2016.

Evangeline and the Alchemist is a steampunk mystery-adventure novella and the first in The Antics of Evangeline series.

In 1882, “Marvellous” Melbourne was flush with gold-rush cash and the British Empire’s second biggest city.

Evangeline, a seventeen year old reformed urchin and acrobat, is settling into a new comfortable life in Melbo...

What inspired The Antics of Evangeline – style

Today I’m talking more aboutthe inspiration behindEvangeline and the Alchemist (coming in June 2016).

The book which sparked the whole Evangeline series was Blameless by Gail Carriger. (Yes, I read her series completely out of order.) Aside from being a cracking good read, I was struck byCarriger’swit and the possibility of silliness within a Victorian world. As soon as I finished the last page, I was hitwith an idea for a character, Evangeline.

I’ve tried writing urban fantasy before (vampir...

What inspired Evangeline and the Alchemist – Place

Evangeline and the Alchemist, the first novella in my Mystery and Mayhem in steampunk Melbourne series, is almost ready to be launched upon the world.

Stay tuned for updates, but get ready to meet Evangeline in June 2016.

Today I’m focusing on what inspired Evangeline and the Alchemist and in this post, I’m focusing on place. The place is Melbourne and Melbourne is where I live.

The Antics of Evangeline are all set in Melbourne in 1882-83. In that period, Melbourne was the second largest city in the British Empire outside London.

After the Gold Rush of the 1850s, there was a flood of cash in Melbourne. The Government invested heavily in construction and infrastructure, and there was an ill-fated property boom. During the Victorian era, many beautiful and decorative buildings were constructed. Many of these buildings still exist today and I’m lucky enough to walk past them daily. A constant reminder of our Victorian past.

In recent years, I’ve read a few steampunk/neo Victorian books (more about what inspired the style in a later post) and wondered why steampunk books were always set in London, even those written by Americans? Why not Australia? Why not Melbourne?

How would a steampunk world be different in the Antipodes? Where the summers are hot but women still wore dresses covering their bodies from neck to ankles.

So, the combination of my own surroundings and the desire to write an Australian story inspired the setting in a steampunk Melbourne.

I’ll post again soon on what influenced the style of Evangeline and the Alchemist.

 

Why My Advice Won’t Work for You

The internet is full of advice. Do this. Do that. Lose weight. Find Mr Right. Make millions from home. Get a billion followers and rock-hard abs by lunchtime.

I could do the same. This is how I managed to conquer **insert “flaw” here** and achieved **insert “success” here**.

But what works for me won’t work for you. Necessarily.

Let’s take me as an example. I am a conscientious nerd. I create my own rules and deadlines, then I am obliged to stick to them. For no reason except I made a rule. I have to meditate, write 500 words and run 10km before 10 o’clock or I’m a total failure. But this isn’t some humblebrag. I stress myself out with self-imposed deadlines, which no one else cares about. I am my own boss from hell.

I’m what Gretchen Rubin calls an “upholder”. Many people who write productivity/ self-help / diet books are also upholders. Follow these rules and you’ll get these results.

Simple.

Erm. No.

Not everyone is an upholder. Most people aren’t. Maybe you need an external motivation – a group commitment, a friend you don’t want to let down, make a grand public statement.

Or maybe any type of rule freaks you out. Structure makes you want to run the other way. Or purposefully defy.

If you are like this, I don’t have the answer. I’m not you but other people are. Look around and you might find the answer from someone who thinks like you.

So my advice is take all advice with a grain of salt.

Including this.

Fuck you Resistance…and the horse you rode in on

Dear Reader

I’ve been feeling low, like my writing is a waste of time. My head’s been full of stupid thoughts.

There’s no point
Why am I bothering?
I’ll just be a big failure. A laughing stock.
I’ll never get a book deal or an agent
I’ll sell no copies
I’ll get 1 star reviews

Basically I feel like giving up.

Why now? I’m on the verge of finishing a writing project. Evangeline and the Alchemist is going through line edits and is almost ready to release into the world. So why do I feel like giving up when I’m so close to completion?

One word.

Resistance.

Resistance doesn’t want me to change. He is a controlling bastard and he wants me to stay where I am. He wants me tucked up, cozy in my comfort zone where I am safe.

From an evolutionary perspective, Resistance makes sense. My body is trying to stop me from taking too many risks and doing anything stupidly life threatening. But come on. Really? Is publishing some writing such a big friggin’ deal?

 

Are you paralysed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the most sure we can be that we have to do it.”

Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art is helping me through the self-doubt. (I’ve talked about this book before. Go get it now, if you haven’t read it.) It’s become the last thing I read at night, like a comforting poem or verse. Pressfield’s words remind me I’m on the right track. I’m feeling this way because this is something I need to do. And hey, even if I fall on my face, no one is going to die. I’ll pick myself up and try again.

Are you listening, Resistance?
Fuck you.
Get out of my way.

 

Why I write steampunk?

In my last post, I proposed my own pithy definition of steampunk.

But why does steampunk appeal to me? Why do I write steampunk?

Steampunk is a mesh of my two favourite genres; historical fiction and science fiction.

Firstly from a historical fiction side, I get to research the Victorian era with steampunk. (Yes, I admit I’m a nerd and find research fun). The Victorian era still heavily influential today from Sherlock to Hyde to the continuing obsession with Jack the Ripper and the resurgence of the hipster moustache/Ned Kelly beard. The Victorians were obsessed with all the fun stuff; death, technology and sex and basically, the Victorian aesthetic is cool.

Science fiction on the other hand, allows my imagination to run wild and “make stuff up.” So I can research but then ignore elements of real life and substitute my own ideas. Historical fiction on its own is too rigid for me. I like a little bit of research but I’m no historian.

Lastly, my steampunk universe is a little bit silly (more about my steampunk influences in the next post) with influences by Wodehouse and Carriger. While writing my more serious dystopian Monolith novels, the steampunk novellas are a little light-hearted frolic on the side.

Victorian clothing, interior design and general aesthetic are beautiful and by adding the benefits of new technology and social advancements, steampunk can be the best of both worlds, without the cholera, the arsenic poisoning from the wallpaper and the lack of rights for women.

Next post, I’ll delve more into what influenced The Antics of Evangeline series.

Why do you like steampunk?

 

 

Folklore Thursday – interview with Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham

I’ve always been fascinated by tales of strangeness, especially folktales, superstitions and ancient wisdom from past generations. So I was super excited when I came across #FolkloreThursday on Twitter, a new hashtag for all things folkloric. Now it’s become my weekly dose of weird and wonderful wisdom.

Today, I’m talking with the founders of #FolkloreThursday, Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham to learn more.

What is Folklore Thursday? How did it get started?

#FolkloreThursday is a Twitter hashtag day that takes place every Thursday, where people can share their own folklore quotes, images and blogposts using the hashtag. We also now have a website with new folklore articles appearing every week.

Dee Dee & Willow: It was funny actually, we both already took part in a few hashtag days to share our own blog posts. We started chatting one day about how there should be a hashtag day just for folklore, as we thought it would be great to be able to go to one place online and find all the strange and random snippets that people know but are hard to find out about. It all snowballed from there.

We planned how we would go about it for a few months, and told some of the folklore-lovers on Twitter about it to get the ball rolling. At first we thought there would just be a few of us taking part each week, but after a while the hashtag started attracting a lot of new people – it was very unexpected!

Now we have so many people taking part that the hashtag ‘trends’ most weeks. It’s become so popular that just last month The Independent and the BBC took notice and asked if they could feature us – very exciting stuff!

Let’s get personal. How did you get interested in folklore? What is your favourite type of folklore?

Dee Dee: I think, really, the interest must have started way back when I was small and has lasted ever since. One of my most vivid memories is being thoroughly entranced by ‘The Bunyip Song’ from the cartoon Dot and the Kangaroo and I think the magic of that has always stayed with me.

(Madeleine: Ooh, I’m writing about Bunyips at the moment in my next episode of The Antics of Evangeline! )

Dee Dee: From then on I devoured all folklore, mythology and fairy tales I could get my hands on. I studied Latin, and Greek myths, at school, then went on to study religion and the myths of creation at university, and later, prehistoric archaeology as a way to really get to the roots of what drives mankind and the beliefs we hold about the world.

I’d say mythology is one of my favourite types of folklore, but I also love life-cycle rituals from around the world – there’s something vital and primal about them, something that really draws me back into the past while still linking with the dreams we have for the future I suppose I see them as living folklore that show us that no matter how technological we become, stories, magic and links to nature are still alive in the world.

Willow: Visiting our local library as a young child and discovering the folklore and related books there was what started it all for me; they had a wonderful mix of everything from folk tales to monsters and myths, and I have such great memories of reading my way through it all. I think when an interest starts at that age it never really leaves you, and it’s been something that has come back through the years, both as a hobby and now in a work capacity!

Legends and regional folklore are top of my favourites list, but anything with a witch-element will usually catch my interest! Coming from a history background, I love researching the background to a tale and verifying or debunking “facts; I’m also something of a compulsive genealogist so if I can have an excuse to dig out the parish registers, all the better. I must also admit to having a soft spot for Black Dog-related lore….

Random other question – what are you currently reading?

Dee Dee: I’m reading Jackie Morris’ book East of the Sun and West of the Moon, a lovely retelling of the classic Scandinavian tale, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe, and also Andrew Lang, and once illustrated by Kay Nielsen. Jackie’s work is really magical, with really beautiful illustrations.

Willow: I’ve got a couple of things on the go at the moment. The Lancashire Witches: Histories and Stories edited by Robert Poole is a collection of essays on the Lancashire Witch Trials, and although it’s work-related research, it really doesn’t feel like it and is utterly fascinating. I’ve also just started Lancashire Folk by the wonderful Melanie Warren; it’s a real gem of a book, beautifully presented and meticulously researched, I’d heartily recommend it!

Thank you, Dee Dee and Willow! Where can people find you?

People can follow #FolkloreThursday at

 Twitter
Google+
#FolkloreThursday website

You can find Dee Dee Chainey at

Twitter
Facebook
Blog

Willow Winsham can be found on

Twitter
Google+
Blog
Her new book, Accused: British Witches throughout History, can be pre-ordered on Amazon