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Christopher's Ectoplastic Travels in Time: How A Clerical Error Changed The Course of Magic History

Today I'm so excited to introduce The Unhinged Historian's newest addition historical time traveling magician and Steampunk author Christopher Thisse who is an expert in all things magic and mystical in the Victorian Era and Gilded Age. His new segment "Christopher's Ectoplastic Travels in Time" will be featured here on The Unhinged Historian on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Post a welcome note to Chris and make him feel at home!


How A Clerical Error Changed The Course of Magic HistoryBy Christopher Thisse
 If I could go back in time … And I can … One of the people I would most like to talk to is Jean Eugene Robert Houdin.

 Statue of Jean Eugene Robert Houdin
La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin
Photo Credit: OliBac via photopin ccEver heard of Houdini?  This isn’t him.  Jean Eugene Robert Houdin was a French watch maker.  His father was one of the best watch makers in Blois, France, their hometown.  He wanted Jean to be a lawyer. 

Hired as a clerk for his excellent penmanship, Jean instead tinkered with gadgets until the lawyer’s office told his father he’d make a better watchmaker than a lawyer. He then apprenticed to his cousins shop, where he became a watchmaker. 
In the mid-1820s, he ordered a two volume set of books called Traite de L’horlogerie (Treatise on Clockmaking), and when picking them up from the shop, the clerk accidentally gave him the two volume magic set, Scientific Amusements.  The books caught his interest, and he began practicing. Then, he started taking lessons from a local magician.  His skills grew, and eventually, he combined his passions.
Houdin was known for creating fantastic clock works. Ever seen that movie The Illusionist?  The orange-tree illusion that Edward Norton’s character, Eisenheim, was largely based on Houdin.  The Orange Tree was one of Houdin’s most famous illusions. 
photo credit: sushiesque via photopin ccAnother very impressive feat was when Houdin stopped a war using only his quick wits and knowledge of magic.  

After he had retired from magic, the French government was having some trouble with the Algerians.  A rebellion was brewing, led by the Marabouts who claimed to use magical abilities, which would allow them to defeat the French.  In 1856 Houdin was asked by Luis-Napoleon to go to Algeria and show the people that French magic was stronger than the Marabouts’ magic.
He went to Algeria and did several performances.  Generally they followed the same format and one stood out more than the others.  He had a small woman lift a box on stage and then set it down.  Then he called up a strong warrior to do the same, after claiming to sap the strength of the warrior.  The warrior was unable to lift the box and then suddenly ran from the theater screaming in pain. 
Houdin decided he needed to get to the leaders of this rebellion so he travelled into the desert looking for their main camp.  When he got there he was challenged to a duel by one of the most powerful priests.  Claiming that he needed time to rest and prepare, he asked to have eight hours to meditate, due to the fact that he’d left his talisman in the cities.   They scheduled the duel for 8am the next day.  At dawn, they met.  Pistols were selected, they took the requisite number of steps, and Houdin allowed the priest to take a clean first shot.  The priest shot him in the chest.  Houdin then smiled, revealing the shining bullet held between his teeth.  He took aim, not at the priest, but at a nearby wall, and fired.  The wall began to bleed. 
With these tricks, the confidence in the rebellion was destroyed and Houdin returned home a hero of France. 
No wonder a guy named Erich Weiss decided to pay homage to this man when creating a stage name.  He combined his childhood nickname (Erry, or to an American, Harry) with a mistaken understanding of French, and came up with Harry Houdini, which he thought meant “Like Houdin”.



Christopher Thisse is a time traveling psychic magician.  Not all of those things are true. He has been performing semi-professionally for over eight years, starting in a small circus troupe in Providence, Rhode Island.  When he moved to Fresno he shifted his focus to magic and now works for Ellusionist, one of the largest magic companies in the world.  His troupe, Of The Fireflies, has performed for some of the largest events in the Central Valley and Fresno area of California including Trashique, Freedom Fest, CMAC’s Anniversary Event and many ArtHop events.  When not doing impossible things in front of crowds, Christopher can often be found writing urban fantasy themed Steampunk stories, cooking, tending bar at parties, or training his German shepherd puppy. And if all else fails, look for him out in the Black Rock Desert. Or on Facebook!

A huge thank you to Christopher for becoming a part of The Unhinged Historian. I can't wait to see what else we get from "Christopher's Ectoplastic Travels in Time!"


Ask Chris a Question or tell us your thoughts in the comment section!

Final Two Blog Tour Dates for A White Room

Tues July 30 – Reading the Past:  Giveaway and Guest Post:Writing and Historical Thought - They Didn't Think Like We Did 100 Years Ago
Sat, Aug. 3 – History and Women:  Guest Post: Victorian Women and the Mystery of Sex 

A White Room is available on  Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Sony - Apple - Kobo - Inktera Also find on Goodreads!
Like My Stephanie Carroll's Author Page on Facebook and Enter to Win a Free eBook of A White Room for You and All Your Friends!!!

Photographs of Headless Victorians - No They Didn't?!?!?!

photo credit: futileboy via photopin cc
Oh yes they did! Victorians figured out how to make pictures, and they also figured out how to start messing with them, like Victorian CGI or Photoshop. Check out these photos of headless Victorians. It's amazing how creative some of these are ... you just wouldn't expect it from the genteel ladies and gentlemen of the time but I guess they had senses of humor even in the 1800s. Nice!




Retronaut 's Headless Victorians

io9's Creepy Headless Photography

FlavoWire's Freaky Headless portraits
Tell me in the comments - what do you think this says about the Victorians?
Upcoming Blog Tour Stops and Book Giveaways!



Thurs, July 18 – Oh, For the Hook of a Book:  Interview
Tues, July 23 – Unabridged Chick:  Review and Giveaway
Thurs July 25 – Ravings and Ramblings:  Review and Interview

Victorian Breastfeeding Photos . . . A Fad?

Got to re-direct to this most very interesing article in
 The Huffington Post about photos of women breastfeeding during the Victorian Era! So interesting. 


1937 Photo of Breastfeeding - Not Victorian but also Wouldn't Have Guessed for that time either.photo credit: Kheel Center, Cornell University via photopin cc


Upcoming Blog Tour Stops for A White Room
Fri, July 12 – Lost to Books:  Excerpt - Read a Chapter from 
A White Room
Mon, July 15 – A Writer of History:  Guest Post: Writing an Era – Where to Begin?
Weds, July 17 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle:  Interview

A Victorian Indpendence Day! Happy Fourth of July!

Independence Day Picnic 1862
photo credit: Thiophene_Guy via photopin cc
Although the Fourth of July has been accepted as a day to honor America's indpendence, it wasn't heavily celebrated until the nineteenth century. Celebrating America's initial triumph against Britian began to grow after the War of 1812 when America once again faced the mother country. By the late nineteenth century picnics and parades or family gatherings were becoming a tradition. The Fourth of July was declared a federal holiday in 1870.

Learn some more Fourth of July history on the History Channel. 







Upcoming Blog Tour Dates for A White Room


Mon, July 8 – Bookfari:  Interview and Giveaway

Tues, July 9 – Hazel the Witch: 
Guest Post – How to Write the Inner Thoughts of a Crazy Person - Finding Meaning in Insanity?
Weds, July 10 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: Review & Giveaway

A White Room Blog Tour and Book Giveaway Dates for Week # 2!

photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg
via photopin ccHello Dear Readers! 

Yes I'm still amidst the blog tour and in-person tour for A White Room so please forgive me for not having my regular post but sending you to read a couple other posts that I've written for other blogs this next week.

On Thurs, June 27 – I'll be at Momma Bears Book Blog with a Guest Post on The Story Behind the Insanity in A White Room! I'll also being giving away a signed print copy of A White Room!
On Fri, June 28 – I'll be at The Bookish Dame with a really cute Interview and an ebook Giveaway.
On Tues, July 2 – I'll be visiting I am Indeed with a Guest Post on Historical Accuracy in Historical Fiction!

So I hope you support me and these other blogs and check out some of the posts. Don't forget to check out posts and giveaways from last week - many of which are still going!

Thank you to all the wonderful blogs that are being a part of my blog tour and thank you to all my readers who are supporting me while I'm on this tour. =)

A White Room's Blog Tour Begins with Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Guest Posts, and Free eBook Giveaways and Signed Print Giveaways!

On your marks, get set, BANG, go! And the blog tour for A White Room is off with a bang!

The first stop on the tour is today Wednesday, June 19, on Oh, for the Hook of a Book, an awesome book review blog owned and operated by Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi, who herself is an avid writer, author, journalist, marketer, public relations professional, a photographer, and a mother! Wow!

Erin was kind enough to kick off my blog tour with a fabulous review of A White Room, and she is also hosting a giveaway for a free e-book (e-pub) of A White Room from Smashwords. The giveaway will run from today to midnight July 19. You have to comment on Oh, for the Hook of a Book to be eligible to enter.

On July 18 - the last full day of the giveaway A White Room's blog tour will swing back Erin's way for an interview so make sure you check that out next month.

The second stop will be tomorrow, Thursday June 20, at the super-cute book review blog Hazel the Witch operated by Petra, a writer and student living in the Czech Republic. She was kind enough to interview me, and I loved her questions which were really unique so check that out! Also make sure you enter that giveaway, which will be for a signed print copy of the book!

The third stop this week is on Saturday June 22 at Reading in Equador and will be a guest post written by me on how I write suspense and use it in A White Room. I'll even break down an excerpt from the book to show you how I write tension.

Saturday June 22 is also the day I'll be doing my very first public reading so that means I won't be checking comments on Reading in Ecuador as frequently as I would like that Saturday, but I will be all over that on Sunday. That reading is at the Rockin' R House of Brews in Hanford, California. Check out my Facebook page for more info on that.

The fourth stop is on Monday at the Bookish Dame Reviews. Oh this blog is so pretty. I love it! This is another book review and giveaway blog but has a focus on a few genres including historical fiction. Blogger and writer Deborah Previte was kind of enough to take the time to interview me with some great questions so please check this one out.


These bloggers were kind enough to give me shelf space to help me promote A White Room so please check out their blogs and consider following them to find more great books. 

Next Wednesday I'll be back to let you know what the following week's stops!


Comment if you have any thoughts or questions. I love comments! =)

What's a Blog Tour and Why Am I Doing One for My Debut Historical Fiction Novel "A White Room"

This week I am announcing that my blog tour for "A White Room" will begin next Wednesday. 

But what is this blog tour I speak of and why am I doing it? 
Blog tours are the modern day author tour. Authors don't go on physical book tours anymore unless they are big time like Stephenie Meyer or Stephen King. 
Cover Design by Jenny QOf Historical Editorial So now adays authors do "tour stops" on a bunch of different blogs over a short period of time. My blog tour will run from next week to the first week of August and includes 17 stops. These stops will involve book reviews, interviews about the book, guest posts by me on a subject related to my book, and raffles to give away free copies of my book both signed print copies and possibly free ebooks. 
***There may even be a few hidden codes for free ebooks as well.***
But how is this comparable to an author actually visiting readers at a physcial location? Well I will be visiting these blogs live on the scheduled tour dates to respond to comments and answer reader questions. Thus you will have direct digital contact with me as the author.  
During my blog tour, I will not be doing regular posts on my two blogs, but I will be posting redirects to the blog tour stops and perhaps leaving clues as to when a where a free ebook code may be hidden. ; )
So here are my Tour Dates - I hope to see my readers at some of these stops - virutally!

A White Room Blog Tour Dates

Weds, June 19 – Oh, For the Hook of a Book:  Book Review
Thurs, June 20 – Hazel the Witch:  Interview
Sat, June 22 – Reading in Ecuador:  Guest Post: How to Write Characters You Hate and Characters You Love to Hate
Mon, June 24 – The Bookish Dame:  Interview
Thurs, June 27 – Momma Bears Book Blog:  Guest Post: The Story Behind Emeline’s Mental Distress
Tues, July 2 – I am Indeed:  Guest Post: Historical Accuracy in Historical Fiction
Mon, July 8 – Bookfari:  Interview and Giveaway photo credit: Robbert van der Steeg via photopin cc
Tues, July 9 – Hazel the Witch: 
Guest Post – How to Write the Inner Thoughts of a Crazy Person - Finding Meaning in Insanity?
Weds, July 10 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: Review 
Fri, July 12 – Lost to Books:  Guest Post TBA and Giveaway
Mon, July 15 – A Writer of History:  Guest Post: Writing an Era – Where to Begin?
Weds, July 17 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle:  Interview
Thurs, July 18 – Oh, For the Hook of a Book:  Interview
Tues, July 23 – Unabridged Chick:  Review and Giveaway
Thurs July 25 – Ravings and Ramblings:  Review and Interview
Tues July 30 – Reading the Past:  Giveaway and Guest Post:Writing and Historical Thought - They Didn't Think Like We Did 100 Years Ago
Sat, Aug. 3 – History and Women:  Guest Post: Victorian Women and the Mystery of Sex 



A White Room is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo, Inktera, and Goodreads.
Please Leave a Comment: What do You Think of My Debut Novel? Are You Interested in the Blog Tour? What About Free Books? =)

It's Official A White Room is Now For Sale!!!

Cover Design by Jennifer Quinlan
of Historical Editorial
A White Room is now available in print and eBook on Amazon (print and Kindle), Barnes and Noble (print and Nook), Smashwords (epub), and will soon be available on iBooks, Kobo, Sony, and more!

Please Tell Your Friends on Facebook and Twitter and find me there too!   See what readers are saying on Goodreads!

Advance Praise for A White Room
“A novel of grit, independence, and determination ... An intelligent story, well told.”
—Renée Thompson, author of The Plume Hunter and The Bridge at Valentine

“The best historical fiction makes you forget it’s fiction and forget it’s historical. Reminiscent of The Yellow Wallpaper … the thoughtful, intricate story Carroll relates is absolutely mesmerizing.”
—Eileen Walsh, Ph.D. U.S. Women’s History, University of San Diego


 About A White Room
At the close of the Victorian Era, society still expected middle-class women to be “the angels of the house,” even as a select few strived to become something more. In this time of change, Emeline Evans dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when her father dies unexpectedly, Emeline sacrifices her ambitions and rescues her family from destitution by marrying John Dorr, a reserved lawyer who can provide for her family. 
John moves Emeline to the remote Missouri town of Labellum and into an unusual house where her sorrow and uneasiness edge toward madness. Furniture twists and turns before her eyes, people stare out at her from empty rooms, and the house itself conspires against her. The doctor diagnoses hysteria, but the treatment merely reinforces the house’s grip on her mind.
Emeline only finds solace after pursuing an opportunity to serve the poor as an unlicensed nurse. Yet in order to bring comfort to the needy she must secretly defy her husband, whose employer viciously hunts down and prosecutes unlicensed practitioners. Although women are no longer burned at the stake in 1900, disobedience is a symptom of psychological defect, and hysterical women must be controlled.
A novel of madness and secrets, A White Room presents a fantastical glimpse into the forgotten cult of domesticity, where one’s own home could become a prison and a woman has to be willing to risk everything to be free.

Come See Me Read and I Can Sign Your Copy!

Saturday June 22nd, Noon, at the Rockin' R House of Brews in Hanford, California.

Saturday July 6th at 3p.m., and Sunday July 7th at 1 p.m., at the Rising Sun Gallery and Art Studio in Fallon, Nevada.

Saturday July 13th at 2 p.m., at The Revue Cafe in the Fresno Tower District, Fresno, California.

Friday July 26th at 7 p.m., Lush Fine Wines, Hanford California.


Check out these links for book review, news coverage, and more!

KSEE 24 Talks to Author Stephanie Carroll about her reading at the Rockin' R House of Brews in Hanford on June 22 at noon. Click in to minute seven of the video to see. 

An amazing book review by Jane Steen of Keep Going You Fool! Thank You Jane!

A White Room and Unhinged & Empowered Navy Wives Featured on Navy Compass Magazine! 

Are Women Really Crazy? By Stephanie Carroll - Read the Article on TheSavyyGal.com   

WFIN's Chris Oaks Interviews Author Stephanie Carroll on Good Mornings!  

Bookfari Blog posts Review of A White Room

Historical Editorial Cover Relase: My Cover Desinger's Blog!!!

Author Photo by Corey RalstonAbout the Author - Hey That's Me!!!
As a reporter and community editor, Stephanie Carroll earned first place awards from the National Newspaper Association and from the Nevada Press Association. Stephanie holds degrees in history and social science. She graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Fresno.
Her dark and magical writing is inspired by the classic authors Charlotte Perkins Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper), Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden), and Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights).
Stephanie blogs and writes fiction in California, where her husband is stationed with the U.S. Navy. 
Her website is www.stephaniecarroll.net.
A White Room is her debut novel.

Thank you to all my readers who have encouraged and supported me through this process and thank to everyone who helps me spread the word about this novel. If this book becomes a success it will have all started with you!  

Nineteenth (19th) Century Cancer

Yep cancer has been around for a long time and also affected people during the nineteenth century. At the time treatments ranged from herbs and types of food to full fledged operations with or without anesthesia depending on how early in the century.

photo credit: seriykotik1970 via photopin cc
Surgery tended to be the primary type of treatment for cancer both internal and external. At the beginning of the century operations were performed without anesthesia but this would be more for external tumors. Internal surgery occurred more toward the end of the century when there was use of ehter and morphine as an anesthetic.

There were a variety of beliefs surrounding the cause behind the mysterious disease from trauma to irritation to infection. The eventual discovery and use of the microscope helped further the understanding of cancer cells at the time.

I did a little research on cancer at the turn of the century for my novel A White Room because I wanted one of my characters to die after coughing up blood but I didn't want to fall back on the cliche tuburculosis so I went with stomach cancer.

Cancer just didn't seem to be as big of a deal in the ninteenth century - probably because they didn't quite know what it was especially since cancer has all kinds of symptoms depending where in the body the damaged cells are at. Most of the time it probably just looked like people were getting sick and dieing, and at the time that was one of those things that happened and it wasn't questioned as much as people question something like that today. There were high rates of death from all types of sickness and cancer had no real reason to stand out. I think tumors were more of the focus rather than cancer itself because that was what people could see.

Check out the links below to start researching cancer at this time period:

American Cancer Society: The Use of the Microscope on Cancer Cells and the Believed Casues throughout History.

CBS Rare Graphic Photos of Cancer in the 1800s

News Medicals Detailed Page on Cancer History with a Great Section on the 19th Century

BBC Bone Study to Determine Frequency of Cancer in Ancestors including 19th Century

A Distrubing Account of 19th Century Cancer Treatment on Smart People I Know Website'

Hey Steampunk! What's With the Goggles? Victorian Automobile-Wear

Steampunk is a fiction genre that has it's origins from classic author Jules Verne who wrote future novels at the turn of the century and envisioned the future from a Victorian perspective. At the turn of the century America was in the middle of a technological revolution and many people spoke of the new era of the modern world being upon us. Just imagine Y2K but the 1900 version.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin ccMost technology at the time was powered by steam, so Victorians envisioned the future having a lot of steam powered technology. Hence Steampunk. Steampunk though is the modern take on this future so the machines are way more sci-fi inspired and everyone is wearing a much sluttier or cool looking version of Victorian garb.

So the question of the hour - what's with the goggles?

Although the Victorians weren't really worrying about the major machinery you read about in those Steampunk novels, they were trying dealing with what to them was a very advanced technology of the day - the motorized automobile.

Prior to this time, people rode around in the very slow horse-drawn carriage. They weren't used to going very fast. The first cars were open like a buggy and usually didn't have a windshield. All of sudden, people were having to deal with getting smacked in the head with a bug! Or getting a spec of dirt in their eye and swerving off the road.

So they created their own protection-wear. Goggles, netting hats that looked like bee-keeper hats, gloves, and full coverage overcoats made of warm leather or wool were worn. Coats were usually the color of mud because they were often splattered during driving. Passengers often rode with blankets as well.

Only the wealthy could afford an auto-mobile at this time and many of the lower classes enjoyed the fact that the wealthy looked mighty silly driving around in their bee-keeper outfits!

photo credit: How I See Life via photopin ccI tried really hard to find an image online of some Victorians wearing their protective gear, and I was only able to find one illustration. There probably isn't much out there because Victorians would remove the gear for photos or paintings. Since they looked quite silly, they may have also avoided wearing it when in the city where they would be driving slow anyways, but on a long country drive, they'd want to be warm and bug-free.

Here is the best I could find to show you guys what I am talking about. Image of Victorian woman wearing automobile protective-wear. The original photo is on the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum Webpage.

If you guys find any photos, please feel free to share in the comments.

So this is why Steampunk has all these people with goggles. Victorians wore them with their newest technology - the automobile. I guess the bee-keeper veil hats were too silly to incorporate into Steampunk. =)