The Shell-Shocked Redemption / Roland Yeomans / Guest Post

Today I have the clever and humorous Roland Yeomans for a not-blog tour post from his...blog tour. ;)
Take it away, Roland! 


THE SHELL-SHOCKED REDEMPTION
Or
My Next Stop On My “Don’t You Hate Book Tours?” Book Tour
Yes, my name is C. Mai Kahunas and my new book is “Thrust Is Not Just a Term in Rocket Science.”
Aw, man, you found me out.  My name really is Roland Yeomans: Reader, Writer, Dreamer.

What many bloggers won’t tell you is that when they see a favorite blog has a book tour post, they dart away faster than Taylor Swift from a real relationship.
But mine is different.  Have you been badgered with the cover yet?  No, you have not.
You want to see it?  I’m going to be like Trump on a date and take your NO for a YES.

See? No title yet or cover blurb or even my wonderful name.
That wasn’t so bad, was it?  I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.  (Sulks in Cyber Silence)
Right off, you can see it is Steampunk.  And why is Steampunk still so popular?
Well, the Victorians were dealing with financial difficulties, as well as social and ethical questions as we are going through now.
People are looking into the past to try and figure out what to do about the future.
The Victorian period was also the time of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds.
Anything seemed possible … as with today.
So how do we make our new novels stand out?
Did you know that many great novels had their first chapters excerpted in magazines? 
Think the stunning completeness of the first chapter in Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach which was excerpted in The New Yorker.
Or did you know that some experts believe your first chapter should have its own arc like a short story? 
There are some anthologies that include previously published material.  And there are some that ONLY include previously published material (they know the material has already been thought of as publishable.)
Writing your first chapter so it could be published as a short story gives you one more weapon in your arsenal to give your novel more options.
And yes, the first two chapters of my novel could be used as short stories.
How else can you make your novel stand out?
Give it the AROUND THE WATER COOLER magic.
Today, the internet has replaced the water cooler for the place to chat about cool new discoveries.
How to cast that magic spell?
REPEATABLE DIALOGUE:
From my novel:Oh, don’t groan.  The dialogue to come is short and snappy.  You’ll be repeating these to your friends … just you watch.
The vampiric Abigail Adams: “Oh, Lucy, why the long face?  Blood is warm.  It is like drinking hot chocolate … but with screaming.”
Samuel McCord:“Lincoln, I thought you knew. When you dance with the Devil, you don’t lead, he does.”
Mark Twain:“The trouble with trouble is that it always starts out as so much fun.”
Ada Byron Lovelace:“Oh, Samuel, Franklin was not smelling my perfume.  I am wearing none.  He was smelling my … my blood.”

This March come board the Xanadu, the 1st Air/Steamship in 1867 on the honeymoon cruise of Samuel McCord and Empress Meilori Shinseen.  Ports of call: Paris, the Unholy Lands, and Realms Beyond the Pale.
Plots, intrigue, betrayals, deceit, and murder reign supreme … and that is just in their bedroom!
Watch out for the insane Abraham Lincoln, the crippled General Sherman, the vampiric Benjamin Franklin, the shrewd, thieving Thomas Edison, and the vengeful Captain Nemo, following the airship in his Nautilus.
Cost of Passage?  Just $9.99!  A bargain … unless you run into the vampiric Abigail Adams.
When I write, I do it to music.  This is the tune to which I wrote of the Xanadu majestically slipping through the boiling mists to descend from the clouds to battle the Nautilus.


Thank you, Roland, for such an entertaining post!
Please leave Roland a comment! :)