Guest Post by Mary Wine, Author of A Lady Can Never Be too Curious

Good Morning!

It’s great to be blogging today and doubly so because I’m really excited about ‘A Lady Can Never be too Curious’. When I first began to tinker with the idea of writing a Steam Punk, I found myself diving into history. 

History is full of odd and often curious things. After all, we humans have always enjoyed being entertained, so it stands to reason that many of our ancestors had crazy ideas of how to blow off steam. In the Victorian era, science was advancing, providing living comforts such as gas lights and violas. Today, with our iPods, a record player which needs to be hand cranked might seem like very small comfort but if you’ve ever been out camping without anything but the wind, you’ll understand that having music at your fingertips was just as wonderful to the Victorians as an iPod to our teenagers.

I love my iPod too.

But constructing a book from research is a little more complicated. I am still a romance author and needed a great story. Steam Punk is a fiction and yet, oddly based in a bit of fact. There were people who believed steam powered engines were the future. Gasoline was a byproduct and proved to be far less expensive.

Still, I was fascinated by the idea of creating a portion of society that tinkered with steam powered machines. In a way, a bit like the Masons. A society, within the Victorian society, with secret rules and an oath of allegiance. Let’s add to that a very curious young lady, brought up among the rules of Victorian society. Part of me wanted to give her a place to go where her gender didn’t prevent her from following her dreams wherever they might take her.

My Illuminist are people of science. I say people because gender isn’t considered. Anyone may join, so long as they can pass the entrance exam. But just like in Victorian society, you are either one thing or another and once you accept the lapel pin of the Illuminist Order, upper society will shun you.

I hear a lot of readers asking just what Steam Punk is and the short definition is ‘Victorian Sci-fi’.  At its core, A Lady Can Never be too Curious, is still a great historical read and a wonderful romance. I hope you’ll consider giving it a try. Pop over to my website, MaryWine.com, for an excerpt.

Cheers!

Mary Wine

MaryWine.com

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