steampunk

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Lenni Reviews: “Wolves of the Northern Rift (Magic & Machinery #1)” by Jon Messenger

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**I purchased this book for free from Barnes and Noble.

Simon Whitlock and Luthor Strong work together to investigate reports of magical creatures so they can be eliminated. King Goodwin has outlawed magic and uses Royal Inquisitors like Simon to destroy them. So far, Simon and Luthor (an apothecary not an Inquisitor) have only encountered fakes. But all that changes when they are sent on a report of werewolves in a town called Haversham.

Simon and Luthor are absolutely riffing off Holmes and Watson in their dynamic with Simon as the insufferable smart-ass and Luthor the put upon straight-man. Having the investigators use science and reason much like a mundane mystery in a world of magic was inter sting but the pomp and posturing grated at times. There are times where you want to snap at the characters to get to the point already. But when the “my good mans” and “pardon mes” take a back seat to the werewolves, this book takes hold of it’s footing and keeps going strong.

The characters are written well over all, the action is sharp and exciting, and even if steampunk isn’t your thing,  you can still enjoy the fantasy elements of magic, wolves, and demons. A 4 out of 5 and I’m curious as to what the next book in this series will hold.

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Lenni Reviews: “No Dogs in Philly: A Lovecraftian Cyberpunk Noir” by Andy Futuro

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I purchased this book for free on Amazon.

Saru Solan, a private detective, is tasked with finding a blue eyed girl by the interdimensional beings called Gaespora. The fate of the world rests with this mysterious girl who is also being hunted by the elizi, who have been killing every blue eyed girl they find. With a creature that can eat their universe threatens, Saru has to find and protect this girl at any cost.

When I saw this titled as a “Lovecraftian, cyberpunk, noir” I bought it immediately and I was not disappointed. If you’ve ever read Jeff Somers’ Avery Cates series, this book has a similarly dark and rough feel. The world isn’t pretty, people get very dead very quickly, and life in general doesn’t seem worth all that much.

The blend of magic and tech is handled very well and Saru is a kick ass main character. The dystopian world she lives in is the same balls out, straight forward, cutthroat tone as the character herself. The writing is nearly perfect and I was hooked from start to finish. A solid 4.5 out of 5 and I can’t wait to read the next one.

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Art Practice!

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This image is from the Steampunk Coloring Book, which I picked up so I can practice with my colored pencils. There’s all sorts of advanced techniques for colored pencils and since that’s my chosen media for color, I thought using coloring books would give me a chance to try these techniques without having to first sketch my own art, then possibly ruin it because I screwed up applying the solvent or something.

With this picture I was experimenting with different color effects for folds in clothing and hair, and blending. It cakes some getting used to. It’s not just mashing the color down like I did when I was a child. It’s fun, though! And you can gt some really cool effects without using any solvents or computer coloring.

Of course this is my first outing with this and there are some imperfections. It will be a long time to get me near the level of the amazing art I’ve seen people create on YouTube. But, ya gotta start somewhere and for a n00b, this isn’t bad!

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Lenni Reviews: “Hopebreaker: A Steampunk Dystopian Fantasy” by Dean F. Wilson

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I purchased this book for free from Amazon.

Jacob is a smuggler who ends up imprisoned when a job goes bad. Once there, is meets a man called Whistler who is a member of the Resistance. In his world, The Regime controls everything, right down to women’s wombs. Humans can no longer give birth to humans, only demons and they are slowly taking over the population. Guilt prompts Jacob to stay and help fight, taking on a mission to destroy one of the factories where the demons manufacture the drug Hope with the aptly named experimental landship; Hopebreaker.

The mission to destroy the factory is an interesting story and written well, but I could have used a bit more world-building. I didn’t get a real sense of the demons other than they’re bad and trying to overtake the human population. Overall, this is a pretty cool story. I got just invested enough to want to know what will happen at the end. Jacob is a typical bad boy turned rebel and provides an entertaining read in his perspective. A little snarky with his teasing sometimes but once he gets to business, he’s fun and determined. The steampunk elements are technical enough to be believable but don’t bog down the story or interrupt the narrative. The spy and espionage elements hit all the right notes and of course the story ends in a way to lead right to the sequel. And I certainly wouldn’t mind reading it. Solid 3.5.

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The Plan? One Step at a Time.

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It’s funny because it’s true! Also, it’s not funny because it’s true. I tend to have so many different projects going at once, I seem to never make any progress at anything because my attention is divided too many ways

So, here’s what I’m gonna do.

Winter Boot will be the first thing I finish. I’m sure there was just a chorus of groans from people who wish to hang me up by my thumbs if I don’t get the next First Brood book out yesterday but I would like to continue my Fiction Fridays and I can’t do that till Winter Boot is done. After that, I have two short stories; “Fylgia” and “Old Soldier” that will need to be finished and posted for sale. Then I will move on to the editing for Greenhouse and the writing of my Go Away Girls steampunk lesbian novel. I can’t keep jumping from project to project (a lot of the time within the same DAY) and expect to get ANY work out for you guys to enjoy

Wish me luck because I am crap at focusing. It’s also why I have three knitting and crochet projects in the works as well…

But that’s for another entry. XD

In life news, I will be getting my car back in about 4 weeks and I’m back to working out with only the slightest twinge of soreness in my back. Between the treadmill and the elevator still broken at work, my le muscles re very confused. But I feel so much better now that I’m able to move around. I DESPISE being immobile. >_<

So, there you have it, folks! Lenni is healed up and has a plan to get as much writing into your greedy hands as possible! 😀 Are you excited? I sure am. 😉

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Writing Update

Where once I was concerned with keeping my stories short, I have spent the weekend battling with this anthology submission in order to get it to the minimum word count. In two very long days, I took the story from ~1,200 words to ~4,300 words. And I’m stopping there.

For me, this is another nuance in the lesson on giving up. There are times were you just have to stop. I also apply this concept to my sketching; there is a certain point in the process where you start to screw up the work while trying to fix it. At that point, it’s best to put the pen or pencil (or keyboard) down and step the hell away before you ruin it. I would rather be 700 words short and have a good story (that may be accepted on its own merit despite the word count) than make the word count and have a crappy story (that will either be rejected outright or the editor will ask me to cut it down).

After a final typo crawl, I will be sending this one in, hopefully tonight. As always, I will return to share my triumph or my crushing defeat. 😉

However, there is no rest for the wicked. I have already brainstormed my next submission and I’m back to working with my steampunk gals, who I have missed terribly. No, I have not been editing the next First Brood book. You can yell at me if you want. I kinda deserve it. :p

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It’s Ready! :D

Remember that short story I was writing for the erotic lesbian steampunk anthology?

Here it is. 😉

I love this universe and I will absolutely write more with these ladies in the future; both erotic and non-erotic. 🙂 They’re some cool ladies. XD

In other news, Mom had her scan and basically, there’s no change in the actual cancer. She’s still in the hospital and she will be till all the shingles are healed and she can swallow food on her own. When she does come home, Ma will have an aide to help her around the house.

But at least she can come home.

I’m working on more of Gods in the Grey City and hope to post more on the site. Once that’s one, it’ll go to Kindle, too. I’m working on having a whole little corner of Amazon just for me. XD If I can get enough out there, maybe I can make some extra money to afford a dryer! 😀 I would love to own a dryer… *dreams* But all in due time.

Tonight, since I have a three day weekend, I’ll be working on starting a baby sweater (not for me) and practicing driving. I will also try to finish Grey City so I can get it edited and I can move on to the next project. I’m hustling baby!! XD

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De-lurking? Maybe…

Since I seem to be meeting so many interesting people on Twitter, I’m going to really try and comment on more of their blogs. I’ve added a good chunk of my Twitter follower’s blogs to my Google reader and if you see a comment from some crazy chick named "Lenni" do not me alarmed. It’s my lame assed attempt to be social.

Other than that, I am still working on my second novel for the First Brood series and the lesbian thriller for that anthology query. I am also thinking about posting the rejected steampunk lesbian story I wrote. I still get a kick about an anthology out there for a concept I was already working on, but it’s awesome that it’s out there even if I’m not a part of it. ^_^

I think a LOT about types of characters which are underrepresented or represented poorly. Where are the bisexual, biracial, career women who are in stable relationships? And I don’t think of this just cause I wanna see more people like myself, I really think there’s a terrible stigma against bisexuals to this day. It sucks, but it’s there.

So, I guess that’s my indie writer’s advice of the day: If you don’t see enough of it? Write it. XD

Now, back to work for me. 😉

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Holy crap… @_@

Typing marathons are obviously for the young. I remember in the bygone days of college where I would park myself at the computer for 4 hours and just go and go…

Today, after a two hour typing marathon getting The Mirror typed up, I feel like someone tied my spine in a knot and rubbed salt in my eyes. And I’m still going today! I have a terrible, terrible focus on this. I straight up chased my husband out of the bedroom  last night so I could type in bed on the netbook instead on the main computer. The main comp is right by the front door and there’s an awful draft; so I hid in the bedroom and typed up 4 written pages in 2 hours. Most of it is incomprehensible drivel – and oh MAN, am I the queen of typos – But it’s there and I have all weekend to edit.

The lovely , who basically keeps ATQM running because HTML makes me cross-eyed, made this banner for me (so send her cookies) It’s in my livejournal profile and I haven’t thought of any other places to put it yet. I’m pretty crap at keeping up with my forum memberships so I’ll have to make the rounds and remind people I’m alive. XD

But for now, it’s back to work!! Go go go go!!!

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Updaaattee!! :D

I haven’t posted here yet that Gods on the Grey City had been updated and it has been accepted by the Web Fiction Guide so it can be voted upon. The link to vote for it is at the bottom of the page at Web Fiction and a voting link will be up at ATQM very soon. ^_^

Tonight I will be typing up the anthology entry. I have one smutty scene to add to it (the query is for erotic, lesbian steampunk so that’s what I’ll do) and it’s ready for a final edit. I’m anxious to send the query letter out so I’ll either know I’ll be in the anthology, or if I can just post it as a side story to what I have up already. I haven’t even queried and I’m on pins and needles here. @_@

If you like the story, please vote and vote every day. Some blogs out there give reviews on the top 10 or top 5 and I could sure use the exposure. Don’t make the Lenni beg. It’s not pretty. XD