Friday, March 9, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway: Rachel Grace

Please join me welcoming Rachel Grace to Debbie's Book Bag today. Rachel is here to promote the release of the first novel in her new Elemental Steam Romance series, Geared for Pleasure. I asked Rachel to tell us a little bit about the differences between writing steampunk novels and writing erotic paranormals. The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Rachel's novel, see details at the end of the post. 

GEARED FOR PLEASURE is the first in the Elemental Steam series. There are two contiguous storylines, Earthly Desires and Fiery Temptations, Dare and Phina’s stories respectively.

For those who don’t know, I’ve written 20+ books under the name R.G. Alexander, 98% of them paranormal. I have a thing for the supernatural, ancient mythology and world building. (and threesomes, but that’s another story)

I have to say, in part because of my writing voice as that other author *wink* I didn’t set out to write the classic “steampunk”. I wanted my own world to play in. Because of that, I not only renamed the genre for this series to “clockworky steampunkitude”, I also gave myself a lot of extra work…and some wiggle room to create. To add to that, I had very specific characters in mind, since my series, from its inception, has been an homage to my author group, The Smutketeers.

The differences. Where do I start? A lot of it started in my own mind. Steampunkitude is about specifics, details. When I began to think about the world, I thought about everything. I thought about where the civilization was, and why. The structure of the world was important, as was the technology created to adapt to it.

Theorrey has a caste system, a small slave trade, and a lot of really annoying rules that some of my characters have followed…but most have a tendency to break. But all the structure, all the hierarchy, is necessary to create in order to show how its all an illusion, if that makes sense. I had to get to what was truly going on beneath the surface. So I had to create a surface. A big one.

That took a lot of post-it notes.

Like many of my paranormal worlds, I drew on a lot of ancient mythology and folklore. Egyptian, Arthurian, Persian, Hindu, and of course, all the legends surrounding alchemy and immortality. This book is chock full of mysteries and intrigue that will not be entirely resolved until the next. Don’t hate me. I told you, it’s a BIG world.

And then there are the machines. I think for me, it was one of the most interesting differences. What a paranormal being could do with abilities inherent to their species, these characters had to do with minerals and machines. There is a touch of magic to it, I mean, this is me we’re talking about…but it’s the magic of science and the foundation of Theorrey itself, mixed with a touch of destiny.

The scarab spies and the hummingbird messengers from The Khepri (you’ll find out who he is soon)…even the dodge for the Deviant. I spent a lot of time talking with my husband aka The Cookie aka my own personal science fiction expert, to see if the ideas in my head were feasible. He was very supportive and incredibly helpful, as excited about the world as I was. I don’t know if I could have done that particular bit of research without him.

I suppose, after all this babbling. The biggest difference is that with paranormal, my comfort zone, I can draw from my own knowledge base…with Geared, I went outside of my box, and discovered an amazingly complex and fascinating world. One I wanted to continue writing. One everyone had to force me to stop writing or it would have never released on time J

The biggest similarity? The people. Even in a different world, people still fight, cheat, steal…and would do anything for love.

I hope everyone enjoys it. Thank you so much for inviting me!


If you’d like to know more about the characters and my inspiration, visit me at www.rachelgraceromance.com
If you want to know about my alter ego RG Alexander, visit her at
www.rgalexander.com
And if you want to see first hand the women who started it all, visit www.smutketeers.com



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:


The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Geared for Pleasure by Rachel Grace.

~ You must be GFC follower or an E-mail subscriber to participate.
~ US and Canadian Addresses only!
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST March 23rd.

1. Please leave a comment or question for the author on THIS post.
2. Please fill out the FORM.

13 comments:

Tanya said...

Just went to smuketeers.com and read the EXCERPT, now I need to read more. I have never read a stempunk title before but this may be the one to test the waters in that genere. Thanks for the giveaway!

justpeachy36 said...

You'll love Tanya, If the excerpt caught your interest I know it will be a good fit for you!

KMichelleC87 said...

I would love a chance to win a copy of this book. Thanks for the giveaway.
Kmichellec87(at)yahoo(dot)com

June M. said...

Other than a short story, I have not read any steampunk stories yet. But from being a smukedette, I am very eager to read Rachel's story. I know that it will be a great book! Thanks so much for the chance to win a copy from the publisher!!!

Carol L. said...

This is the first Steam Punk that's actually caught my interest. I read the excerpt over at Smutketeers also and LOVED it.GFC follower under Lucky47.Thanks for this opportunity.
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

Renee said...

Sounds like an interesting premise. How do you feel about writing in two different genres?

*yadkny* said...

I've never read a steampunk before and have always wanted to. But now that you've renamed the genre (“clockworky steampunkitude”)... I am definitely going to have to read it now! Hot cover too!

*GFC follower

yadkny@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

I would love to read this book. It sounds very good. Tore923@aol.com

bn100 said...

I enjoyed your post and learning more about your research. The book sounds very good.

In Julie's Opinion said...

May I first say that I absolutely LOVE the cover on this book!! YUMMMMM! LOL I love steampunk and this one looks like a terrific one!! Thanks so much for the guest post and the awesome giveaway:)

justpeachy36 said...

I have to agree the cover is fantastic!

Rachel V said...

I really like the cover. I don't believe I have read any Steampunk books before but this one sounds really good. I love mythology. Thanks for the chance to win the book.

pefrw at yahoo dot com

Pam S (pams00) said...

Thanks Debbie for sharing your great review and note on steam punk!

I love R.G.'s work and can't wait to read her newest release (and first under Rachel Grace). The excerpt was awesome!

pams00 @ aol.com