Hi guys! Today I welcome Evelyn Ink, author of Ill-fated and Silver Tongue. Evelyn’s books don’t fall just within one genre but encompass the elements of fantasy and steampunk to help create fun and exciting world. So check out her post on writing and inspiration, her books and a giveaway below.
On Writing Steampunk and the Fantasy Genre:
Steampunk has been dissected, categorized, and re-categorized so much that sometimes I’m unsure where my books fit into the genre. The best description I can give is that Ill-fated and Silver-Tongue are alternative-world steampunk. That is to say, like Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, my “steampunk” books are set in an invented world rather than an altered Victorian-era.
On Writing Steampunk and the Fantasy Genre:
Steampunk has been dissected, categorized, and re-categorized so much that sometimes I’m unsure where my books fit into the genre. The best description I can give is that Ill-fated and Silver-Tongue are alternative-world steampunk. That is to say, like Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, my “steampunk” books are set in an invented world rather than an altered Victorian-era.
It is world on the edge of an industrial revolution, with some countries much more advanced in their technology than others. As with all ages of enlightenment, what is called black magic in one place, is science in another, and this most evident in Ill-fated where the heroine, Leila, is forced to leave Bainland– a small, safe, but rather primitive country, and travel south. Once in Southland she finds a world where magic meets machine; sky ships, daguerreotypes, and automatons merge with the earth-dolven magic of the South, leaving her to question, “What is sorcery and what is science?”
Within the pages of Silver-Tongue there is less of this transitional, clock-work culture shock, though the main character, Belin, is introduced to the newfangled “auto-chaise” and sky ships play a more prominent role in the story. That said, I would have to label both works as “light” steampunk. The reason being, they are steampunk in setting only. Everything takes a backseat to plot and characters, and unlike many fantasy and steampunk writers, I do not spend a lot of time expounding on the “science” behind the machines. This is a plus for some readers and a let down for others, but I myself enjoy the visual world of gadgets and gears without the overly scientific explanations.
Within the pages of Silver-Tongue there is less of this transitional, clock-work culture shock, though the main character, Belin, is introduced to the newfangled “auto-chaise” and sky ships play a more prominent role in the story. That said, I would have to label both works as “light” steampunk. The reason being, they are steampunk in setting only. Everything takes a backseat to plot and characters, and unlike many fantasy and steampunk writers, I do not spend a lot of time expounding on the “science” behind the machines. This is a plus for some readers and a let down for others, but I myself enjoy the visual world of gadgets and gears without the overly scientific explanations.
