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Wood the Writer

~ Author of Tales From Undersea

Wood the Writer

Tag Archives: steampunk books

Want to join my review team? You get free books!

12 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, self publishing

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advance review copy, arc, dieselpunk books, free books, free ebooks, steampunk books

Sky’s Edge is only a few weeks away from release! But if you want to read it early, and for free, all you have to do is download it here and leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads (the page will be up after release) after the book is launched on May 1st. There are a limited number of review copies available and it will only last until May 10th, so get in early if you want a review copy.

If you want free review copies of not just this but all my books, you can join my advance review team by sending me an email to jessica@woodthewriter.com letting me know. I plan to publish anywhere between 3 to 6 books a year in either the steampunk or fantasy genres.

Top Six Books I Read in 2021

10 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, books, fairy tale, fantasy, pirate, romance, villain

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books, children's books, fantasy books, reading, steampunk books, ya books

Since 2022 is already in full swing, I thought I’d make my first post of the year about my favourite books I read in the past year. According to Goodreads, I managed to read 56 books in 2021! One more than my goal of 55! These were the ones I liked the best:

(Note, this is ‘books I read in 2021’ and not ‘books which were published in 2021’)

  1. The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

I do love a good Norse-inspired fantasy, and this one didn’t disappoint. Tova is a relatable ‘out of place’ protagonist, hated by her community yet completely essential to them. The romance between her and Halvard was a little sudden, but I loved how it played out in the end.

2. Steel Rose by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy a ‘villain romance’ at first, especially since this is essentially the romance between a freedom fighter and a quasi-communist leader (I live in Finland and we don’t exactly like communists). But this book surprised me. What drew me in most to this book was the dieselpunk world of airships, art-deco buildings, and an interesting concept of communism essentially taking over all of Europe. I’m excited to read further books in this series to see how this corrupt government falls.

3. Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

I already wrote a full review gushing over this book. To avoid repeating myself, this is a feminist re-telling of Robin Hood from Maid Marion’s perspective. I especially love how the feminist message is portrayed without being overly preachy and still fitting in with the attitudes of the time period.

4. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

It took me far too long to start the Series of Unfortunate Events books, especially considering the TV show is my favourite series, and the reason Neil Patrick Harris is my favourite actor. I wasn’t disappointed by the book version, and some lines really shook me, even knowing how the story was going to unfold.

5. Knightmare Arcanist by Shami Stovall

While this may seem like another ‘kids with powers’ YA book, the likeable characters, range of unique mythical creatures, and exciting plot set it apart from all the other cookie cutter YA fantasy books I read on a regular basis.

6. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Fairy tale retellings are very popular right now, but I have to admit I prefer the darker versions. This book is a loose retelling of The Little Mermaid with a sinister twist – the mermaid is a siren who has to capture the heart of the prince. By which I mean his literal heart, not just his love. This book also has a great supporting cast, vivid locations, and an exciting plot. And did I mention pirates? Yeah, if you can’t tell, I also have a thing for pirates.

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Writing update 19/7/2021

19 Monday Jul 2021

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, books, self publishing, writing update

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creative writing, steampunk, steampunk books, tales from the skies, tales from undersea, writing

I hope everyone is having a good summer and surviving whatever heatwave or flood is plaguing your corner of the world. It’s been about a month since I launched Stealing From Thieves, the second Tales From Undersea book. I’ve been pleased with the positive response it’s received so far, so a huge thank you to everyone who has read the book so far.

But what is next for the Undersea series? Well spoiler alert but book 2 ended on a bit of a cliff hanger. I’m currently editing book 3 and hope to send it to beta readers in early August and release it by the end of the year.

And after that? Well, I’m already planning a ‘sister series’ titled Tales From the Skies. This will be set in the same universe as Tales From Undersea but will take place in a sky city in the 1920’s and 30’s. While I’m going to write it with the intention that anyone who has read the Undersea series can go straight into this one, it will also serve as a jumping in point to anybody unfamiliar with the series. It also looks like it’s going to be aimed more at adults rather than the young adult market, so there may be a few slightly naughty bits.

While Tales From Undersea had a focus on adventure, Tales From the Skies will have a romance plot at the forefront. The story will focus on the ongoing relationship between Colin, a crossdresser working at his mafia family’s drag bar speakeasy and Rory, a police detective seeking revenge on the mafia for killing his father. Of course this is still all in the planning stages, so don’t be surprised if any of these details change by the time the books are published. I’m hoping to get the first one out by May 2022 and then space them out every few months after that. So far there are 4 books in this series, so there will be even more for you to enjoy.

If you want to stay informed on release dates for this series or any special offers, the best way is to join the Sea and Sky newsletter, where I post all new releases the day they come out. You get an exclusive free short for singing up, too!

Six Steampunk Trends I love (and One I Hate)

01 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, books, fantasy, romance, steampunk, story, villain, writing

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dieselpunk, dystopian, enemies to lovers, fantasy, murder mystery, steampunk, steampunk books

I’ve been researching popular trends in steampunk books lately to better help my own writing, and in doing so I’ve uncovered some I really like, and a few I can’t stand. These are some of them:

  1. Magitech

I once heard someone say that magic has no place in steampunk since technology usually fills the same role. But steampunk often straddles the thin like between fantasy and science fiction, so why can’t we have both? Technical devices powered by magic are both fascinating and unique, and allow us to experience the best of both fantasy and sci-fi.

2. Steam-powered dictatorship

The popularity of the dystopian genre seems to have bled into steampunk in franchises such as Mortal Engines. It is a nice subversion for the standard steampunk setting where technology improves everyone’s lives and society lives in harmony. I especially love the setting in Kathryn Ann Kingsley’s Cardinal Wings series where a communist-style society has essentially taken over all of Europe.

3. Murder mystery

Perhaps it’s because of Sherlock Holmes, but there seem to be quite a few mystery series with a steampunk twist. My particular favourites are The Daemoniac by Kat Ross about a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes and the Arcane Casebook series by Dan Willis which takes a more dieselpunk tone.

4. Art nouveau

While we mostly associate steampunk with Victorian aesthetics, it seems more common lately to include inspiration from the early 20th century and the art nouveau and art deco styles. As much as I like the Victorian era, I like these looks much better and find the simplistic lines much more pleasing. They can be used both to make a setting look cool or to make it appear imposing and threatening.

5. Propaganda

The role which propaganda plays in our public perception has been more of a hot-button issue in recent years. As sinister as it is, there is something oddly fascinating about how words and images can sway huge groups of people into a particular way of thinking, and how virtually every society has attempted it at some point in history. Steampunk is a particularly interesting genre to explore this, especially when combined with the dystopian elements I mentioned above.

6. Enemies to lovers

Readers have been going crazy over this trope lately, especially since we’ve started deconstructing classic villain archtypes. There’s something incredibly thrilling about reading two people from opposing sides realising they actually have a lot in common and going from one emotional extreme to the other. Once again, this works perfectly in steampunk fiction which loves both a good villain and a good romance.

And one trend I hate:

Everyone loves the hero

I enjoy romantic drama as much as the next reader or fanfiction writer, but something I notice a lot in the steampunk books I’ve read lately is protagonists with several love interests, or at least people who are interested in them. Sometimes it seems as if the entire world is falling at the main character’s feet within moments of meeting them. It runs the risk of portraying the character as unrealistic and there isn’t going to be much of a character arc unless somebody hates their guts.

 

What are your favourite and least favourite steampunk trends? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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