Book Release Tour THE LADY ASTRONOMER by Katy O’Dowd
I’d like to welcome Katy O’Dowd to my blog today. She’s celebrating the release of her book, The Lady Astronomer, a young adult steampunk novel. Would you check out that amazing cover (full sized version at the end of the post)? And the book… well, it’s just as amazing. I asked Katy to tell us what she loves about Steampunk.
Thank you for having me over to your blog Julie - and happy birthday! Am honoured to be appearing on your special day, hope you eat too much cake and get loads of lovely prezzies J
*grin* Thanks. Cake is good
These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things
This isn’t going to be all about The Sound of Music, but it could be. Nah, only joking! Let’s change the title of the piece to ‘These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things About Steampunk’. Which will probably be more than a few. Oh dear. Never mind, let’s carry on, shall we?
The best thing about writing Steampunk is the chance to let your imagination run totally wild and to come up with some equally wild stuff. Go brain!
The time period generally associated with Steampunk means that the fashions are awesome! And since ladies were never seen out of ankle-length skirts or dresses you can make them into complete trouser-wearing-kick-ass heroines. Who after adventure and derring-do change back into a gown for afternoon tea. Naturally. Marvellous!
The inventions and experiments can be wondrous and in writing sense great plot fillers/spinners - damn! I’m 5k words short… I know! I shall invent an invention! Then the invention shall come to life and wreak havoc, bwah hahaha! Damn again! Am short an evil person who shall wreak said havoc by inventing invention! I know! Let’s make him a kind of robotic mash-up of a man! And on it goes, with one thing leading to another. Actually, I bagsie that idea, and am rushing off to write robotic mash-up diabolical man straight after my work is done here.
This list could go on forever, but I’m going to make this the last entry and I’ll tell you why. So, the title of this piece had the word ‘few’ in it. I am purposefully putting four things in to show my other favourite thing about Steampunk. Although it can be a very polite genre, in my opinion it is also fairly anti-establishment, which fills my rebellious soul with glee. Never mind that I am now a respectable mother of two….
Where to buy: Publisher: The Lady Astronomer was published by Untold Press www.untoldpress.com on 26th September 2012. It is currently available as an eBook, and will be out as a paperback later on in the year.
You can purchase The Lady Astronomer on Amazon USA and Amazon UK. http://www.amazon.com/The-Lady-Astronomer-ebook/dp/B009HIIKS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350384152&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lady+astronomer
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lady-Astronomer-ebook/dp/B009HIIKS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350384405&sr=8-1
The blurb:
Lucretia’s life as an astronomer is quickly turned on its head by her eldest brother when he is commanded by the king to build the grandest telescope in the land. Her nights spent on rooftops gazing at the stars are replaced by adventure as the family move to be nearer the king. In a race to build the Forty-foot telescope on time, misfortunes take their toll. The lady astronomer finds court life to be more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Can she find the strength inside to overcome the obstacles threatening her destiny? Only the stars will tell.
Author bio:
Katy is an arts and entertainment journalist and has worked for Time Out, Associated Newspapers and Comic Relief and her articles have appeared in The Times (London), Metro (London) and many other arts and entertainment publications, paper and online.
She reviews for the Historical Novels Review and the British Fantasy Society, is a commissioning editor at Pendragon Press and is co-editor of the Nasty Snips II Project for that press.
Alongside writing with her Dad under the pen-name Derry O’Dowd, whose first book ‘The Scarlet Ribbon’ was chosen to launch the History Press Ireland’s fiction line, she writes under her own name.
‘The Lady Astronomer’, a YA Steampunk novel, is out with Untold Press now. She is currently writing a Steampunk adult series because writing for tweens and teens is damnably hard work.
Links:
Katy blogs at www.katyodowd.com
Twitter @katyod
Facebook www.facebook.com/katy.odowd
And as a bonus, since you’re awesome and read this far, you get to learn some fun facts about this story from Katy.
A few facts:
I wrote The Lady Astronomer for my eldest son - he was jealous that I had used my younger son’s name in something else I was writing.
I work with an Astronomer on books that require his expert knowledge - the idea for The Lady Astronomer came to me while reading another book that he recommended I read.
The Lady Astronomer is inspired by the life of Caroline Herschel (1750-1848). She suffered from both Smallpox and Typhus, was a milliner, soprano, her brother William’s Assistant - he discovered Uranus, then known as George’s Star for the King who funded the build of the ‘Great Forty-Foot’ telescope - and most importantly, perhaps, became the first woman in recorded history to discover a comet. Not to mention the first woman in the UK to receive a working wage, from the King if you don’t mind.
Katy loves comments but she's only expecting to look at my main blog. Please comment here if you feel so inclined.