Hello readers! I hope this update finds you well - Inkshares seems to be having some issues with this update feature as I have been trying to send an update for a few days now without any luck. Preorders for The Marsden Wheel keep coming in, which is exciting. We've had some interest from some Steampunk groups both locally and afar, and it is safe to say that even if we do not hit the Inkshares minimum for publication, The Marsden Wheel will be available in print. The support for this project, particularly within the steampunk community, has been great.
Chapter 3 has been added to the Inkshares page, so please come and take a look. In this Chapter, Jack Dagon begins his investigation at the H.R. Fowler Company. Inkshares' chapter organization is not particularly intuitive, so I made Chapter 3 the "featured" chapter, which should make it easier to locate.
Thanks again, and for those of you asking how you can help support this project, please tweet, share, comment, email, and tell your friends. Thank you all.
I was fortunate enough to be one of the beta readers for this book (back when it was called Murder in Motion, if I'm not mistaken) and I am so happy to see this project moving forward. The characters are compelling and the story takes twists and turns that even managed to surprise **me** (and I'm a cynic!). I hadn't read anything that I would consider steampunk before, but this was completely accessible to a novice like myself.
The second chapter of The Marsden Wheel is now available to read online - please check it out. This chapter introduces us to Jack Dagon in his home away from home: The Wicked Fish. A bleak evening of drinking takes a turn for the better when a stunning redhead makes an appearance at the bar, but his attempt to pick her up is sidelined when a stranger offers him a proposal that he finds hard to resist.
***
As the first weekend since the project's launch comes to a close, I am excited to say that I have some really interesting prospects in the works. I can't share any specifics until things are set in stone, but I do hope to have a more concrete update for you later this week. What I can say right now is that I am pretty stoked that The Marsden Wheel is getting this kind of attention from the steampunk and sci-fi community.
Again, I want to offer a big thank you to everyone who has shared, tweeted, emailed and talked about The Marsden Wheel. Preorders remain steady and I appreciate the great energy behind the project.
Good morning, readers! I'm very excited about the continued support for The Marsden Wheel. Thank you all for your interest and support. Every follow, every retweet and every preorder brings The Marsden Wheel one step closer to print.
Why should you support The Marsden Wheel?
The short answer is: because it is a genuinely good read, and without this kind of backing, you won't find a book of its kind at your local bookseller.
Steampunk holds a strange place among the sci-fi subgenres: it has a solid core of rabid, adoring fans, but far more readers struggle to pinpoint the exemplar steampunk novel. (How many times have I heard "Oh...like that League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie?" followed by the wrinkled nose of disapproval). Some go so far as to say that steampunk is all but dead, and those naysayers can make a good argument that some of the genre's best examples are quickly becoming ancient history. (The Difference Engine is 25 years old this year; The Anubis Gates is 32. And now I feel a little old, thank you very much). Pitching steampunk to an agent is a tough sell when lukewarm erotica and fairytale retellings ("It's like Hansel and Gretel, but IN SPACE!") continue to top the charts. Agents aren't in the business to take risks - they make money by predicting trends. Steampunk just isn't trendy.
But a solid story with great characters is worth supporting, even if its genre doesn't crack the NYT list. The Marsden Wheel offers a rich world full of three-dimensional characters and a story that keeps the pages turning. Step into Little Hope, Maine of the late 1800s with me for a moment: just a few years prior to our arrival, Little Hope was a tiny coastal city that struggled to recover from the betrayal of the false promise of prosperity from a new rail line. But when the Steam Revolution hit, Little Hope swelled overnight and its infrastructure couldn't keep up with the growth. The city is filthy, crime is everywhere, and the police are overwhelmed. The new steam-driven technology is part amazing and part terrifying. And in all of that, a seemingly insignificant murder - just one of hundreds - reveals something astounding.
Read adventurously. Please support The Marsden Wheel.
What a great first day! Thank you all for your support of The Marsden Wheel. Each preorder today has been so encouraging. Every share, every comment, and every preorder takes this book one step closer to publication. I really hope to make the final five for the Nerdist contest.
I thought it fitting in this first update to introduce you to Jack Dagon, the main character in The Marsden Wheel. Jack is a private investigator, working the crimes that the police force of Little Hope, Maine can't be bothered with. But private investigation wasn't always Jack's life: in his prime, he was "Black" Jack Dagon, one of the greatest boxers to ever set foot in the ring. Jack Dagon was unbeatable, invincible, and unstoppable, drawing crowds and winning purses through all of New England. But a night of drinking followed by a bad decision brought his career to an abrupt end. He came out of prison a decade later friendless, penniless and unknown. Jack was broken, but not beaten.
When we meet Jack, he's passing the hours smoking his meerschaum pipe and emptying glass after glass of cheap ale in a filthy dive bar while trying his luck with the fairer sex. A stranger interrupts his drunken pursuit with a proposal: a big payday for resolving a recent murder. Jack isn't interested until he hears the victim's name...
Hello readers! I hope this update finds you well - Inkshares seems to be having some issues with this update feature as I have been trying to send an update for a few days now without any luck. Preorders for The Marsden Wheel keep coming in, which is exciting. We've had some interest from some Steampunk groups both locally and afar, and it is safe to say that even if we do not hit the Inkshares minimum for publication, The Marsden Wheel will be available in print. The support for this project, particularly within the steampunk community, has been great.
Chapter 3 has been added to the Inkshares page, so please come and take a look. In this Chapter, Jack Dagon begins his investigation at the H.R. Fowler Company. Inkshares' chapter organization is not particularly intuitive, so I made Chapter 3 the "featured" chapter, which should make it easier to locate.
Thanks again, and for those of you asking how you can help support this project, please tweet, share, comment, email, and tell your friends. Thank you all.
The second chapter of The Marsden Wheel is now available to read online - please check it out. This chapter introduces us to Jack Dagon in his home away from home: The Wicked Fish. A bleak evening of drinking takes a turn for the better when a stunning redhead makes an appearance at the bar, but his attempt to pick her up is sidelined when a stranger offers him a proposal that he finds hard to resist.
***
As the first weekend since the project's launch comes to a close, I am excited to say that I have some really interesting prospects in the works. I can't share any specifics until things are set in stone, but I do hope to have a more concrete update for you later this week. What I can say right now is that I am pretty stoked that The Marsden Wheel is getting this kind of attention from the steampunk and sci-fi community.
Again, I want to offer a big thank you to everyone who has shared, tweeted, emailed and talked about The Marsden Wheel. Preorders remain steady and I appreciate the great energy behind the project.
Read adventurously!
Good morning, readers! I'm very excited about the continued support for The Marsden Wheel. Thank you all for your interest and support. Every follow, every retweet and every preorder brings The Marsden Wheel one step closer to print.
Why should you support The Marsden Wheel?
The short answer is: because it is a genuinely good read, and without this kind of backing, you won't find a book of its kind at your local bookseller.
Steampunk holds a strange place among the sci-fi subgenres: it has a solid core of rabid, adoring fans, but far more readers struggle to pinpoint the exemplar steampunk novel. (How many times have I heard "Oh...like that League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie?" followed by the wrinkled nose of disapproval). Some go so far as to say that steampunk is all but dead, and those naysayers can make a good argument that some of the genre's best examples are quickly becoming ancient history. (The Difference Engine is 25 years old this year; The Anubis Gates is 32. And now I feel a little old, thank you very much). Pitching steampunk to an agent is a tough sell when lukewarm erotica and fairytale retellings ("It's like Hansel and Gretel, but IN SPACE!") continue to top the charts. Agents aren't in the business to take risks - they make money by predicting trends. Steampunk just isn't trendy.
But a solid story with great characters is worth supporting, even if its genre doesn't crack the NYT list. The Marsden Wheel offers a rich world full of three-dimensional characters and a story that keeps the pages turning. Step into Little Hope, Maine of the late 1800s with me for a moment: just a few years prior to our arrival, Little Hope was a tiny coastal city that struggled to recover from the betrayal of the false promise of prosperity from a new rail line. But when the Steam Revolution hit, Little Hope swelled overnight and its infrastructure couldn't keep up with the growth. The city is filthy, crime is everywhere, and the police are overwhelmed. The new steam-driven technology is part amazing and part terrifying. And in all of that, a seemingly insignificant murder - just one of hundreds - reveals something astounding.
Read adventurously. Please support The Marsden Wheel.
What a great first day! Thank you all for your support of The Marsden Wheel. Each preorder today has been so encouraging. Every share, every comment, and every preorder takes this book one step closer to publication. I really hope to make the final five for the Nerdist contest.
I thought it fitting in this first update to introduce you to Jack Dagon, the main character in The Marsden Wheel. Jack is a private investigator, working the crimes that the police force of Little Hope, Maine can't be bothered with. But private investigation wasn't always Jack's life: in his prime, he was "Black" Jack Dagon, one of the greatest boxers to ever set foot in the ring. Jack Dagon was unbeatable, invincible, and unstoppable, drawing crowds and winning purses through all of New England. But a night of drinking followed by a bad decision brought his career to an abrupt end. He came out of prison a decade later friendless, penniless and unknown. Jack was broken, but not beaten.
When we meet Jack, he's passing the hours smoking his meerschaum pipe and emptying glass after glass of cheap ale in a filthy dive bar while trying his luck with the fairer sex. A stranger interrupts his drunken pursuit with a proposal: a big payday for resolving a recent murder. Jack isn't interested until he hears the victim's name...