Lady of Devices

I recently checked my 2015 reading plan on Goodreads and realized that I'm five books behind schedule. Yikes! This summer, I'm hoping to make some extra time to get caught up and hopefully find some good books to indulge in. I also am making a goal of writing and sharing more reviews of the books I enjoy. I recently finished 'Lady of Devices' and decided to share my thoughts on the novel.

I have never read any books from the steampunk genre, so when I found out about Shelley Adina's 'Magnificent Devices' series, I became curious and decided to give the first book a go. I am pleased to say that 'Lady of Devices' was a delightful read, and I look forward to digging into the rest of the books!

My Review:

Lady of Devices 

by Shelley Adina

The story takes place in  London, 1889. Seventeen year old Lady Claire has always had an interest in experimenting with chemicals in the lab at school, or learning how to drive her family's Landau. After graduating high school, she has high hopes of furthering her education in engineering. However, her mother has different plans. While Claire tries to persuade her mother into letting her attend University, her mother forbids it, hoping instead to find Claire a suitable husband.

But after Claire's father dies, their family discovers he had gambled their estate away on the combustion engine, leaving his company bankrupt. As Claire's mother and brother move to the country, Claire stays home, hoping to find employment. But when an angry mob who had invested in her father's company, riots her home, she is forced out on the streets. She soon encounters a gang of thieves, no older than children, and ends up caring for them, all the while, hoping she might still find employment somewhere, and eventually attend University.

She uses her knowledge with devices and also her training in etiquette, to turn around the lives of these children who had never been taught the difference between right or wrong.

This story was really fun and exciting to read! I absolutely love Claire and her spunky personality. She has a mind of her own, knows how to look out for herself, and doesn't give up on what she believes in. While there wasn't exactly romance in this, I believe something might blossom between her and a young scientist in the next books. The writing was well structured, the plot exciting, and as I said before, I can't wait to begin the next in the series!

Dealing With Unexpected and Unavoidable Distractions

My day was off to a great start! I woke up before 6:00 and had my schedule all planned out. It was the beginning of a busy week and I wanted to get as much writing done as I could on Monday, since I knew I wouldn't be able to later in the week.

I sat up in bed and stretched, then Gigi, our silky terrier, crawled over to cuddle with me. I let her snuggle for a while, and just before I was about to get up, I felt a small bump on her head. Cringing, I brushed her hair away from the little bump and found what I feared. A tick.

I grumbled as I found a tweezers and pulled it off. Then to be safe, I checked for more. It didn't take long to find another...and another...and another. (Yuck!) After the twelfth one, I will not lie when I say I was freaking out. I really can deal with most bugs...but ticks? They are disgusting little creatures who refuse to die! (Not to mention, they carry lime disease!)

After thoroughly checking Gigi, one more time, my sister, Leah, and I put Frontline treatment on her (apparently no one had done that this month...). We figured that Gigi had gotten the ticks from our backyard. We still had a lot of firewood that was still underneath the deck from the winter.

Well to make a long (and gross) story short, I found dead and alive ticks around the house all day. So instead of sending out emails and writing 5,000 words as I had planned...I spent the day flushing ticks down the toilet. To say I was not happy is an understatement.

When all of this was happening Leah tried to remind me that it could be a lot worse. At the time I didn't appreciate her telling me this, but when I look back now, I can't help but be very grateful that it wasn't worse! For instance, it could have been fleas!

What I learned from that day, is that sometimes in life we have to deal with the unplanned. We have to set aside everything we had planned to get done, and deal with unexpected and sometimes unpleasant interruptions.

I think the best way to respond to these kind of days, is to simply accept that we didn't get done what we had hoped, but it couldn't have been helped. Then to take advantage of the days that do run smoothly.
But...what if every day is hectic?

I really admire writers who are young mothers and still manage to write. They somehow find time, whether it's during the children's nap time, or movie time, or evening, they get their work done amidst the craziness of life.

What I've learned from other writers, is that if you truly have a passion to write, then you must make time. Even if it's just a little bit in the morning each day, that's better than nothing.

I didn't get much written during the week of the tick situation. But the following week, I picked up where I left off and set goals. But this time, I set goals, knowing that I might not reach them. Something unexpected might come up again. But I'd work hard and make the best of the time that I did have.

Last week I wrote a blog post on distractions that you can avoid while writing. If you have not read it, please do, and let me know what helps keep you focused while you write. You can view the post Here. 

Rooglewood Press Short Story Writing Contest

I am very excited to share that Rooglewood Press has recently announced the cover reveal to their third fairy tale short story contest!

 

Five Magic Spindles

a collection of Sleeping Beauty stories

The challenge is to write a retelling of the beloved fairy tale in any genre or setting you like. Make certain your story is recognizably “Sleeping Beauty,” but have fun with it as well. Make it yours!

Rooglewood Press will be selecting five winners to be published in the Five Magic Spindles collection, which will be packaged up with the phenomenal cover you see here. Maybe your name will be one of the five listed?

All the contest rules and information (how to enter, story details, deadline etc.) may be found on the Rooglewood Press website. Just click HERE and you will go right to the page.

Rooglewood Press’s first collection, Five Glass Slippers, is available for purchase, and our second collection, Five Enchanted Roses, is scheduled to launch on July 27, and is currently available for pre-order. Be certain to get a copy of each and see what previous winners did with their wonderful retellings.

 

Cover Illustration Credit:

This cover illustration was rendered by Julia Popova, “ForestGirl.” You can find out more about this gifted artist on her website: www.forestgirl.ru