As you probably know, “Beautiful Things” has been free on Amazon this weekend and will continue to be until tomorrow. During that time, it has become a bestseller in two Amazon Kindle categories, so I wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy and/or given me a signal boost. I hope you enjoyed the story and, more importantly, I hope you stick around for all the cool stuff I’m working on, which includes–eventually–the further adventures of Mitzi and Wolfrik.
Tag Archives: Beautiful Things
Beautiful Things is Now Available!
Mitzi Weinhaus is the talentless daughter of two Munich Kabarett stars. One night, in an underground club that has so far escaped Nazi detection, she meets the enigmatic singer Giselle, who offers her the chance to be a hero. All Mitzi has to do is infiltrate the notorious Dachau death camp, but she won’t have to do it alone.
Teamed up with the mysterious Wolfrik, for whom she develops an alarming attraction, Mitzi soon finds herself ensnared in a world of secret societies, super-soldiers, monsters, and gods. Double-crossed on all sides, it is up to her to save her parents from certain death–and to save her heart from one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
Buy now at Amazon.com
(And thank you to Fox & Raven Publishing for taking such good care of this story!)
Beautiful Things Releases on Friday!
At long last, my dieselpunk novelette Beautiful Things will be available on Friday! Check out the awesome announcement page over at Fox & Raven Publishing.
A Crash Course in Dieselpunk
This week I’m celebrating the sale of my novelette Beautiful Things to Fox & Raven Publishing. I figured it was the perfect time to post about the sub-genre in which Beautiful Things exists, that of dieselpunk. An offshoot of cyberpunk, dieselpunk lives in the shadow of its more famous cousin, steampunk. Wikipedia notes that “Dieselpunk is an art style based on the aesthetics popular between World War I and the end of World War II. The style combines the artistic and genre influences of the period (including pulp magazines, serial films, film noir, art deco, and wartime pin-ups) with postmodern technology and sensibilities.” My story, set several years before World War II, features art deco, jazz, secret societies, Nazis, werewolves, and diesel-based technology. I have to admit, it was absurdly fun to write. Here are a few images that inspired objects appearing in the story, just to give you an idea of the aesthetics:
commons.wikimedia.org
Why dieselpunk? Well, every now and then I get the crazy idea to experiment in another genre. The original story started out as horror, but I wasn’t happy with it. I loved the imagery of dieselpunk, and it fit my story’s time period. I envisioned an alternate, art-deco Munich; werewolves on motorcycles; Nazi experiments with super-soldiers; and diesel-fueled airships sweeping over the cities and death camps. Despite all that, it somehow manages to be arguably the funniest thing I’ve ever written. I had originally intended to submit Beautiful Things to a dieselpunk anthology a couple years ago but didn’t finish it in time. Gradually it grew into a novelette, and the good news is that eventually I plan to write further adventures for my intrepid heroine and her favorite werewolf.
For all you ever wanted to know about dieselpunk, visit Dieselpunks.
