Today is a very special day. We are helping O.M. Grey release her new book Avalon Revisited. But first…
If you live in the Los Angeles Area, on May 15th, 2010 the Los Angeles Romance Writers will be hosting National Bestselling Author Bob Mayer and his Warrior Writer Workshop at the Beverly Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. This is a fantastic workshop for writers of all levels. For more information please go here.
Also, I’d like to announce the winner of the “ear wings” from Creative Habits.
…drum roll please…
*~*~*RACHEL*~*~*
Rachel, congratulations, you’ve won a pair of ear wings. Please email me at suzannelazear (@) hotmail so you can get your prize.
You can still win a copy of Regina Riely’s book and goodies from Elizabeth Darvill (Lolita Elizabeth).
Now, on to today’s visiting lolita. I am very excited to welcome author O.M. Grey. To help celebrate the release of her new book, Avalon Revisited she’ll be giving away this yummy basket of goodies to one lucky poster. (Wow, it makes me wish *I* were eligible, lol).
O. M. Grey is rather camera shy and is a complete novice when it comes to modern technology. She prefers to live in the cobwebbed corners of her dark mind writing paranormal romance with a Steampunk twist. When she’s not writing, she’s reading or tending the garden or drinking a hot cup of tea. Her first book Avalon Revisited was just released.
Big Bouncing Bustles
That fashion oddity known as the bustle originated in the mid-19th century, and albeit short-lived, nothing screams Victorian quite like the bustle. It lasted only a few decades, moving from its original crinolined petticoat in the late 1860s to the exaggerated form that nearly reached ridiculous proportions in the 1880s, wherein my story Avalon Revisited takes place, to disappearing altogether by 1906. The bustle is indeed a brief fashion trend that has not been seen before or since in mainstream styles, but it is ever so delightful. Thankfully for us all, the bustle is making a comeback on the fringe of our modern society through the Steampunk movement.
With high collars, covered ankles, and even skirted chairs, sexual repression was certainly at its height in the Victorian Era. Not even the Goody-Two Shoes of the Fifties can compare. And as repression goes, when something essential or natural is repressed to such a large degree, it comes out in rather odd, often sick & demented, ways. The brothels of Madame Jeffries are a perfect example (and I got some truly demented history from her. Yes, friends, the Chamber of Horrors in Avalon Revisited is historically accurate).
Although meant to exaggerate the form of the hidden female body in such stifled times, the bustle is quite charming. With it gathering of material down the backside of a lady’s dress, it most certainly draws the eye and attention there. The bigger the bustles became, the more eyes were transfixed by their swaying, bouncing beauty.
This is likely why my antihero protagonist, Arthur, loves bustles so very much, as his attention is always in that general area anyway. Actually, love is rather an understatement. The undead chap is quite simply obsessed with the bustle. Baby just needs quite a bit more back, it seems.
So bustles abound in Avalon Revisited, as do airships, vampire hunters & their modern gadgets, and perhaps even a mad scientist for good measure.
Perhaps through Steampunk Paranormal Romance stories like my Avalon Revisited, Katie MacAlister’s Steamed!, and Regina Riley’s Clockworks & Corsets, we’ve birthed an entirely new romance trend. Instead of bodice rippers… let’s have more bustle bouncers.
One certainly gets a decent dose of bustle bouncing in Avalon Revisited…
About the book:
Arthur has made his existence as a vampire bearable for over three hundred years by immersing himself in blood and debauchery. Aboard an airship gala, he meets Avalon, an aspiring vampire slayer who sparks fire into Arthur’s shriveled heart. Together they try to solve the mystery of several horrendous murders on the dark streets of London. Cultures clash and pressures rise in this sexy Steampunk Romance.
Allow me to I offer a special thanks to the fine artisans who donated their wares to my Steampunk Gift Basket & other prizes. Your generosity will not be soon forgotten.
Please visit their shops:
PH_Factor: (Steampunk Goggles)
RowanOfTheWood: (Steampunk & Dark Fantasy Jewelry)
Thank you so much for visiting us, today! We wish you all the best with you new book, it sounds fab. Who doesn’t love vampires, airships, and bustles?
To be entered to win the amazing gift basket, simply leave a comment or question below. You can receive extra entries by blogging/facebooking/twittering about today’s release party or by joining her facebook group, joining the Steamed! facebook or by following the Steamed! blog. (Already being a member/following counts, just tell us.) Just let us know what activities you participated in, one entry per activity. Contest ends Tuesday at 11:59 pm PST. Winners will be announced on Thursday, April 29th.
Keep tuning in for more great guests as the month of April, and Steampunkapalooza, comes to a close. Tomorrow, Sunday, April 25th we have debut YA author Kate Milford. Tuesday, April 27th, author Emilie P. Bush stops by. Thursday, April 29th we’re please to welcome the creators of the Girl Genius comic. Diana Vick from Steamcon visits on Friday, April 30th. Lolita Marie-Claude and Lolita Elizabeth will be running off to the Romantic Times Convention and will be giving us updates and pictures. Thank you so much for joining us today, come back and visit!
Oh goody! What a superb gift basket!
Bustles, huh? I found all this fashionistic presentation of the book pretty intriguing. And I have a thing for vampire stories. I’ll probably have to get this book.
Nicely done!
I’m in for the gift basket (and I follow this blog).
I wish you lots of sales, O.M.Grey! 😉
I like the bustle and wish mine poofed better! I Like big bustles and I can not lie… No other writer can deny…
Opps… Dang. Filk everywhere!
Love the blog, love the contests, having a great steamy month!
Thank you for posting this! I love this blog!
I really can’t wait to read Avalon Revisited! Love the storyline and the cover is awesome, too!
Please enter me in the contest, if it is open to international readers. Thank you soooo much for this chance!^O^
I shared on Facebook (Giada Mariani):
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=251150582718&ref=ts&v=info#!/profile.php?id=1661492532&v=wall&story_fbid=111817345520141&ref=mf
I tweeted:
I joined O.M.Grey facebook group (Giada Mariani)
I joined the Steamed! facebook
I am a new follower of the Steamed! blog
Thank you!!!
Giada M.
fabgiada @ gmail.com
I can’t wait to get my hands on this book! I have been following OM Grey on twitter and i’m eager for the release! I’ve been telling others about it as well! I follow this blog and love all of the wonderful contest. This basket is absolutely fantastic!
Good luck to you OM Grey! I hope your sales go through the roof!!
I’ve been reading the OM Gray novel and am liking it…I wish she wasn’t shy, I’d like to meet her.
Do you know of any plans for a tour?
Thanks for entering, ladies!
Emilie — I think there is a spoof video in there somewhere. I’ll have to tell my friend (The Retro Diva) Christine about that one. Perhaps she’ll run with it.
😀
Mmmm. Tea AND biscuits! You have exquisite taste in comestibles, madam.
I’d long gotten tired of the same old vampire genre stories. Adding airships makes it new and fresh again. 🙂
I love bustles, wish they did have a major comeback! My bookstore is bringing in Avalon Revisited for me, can’t wait to read it.
I’ll let all my peeps know about the contest via facebook and twitter. I joined O.M.Grey’s fb page and I’m already part of the STEAMED! fb page.
xoxo,
Vbunny
Thank you so much for letting us help you release your book — and I love the idea of a bustle spoof video, it would be classic!
Oops! I also donated a pair of ear wings for the basket!
see me at
http://www.creativehabits.net
XO
Cindi
Giada: It is open to international readers, indeed! Thanks for sharing the links!
Pam: Thanks. I hope so, too!
Lee: I am shy and rather a delicate little flower, but perhaps we’ll meet one day. You can see my interviews and appearances on my website http://omgrey.wordpress.com, even if they are only virtual at the moment. A tour? No current plans, but if the sales are good enough, I’ll come out to play…. so tell everyone you know!
Jenn: I do indeed have exquisite taste! So pleased you noticed.
Vbunny: thanks for ordering Avalon Revisited! I look forward to your thoughts.
Suzanne: Baby Got Bustle video – I’ve already mentioned it to Christine, and she loves the idea! She, as the Retro Diva, has been seen as Bellatrix posing as Madonna and doing a Human League spoof to promote a Kindle contest. She’s nuts. Her YouTube is TheTuberRose.
Cindi! Your earrings are adorable! Thank you so much again for your generous donation. They were part of the prizes over at Bitten by Books on Thursday, as the fine fans of STEAMED! already had a chance to win and see your beautiful jewelry. I thought I’d spread the Creative Habits love across cyberspace.
Still, friends, check out her amazing Steampunk Jewelry (as you likely saw from her post on the 18th. Beautiful!
I asked because so amazing contests aren’t usually open to international readers. Thank you, Olivia!^O^
I’m gamesafoot on Twitter: It was great talking to you today and really hope to meet up with you at Comic Con. I’m shy, too….so we could definitely help one another there….
I am looking forward to reading Avalon Revisited. In fact, I should stop procrastinating and go order it now. 🙂
I found this blog through O.M. Grey, and I’m glad I did. I’m now following the blog and I joined the Facebook group. So many fun/educational posts!
I love the idea of the bustle becoming the next ‘bodice’. It’s such fun to read as well!
And I also love the way vampires are being re-vamped in the new steampunk craze!
What a great giveaway! And a great subject. I’m loving Steampunk and can’t get enough of it! Especially the whole paranormal aspect. Can’t get enough of it! I’m looking forward to reading Avalon Revisited. It sounds like my cuppa tea!
I’m a member of OM Grey’s FB page. Candace Robinson
I tweeted:
And I’ll follow this blog as soon as I can figure out how!
AWESOME! YAY! I absolutely love the ear wings! They are so beautiful! Thank you!
This book looks awesome. Vampires and steampunk? How can I resist.
Hmm . . . I’m headed to Steampunk world fair soon, perhaps I should look into making a bustle. ^_^
This is pure awesomeness. I bow before you.
i would love to be enter for a chance with for this
This sounds like a fantastic book! Bustle-loving vampires? Sounds good to me!
Kalayna – You totally need a bustle! They’re just so much fun. The one I have is almost like a miniskirt in front (with which I wear leggings)… then big and fluffy in the back. Adorable!
I love O.M.Grey and her work. She got me addicted to the steamy side of steampunk and the Victorian era. The book reads as good as it’s cover looks…and that’s saying a lot!
What a cool sounding book. Steampunk is the best. And that gift basket looks adorable! Please enter me in to win that. I’m loving Steampunkapalooza, there’s been some great posts. Very inspirational for my own writing. Thanks!
I’m glad the bustle is coming back. I have too often felt the draft in these modern fashions. As a born again Victorian lady, I would hope that in your next book you will allow your heroine to foil the villains with fools gold. Now, I’m off on my pennyfarthing to order my copy of Avalon Revisited.
The book seems really intriguing, I’ll Have to give it a go! As far as the bustles go tho, I’m definitely gonna pass. My German genes have given me plenty in that department!
I would love to get an autographed copy! Sounds great!
Thanks to everyone for stopping by & entering to win!
Mary – EXCELLENT! When you’ve read it, please enter to win some Steampunk Goggles by posting a review on Amazon. Details here: http://omgrey.wordpress.com
Paul: I would love that, too. If you don’t win this package, you can always order one from my website. (Link above)
You know that I want and NEED those goggles. Wouldn’t they be a clever addition to my costume while peddling my steampunk jewelry?????
Rachel –
Your ear wings will be posted to you in the morrow!
Cindi
http://www.creativehabits.net
I am seriously loving those goggles
Awesome basket! I also think Avalon Revisited sounds like a great story. Enjoyed this post.
[…] me to write a guest post at his blog. How could I refuse? Saturday, April 24th: Release Party at STEAMED’s! Steampunkapalooza! Author-signed book & another Steampunk gift basket including goggles from PH Factor, two […]