Reviews of books submitted to the Steampunk Emporium's reading lists

A book-of-the-week club for steampunk books

A full directory of steampunk books submitted to the Steampunk Emporium. Each chapter will include the title, author, and the description of each book in the Emporium's reading list, with a link placed in the comments. Stories will be listed in alphabetical order.

Axel's day goes from terrible to strange when he is hired by the highly intelligent, but eccentric Detective Conan Hutchingson. Before Axel can adjust to his new life, he is thrown into the middle of a complicated mystery. There is a new threat that has been growing underneath the shining streets of London. A villain that is only known as the Clockmaker has put in motion a plot that could mean the very end of everything. Axel and Hutchingson join forces with Emeline Cloutier, a young lady who is looking for her missing brother. Together the trio must cross Europe, face down pirates, and evade arrest. The clock is ticking as they get closer to the mystery of the elusive Clockmaker. Can they unravel the Clockmaker's plot before London is destroyed? Started: 07.11.12 - Finished:

A singing automaton performs each night in Atlantic City. Like every work of art, the toy has a fascinating story behind her creation. An old barfly recounts the tale to a young server, teaching him the power of technology in helping man cope with life's trials of love, loss and regret. This is one of my earlier works, which was published in the Spring 2015 issue of Mad Scientist Journal.

So you just started an account... Or maybe you've been here a while and you just aren't getting a feel for things. Well Dorian is here to help you out! Here is an ongoing guide and the tricks of the trade. How to get followers, how to critique work, how to be popular, and how to write. Feel free to throw out comments for suggestions to things you'd like to hear more about. Good Luck and Happy Writing!

The Workshop is designed to help writers who are struggling with their stories from development to the actual writing process. Each part offers hands-on tips for writers to improve their own stories that they are currently working on.

How do some writers manage to create characters that are so real, you feel like you've met them? Characters that you wish you could hang out with long after you finish the last page, because they're so fascinating, or because they seem to see the world just like you do, or just because they're out there seizing life in a way you wish you could? It's all too easy to create characters that feel flat, stereotyped, and predictable. This book will show you how to create characters that are the opposite: characters that are vibrant, unique, and surprising. It takes you step-by-step through the process of coming up with a character and fleshing it out with details that will bring that character to life. It will help you make sure that your character is believable, that you have clear motivations for his or her decisions and actions--and it will show you how you communicate those motivations to your readers. Most of all, though, this book will help you to have fun taking your character to the next level. I'll update every Friday and will answer any questions you leave in the comments. Please let me know if there's anything in particular you want me to cover! If you find this helpful, I also blog over at www.cherylreif.com to help writers become more productive, more creative, and more skilled at their craft. :) Cheryl

Cass has no memories of her parents, only impossible dreams of waves and orcas and, sometimes, her mother's voice. When she and her adopted aunt return to the Pacific Northwest island--where her parents died twelve years before--Cass hopes the place will trigger long-buried memories. Instead, she discovers that the impossible is real, and that history is about to repeat itself. Unless she can stop it. ***Teaser*** The water hit with such a shock of cold that Cass thought she was going to pedal up and out of it again like some cartoon character. Instead, she flailed and splashed and smashed one arm against a piling as salt water poured into her raincoat & filled her shoes. "How do you like it?" Jason yelled. She spun until she could make out his form, black against gray sky. "What?" she sputtered. She dragged one arm from the water long enough to shove wet hair from her face. Jason became clearer: black hair dark above his yellow raincoat, arms crossed over his chest. "What the hell are you talking about?" "I asked how you like it, going for a swim in this water." She was open-mouthed with disbelief. It was a bad idea; a surge lifted her and slapped salt water into her mouth. Bile burned her throat as she coughed and all the while she was still flailing at the water, fighting the drag of shoes and clothes to keep afloat. She should kick them off-that's what you were supposed to do if you fell into the ocean with your clothes on-but she was only a dozen feet from the dock. Besides, it was her only coat. Jason watched her the way she'd watch a barracuda. "I know you're following me." "Following you?" What. The. Hell. She gave a mighty kick and tossed her coat onto the dock. Jason just stood there. "I nearly drowned last week, you know that? Now you show up as if nothing happened." "Last week," Cass said slowly, "I was in Argentina." Whatever he'd seen, it wasn't her.

Faith Mitchell was never confident. She was happy to blend into the background, much to the protest of her friends. At 16, her life was a normal teenage cliche. She was in love with Jace, the obnoxious player who she couldn't have, and her biggest worry was whether or not he would finally come to his senses and see that she really was the one for him. That is until she is kidnapped and recruited by a secret agency of assassins. She is torn away from her normal teenage life and thrown into a world of guns, knifes and criminals. The agency mold her into the perfect killing machine, and at 19 she is no longer the shy girl that was snatched away from her uncomplicated life, but a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to complete whatever mission she is on. Then, the agency has a new mission which involves Faith returning to her hometown, and facing her friends, family and the very boy who broke her heart just before it turned into stone. What will happen once Faith comes face to face with Jace? Will the obnoxious player be able to reach out and get the old Faith back without pressing any of her wrong buttons, considering that the shy girl he once knew now has a gun. (WATTY AWARDS 2011) (THE FICTION AWARDS 2017) ©makeandoffer