Gaslamp Stories

In a city where the steam network remembers your secrets, the revolution begins with a wrench. Thomas Li-Harrison is a mixed-heritage engineer fixing the pipes that keep Shanghai warm. When impossible readings start appearing in the network - and his body starts doing things he never learned - he discovers the infrastructure he's maintained for years is hiding something vast, watchful, and alive. Now every pipe whispers a question he can't ignore: who built this system, and what is it really for? ⚙️ THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIMENT: This is an iterative serial. Your comments and votes shape the plot and the romance in real-time. ⚡ JOIN THE RESISTANCE: Sign up for the Substack (link in bio) to get the secret Marco prequel story and vote on future chapters!

The gods are dead and the gates are open. In the year 957 AF, the first Bloodmoon set the clouds on fire, bathing the Land of Everstat in crimson. The flames of war roared to life once again, but after three years of non-stop bloodshed, the embers began to fizzle out. But greed and hatred cannot co-exist with peace. After a brief two-year-long ceasefire, in the year 962 AF, the war has been reignited. New weapons of death and destruction are born every month, as the Star Alliance fights to preserve the world, whilst the Wings of Fatality Alliance yearns to build a new world order. Amidst it all is Morgan Crosper, a mercenary who has no identity yet is known across the continents as the slayer of the night. Dragged into the war when Dragonheart City is bombed by Kamakarut, and subsequently hired by Alaric Dracon, the king of the Dragonspear Kingdom, he must now venture across the lands with Alaric and Nienna Godric, the last Whisperfang Assassin, as they search for a mythical artifact that could change the tide of the war. Who will reign victorious within a burning world can only be told in due time, as the Land of Everstar spirals into chaos once more.

Rich, ennobled men are dying across Mayfair. It begins with a Duke's heir and soon the murder has trickled into Miss Christine Downing's life. She has only been married a matter of days before her husband's elder brother is found dead at the opera. The Magisters, responsible for the regulation of magic in country, place the blame on Enchantresses, the female sorcerers. Though England does not recognize any official Enchantress, women are still able to practise their domestic arts. Christine has long entertained hopes of being able to call herself an Enchantress one day. But, the murders in Mayfair dim that chance with each passing day. The murders reek of a scandal that haunted the halls of Versailles years ago and Christine soon decides there answers lie in the past.

Junos was, for a lack of better words, screwed. If she didn't produce results worthy of her rank, then surely the Auditors would be forced to strip her from her sorceress license, her workshop, her everything. She couldn't afford to fail, not with the fact that the livelihood of her apprentices was also at stake. With the clues given by her trusted peers, the sorceress and the twins would traverse the far reaches of the country in search for a solution. What they didn't expect was a fateful encounter with a solitary girl, non-human in origin, who would play a major role in Junos' life in the coming months.

On May Day of 1901, Dublin falls. Dublin dies in the wake of a mysterious illness, leaving its victims rabid, mindless, and very hungry. Panic rises, driving people away from Ireland in fear of plague. But Stanley knows better. He can hear these 'sick', after all. And this is no plague; this is a curse. As a borne Chime Child, seventeen-year-old Stanley Brigham simply wants peace in his life. His Sight connects him to the magical and supernatural, and has long given him grief. He has only come to Ireland to introduce himself to his recently betrothed and return home. But his life is warped when the Outbreak finds its way into his world. The dead return, their voices still heard by Stanley, even when no one else hears them. Soon his ability catch the eye of Maggie MacNamura, a colorful Irish spiritualist who is keen on saving her home. Not but days after escaping back to England, Stanley finds himself drawn into Ireland's mess when Maggie approaches him and his closest companion, Vincent Cammish. She proposes that something (or someone) more magical is behind the mass attack, and she wants them found. Armed with little save for a folklore book and Vincent's company, Stanley ventures back to Dublin in search of the curse's mastermind. His adventures drive him deep in Ireland's magical realm, from the seedy underground of Monto to the Druidic order that guards this world. A world full of old magic, older politics, and dark creatures the British Isles have long forgotten. And perhaps with good reason.

In the bowels of a city called Reidier, Mella makes a mistake. She loses her temper. To avoid the oncoming shit storm that results from that, she finds shelter- with the secret Incognita revolution. But their leader is missing, and tensions are high. Anything can happen. Meanwhile, far away on the east coast, the Archheir Astall attends another boring high society function. That turns out to be a bad idea. Before the night is over his parents are dead, and a coup d'état brews on the horizon. There is only one thing that might help him win back his innocence and his city- the sacred Mandate, a magical document which names the rightful heir- and that, conveniently, is locked inside a box no one has seen since his father became the Archduke of Yvette. No matter how much the six cities of Derwent wish themselves separate, they are tied together. Consequences stretch past city borders and walls. These two events were set into motion a long time ago- when a simple serving girl made a decision. Now, ancient forces are awakened, and change is coming. A Game of Thrones meets the Infernal Devices. (kind of)

Doncia sees what no one else can: colours bleeding through walls, creatures flying over the city at night. Her father's final gift--a pocket-watch that can blink the visions away--might be the only thing keeping her sane. When the beautiful boy begins to appear and vanish, belief itself becomes dangerous. The demon's purpose is stirring--and the world will break if she can't face it first.

The Island is about a lady whose baby dies. She struggles to recover. She goes to an island to do scientific studies. She and her automaton assistant Nartis must winter over on the isolated island.

Callum Muir is brought face to face with the woman who stripped him of his humanity and his former life. But can he resist the pull that still exists between himself and his maker?

Story #1 Heads of History Story #2 Acrimony Story #3 Untitled Memoir of Bilse Tanderby

Planet Earth is being deteriorated by the outgrown number of citizens pursuing a knowledge of an unreal yet existing, otherworldly powerful sensation known as "sorcery". No one knows what it's origins are or who made it. Who could have even imagine such a fantasy fairytale-esque quirk that would exist in-front of us in reality? And so, with the ongoing trends and media reports contributing to its popularity worldwide, people developed the attributes to be able to learn this outlandish skill and freely make do of whatever it takes for them to satisfy their own beneficial needs, but even this can always draw the line. Not everyone has what it takes to handle sorcery "the right way, and when sorcery is out open into the public eye, you are not guaranteed there would not be a single incident or two involving the use of sorcery no matter where you go. Best to not get involved in such matters, or you will be facing the consequences as an immoral being even worse than the face of a normal prisoner-better yet, not be a victim.

In the fantastic world of Orb, Alchemist City is a rising metropolitan power and the epicentre of a dramatic industrial revolution. Ruled by the Technomages, a guild of wizards committed to the exploitation of magic and technology for their own hegemonic ambitions, the sprawling city is an urban arena of political intrigues and ruthless predation. And still culture and society thrive. Humans, dwarves, orcs, elves, gnomes, vampires, ogres, giants, trolls, mushroom men, magically sentient objects, and various forms of machine people, all dwell here together. It is a place of fierce competition but also wonder, adventure, and romance. This story, Airship Luxury Express, follows the arrival of two affluent guests from the nearby land of Mundany who have journeyed there via a newly built steam powered zeppelin. Eager to disembark and see the famous city for themselves, they have little idea what's in store for them.

A train conductor with the same old routine relies on his trusty pocket watch that he received from the railroad to get him through his days. When his watch breaks one of his fellow workers recommends he gets it fixed at a unique shop. When the conductor gets his watch fixed he relies that not only does his watch run like new but strange yet wonderful things are starting to happen around him. This is the first story in a three-part series called Gears of Time from the book, Of Gears and Gaslight: A Steampunk Adventure Novel which is available on Amazon. *The cover is the 2022 Shrimpy Award Winner for Best Cover on the author website Diabolic Shrimp.

William Latimer has an unusual experience on the staircase...

With Victoria and much of the aristocracy killed in a horrible dirigible accident, with her upcoming coronation, eighteen-year-old Queen Juliette must balance a shadowy terrorist organization, the hunt for Excalibur and an undeniable attraction to the Captain of her Guard before she fully assumes the throne. This light-hearted gaslamp romance also features handsome foreign princes, a unicorn and an alternate history you won't want to miss. Hey guys! I've finished the first draft of this manuscript and your notes, critique and support would be very helpful. © Copyright 2016 Courtney Brandt. All Rights Reserved.

Romance, action, adventure, Shades, and clockwork. When unexpected events proceed the Viscount's Ball, Annabelle Esperbane —daughter of a lord— finds herself thrown into the world her affluent childhood sheltered her from.

"I know it may come off as a shock to you." The Dark Spectacled Admiral demurs. "But I'm afraid that it is the single, unquestionable truth. Your room at the Blind Helmsman has already been prepared. I bid you a good evening." (Oneshot for now.)