Coleen Kwan

Another six sentences to share from my steampunk romance, Asher's Invention which goes on sale June 25! Here, Asher and Minerva are talking about the invention he’s worked on for many years, and which Minerva’s father stole from him.

Asher bit his tongue. Never would he admit to her how many hours he had slaved.

He shrugged. “I’ve dabbled in it on occasion, when I have some spare time, which is not often these days.”

“You’ve no wish to prove your theory correct?”

“The only theory I’ve proven is that men will do anything for money.”



Visit Six Sentence Sunday for other writers' contributions.

I've been tagged for 'Lucky Seven' by my writing friend Whitney E-K! Lucky Seven involves going to page 77 of your current manuscript, counting down 7 lines, and then posting the next 7 sentences on your blog.

My 7 lines come from a Victorian historical (with steampunk elements) which I recently completed.


But now she’d transformed into something else, some shameless creature with primitive, insistent urges. Or perhaps it was Julian who was the cause. Perhaps she’d always carried these latent feelings buried deep within, and it was only Julian who could bring them to the surface.

The idea perturbed her. She screwed her eyes shut, but still Julian’s image floated in her mind. His bronzed body was a thing of beauty, the sculpted lines of muscle, bone and sinew a hymn of virility.

She must get away from him.

Stop by at Night Owl Reviews romance blog where I'm talking about The Allure of Steampunk. There's also a chance to win a copy of my book, Asher's Invention.

I'm taking part in Six Sentence Sunday.

Here are my six sentences from my soon-to-be released steampunk romance, Asher’s Invention. In this scene, the heroine, Minerva, has just met her ex-fiancé, Asher, for the first time after five years.

In the intervening years his chest had filled out, his shoulders broadened. Dressed in his velvet-trimmed coat, brocade vest and silk cravat, he cut a dashingly handsome figure, though he was no slave to fashion, as evidenced by his unfashionably long hair and lack of sideburns. But all lingering youthfulness had been stripped from him, and he seemed more cynical and aloof than his nine-and-twenty years warranted.

Had she done this? She and her father? Were they responsible for the tautness of his lips, the adamantine glint in his eyes?

Snelvis

It's officially winter here in Sydney. Some people hate the cold season, but I love this time of year. It's perfect for a hermit like me - crisp morning walks, warm fires, lamb shank soup, and curling up with a good book. It's also soccer season for my son, which means muddy boots, smelly shirts, and rugging up on Sunday mornings.

I'm also looking forward to the release of Asher's Invention later this month. This is my first steampunk story, and I loved writing it, as it was such a departure from the contemporary romances I'd been focussed on up till then. I had so much fun that I wrote a sequel, and luckily my editor liked it too. Asher's Dilemma will be coming out in January 2013!

I'll be doing a bit of a blog tour to promote Asher's Invention. Blog stops include:
My next contemporary romance (title TBA) is scheduled to be released in October by Entangled Publishing's Indulgence line. There's been a lot of excitement about this recently launched imprint, and some truly amazing success stories. Liz Pelletier gives some frank information about Entangled's success to date. You can read it here.

Another great post on line editing from editor Gina Bernal at Romance University. She does a great job of dissecting the first two pages of a manuscript and explaining what doesn't work and how it could be fixed. I find it much harder to spot the flaws in my own work. Wish I had Gina looking over my shoulder as I do my editing!

On Saturday I joined an interesting Twitter chat about Steampunk Down Under. Lots of crazy ideas were exchanged like mad mechanical penguins, steampunk swimming costumes, and steampowered bush rangers a la Ned Kelly. Afterwards I hunted down some inspirational pictures on the internet.

Steampunk Penguin Professor by Bendragonx

Obyekt

And I just couldn't resist this steampunk kangaroo:

Andrew Whitehouse

Local steampunk events coming up: the Winter Magic Steampunk Parade takes place in Katoomba on Saturday 23 June 2012.