Talking Steampunk, Dracula, and Sabrina Strong's Next Adventure

Hello, my pretties. As you know I've got my very first steampunk coming out soon, which is the third book in the Sabrina Strong Series, Vampire Nocturne.

When I started out with this, I didn't consciously decide it was to be a Steampunk. Just sort of happened. I realized as I wrote it and had Sabrina deal with being in another world that they were stuck in the Victorian age. I love the dress stlyes of that time, and some would call it a more romantic time. Perhaps it was.

At any rate it caused me to look up the meaning of Steampunk. It is really a sub genre of science fiction, alternate history and speculative fiction which came into prominence in 1980's-'90's. It basically involves an era/world where steam power is widely used--about 19th century, or Victorian era. In any case it incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy.

In some cases I think it can blend both. I've read certain books which are works with steampunk themes. Anno Dracula was one, and Vampire Empire was another. While I didn't care for the rendering of vampires in the latter work, I thought Anno Dracula a rather fun alternate history using characters from several works like Dracula and historical people of that era, including Jack the Ripper.

After reading these works, I was certain what I had was a Steampunk, and worked on this story with the basic elements in mind.

The Basic Plot:

Sabrina learns that her cousin, Lindee, has gone missing. Because Sabrina is a clairvoyant, she, of course, knows she should be able to find her. Little does she know that Lindee has been transported via a ley line to a whole other world. Sabrina also falls through this portal that takes her to this world, and, in fact has already visited one character on this world, prior to her falling into the portal to begin her investigation.

While all of my Sabrina Strong books have a lot of adventure, romance--to some extent--and dangerous situations, this one by no means fails in this. But it is different in that it is nearly a stand-alone book. While some new readers may not know who Vasyl, Rick, Morkel, or Bjorn Tremayne are, but these characters, basic to the series, only play a very small roll in the total of the book. Sabrina spends most of her time on Beyond the Black Veil (this other world), and finds herself on a world where vampires rule, and humans are basically food and sexual partners--oh, and entertainment.

Not only does Sabrina need to find Lindee, but almost right away she deals with a murder mystery, and some very nasty beings who stalk humans and make them sick until they die. Plus, she finds that the real-life Dracula has managed to turn himself into a vampire and has lived on this planet for many centuries. Sabrint going up against Vlad the Impaler is one of my favorite scenes in the whole book. I had to open up a book on the historical Dracula again and found myself with a wealth of information.

This week I hope to take passages from the work, Vampire Nocturne, and post them, giving everyone a chance to read a little bit about the characters and get a feel for the work.

Until then, adieu, my pretties!