Guest Post and Giveaway: Precious Metals Blog Tour With L.A. Witt

Gaslamp Fortnight: A Steampunk Book Tour – October 27th – November 7th

Authors L.A. Witt, Alexis Hall, and Cornelia Grey come together on a Steampunk book tour to celebrate the releases of Precious Metals, Prosperity, and Circus of the Damned.

Join us on adventures through the lawless, untamed, kraken-infested skies! Trek the snowy wilds of the Klondike in the company of a Mountie! Visit a soul-stealing circus where entertainment is at your own risk! Riptide’s Gaslamp Fortnight will tempt you with the steampunk and gaslamp worlds of Cornelia Grey, Alexis Hall, and L.A. Witt.

And Gaslamp Fortnight is featuring a fabulous giveaway! Comment on the tour stops for a chance to win a $250 gift certificate to Harlots and Angels Steampunk Corsetry and get your own custom corset or personalized steampunk gear.

Q.) L.A., thanks so much for taking the time to be with us here today. Tell us, what are some interesting facts you learned in your research of the Klondike Gold Rush that didn’t make it into the book?

A.) Oh, the Klondike Gold Rush is full of fascinating stuff. Most of what I researched had to do with the various methods people came up with for moving their provisions, particularly over mountain passes and such. I probably could have written an entire book of nothing but stampeders creatively transporting hundreds of pounds of stuff over treacherous, frozen ground.

Q.) What made you decide to set the story in that era and setting?

A.) I’ve always been intrigued by the Klondike Gold Rush, and the idea of making that already difficult journey harder with technology just appealed to my sadistic little author brain.

Q.) What was the one steampunk invention you came up with for the story that you wish existed in real life?

A.) Probably the mechs. They’re flatbeds with eight legs and an engine. Kind of a mechanical spider that sits about hip-high and carries all your stuff. They’re clumsy and prone to breaking if you look at them sideways, but with some modern techno-voodoo and ingenuity, they could be really cool. I seriously could’ve used one to carry my books in school…

Q.) How do you think the Gold Rush era lent itself to the steampunk sub-genre? In other words, what made you feel like that particular event in history would’ve benefited from futuristic machinery?

A.) Gold Rushes by their very nature inspire technology. You’ve got thousands of people trying to a) get to a place and b) mine that place for gold, which means you need to come up with ways to get there faster/safer and get to the gold in the ground before the next guy.  So of course, I gave them a bunch of new technology that only made things more difficult. Because I’m an author. SUFFER, CHARACTERS! SUFFER!

About the Author: L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

Connect with L.A.:

•Website: loriawitt.com
•Author Blog: gallagherwitt.blogspot.com
•Personal Blog: navywifeadventures.blogspot
•Twitter: @GallagherWitt
•Facebook: facebook.com//L-A-Witt-MM-Fiction
•Goodreads: goodreads.com/GallagherWitt

Precious Metals Blurb:

For Constable Paul Benson of the North-West Mounted Police, monotony is a blessing. As a provision inspector below the Chilkoot Pass during the Klondike Gold Rush, he’s seen miserable conditions and gold fever turn civilized prospectors into madmen.

Joseph Starling is on his way to the Klondike to find the men who savagely beat him, murdered his eldest brother, and stole their mining machine. They’ll kill his youngest brother if Joseph doesn’t operate the machine for them—it won’t work without him. With time running out, Joseph must purchase an expensive ticket aboard a crash-prone airship. But the station is miles away through dangerous terrain.

Under orders, Paul grudgingly escorts Joseph, but quickly finds himself intrigued by the young man. As they make their way toward Juneau, it’s not just the need for warmth that drives them closer together. But neither man can draw an easy breath until they make it to the gold fields . . . and there’s no guarantee that Joseph’s brother will still be alive when they do.

Precious Metals is available October 27^th from Riptide Publishing. Also available: Noble Metals

Giveaway:

Comment on the tour stops for a chance to win a $250 gift certificate to Harlots and Angels Steampunk Corsetry and get your own custom corset or personalized steampunk gear. Each new post you comment on earns you an entry into the drawing, so be sure to check out the rest of the tour schedule, too!

Harlots and Angels Bio:

Hello I’m Sharon Ince and I own Harlots and Angels.  We are a UK based company that creates unusual sewing and crafting patterns, clothing, corsetry, props and accessories with a wide range of themes from Steampunk, Sci-Fi, Victorian, Gothic and Burlesque.

We have produced work for a large diversity of clients, including The Disney Corporation, the BBC costuming department, Sky TV, Working Title films as well as several Hollywood production companies and local theatre and film productions.

I have always loved to design and I’m self-taught. In fact I started at the early age of about 5 years old and have never stopped. I love to work with leather, sew natural fabrics, sculpt, and build my house with stone and wood; though my real passion is to design.

When I am starting out on a new design the hours fly by and I’m lost in the perfect bliss of experimenting, mathematical calculation, followed by the thrill of seeing the idea become reality.

My love of Gothic literature, mad inventors and scientists and all things Victorian has always filtered through my thoughts and designs, so when I first discovered the emerging Steampunk community some years ago many of my creations found their family niche.