girls in steampunk week calendar of events + giveaway

Welcome!  It’s Girls in Steampunk Week at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia.  All week long I’ll be featuring books that both fit into the steampunk mold and have strong heroines.  Planned activities are listed below, and will be updated with links as the content goes live.  Oh, and there’s a giveaway.

5/13 – Girls in Steampunk Week calendar of events + giveaway
5/13 – Review of Kiss of Steel and Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster

5/15 – Waiting on Wednesday featuring Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger

6/1 – Review of Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
5/16 – Review of The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross
5/16 – Review of Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells

And now for the giveaway!  Several months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Caitlin Kittredge at a local author event.  She writes young adult steampunk, and was kind enough to sign copies of the first two books in her Iron Codex series, The Iron Thorn and The Nightmare Garden.  I’m offering these two books for giveaway.  Want to enter?  Simply fill out the FORM.  Giveaway open internationally, will end May 18^th at 11:59pm EST.  Winner will be selected randomly and notified via email.  Good luck!

In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft's epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day. 

Aoife Grayson's family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.

the hero’s guide to storming the castle: blog tour & giveaway

Welcome to The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle blog tour!  Christopher Healy’s debut, The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, was a middle grade book that impressed me by twisting traditional fairy tale tropes.  It was hilarious, goofy, monster-packed, and featured a great cast of characters (and villains!).  Luckily, they’re back for more in The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle.

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don't you? They're the Princes Charming who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose - to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms. 

But alas, such fame and recognition only last so long. And when the princes discover that an object of great power might fall into any number of wrong hands, they are going to have to once again band together to stop it from happening - even if no one will ever know it was they who did it. 

Christopher Healy, author of the acclaimed The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, takes us back to the hilariously fractured fairy-tale world he created for another tale of medieval mischief. Magical gemstones, bladejaw eels, a mysterious Gray Phantom, and two maniacal warlords bent on world domination - it's all in a day's work for the League of Princes.

One of the best things about this series is the non-stop banter between the heroes and heroines, but the villains aren’t snubbed in that department either.  Deeb Rauber is an 11-year old Bandit King, and a handful at that.  Read on for more of Deeb’s vital stats.  I think you can tell a lot about someone by their Signature Move.  Deeb is no exception! 

Deeb Rauber

Occupation: Bandit King

Age: 11

Affiliation: Leader, Bandit Army

Kingdom of Origin: Harmonia (though he won’t admit it)

Current Residence: Castle von Deeb, Rauberia

Parents: Prudence & Stanley Rauber

Longtime Foe: His cousin, Ella, who has never been able to truly comprehend the enormity of his diabolical wickedness

Likes: Crime sprees, reveling in his notoriety, candy
Dislikes: Trolls, the League of Princes, stinking trolls, mentions of his age, dirty stinking trolls

Signature Move: The Wedgie-Spitball Double-Humiliator

Quote: “I feel like a snack. Let’s go steal the cake from that royal wedding in Jangleheim.”

Little Known Fact: Dunked one of his bandits in a vat of caramel just for using the word “kid.” And the poor man had only been referring to a goat he saw.

Interested in more of the same?  To visit other blog tour posts featuring characters in The Hero’s Guide series, follow this link.  Christopher Healy will also take part in a Twitter chat with Marissa Meyer on the subject of fractured fairy tales at 9pm EST on Monday, June 3^rd.  If that’s up your alley, check out the hashtag #talesretold at the appointed time.

And with that, may I introduce a fabulous giveaway? The first THREE entrants each day will receive signed copies of The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle and EVERYONE who enters is eligible to win a $200 gift card to the bookstore of his or her choice. You will need this SECRET CODE to enter the giveaway: Prince Charming. Enter here.  Giveaway open to US addresses only, and will run until May 26th.  Winners will bGo back and enter each day for another chance to win!  Good luck!

Fine print: giveaway hosted by Walden Pond Press through Facebook.

book expo america, 2013 version

Last year marked my first trip to Book Expo America.  I read a lot of helpful posts from fellow bloggers who had visited before, but I didn’t really know what to expect.  I don’t think you can until/unless you’ve been to a huge conference.  All you can do is take the advice that seems good, be prepared and stay flexible.  So how’d it go for me?  Pretty well!  I learned a lot and I posted some ‘after the fact’ BEA tips based on my experience. 

I’m attending again this year, and I’m *gasp* ignoring several of my own suggestions (and that’s okay, too).  We could probably call this next section, How Cecelia Bedelia Is Doing BEA, And Why It’s Kind Of Crazy.

1. Time commitment.  I’m only going for two days, instead of four like last year.  I’m skipping the BEA Bloggers Conference.  It’s not that I don’t want to have the full experience (I do!) – my limitations are about vacation time at the day job and saving ca$hmoney.  If you’ll be at BEA on Friday and Saturday, we should probably be friends.

2. Business cards.  I ordered two hundred mini cards a month ago – twice the number I took with me last year. I like the thick card stock and lovely printing quality of MOO cards, and I found a 30% discount code online. Tip for life/the internet: if you’re going to online shop, always do a search for discount or promo codes before you hit the ‘purchase’ button.

3. Transportation.  The train: I’m taking it, and I booked early to ensure the best fare (something I failed to do last year).  I’m taking the early train up to NYC on Friday, and the 6-something in the evening train back home the next day so as to only spend one night in a hotel.  I will probably come to regret that…

4. Lodging.  Many of my fellow bloggers and attendees will tell you that the only way to do BEA affordably is to either live in the greater New York metro area, know someone who does and has a place to crash (me last year), or share a hotel room.  Since I didn’t feel like figuring out awkward financial arrangements with an internet friend, I am staying by myself in one of the Barnard College dorms provided through the BEA hotel booking partner.  Still expensive, but not bad for NYC, and being able to shut a door on other human beings privacy at the end of the day will be so worth it.

5. Children’s Author Breakfast.  It’s on Friday morning, and it’s the first thing I’ll do at BEA.  I had an amazing experience attending this breakfast last year (Lois Lowry made me weep).  I’m excited to hear from a new crop of authors this year, and if you’re going and sitting at the nice tables, CAN WE BE FRIENDS PLEASE?  I’d love to chat with people I know.  Last year I sat next to a film rights person who was perfectly nice, but I didn’t know what to say/do.  Blogging friends, volunteer yourselves!

6. Bag check and the USPS.  Also known as genius and lifesaver.  I plan to use the concierge-attended bag checks on the lower levels of the Javits Center throughout the day to cut down on the number of books I’m carrying at any given time.  And I’ll definitely repeat last year’s Post Office lunch break to mail my books home each day – it saved me from having an enormous stack at the end, and I got a breath of fresh air (alone!) in the middle of a very busy schedule.

7. Meet with publishing contacts and blogging friends.  Self-explanatory.  Umm… anyone want to do breakfast or coffee on Saturday? *grin*

8. Extra battery/handheld charger for phone. My phone is a combination watch, alarm, reading device, calendar and the portal to the internet.  And because I have an enormous smartphone, the battery dies every 2.5 hours when in use.  Also: the BEA app is too good not to use.  Extra juice for the phone = mandatory.

9.  Books!  Oh yes, that.  I am already looking at lists of authors and signings and panels I want to check out.  I tend to be fairly relaxed about schedules (no color-coded spreadsheets), but I’ll still have several ideas and possible plans in mind.

And I think that’s it!  Tell me: what are your tips, tricks, fears and/or plans for BEA?  If you don’t plan to attend, will you look up Armchair BEA?  Your secrets, please!

girls in steampunk week

Steampunk has been one of the constants in my reading life since I started blogging.  The genre's fun meld of speculative fiction, science, and the allure of the Victorian age seemed to hit peak popularity at the same time that I was rediscovering young adult fiction.  In order to keep myself motivated to read the latest and greatest in an area I pretend to know something about, I hatched a plan.

Next week I’ll be blogging up a storm with an *event* that I created on a whim and a sugar high.  I’m making it up as I go, with some generous inspiration from previous steampink events organized by V of vvb32reads.  It’ll be fabulous.  Look out for Girls in Steampunk Week at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia from May 12-15.  I’ll be reviewing recent steampunk releases that feature strong female leads, hosting a giveaway or two, and I'll probably throw a meme in for good measure.

Best of all, my delightful (real life!) sister Ginny made a fancy button for the occasion.  If you’d like to check back here for Girls in Steampunk Week content, it’ll be in the sidebar, available at the click of a button.  From the 12th on, the image will lead directly to the calendar of events/reviews. 

If you don’t know what steampunk is, please check out this description, then come back next week for more fun in worlds both strange and fantastic.