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Boosting the Signal: Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn: A Steampunk Faerie Tale

We’ve got a packed lineup today for Boosting the Signal, y’all–this second post is courtesy of Danielle Ackley-McPhail, who’s come across my radar thanks to a couple of Kickstarters I’ve supported, as well as the Outer Alliance mailing list. Danielle has a work coming out in September that she wants to get the word out about now, and I gotta say, the concept of a clockwork djinn makes me go ooooo.

Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn

Whispers from the Viper’s Tongue – Rassul Maroun, King of Thieves

Free…I will be free, and no little tinker boy is going to stand in my way. I have ruled the Nejd for decades. I have delivered greater and more knowledgeable men than he to their final meeting with the Almighty. I will not be thwarted by a clueless lad who is barely aware of the matters he disrupts.

I have been charged with finding and retrieving the fabled treasure of Nader Shah, then must deliver it to my master, the Qatar Shahanshah. I could not care less if I should discharge this duty. After seventy years bound to this cursed desert I would claim what treasure I may for myself and forget the Qatar Dynasty. Yet I can never forget the spells that bind me, not only to this place, but to this life of servitude.

I cannot leave the Nejd without the legendary Peacock Throne and its associated treasure. A treasure I have found, yet ancient magic prevents me from taking it up and purchasing my freedom with its coin. Still, I have secured it and have vowed I will find a way to break the spell binding both it and me.

I am so close. Nearly I have had the key within my grasp, only to have a tinker boy threaten to take the prize from me.

I will not sit back and allow this Baba Ali to strand me for all time among these sands.

At first I sought my freedom and an end to the line of Farzeen, the guardian set upon the hidden treasure by Shahrokh, the last shah of the Afsharid dynasty.

Now? Now I seek an end to Baba Ali…the treasure be damned.

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May 23, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: Philosophy and Fairy Tales, by Fraser Sherman

Fraser Sherman is another of my fellow Drollerie Press alums, and he’d like to tell you all about his collection of four fantasy short stories, including “Original Synergy”, “Red Moon Rising”, “Jack Be Nimble” and “Learning Curve”. This post features Serena Dean, protagonist of the story “Original Synergy”.

And did I just hear several thousand Browncoats cry “WHAT DOES SERENA KNOW?”

Philosophy and Fairy Tales

If you’re wondering why I joined the Knights Templar, you can blame my mother.

“Serena,” she told me, “a new business owner needs to network. And becoming a Templar will get you much further than the Lions Club.”

I wish. Sure, it sounded sensible. The Templars covertly manipulate the world economy, they could certainly help my new business MeetSmart (“When you fail to plan your conference, you plan your conference to fail. Call MeetSmart today!”). And it’s been eye-opening learning how the world really works: why the Buffalo Bills must never win the Super Bowl and the real reason Fox had to cancel Firefly.

But what I didn’t realize is that every time the Templars launch some bold new venture, we cross paths with another conspiracy—the Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission, the Men in Black—operating at cross-purposes. The end result is that nothing gets accomplished on either side.

So now the Templar Grandmaster has a solution: Synergy 21, the conference that will bring together every secret conspiracy, from Skull and Bones to They (as in “That’s what They say.”), to work out some sort of common ground for us all. And my tight-ass superior, Master Reginald, just told me I’m going to handle all the arrangements. A great break for me, right?
Except that I have two weeks to pull it all together. In Florida. At the height of the tourist season. No conference rooms booked, no suites reserved, nothing.

Of course, as a Templar, I have resources and methods no ordinary meeting planner does—and the help of a very sexy Illuminati—but still, that’s not much time. And if I fail, Master Reginald has told me, my head will roll.

He’s not using a metaphor.

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May 23, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Victory of the Hawk

Victory of the Hawk excerpt, just because I can

I feel an urge to share an excerpt from Victory of the Hawk with y’all tonight, just to show how yeaaaah, I can’t write a damn thing without having music sneak in. My characters DO tend to be musicians. Like Kestar Vaarsen, being shown a picture of his elven great-grandfather:

It was a sketchbook. One part of Kestar’s mind stumbled over the seeming incongruity of so prosaic an object in an elf’s hands. That wisp of thought vanished utterly, however, as he stared at the page that Gerren had chosen—and found, rendered in black ink that still stood out on paper yellowing with age, himself.

Once the shock of recognition faded, though, he began to find the differences. Larger eyes. Longer hair, with some pulled back from the face in two intricate braids bound in what Kestar was willing to bet was either silver or gold. Sharper cheekbones, giving the subject of the picture a more lupine look than he’d ever seen in his own mirror, accentuated by the pointed ears. All of those details rained down upon Kestar’s awareness like a hail of arrows. But what stopped his breath in his throat was the instrument in the figure’s hands, larger than Kestar’s lost mandolin, with five pairs of strings instead of four. His great-grandfather’s hands, lean-fingered and nimble, were poised in mid-flight along those strings. His head was tossed back, as if bobbing to unheard rhythm. He wasn’t smiling, and in fact looked almost angry. But that meant nothing, for Kestar knew that look; it was the fierce joy of being caught up in the act of making music, of being swept away by song.

It was exactly, Celoren had told him once, how he himself looked when he played. And the sight of it, all at once, made Kestar’s hands ache for the mandolin he’d had to abandon when the Order had arrested him. No, he added to himself. I want what he’s playing. He had no name for the instrument in the sketch, but that didn’t matter. If he could hold it in his hands, if he could feel its living voice resonating against him as he played, it’d make Riniel Radmynn real.

The alert among you may be thinking, “Anna, are you trying to sneak another bouzouki player into a story?” This would be a reasonable and justifiable conclusion! But the really alert among you may also be noting that bouzoukis have eight strings, not ten. I am in fact thinking cittern here, not bouzouki.

May 23, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Comics

And now for this morning’s round of PUNCHINGS

Let me tell you a thing about having an iPad, Internets: it means I’ve become way more of a comics reader than I used to be, back in the day when the only comic I had any real interest in was Elfquest.

Dark Horse has contributed a lot to that–not only because they’ve picked up Elfquest for its resurrection, but also because they’ve produced excellent material for the extensions of the storylines for both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. I’ve even dabbled some in the comics adaptations of the new Trek universe, wherein they’re telling stories more along the lines of what I am NOT getting out of the new movies: i.e., some goddamn Star Trek, with obligatory strange new worlds and exploration and such. In the last few years I’ve enjoyed a MacGyver miniseries from Image Comics, the three-part Anne Steelyard story, and the graphic novel for the Thrilling Adventure Hour.

But it’s been because of the Mary Sue and their coverage of certain Marvel storylines, combined with my growing general affection for the Marvel movie universe, that I’ve committed to following some actual superhero comics for the first time in my life. These are the current storylines for Black Widow, Captain Marvel, and the new young Ms. Marvel, that last in no small part because I really like that Marvel’s trying to branch out with some religious and ethnic diversity in their superhero lineup.

See, ’cause here’s the thing–I’ve been all too aware and very sad about how a lot of the comics industry these days is infected with rampaging sexism. But dammit, I like superheroes. I have ever since I discovered the X-Men when I was in middle school. I loved Christopher Reeve as Superman way back in the day, and Michael Keaton in the first of his Batman movies. I adored the first season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. And I am full of nothing but love for the extended DC Animated universe, that connected all the episodes of the Batman, Superman, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited cartoons. That was some damn fine storytelling, and to this day, Mark Hamill’s brilliant voice work for the Joker makes his version of the character my all-time favorite.

And it’s very worth mentioning that in the Murkworks, we very, VERY much like She-Hulk. In fact, Dara played her in an RPG we did in Kentucky, back when we were still having our Saturday gaming nights.

So when I see news like this about how one of the people involved with the still-unnamed sequel* to Man of Steel (the one in which Wonder Woman is finally going to have her first big-screen appearance EVER) says some hugely insulting things about She-Hulk and about geeks in general, I feel my blood pressure spiking. Because this? This gives us a two-fer, a slam not only to a beloved character, but also to comics geeks of both genders all over the country.

And make no mistake, the questions he was asked shouldn’t get a pass, either. “Slut-Hulk”? SERIOUSLY?

And I can’t even muster rage about it, because it’s so goddamn exhausting to see this attitude again and again and again.

But for the record, let’s lay it out:

One, women can like superheroes too. Seriously. We CAN. We DO. And it’s hugely, hugely offensive to dismiss the women in your character lineup as “porn stars”, i.e., only there for the gratification of the men, because HELLO, we’re buying these comics too.

Two, enough already with the tiresome stereotype of geeks and nerds as losers who can’t get dates, who live in their parents’ basements, etc., etc., we’ve heard it all before. And y’know what? If your reaction to our interests is to point and laugh at us as socially inept and unfuckable, you know who we definitely won’t be going out with? YOU.

If you need me, Internets, I’ll be over here, consoling myself with the coming of Agent Carter–and with comics that aren’t belittling my gender. Or belittling me for picking them up in the first place.

* Editing to add: ah, apparently the film actually does have a title now: Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. I am still not filled with confidence here. Not much room for it with all the PUNCHINGS.

May 21, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: In the Black, by Sheryl Nantus

Hey, I get to help a fellow Carina author out with release-week promo, how awesome is that? Because Sheryl Nantus has just dropped a brand new science fiction romance, In the Black, and if you’re a Browncoat who’s thinking that title has an awfully familiar ring to it, you wouldn’t be far off. I’ve seen Sheryl citing Firefly as an influence on her story, especially with how her heroine’s the captain of a ship full of high-class courtesans! Just the sort of job I could see an AU Inara taking on.

And now I TOTALLY want that fanfic. But until I get it, here’s a newcomer to the Belle, with a real simple goal–settling in, with the help of Jenny the mechanic, who is apparently this book’s Kaylee, and who apparently has the goal of some side dealing, hmm? Check it out!

In the Black

You from Diego? My name’s Jenny. That box you’re carrying got the stuff I agreed upon with D? Great—come on this way. We’ll talk in my quarters, I don’t want the captain seeing us doing business. She’s not hardcore but I don’t want to put her in any sort of compromising position. Climb down in here.

Hey there—look out for that pipe! It’ll take your head off if you smack it hard enough. I’ve got more than my fair share of bruises from that ventilation shaft. Took me only a few weeks aboard the Bonnie Belle to learn my lesson and duck. Just follow me and don’t take any side trips—you get lost in here easy enough and I don’t got the time to track you down.

The Belle? She’s a fine ship, a good ship. A Mercy ship but don’t let that stop you from admiring a good piece of work. I know Mercy ships got all sorts of reputations and we run hard, taking the courtesans from base to base to keep the miners happy but it’s what’s underneath that counts—and mechanics like me are what keeps them running to make everyone get what they want.

It might not seem very glamorous, crawling around the undercarriage of a big ship like this and keeping out of the way of the women and men above but I don’t mind. The new captain, she’s a nice one. Sam Keller—she lends me books and stuff and we talk a lot about things. She’s new to the Guild so she needs help getting settled and doing what a captain does when you land on a base full of horny miners all wanting to get to the men and women ‘board the Belle. Don’t know what she did before she decided to sign on with the Guild but she’s got ghosts in her mind. Ex-military, I figure, since she likes those damned combat boots and don’t want to wear nothing but her old fatigues. Which is fine except she’s got to make the presentation when we make landfall and those guys don’t want smelly old boots and stained green pants. Well, not stained in that way, if you get my drift.

The crew? Fine folk as long as you know your place. I don’t want to say too much about them ’cause we work different jobs and all that. Usually you keep the same crew for months, maybe years unless one of the courtesans asks for a transfer or buys out her or his contract – that’s how we got Halley. She transferred in after a catfight on another ship and hooked up with Bianca. Only ones here who might be able to buy out their contracts might be Kendra or April but I wouldn’t ask them ’bout it. Not good manners. Lots of the women stay around and take a second tour or third ’cause it’s what they want to do. Plenty more get caught in the company store trick with the Guild and end up owing everything they have. I stay ahead of the game and so does the captain but it means we don’t get a lot of fancy stuff like hot showers and all that. But I’m saving up for a ship of my own, one of those fast cutters like you see here on my wall.

Good, good. Just what I needed. Gotta keep the washing machine going otherwise I’ll be up to my ass in dirty laundry and those women, they don’t like recycling their sheets if you get my drift. Don’t seem important to you and me but they got paying customers who don’t want any evidence of who’s been ’round before them.

Here’s your cred stick. Just what I agreed on with Diego and don’t let him stiff you on your cut for making the delivery. Let me show you back to the landing bay otherwise you’ll get lost and I’ll end up asking Belle to find you.

The computer AI, silly. She’s smarter than most anyone I know and she keeps the ship straight and level. She sees everything ‘cept what she’s not supposed to ’cause of her Guild programming. Still don’t want her having to trace you through the shafts so keep close behind me and I’ll get you out of here in a jiffy.

There, see? Easy to avoid smacking your head when you keep your wits about you and keep your head down. Don’t worry I always got a list of stuff the courtesans want so I’ll be in touch. Diego knows I’m good for a few extra creds whenever we make landfall where guys like you can meet us.

Yeah, the landing bay’s huge. Trust me it seems mighty small when you’ve got a mob of hungry men waiting for their turn with the courtesans. They all behave however else they’ve got to deal with Captain Keller and she doesn’t take kindly to any misbehaving. Not until they’re behind closed doors and all.

After all, like the ad says – “Everyone loves a Mercy woman”.

See you In the Black!

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May 16, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: Time for Love, by Emma Kaye

Mmm, time travel! A staple of historical romances! And Emma Kaye would like you to know about hers–Time for Love, which brings you not only a time-traveling heroine, but also the fine and upstanding The Captain Thinks He’s Hired a Boy for the Crew but Boy Howdy is HE Going to Be Surprised trope. Here’s Emma’s heroine, Alex, on the topic of why exactly she’s made this jump into the past!

Time for Love

Dear Jessie,

I know you’re probably crazy worried right now. I hope I didn’t make a mistake in telling you what I was doing. I know Sawyer was dead set against me telling anyone, but since it was his company that got my sister into this mess in the first place, I don’t really care what he wants.

Still, I worry about you. You are my best friend, after all. I wish there was a way to let you know that I made it through the time portal and I’m doing fine. This letter is pointless. I feel like an idiot writing it—it’s not like I can slap a stamp on it and stick it in the mail.

Anyway, this whole journey is so surreal, writing it all down helps me face the fact that I’ve actually traveled through time. And I’m doing pretty well so far.

It’s going to be a bigger challenge than I thought, though. Yeah, I found a ship right away, but it was my rotten luck that they don’t take passengers and I had to sign on as a member of the crew. They still almost didn’t take me, but I offered to work for free. Even in the eighteen hundreds people have a hard time passing up on a freebie.

The work’s not the problem. It’s the captain. I’m going to have to avoid him, which won’t be easy. I’m afraid he’s going to see through my disguise. I think he already suspects there’s something strange about the boy he hired on for this trip. He just hasn’t figured out yet that I’m actually a woman. And if I keep staring at his ass, he’s bound to figure it out sooner rather than later.

That’s the other problem. I can’t seem to keep my wits about me when he’s around. My mind goes blank and damn, I can’t keep my eyes off him. The first mate’s technically better looking, but there’s just something about ~~Nicholas~~ the captain that makes me want…

Well, enough about him. I have other things to worry about. Like how I’m going to find my sister when I get to London. This trip takes about a month. I’m not going to have that much time once I arrive if I’m going to find her before… I can’t even write it down. It’s too awful. I try not to think about what could happen if I don’t get to her in time. I can’t give up now that I’m getting so close. I have to save her.

I wish I could ask for your advice, my dear friend.

I have to go. I have to report to the galley. (Yes, I’m working in the ship’s kitchen. Laugh all you want. Even I can clean a pot and peel a potato.)

If all goes well, I’ll see you in a few months.

Love,

Alex

P.S. — Thanks for taking care of Maximus while I’m gone. And don’t forget—he likes to hide in the strangest places, so if you can’t find him just pop open a can of tuna and that cat will come running.

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May 16, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Main

In memory of Phillip Weigner

I learned this morning from my family that my young cousin Phillip, who’d been spending the last three years fighting stage 4 cancer, has passed away. His father relayed the news as well to the page on CaringBridge.org as well as to the Superheroes for Phillip community on Facebook.

Cancer has attacked my family multiple times, including myself, my mother, another of my uncles (not Phillip’s father), and Phillip himself. Phillip has been the second cancer death in my family that I personally know about–the first being my mother–and Phillip’s is hard. He was 21 when he got diagnosed with what’s usually a childhood cancer, but which presented all kinds of nasty challenges for him because he’d just made it into adulthood. I could only read about it on the CaringBridge site, since that branch of the family is on the opposite side of the country from me. He had a nasty neuroblastoma, which kept coming back for more no matter how many times they put that boy through chemo and radiation.

The family had tried to put the best of faces on it by nicknaming his cancer ‘Bill’, with the obligatory ‘Kill Bill’ jokes, and more recently they’d set up the Superheroes for Phillip page on Facebook since Phillip drew a lot of inspiration from Superman. I didn’t have a Supes shirt but I did borrow Paul’s Green Lantern shirt and posted there to him, with a pic of me in that shirt.

And now… goddammit.

There are times I regret being on the opposite side of the country from my family, and this is one of those times. I never knew Phillip, really. But I do know what it’s like to fight cancer, fortunate though I’ve been in my own relatively easy battles–I’ve never made it past stage 0. And I do know his parents, and my heart is aching for them now.

RIP Phillip. I hope that wherever you are now, you can fly just like Superman.

ETA: Here, because Appropriate Song is Appropriate–I’ll be singing this for Phillip today.

May 12, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

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