Saturday, August 31, 2019

Paddlewheel Riverboat by Dan Antion

Hello, my chuckaboos!  Welcome back to the #steampunk riverboat, The Delta Pearl.

So far we’ve met passengers who include a young, but somewhat nurotic prodigy of an inventor, Dr. Victor Elam. He’s a little older than Émeraude, and she is quite intrigued, despite his imperfections.  Or maybe because of them.  Can anyone so young truly be so accomplished?

Also, we met a very wealthy couple, Randal and Eliza Needleman.  Oh, and their little dog.  Randal earned the respect and gratitude of Sid (the Cadete) through his personality and a generous tip, when the dog got loose.  Eliza seems companionable in her interaction with Émeraude.  Are they as down-to-earth as they seem?

Then there was a young couple on their honeymoon, Harrison and Hyacinth Harvey. Unfortunately they were stuck with their nephew Hershel.  Don’t tell, but I suspect the cherubic…

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Original photo by Dan Antion. Tomfoolery by Teagan

Welcome back to the #steampunk riverboat, my chuckaboos!  

As you know, I’m re-writing a nearly finished novel, The Delta Pearl, for this serial.  That has resulted in a few changes, such as the heroine, Émeraude, becoming several years younger.  Now both she and one of the passengers (Victor Elam — you met him last time) are in their teens.  Although Victor is a little older than Émeraude.

A story set on a riverboat will have a lot of characters.  Between the passengers and the crew, that’s unavoidable, at least when I’m telling the tale.  I’m trying to make it easier for you to keep track of all these people by how I name them.  Throughout this week, I’ve done a lot of work, renaming the passengers.  Many of you know that I put a lot of…

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Welcome, my chuckaboos!  Even though we don’t see one another face-to-face, I do feel you are my dear friends.

Jenna Coleman, my original Émeraude

Regardless of physical appeal — and I acknowledge the endlessly different standards of beauty, faces are usually important to how we imagine stories.  Whether we’re writing tales or reading them, seeing a character’s face helps. No matter whether it is handsome or ugly.

When I found the steampunk image that is the basis for the cover of The Delta Pearl, the woman made me think of Jenna Coleman, pictured above.  I saw her as Émeraude.

However, as I began this serial, a re-write of the unfinished novel (and revamped the look of this blog), I ran across the image of the steampunk girl in my banner. (Thank you Pixabay.)  The young girl in my banner reminded me of the Claudia Donovan…