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Monday, December 3, 2012

GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY ~ ALL MEN OF GENIUS by LEV AC ROSEN

I am happy to be participating in the celebration of the paperback release of All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen. I read/reviewed All Men of Genius in October 2011, and really enjoyed this charming steampunk story. Today I have a guest post from Lev, along with a giveaway.

All Men of GeniusInspired by two of the most beloved works by literary masters, "All Men of Genius "takes place in an alternate Steampunk Victorian London, where science makes the impossible possible.

Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who has held to his father's policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry.

But keeping the secret of her sex won't be easy, not with her friend Jack's constant habit of pulling pranks, and especially not when the duke's young ward, Cecily, starts to develop feelings for Violet's alter ego, "Ashton." Not to mention blackmail, mysterious killer automata, and the way Violet's pulse quickens whenever the young duke, Ernest (who has a secret past of his own), speaks to her. She soon realizes that it's not just keeping her secret until the end of the year faire she has to worry about: it's surviving that long.

 
 
 Purchase All Men of Genius at:
 
 
Guest Post from Lev AC Rosen

Mad Science Is a Comedy of Errors

When I’m working on a book, I often try to describe the shape of it to people through strange, but hopefully true, comparisons.  This book is in the shape of a person drowning and then coming back up, gasping for air, I’ll say (of something dark), or this one is like a chain-link fence.  For All Men of Genius, I’d say the shape is a Rube Goldberg machine.

The comedy of errors style plot blends perfectly with mad science because of the Rube Goldberg machine.  One thing triggers another, which triggers another, and by the end something terribly simple has happened (perhaps those lovers you knew would end up together from page one finally get together) but it’s been a lot of fun to watch; dominoes fell down, balloons exploded, bowling balls knocked down tea-kettles and what have you!  The end result may have been simple, but oh the pleasure and silliness that happened to get you there!  So, a comedy of errors is a lot like a Rube Goldberg.  And a Rube Goldberg is a lot like mad science, with its strange contraptions that link one thing to another, to another.  The two seem perfectly mated.

I confess, there’s more to it than Rube Goldberg machines.  When I first began writing All Men of Genius, steampunk was only just starting to come back, but nothing new had been published yet.  What I knew of steampunk was The Difference Engine and Homunculous, and I loved them, but I knew they weren’t quite my steampunk.  My steampunk would be the steampunk of Wilde; because that’s how I thought of the Victorian Era.  The steampunk I was reading was brilliant, but it was a bit gloomy for me.  I needed something sillier. 

I wanted mad science that was ridiculous.  I wanted swearing rabbits and invisible cats, and all the other strange side effects that you never read about in H.G. Wells.  After all, the mad in mad science can be dangerous and frightening, but it can also be absurd.  And I knew that if my science was going to be absurd, my plot had to be, too.  So I thought of the dandies of the scientific world; the ones who would use science to create unnatural art; I thought of Wilde’s green carnation.  How could that be enhanced?  A miniature peacock, perhaps, that sang like a nightingale?  A miniature elephant which was really a cat, and so swatted at its nose with its feet?  What about that swearing rabbit?  So who were the people that would create such things?  And why?  What sort of world was it, I wondered, where science had been embraced by the dandies?  And the truth is, it was our world.  Oscar Wilde himself said that “on the slavery of the machine the future of the world depends.”  We look back on Victorian London as trains and smokestacks and electricity, but it was art, too.  It was finding the perfect shade of dye and mechanical dancing girls.  Rube Goldberg was born in 1883.  He saw it all around him.  That’s what I wanted to see, too. 

So I decided to write it.  And about a hundred pages in, I looked up and said to no one in particular “I’m writing the literary equivalent of a Rube Goldberg Machine.”  And then I smiled and I went back to writing.



Thanks to Lev for the great post. I loved his take on Steampunk.

Lev A.C. Rosen

LEV AC ROSEN grew up in Manhattan. He attended Oberlin College and received his MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence. His work has been featured in Esopus Magazine and on various blogs including Tor.com. He lives in lower Manhattan.

Connect with Lev at his website





Giveaway
I have one paperback copy of All Men of Genius to give away, courtesy of Tor Publishing.
 
Rules:
  • Must be 13+ years of age to enter.
  • Must be have a US or Can mailing address.
  • Must fill out the Rafflecopter form.
 
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21 comments:

  1. I haven't read a steampunk book yet but I love the style.

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  2. Yes. I was totally obsessed with Steampunk everything in high school, and the love has yet to leave.

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  3. Yes, thanks for sharing the review :)

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  4. Great post! This book sounds great. Honestly, until recently I had no idea what steampunk was. I don't think I've read many, if any, steampunk movels lately, but there are several that I'm very interested in reading. Thanks for sharing! :)

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  5. I really like steampunk. This book sounds interesting. Great guest post!!

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  6. Thanks for a fun post and congrats to Lev on the new release! I've read such awesome reviews for this book, it was already on my want list :) I really enjoy steampunk and I'm always on the lookout for new authors :)

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  7. I haven't read a steampunk book yet, would love to read it,thanks (ruth ramos)

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  8. I haven't read any steampunk books, but All Men of Genius sounds interesting. Thank you for the giveaway!

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  9. I don't read a lot of steampunk books, but this seems like it could be interesting. Great guest post.

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  10. Aww, what a wonderful comparison. I think most books are that way, and it's a wonderful way to look at it. Sure, at the end, you may just have flipped a light switch (aka gotten the couple to kiss, dammit), but along the way a lot of other fun things happened, subtly pushing the plot toward that light switch. Of course, if they all don't work together properly, the reader will go rolling off somewhere else...

    Halp! I'm lost in the metaphor.

    Anyway, lovely idea! Look forward to your next creation!

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  11. Ooh, this sounds good! I love steampunk! Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

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  12. This is the second guest post from this author that I have read and I just love the way he writes! I really need to get this one and read it for myself. Thanks for sharing!

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  13. I love how reading and writing can give us a way to live out our dreams.
    Happy reading,
    Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  14. I have to be in the mood for it but Steampunk is fun.

    Valerie

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  15. I love steampunk! All Men of Genius sounds fantastic.

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  16. Posing as another gender sounds like a lot of Disney movies out there, which are fun. This story sounds a bit more serious. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  17. I love steampunk so I SO need to read this! I loved the guest post - I'm all for a little mad and silly, it fits steampunk perfect!

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  18. What a great guest post, and the synopsis of All Men of Genius really has me intrigued! Thanks so much for sharing :D

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  19. This book sounds great. I haven't read any steampunk books

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  20. yep love steampunk! - regnod(at)yahoo(d0t)com

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