Once upon a time (for all such stories should begin this way) there lived a young inventor of fabulous things. He married an English girl as lovely as the moon and they had two children, a daughter and then a son. His ancestors had been freed slaves in the New World and she was the daughter of privilege and an old family. Against all expectations they were extremely happy.
The young inventor travelled widely, searching out secrets both ancient and new for his work. As a symbol and promise of his love he created a clockwork bird for his wife that sang to her during his absences. Like all his work it was amazingly lifelike and she would listen to it for hours, admiring the way the light shone on the blue enamelled plumage and its jewelled eyes.
One day in a strange and twisted forest he found himself amongst thieves and rough people and was lost. The days turned to months and then to years, and his moon maiden fell into a deep melancholy, her light fading and dimmed. The clockwork bird disappeared from its cage and the young mother took it as an evil portent. She stopped speaking and eventually never left her chambers. The children were left to raise themselves as best as they could.
And so our story begins.
The Clockwork Courts Trilogy is a trilogy of steampunk (or more accurately, clockwork punk) fairytale novels set in an alternative reality Victorian Britain. Maia and Tyler Lemarchand are a brother and sister who find themselves caught in the middle of a war between the Fae Courts. From the halls of the British Museum to the dark palace of the Queen Night the siblings’ story unfolds, intertwined with fairytales in new and surprising forms.
The Clockwork Bluebird is an older middle grade novel, a retelling of The Children’s Bluebird. The sequel, The Tatterdemalion Dancer, is a darker retelling of The Red Shoes and will be available at the end of the year. Voyage of the Sky Kraken will be available in mid-2014.
