Wednesday, September 15, 2010

NATIONAL FELT HAT DAY

Winners of the Natl. Hat Day Blog Contest are Yadkny and Niko. Congratulations!

I love hats and it's one of the reasons I'm drawn to the Victorian period. Both men and women were not dressed if there head was bare, they had to wear hats. To celebrate NATIONAL HAT DAY and my Steampunk Romance set in 1830 Parris France, where everyone wore the latest fashion in hats I'm giving away a PDF download, a free ebook, of AS TIMELESS AS STONE. To enter the contest for today just post a comment or question and one winner will be drawn.



ABOUT AS TIMELESS AS STONE:

I have a lifelong passion for history, I am thrilled with the latest cross genre of romance, Steampunk. It’s a yummy genre based on alternative history, on the premise that the industrial age and the technological age occur together. For the most part Steampunk/Romance is set in the 19th century during the Victorian age, sometimes in the American West. My love of ancient history influenced me to set my Steampunk/Romance As Timeless As Stone, in 1830 Paris France. This way I was able to include one of my favorite historical figures, Jean François Champollion, founder of Scientific Egyptology. His work on deciphering the Rosetta stone gave voice to the ancient Egyptians. Though I am not an archeologist, I feel a deep kinship with them, for I strive in my writing to bring the ancient past alive for my readers. Jean François Champollion was also the first conservator of the Egyptian collection at the Louvre. Most of my story is set in the Louvre, as my hero, a fictional character, Ricard, is also an egyptologist and the assistant of Jean François Champollion.

My heroine, a fictional character, Seshat, is an ancient Egyptian Priestess of the temple of Horus, who in peril for her life turned herself to stone thousands of years before. By bringing her in to the story, I got to include fascinating details on the history and mythology of ancient Egypt. She was in peril for her life because Egypt’s enemies at the time, the Hyksos, invented a new weapon…the chariot. When the Hykos soldiers goaded their chariot horses into a dirt kicking gallop, charging the temple of Horus, Seshat, in a panic to prevent rape and capture by the enemy, cast a spell and turned into stone, to wait for someone in Pharaoh’s army to read the papyrus sheet in her hands and magically transform her back to flesh and blood. But a ransacking Hyksos soldier, mistook her for a statue and chopped off her head. Pharaoh’s army arrived, but no one recognized the priestess. She wass nothing more than a headless statue.

Back in 1830 Paris, Ricard uncovered a room full of artifacts Napoleon Bonaparte brought back from his Egyptian campaign and expedition. They were hidden away from the English all this time. As Ricard examined the relics, he uncovered an ancient Egyptian statue with the head broken off. When he set the head back in place and used his linguistic skills to read the incantation she held in her stone fingers, the statue came to life. Seshat, a gorgeous flesh and blood woman appeared where a stone image stood just moments before. And that is where my Steampunk/Romance, As Timeless As Stone begins.

Here is the blurb:

Though society stands in their way, can love transcend time with the aid of robotics and ritual?

In peril for her life, the Priestess Seshat turns herself to stone in ancient Egypt. Centuries later, Ricard, a dashing nineteenth century Frenchman, repairs a broken statue and reads its incantation--unprepared for the gorgeous flesh and blood woman who steps forth.

Seshat is drawn to the brass robots Ricard creates and the glamor of the Victorian age, and most of all to Ricard himself. But the society of his day cannot accept a woman like her. How far will Ricard go to secure her happiness? Is their love strong enough to transcend time itself?

http://maevealpin.com/

14 comments:

  1. Happy National Felt Hat Day
    Just post a comment of question for a chance to win a free pdf ebook of As Timeless As Stone

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  2. A very clever re-interpretation of the classic Pygmalion/Galatea myth. It seems even to have a certain hint of some of the Dion Fortune stories. Nicely done.
    Sköl,
    Sven

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  3. Happy National Felt Hat Day to you too Maeve!

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  4. Thank you so much Sven
    I appreciate the kind words
    Also for the contest please post your email or email it to me at MaeveAlpin@gmail.com - it's not in your profile - in case you win
    Thanks so much

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  5. Thank you so much Sondrae. Have a Happy Felt Hat Day!

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  6. You've done a lot of research...a very interesting mixture of fact and fiction. And, I love the Victorian era.
    Happy Felt Hat Day!

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  7. I never heard of Felt Hat Day. It made me think of my Dad.

    loretta
    lbcanton@verizon.net

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  8. Dear Marianne,

    Thank you so much for the kind words, I appreciate it so much. Happy Felt Hat Day!

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  9. Happy Felt Hat Day to you too! I wore my Stetson today, I hope everyone else wore something too. Thanks for posting or I never would have known about it.

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  10. I had no idea there even was such a day. HAPPY NATIONAL HAT DAY to everyone!!! To bad my job won't allow hats:( I'm really digging the cover on As Timeless As Stone and the setting I'm sure is magical. Sounds like a must read!

    yadkny@hotmail.com

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  11. Thank you so much Queberjeque. Leave your email or email me with it to Coramiri@yahoo.com in case you win the drawing for As Timeless As Stone

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  12. I'm a sucker for 19th century archaeology, though not one for wearing hats (I just haven't found one I look good in). In case my email isn't in my profile, you can use nikosilvester at hotmail

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  13. Dear Yadkny,

    Think you so much for the kind words, I really appreciate it. I love the cover too,Valerie Tibbs is the artist, she did a fantastic job.

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  14. Dear Loretta,

    Thanks for the comment. It reminds me of my grandfather he was born in 1900 and he always wore a hat.

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