Queenie: Lets play 20 questions. Though I’m not sure I actually have twenty questions, I’m sure what I’ve got here is going to keep us and the readers busy for more than a few minutes! By the by, these weren’t organized in any particular order. In fact, I snipped them all into little bits and then drew them out of my black velvet top hat randomly just to confound both of us!

 

Q: What attracted you to the ancient Judeo-Christian mythology that you use throughout the novellas?

 

Sara: I grew up Catholic in a way that was very old European with a lot of emphasis on saints, angels, and rituals that bordered on magic. I have always wanted to play with that in a fantasy series and see where it took me. It was both familiar and new and a really great magic system. And it is something that people recognize immediately and can easily understand. I have gotten the most positive feedback about the way that the magic gets handled in the books.

 

Q: Are you more Portia or more Imogen?

 

Sara: That’s tough! I have to say I have my moments of being each of them- Portia’s tough-as-nails with an unshakable sense of honor and purpose while Imogen is a reflection of her softer side. I am a firm believer of having a heroine whose strength is in her gentleness and loving nature. But Imogen should never be underestimated, she’s a warrior, too!

 

Q: How can fans reach you and keep up with your newest literary offerings?

 

Sara: I am out and about all over the internet! My webpage is www.saramharvey.com and I blog at LiveJournal under the name saraphina_marie which is also my Twitter username. I am also very active on Facebook and can be found under my full name Sara M. Harvey!

 

Q: Have you seen any cosplay fans at conventions dressed as Portia or Imogen?

 

Sara: Not yet! But I am still hoping to see it! I included some really cool outfits in the series with hopes that it might stir the imagination of my fellow costumers!

 

Q: When is Book three of the trilogy due out?

 

Sara: Book three is due out Spring of 2011, just after my baby’s born!

 

Q: What will be the title of Book Three?

 

Sara: The Tower of the Forgotten.

 

Q: Where can we get Book Three?

 

Sara: All of the Apex titles can be found at the usual places- online like Amazon and BN.com, also, brick and mortar stores like Davis-Kidd in Nashville and Memphis as well as Borderlands in San Francisco carry it in stock and any bookstore can order it and any other Apex title in. My books are also available as e-books in a variety of formats like the Kindle through Amazon and the others through Fictionwise and DriveThruStuff.com. Both hardcopy and digital versions are available from the Apex website directly, www.apexbookcompany.com.

 

Q: How did the idea for the mash-up of Steampunk and the arcane magic come to you?

 

Sara: I love both so much that I just had to toss them in the blender and see what happened. I am pretty happy with how it came out. I like the idea of pairing the magical and the mechanical.

 

Q: The bit of Book 10 of the Ovid’s Metamorphoses, when I read it beginning the book, I instinctively heard it in a man’s voice. After I finished the book, I read it again and totally heard Portia’s voice speaking those lines. Was that something you thought about or intended as a consequence of reading this story?

 

Sara: I have paired each installment with a piece of poetry that I feel exemplifies the mood of the story. For The Labyrinth of the Dead, I knew I had to have something about Orpheus and when I found it, it was a perfect fit. And I like that it is a male character speaking it, but yet it applies so strongly to Portia and I am glad you felt that way, too. And the fact that as a reader you could go back and look at a famous piece of poetry with a new perspective makes me extremely happy and was exactly what I had hoped for!

 

Q: Have you considered, with your awesome fashion design and historical costuming background, designing and/or marketing a line of clothing based on Portia’s wardrobe in the story or perhaps based on the steampunk genre as a whole?

 

Sara: I think it would be really neat. I’ll tell you a secret, I sketch a lot of the costumes in the books and have both a theatrical type design in my head as well as a more marketable fashionable line. So, yes, I have considered it. If the books take off, I would love to partner with one of the steampunk shops and/or designers to create a series of looks based on the characters!

 

Q: Where can copies of Book One, Convent of the Pure, be found?

 

Sara: The same places The Labyrinth of the Dead can be found: online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com, orderable in any brick-and-mortar bookstore on the planet (but usually in stock at Davis-Kidd Memphis, TN and Borderlands in San Francisco, CA), can be bought in physical form or e-book edition from ApexBookCompany.com and in e-version for the Kindle through Amazon and other formats from Fictionwise and DriveThruStuff.com. And of course, catch me at a con and you can get it from Yours Truly!

 

Q: What cons or appearances/events do you have for the rest of 2010?

 

Sara: Not too much as the season winds down and my pregnancy ramps up! I have ConStellation in Huntsville, AL in September and Archon in St. Louis, MO in October. Plus a signing up in Lexington, KY at the Joseph-Beth Bookstore there right in the home of Apex Books in December. That one is going to be dependant on how things progress for me on the baby front, so keep your fingers crossed! Looking into 2011, I will definitely be at Hypericon in Nashville, TN in June. Other than that, I haven’t confirmed any dates, but I am hoping to be able to have a little fun close to home with some signings and nearby events.

 

Q: If you had to create one graphic representation of this trilogy, like a tattoo, what would it look like?

 

Sara: Hmmm…. A single image? So tough! I think maybe an image of the axe layered on top of a pair of stylized wings inside of some kind of Art Nouveau styled circular frame. I think that would suit Portia really well.

 

Q: What are three of your favorite steampunk or speculative fiction titles.

 

Sara: Topping my steampunk list is Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker.  Very fun, fast-paced and awesome. The audiobook features Wil Wheaton reading Zeke’s parts! Can’t wait for the follow-up books, Clementine and Dreadnought!

As for speculative fiction, since I love fantasy and historical fiction, I get my fix on both (with added SEX!) with Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s series, especially the first trilogy featuring Phedre. And one of my all-time favorite books is Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. A great use of traditional myth and magic merged with the modern world. This book really informs a lot of my literary worldview when it comes to the supernatural, especially dealing with gods and angels (Good Omens is also great for this).

 

Q: What are your must-reads for steampunks from new authors?

 

Sara: There are so many great new authors on the forefront of the genre! Nick Valentino is a fellow Nashvillian with some great buzz around his Thomas Riley book and Emilie Bush has Chandra and the Airship Brofman, what she calls feminist Steampunk. If a reader wants a smorgasbord of new and more established authors (including myself!) dabbling in Steampunk, Kerlak’s Dreams of Steam anthology features a great selection of stories showing off the many facets of the genre.

 

Q: So sorry about this last question, blame my editor for it… so, what does steampunk mean to you?

 

Sara: Ha! No need to apologize, steampunk is so very personal! For me, the fun, creativity, and the individuality are the most important parts. I have loved the Old West and Victoriana since I was a kid and merging that with a little magic and a little modernity and teasing out the “good parts” is what makes steampunk so much fun.

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