Weapons of Light & Power

"A soldier leaned out the window, taking aim at Charlotte. A frisson of energy pulsed from the weapon, barely missing her. She screamed, flailing. 

Ashton flipped the rocket ignition on the power cycle and the force of the thrust slammed him against the seat as he shot skyward toward the roof. Pulling his tracer gun, he fired blindly at the building. The soldier dove for the floor." ~Ashton Wells, The Tremblers

Kraken Killer by Clothed Eye

Creating the weapons for my YA Steampunk novel, The Tremblers took me on a fascinating path. The invention of destructive devices was vexing and addicting all at once.

Weapons of light -- Tracer Guns are the weapon of choice for the soldiers of the Peaceful Union. Powerful blasters that syphon the glowing purple energy from the massive Tesla Domes caging the city-states are feared by the average citizen. Constantly realibrating to the dome's pulse, they are outlawed to everyone but the soldiers of the government.

Charlotte's sketchess

Charlotte is a tinkerer and inventor. The daughter of a renowned soldier and chemist, her weapons needed finesse. I designed the metal spheres of her Shrieking Vilolet grenade to cluster together like a flower. Its shrill screech disables her enemies while a curtain of magenta gas shields her escape.

The outlaws and Lawmen of Outer city favor guns and pistols of the old world. Sheriff Sebastia Riley's revolver helped him to rise to power among the pirates and pioneers of the sky settlement. 

Another daunting tool as the lightning stick. Capable of lashing whips of energy. Used by the ruthless Lawmen of the floating ports, Charlotte learns of its devastating effects while trying to flee with Ashton. 

Photo:
Encyclopedia of Balloons

However, it is the power and might of the Peaceful Union Aero Squad that strikes fear into the heart of every citizen. Their searing lamps and concussion bombs send rioters scrambling. Creating airship battles and desgining the infamous rebel ship, The Stygian, was great fun!


Myself the daughter of a military man, I grew up visiting airshows and sitting at the controls of massive machines of war.  I wanted to bring that fascination and awe to the Blackburn Chronicles.

To celebrate the release of the Tremblers, I am giving away 2 Free Novellas that take you into the mysterious beginnings of the entire series!


For a peek at more dangerous weapons and ships of Charlotte's world, take a peek at my Young Adult Steamunk novel, The Tremblers, available for pre-order!

+Raquel Byrnes

Memories and Mechanica

Dark Sky by Beglib

"Whipping rotors stirred the air and vibrated through me. Security aero craft hovered overhead, the bulbous silhouettes of their blimps dark against the sky. Dirigible pilots trained powerful lamp beams down on the road, the lights sweeping to and fro. Above it all, behind the clouds, nearly touching the stars, the Tesla Dome’s protective grid glowed purple against the inky night." 

~Charlotte Blackburn, The Tremblers

The steampunk world of The Blackburn Chronicles is a dangerous place. Its tales are those of dark heroes, fantastic devices, and unbreakable love. 

In book one of the YA series, The Tremblers, 1885 America is vastly different from the one you and I read about in our history classes. 

A Great Calamity has fractured the whole of America toppling the government and killing millions across the entire nation. From the embers rose The Peaceful Union, with its symbol of the dark phoenix that promises protection and order from the chaos and death outside the city-states.

Charlotte blackburn, is a daughter of this new society that huddles beneath the massive churning steamworks of the electric Tesla Domes.


The thought of a city caged with an electric grid was so fantastic. And yet, it was not unheard of. 

Creating the carefully cloistered city-states was an idea that began several years ago when I read about a proposed project to dome the city of Houston, Texas. 

The Victorian Era in America was era of technology on the cusp of unimaginable innovation. Captains of invention moved our nation forward in communication, electrical advancements, and mechanical might. Steam devices and railroad steel dominated.

Now imagine all those great minds pushed by a panicked populace to invent and create at breakneck speed. Not for the expansion of knowledge, but for survival. A population rocked by massive disaster would advance differently.

Charlotte's story takes placee in a vastly reimanged history. Massive machines to clear rubble churn in the cracked roads of Manhattan. Rebuilt landmarks sparkle with metal facades and ornate decoration. Steam-powered carriages and power cycles roar along the avenues. And yet, outside this electrical marvel, the wasteland teems with poison vapors, sand storms, and bright flaming chasms. 

What might force a debutante to flee from this safe place?  Charlotte Blackburn is beautiful, intelligent, and a gifted tinkerer who lives in a cloistered world of wealth and privilege. But when her father is abducted, and a strange sickness starts transforming men into vicious monsters, she discovers that technology is no protection at all.

I can't wait to share with you more of Charlotte's dangerous world! From the monstrous Wind Reapers to the strange creatures of the deep, the Blackburn Chronicles will take you on a journey you won't forget.

If you like alternative history, sweeping adventure, and fantatic devices, check out my upcoming Young Adult Steampunk novel, The Tremblers.

For a sneak peak at the dangerous world of The Tremblers, here are 2 Free Novella Downloads...

+raquel byrnes

A Dangerous Place

The steampunk world of the Blackburn Chronicles is a dangerous place. Its tales are those of dark heroes, fantastic devices, and unbreakable love.

Researching the concepts for the world, the characters, the mechanica technolgy, and the sweeping adventure all took me down unexpected paths. Charlotte's adventure takes her from under the protective electric Tesla Domes that cage her entire city to wild frontier towns above the clouds, the fiery wasteland deserts, and even the depths of the roiling sea.  World building for this series was always on the epic scale.

Photo:Altair Mikoto

Charlotte, on the run from the shadowy Order of the Sword and Scroll with the mysterious spy, Ashton Wells, flees via air ship to the floating settlement of Outer City.

The last frontier of the broken world of the Blackburn Chronicles, the sky territory is home to outlaws and pioneers. Lawmen keep the peace at the bustling ports where every kind of fantastic air ship and hodge-podge dirigible brings those who seek their fortune.

Inspiration for the wild-west settlement of floating buildings and countless air ships gathered around a central market came from my fascination with Asian cuisine and the water markets of the far east.

I drew ideas from places like the Mekong Delta floating markets where hundreds gather from along the coast to sell fruit, meat, teas, whatever a customer may need. Lunch pontoons with pots of bubbling soups bob alongside motor boats selling strong coffee or perhaps the occassional chicken.

Photo: Vladimir Tkalčić

I wanted to create that chaotic, lively market where customers link their motor rafts together and toss goods back and forth overhead. The frenetic port where Charlotte first encounters what is outside the fortified city life she knew was teeming with sights and smells and dangerous individuals.

It was the perfect setting for harrowing air battles and deadly chases amonst the fragile beauty of the clouds. Air ships, dirigibles, personal balloon craft all strung together in a dangling city above the fractured nation of the Peaceful Union.

Photo: Angelina Early

Among the drifters and outlaws in floating frontier Charlotte encounters fellow tinkerers, dangerous privateers, and Port Rodale's Sheriff Sebastian Riley, the man who tamed the wild sky settlement with a crooked smile and a revolver.

Looking to the wild west for that unpredictable frontier feel, Outer City's sheriff is a throwback to the iconic lawmen of the old boom towns. From his long dark duster jacket to the mechanical hand that sparks in the rain, Sheriff Riley is a true mix of steampunk mechanica and old west charm.

Outer City is just one of the fantastical places found in the world of The Blackburn Chronicles. I can'twait to show you more!

To celebrate the release, I'm giving away 2 free novellas that take you deep into the world of The Tremblers and gives a sneak peek of what's to come! You can find them here... Blackburn Chronicles Free Reads.

If you like epic stories with adventure, romance, and danger...check out, The Tremblers coming in 2018.

+RaquelByrnes

Deadly Reasons

The steampunk world of the Blackburn Chronicles is a dangerous place. Its tales are those of dark heroes, fantastic devices, and unbreakable love.

When concieving the world of The Tremblers, I wanted the aesthetic of a steampunk world, but for me, there had to be practical reason for all of the gears and sprockets. Cogs and brass for fashion's sake only didn't match with my vision for the series.

There had to be a reason for someone to don mechanical devices and articulated lens goggles. So, I created The Great Calamity. A continent-wide disaster that set off a chain of earthqukes fracturing North America.  It is what changed the world of Charlotte Blackburn forever.  Her world no longer felt safe and the fashion and architecture of the post disaster era reflected that.

Deadly vapors from the burning chasms called for face masks or filters when leaving the safety of the Tesla Domes. From glass face plates to leather nose and mouth covers, the citizens of the new Peaceful Union were familiar with every kind of breathing apparatus.

Corsets now had gum rubber lining to minimize shocks from the static energy created by the massive electric Tesla Dome that caged a rebuilt Manhattan. The outer bodice of gowns bore the aluminum metal links of chainmail; another measure of protection against possible flying debris in the event of another quake.

In Outer City, the floating sky settlement, the wild boom town citizens wore leather lined with armour. Assistive devices like mechanical braces to strengthen injured arms, hands, and legs were common in the sky harbors. Being so high in the sky, the sun required the use of tinted goggles and additional filters. Many citizens bore hidden weapons tucked into the ribbon of a top hat or disguised as jewlery.  

One of my favorite wardrobe research pojects was the bedouin inspired wraps and tunics worn by the Wind Reaper clans. Exeedingly hot with poisonous sandstorms, the brutal conditions of the Wasteland called for a different kind of clothing. Reapers lived on humongous walking fortresses that roamed the constantly shifting dunes and required more ease of movement and protection from the airborn embers that smoldered on the winds.

The most classic treatment of clothes in The Blackburn Chronicles is the uniform of the those belonging to The Order of the Sword and Scroll. Crimson cloaks and armor breastplates worn by the knights harken back to the centuries old origin of the powerful society. Ashton Wells, spy for the Order, favors a knight's blade over the more modern tracer gun.  

Charlotte Blackburn, the heroin of the series goes through a tremendous transformation from debutante to dissenter and later...to the Dark Wrath.  Her ice-blue ball gown signifies the wealth and priveledge she enjoyed before Ashton Wells enters her life. As she becomes Blackburn's Daughter leader of the rebel group, Defiance, she dons the leather and linen of the sky dwellers up in Outer City. And finally, as she comes into her own as a warrior, her dark cloak, arm guards, and electrified baton transform her into the weapon she had become.

The world of The Tremblers, the first book in my YA steampunk series, The Blackkburn Chronicles, was so much fun to write. I can't wait to share the epic story with you!

+raquel byrnes

As Cmdr. Taggart Says...

I'm in the home stretch now. I can see the final chapters so clearly that I can almost taste them. Okay, I may need to work on my imagery here, but you get the point. The last book in my YA Steampunk series is coming to a close...EVER SO SLOWLY!

Its taken a lot to get here. Many tangents that had to be back-tracked. Too many wrong turns to retrace. Closing out a series is difficult. This I knew, but...this last book is such a struggle for some reason.

Perhaps it is because I pre-wrote the synopses for all three books via the publisher's request and so had a hard time just following the characters as they fleshed out.

Maybe my vision changed the deeper I delved into the story so the pre-imagined story line didn't fit anymore?

I am not sure.  I do know that I will not flesh out an entire series so tightly again. I loved knowing where I was going and maybe wrote some scenes ahead of time. That was helpful. I am a die-hard plotter after all. I live for charts and outlines and note cards.

But I also like the freedom of free writing and creative journeys so I need to find a balance there.  It is funny, this realization, that I might do well with some looser parameters and room to play because my critique partner, who is a dyed-in-the-wool pantser, just went to a conference workshop on plotting and is finally starting to embrace that in her process. The timing is cosmic sarcasm...I'm sure of it.

So as I head towards the climax of the story and the series, I will have to find the will to continue to grapple with this story that I have both loved and hated in turns over the past two years.  It is my favorite creation and the most painful to date to produce.

But as my Galaxy Quest Captain would exhort..."Never Give Up! Never Surrender!"

Look for The Tremblers, Book 1 in The Blackburn Chronicles out this fall.

+Raquel Byrnes 

Civil War Stealth Weapons!

So I've been neck-deep in my Steampunk novel for the past several months. Finally finished it and sent it off...which is great because I get to start blocking out Book Two in the series!  Yay!  I love...LOVE to do research. Its one aspect of my job that I feel keeps me from being a recluse.

Currently I'm exploring stealth weapons of the civil war. I know, right?  They had submarines!  Okay, they had one, the H.L. Hunley, and it boasted technology that was otherworldly for that era.

It was the first underwater craft to sink an enemy ship. But the real draw about this fascinating tale is that the submarine and its crew disappeared for almost 100 years!

Despite drownings during earlier runs, the Hunley made history when it launched despite the danger in 1864 as the south's last hope. It was later discovered in 2000 and the undisturbed time capsule yielded incredible results.

Not only was there a plethora of forensic evidence that gave way to detailed models and presentations, the university informed reenactments that led to more discoveries. Who were these intrepid soldiers? What led them to such a dangerous mission? And what was their fate that dark night in the water?

This historic mystery predates my book's timeline by twenty years and allows me to extrapolate along the lines of existing technology to take my story to a whole other level.

This got me wondering about fantasy writers and high science fiction. What do you base your world on? Is there an underpinning of truth or do you paint with a purely creative brush?

I'd love to know!