Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Cherie Priest

Cherie Priest’s books include Boneshaker, the first installment in her Clockwork Century saga (which also includes Clementine, Dreadnought, Ganymede, The Inexplicables, and the recently released Fiddlehead).

From the author's Q & A with Paul Goat Allen at The Barnes & Noble Book Blog:

Aside from the obvious draws of this series—the brilliantly realized alternate history 19th-century America, the cool fusion of history with elements of steampunk, zombie fiction, etc.—the thing I love about these novels is the way in which you feature heroic female protagonists in a realistic manner, challenging gender stereotypes. As a father with young daughters, I’m grateful to you for that.

Well, I’ve been privileged to know a great many badass, courageous, brilliant women (and men, and those otherwise affiliated) from a number of different backgrounds, so I write about them because this is what the world looks like. This is what history looked like. This is what the future will look like, too. It’s lazy and insulting to pretend otherwise.

Agreed. Here’s one out of left field: Seems like every time I bring up your Clockwork Century saga with a hardcore fan, they inevitably say something like “that would make an amazing movie series.” And I concur: extraordinary storylines, unforgettable characters, jaw-dropping action sequences, really something for everyone. And the merchandising opportunities—steampunk goggles, toy dirigibles, action figures, handcrafted weapons and jewelry—I can see the Happy Meal toy gas masks already! Any news on that front?

I suppose you’re asking, in a general way, about the Boneshaker movie option [details on that here]. To be perfectly honest, at this point I’d be surprised to see anything come of it. The project had a lot of steam (wocka wocka) for a while there, and then…just…nothing came of it. I have my suspicions, and I have bits and pieces of gossip—but...[read on]
--Marshal Zeringue