Title: THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE NOT SO INNOCUOUS GIRL
Author: Leigh Statham
Pub. Date: March 17, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Pages: 297
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Lady Marguerite lives a life most 17th century French girls can only dream of: money, designer dresses, suitors and a secure future. Except she suspects she may be falling for her best friend Claude, a common smithie in the family's steam forge.
When Claude leaves for New France in search of a better life, Marguerite decides to follow him and test her suspicions of love. But the trip proves more harrowing than she had anticipated, revealing secrets and testing her strength as well as her heart. Love, adventure and restitution await her in Canada, but only if she can survive the voyage.
Now on to the post!
The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl originally had a different ending. I wrote this whole chapter about Marguerite's father following her to New France and saving her/spoiling all of her plans. But it just seemed so convenient and lame in a dues ex machina kind of way.
Dues ex machina - a character or thing that suddenly enters the story in a novel, play, movie, etc., and solves a problem that had previously seemed impossible to solve.
I also cut an entire character. Originally, Claude had a very cranky older brother, Nigel. Here's a scene I took out where Nigel is being obnoxious.
Marguerite wished Vivienne had been old enough to attend. She needed someone familiar to stand next to for the remainder of the evening; even Vivienne’s twittering would be welcome at this point. She wandered for a few moments, unable to locate even her father, when someone grabbed her elbow.
She turned to see a sentry reached out to catch her attention. It was Claude’s brother, Nigel, he must have drawn an extra assignment. She wondered where they found a uniform to fit him for the occasion. He was much taller than Claude, or anyone else on the manor, standing at six and a half feet tall. Marguerite’s father kept both boys on after their parents passed from cholera several years back, and agreed to be their ward as long as they worked on the estate and learned a trade.
Claude was a model orphan, grateful, hard working and humble. It said much about Lord Vadnay’s character that he‘d kept Nigel on as long as he had. The boy was always making mischief and Marguerite guessed he’d been assigned house duty tonight to keep him out of trouble elsewhere. None of which would matter in a few days: they were both leaving for New France and would probably never return.
“Nigel!” She dared not look at him as she extricated her arm,
“What do you want?”
“It’s Claude, he wants to see you. We’re leaving in the morning.”
“What are you talking about?” This was not the sort of news she needed to hear at the moment.
“Our orders have been changed, we are to report at dawn to our commander in town. Claude asked me to let you know and to ask you to meet him in the gardens. I’m only telling you this because we will be rid of you tomorrow and my little brother only asks me for favors when it’s dire.”
“Is he still there? How long has he been waiting?”
“I’m sure he’s still there Miss,” Nigel’s voice held a note of bitterness, “he’d not leave if he thought you might come.”
Marguerite hesitated, she instinctively grabbed her cricket as she took two steps toward the garden. Then almost as an afterthought,
“Thank you, Nigel. Please watch over him out there?”
“Ha!” He didn’t look at her but she could see the sour expression on his face plainly enough, “Says the girl who’s taken him for granted her whole life.”
Marguerite was already walking away when he said this, she heard him but only just, and decided it wasn’t worth the worry. Nigel had never liked her and the feeling was mutual.
Thank you for having me on your blog! I hope you enjoy the book.
Cheers!
Leigh
Thanks Leigh! Love this!
Leigh Statham was raised in the wilds of rural Idaho, but
found her heart in New York City. She worked as a waitress, maid, artist, math
teacher, nurse, web designer, art director, thirty-foot inflatable pig and mule
wrangler before she settled down in the semi-quiet role of wife, mother and
writer. She resides in North Carolina with her husband, four children, five
chickens and two suspected serial killer cats. If the air is cool and the sun
is just coming up over the horizon, you can find her running the streets of her
small town, plotting her next novel with the sort of intensity that will one
day get her hit by a car.
Giveaway
Details:
• Three (3) winners will receive a physical copy of The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl by Leigh Statham (INT)
• Three (3) winners will receive a digital copy of The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl by Leigh Statham (INT)
• Three (3) winners will receive a digital copy of The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl by Leigh Statham (INT)
Great post this book looks and sounds fatastic I love the cover. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI have only read a few steampunk novels and I really enjoyed them. I can't wait to read this! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover and steampunk books! This is a book I am looking forward to.
ReplyDeleteSorry this is Morgan ~ drewblythe2004@yahoo.com
DeleteSorry this is Morgan ~ drewblythe2004@yahoo.com
DeleteI love the cover and steampunk books! This is a book I am looking forward to.
ReplyDelete