Change of plan…this will now be the cover for the first volume in my YA steampunk series, The Mechanikals. The other image (last post) will be volume 2: Apprentice’s War. Of course, meantime I will be seeking a publisher or representation for the books, so the final art may change. Unless I go down the self publishing route. In any case, I gather the images are going to be appearing in an embroidery magazine in the USA, thanks to Jane Watson, who did the great steampunk stiching! I’ll post a link once the mag is out. Oh, and if anyone’s wondering about the title, it’s from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s “rude mechanicals”. Though there is nothing “rude” in the modern sense of the word in my books, though of course The Bard meant “rough and ready” or “earthy”, which might be more apposite for my trilogy’s heroes. Here’s a verse from the play, referring to Titania, queen of the fairies:
While she was in her dull and sleeping hour,
A crew of patches, rude mechanicals,
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls,
Were met together to rehearse a play
Intended for great Theseus’ nuptial day.
Bone Machines 