History is No Mystery With Guest Blogger: Maeve Alpin

Join Us Today to discuss the Steampunk Romance As Timeless As Stone by Maeve Alpin!


Enter to win a Steampunk Necklace! (ooh! aah!)

In a day dream I had, a missing head was placed back on the neck of a statue which then came to life. I thought now there’s the beginning of a story and As Timeless As Stone was born.

I love history and I often include historical figures in my work, As Timeless As Stone is no exception. The key secondary character is none other than the founder of Scientific Egyptology, Jean François Champollion, who is best known for his work on deciphering the Rosetta stone. He was also a loving father and husband and I included his wife Rosine Blanc and his daughter Zoraide as well. I am thrilled to bring them from the pages of history and place them in my story. Of course I love my handsome Parisian, Egyptologist hero and my ancient Egyptian priestess heroine even more. The purpose of this fun filled fantasy is to sweep you away from the cares and woes of the real world as you share Seshat and Ricard’s rousing adventure spanning Ancient Egypt to 1830’s Parris.

Here is the blurb for my first Steampunk Romance, As Timeless as Stone, which will be released TODAY May 17th:

Though society stands in their way, can love transcend time with the aid of robotics and ritual?

In peril for her life, the Priestess Seshat turns herself to stone in ancient Egypt. Centuries later, Ricard, a dashing nineteenth century Frenchman, repairs a broken statue and reads its incantation--unprepared for the gorgeous flesh and blood woman who steps forth.

Seshat is drawn to the brass robots Ricard creates and the glamour of the Victorian age, and most of all to Ricard himself. But the society of his day cannot accept a woman like her.

How far will Ricard go to secure her happiness? Is their love strong enough to transcend time itself?

And here's and Excerpt:

Ricard stepped back as his gaze devoured the entire woman, though stiff and lifeless. The stone looked like lush, sun-warmed skin. Her oval face was dark and delicate, with full, rosy lips. He admired her long lithe body, clad in a sheer, white, sleeveless dress, held up only by two delicate linen shoulder straps. He longed to roam his fingers and lips over her high perched breast and the thin waist which flared into curved hips and lithe thighs. Then, down to her pretty legs and her slender feet garbed in white papyrus sandals, of the station she depicted, an Egyptian priestess of the Middle Kingdom. He drank in her beauty, then he noticed the ornament lying in the valley between her breasts, a thick ankh of gold hung from a chain. His fingers absently tried to grab hold of the necklace but it was only part of the statue, no matter how real it seemed.

"What is this?" He looked at the plaque in the statue's stone hands, held beneath the ankh. The last hieroglyphic depicted the symbol for life, an ankh, held up to the woman's nose. Ricard read it silently, sounding it out, Nce xarp wt pwwne Ab etoot abrem... Toujo Abrem etoot pwwne ab... xarp wt au ai ankh qe, and translated it under his breath. "God Horus, as you turned my flesh to stone... God Horus, save me, make me whole...change my stone to flesh...give me the nose breath of life, once more."

The room vibrated and an unnatural wind swirled within. Ricard's hair stood on end, but he could not tear his eyes away from the statue. He grabbed the ankh, and this time it gave way, lifting from the statue's chest. The curiosity that drove him as a scientist, as an Egyptologist, caught hold and as strange as this all seemed, he felt he had come this far, he had to see it through. Laying the ankh against the statue's small nose, Ricard acted out the last hieroglyphic on the plaque.

He shuddered at the sound of a gush of breath. A flash of light struck inside the room. The shock knocked the breath out of him. The statue moved, but she wasn't stone anymore.

Jean François gasped and stepped back.

Ricard couldn't move. It's a living, breathing woman. He dropped the ankh and it fell against her chest, which now rose and fell with heaving breaths. Ricard managed to step back on shaky legs. He gaped at her, unable to think or speak.

Alive.

The priestess shrieked. Her brown eyes glowed with anger. "Come near me you Hyksos cobra, and you will die!" she warned in Old Egyptian.

Note from the Book Boost: Maeve, this sounds absolutely amazing. I'm going to have to pick up a copy of this myself. Thank you so much for joining us. Everyone, please find the contest details below and find out where you can pick up your copy TODAY!

Click here to buy your Copy!

Be Sure to Visit Maeve here!

And Now...CONTEST TIME!

To be eligible to win the gorgeous Steampunk necklace from Maeve, just leave a question or comment for her here. All winners will be selected on Friday and posted in the Recent Winners block on the right hand column of the blog! Good Luck!