eSpecs Books Focus #5: Ef Deal

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

Esprit de Corpse is the first book in a series featuring the Twins of Bellesfées. Jacqueline Duval is an engineering genius in 1840s France. Her sister Angélique is a virtuoso pianist, a former protégée of Sigismond Thalberg. She’s also a shapeshifting wolf who lives a dissolute, bohemian life, constantly forcing Jacqueline to bail her out of trouble, until one day in the summer of 1843 on the railway home from Paris, the train is brought to a halt by a rogue automaton powered not by steam, but by a spirit borne in the skull placed inside it. As Jacqueline tries to unravel the mystery of the skull, Angélique pursues the brigand who tries to steal it back from them, uncovering a plot to build an army of automatons powered by the spirits of the skulls of the Paris Catacombs.

I love this story because where most steampunk is Victorian England or New York, this is set before the great railroad surge and before the taming of electricity, but all the groundwork is there for Jacqueline to discover and use.

I also love it for the relationship between the two sisters, one of whom has been so lost for the past five years and who finally finds the strength within herself to take responsibility for her own life.

It features an evil count trying to take over Russia, a mysterious janissary combatting a necromantic sorcerer, a dashing rogue, a French spy, a hilarious automaton, Charles Baudelaire, and a magnificent airship. Plus, Paris!

And I’m especially excited because this is coming out from eSpec Books. I’ve been a fan of Danielle McPhail for ages, and I’m thrilled she picked up Esprit de Corpse for publication.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

First and foremost, Gregory Frost. He’s a master of metaphor and I am in awe of his work. We were in a writers’ workshop together, and every session was like a master’s class for an MFA, but Greg has a way of seeing the story you want to tell and helping you tell it. As for the stories he tells, they are gorgeous tapestries, even—or especially—his horror.

As for my style, I’m not sure any writer has influenced it. Much of it is from conversations around the dinner table with my husband and my two sons as they were growing up. We are all punsters and love wordplay, which plays a huge role in my style. We’re all great readers and viewers, so allusions to the most obscure facts come naturally to us, and that’s made writing historical fantasy a lot of fun.

I began writing florid high fantasy, heavily influenced by Jane Yolen and CJ Cherryh, Lord Dunsany, Tolkien (naturally), but Lester DelRey told me my strength was in my characters, and I should let them take the lead, which is where I get my style now. As I said, the characters come to me, and I let them tell their story.

Read more: 

https://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2021/08/especs-books-focus-5-ef-