Steel Roots Series by J.L. Mulvihill - Book Tour
Steel Roots Series
August 8-16, 2018
More and more readers are discovering the wonderfully imaginative Steel Roots Series from JL Mulvihill! A young adult, steampunk, alternative history adventure, the Steel Roots series features three books, The Boxcar Baby, Crossings, and Rails West.
Character-driven and beautifully written, the Steel Roots series is the focus of this new blog tour running from August 8-16!
About the author: A California native born in Hollywood, J.L. Mulvihill has made Mississippi her home for the past seventeen years. Her debut novel was the young adult title The Lost Daughter of Easa, an engaging fantasy novel bordering on science-fiction with a dash of Steampunk, published through Dark Oak Press in 2011. The sequel to this novel is presently in the works.
Her Most recent novel, The Boxcar Baby of the Steel Roots series, was released in July 2013 through Seventh Star Press. Steel Roots is a young adult series based in the Steampunk genre and engages the reader into a train hopping heart stopping adventure across America. Book 2, Crossings released December of 2014.
She is also the co-editor of Southern Haunts; The Spirits That Walk Among Us which includes a short story of her own called Bath 10, and a fictional thriller involving a real haunted place. Her poem, The Demon of the Old Natchez Trace, debuts in Southern Haunts part 2, Devils in the Darkness.
J.L. also has several short fiction pieces in publication, is very active with the writing community, and is the events coordinator for the Mississippi Chapter of Imagicopter known as the Magnolia-Tower. She is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA), The Mississippi Writers Guild (MWG), as well as the Clinton Ink-Slingers Writing Group.
Book Synopsis for The Boxcar Baby: Born in a boxcar on a train bound for Georgia. At least that is what Papa Steel always told AB'Gale. But now, fifteen years later, the man who adopted and raised her as his own is missing and it's up to AB'Gale to find him.
Aided only by a motley gang of friends, AB'Gale train hops her way across the United States in a desperate attempt to find her papa and put her life and family back the way it was. Her only guide is a map given to her by a mysterious hobo, with hand written clues she found hidden in her papa's spyglass.
Here is the Great American Adventure in an alternate steampunk dystopian world, where fifteen-year-old AB'Gale Steel learns that nothing is as it seems, but instead is shrouded in secrets and mysteries ... and that monsters come in all shapes and forms.
The Boxcar Baby is the first book of the Steel Roots series.
Book Synopsis for Crossings: Bishop Steel is still missing, so AB’Gale must follow the map continuing the search for her papa. Her quest leads Abby down dangerous paths that threaten to get her captured by the System. Danger lurks at every turn of the road, on every doorstep and every train.
Finding it difficult to know who to trust when she discovers she is now wanted for crimes against the System, Abby travels under the guise of a young boy. Conflicted with the desire to rid her world of the unjust or find her papa, Abby finds few friends amid hobos, air pirates, and entrepreneurs.
Abby finds that real friends will never abandon you, nor will they allow you to give up on your convictions. A true awakening to internal conflict and the desire to put right what is wrong, this is the great American adventure ringing with the sound of freedom along the steel routes.
Crossings is Book Two of the Steel Roots Series.
Book Synopsis for Rails West: “The System Regulatory Unit has determined that the responsible parties of last week’s explosion in Downtown St. Louis are none other than the notorious Abigail Steel and her band of pirates. She is wanted for questioning regarding numerous acts of rule breaking against the System. She is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached but informed upon at once.”
Not only is her name misspelled, but the System has her description all wrong because AB’Gale Steel is not a criminal. She just wants to find her papa and now she feels she is so close, but will the System catch her before she finds him? And what about the marks on the map the old hobo gave her? What was Papa doing in all those places? Why is the System so concerned about Bishop Steel and his daughter? Are the people of America seething with frustration? And is there an insurgency boiling beneath the surface?
All the answers lie within Rails West.
Guest Post
I have often heard that to be a good writer you should
read a lot and write what you know. Since I have been writing I have discovered
that this advice is beneficial. I do read a lot and have all my life and many
different genres. Yet, I would say that just because you have never written a
certain type of genre does not mean you shouldn’t try. I had never written
steampunk before this series. Actually I did write a short story called Chilled
Meat which is set in the Victorian era and incorporates the elements of
steampunk. But before that I had only written fantasy, horror and poems because
that is what I like to read. But I had this story idea in my head that would
not go away. I became determined that I
would learn how to write this story in the steampunk genre.
I did a lot of research on the subject through reading
books. I also binge watched Firefly and started making a pair of steampunk
goggles from scratch. I did this to get the feel for steampunk. Yet It wasn’t until I read Morlock Night by
K. W. Jeter did I get it. Steampunk came
to me in an epiphany. I realized it
wasn’t just words and characters but the aesthetic and overall feel of the
story that gives it the true steampunk experience. From that moment on I found
it easy to immerse myself into such a world.
I also found that drawing on books I read when I was a
child helped me build the characters and the world around them. I read books
like The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Little House on the Prairie by Laura
Ingalls Wilder, and believe it or not Zane Grey books. Who doesn’t like a good
western mystery with gunslingers, ranchers and a damsel in distress?
I also drew on my memories from childhood to help
bring my character to life. I suddenly became the character which made it easy
to write her story in the first person. There are times I feel like I’m
narrating a story from the voices in my head. Other times I feel I am writing
the story as I live it in my head like watching a movie. That trait I believe
comes from growing up as an only child with the stories in my head to help me
pass the time. When I was little I would
climb an apple tree as high as I could go and just sit among the lush green
leaves and think. I would play the what-if game like so many authors do and
make up wonderful stories in my head to escape.
I’m thankful I have such a vivid imagination. My
imagination helps me to build worlds and create believable characters.
Sometimes I forget that I'm writing fiction.
I love taking the adventure with my characters as part of the story and
not just a bystander and I hope my readers do too.
J L Mulvihill,
Changing the world one story at a time
Author Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mulvijen/
Twitter: @JLMulvihill
Official sites:
Tour Schedule and Activities
8/8 Jazzy Book Reviews http://bookreviewsbyjasmine.blogspot.com Guest Post
8/8 I Smell Sheep http://www.ismellsheep.com/ Guest Post
8/9 Inspired Chaos http://inspiredchaos.weebly.com/blog Guest Post
8/9 Breakeven Books https://breakevenbooks.com Author Interview
8/10 Sheila's Guests and Reviews https://Sheiladeeth.blogspot.com Guest Post
8/11 Bookmark Your Thoughts https://bookmarkyourthoughts.blog Review
8/11 Ravenous for Reads https://www.ravenousforreads.com Author Interview
8/11 Sapphyria's Books https://saphsbooks.blogspot.com/ Guest Post
8/12 The Book Lover's Boudoir https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com/ Review
8/13 The Reading Bud https://thereadingbud.com Review
8/14 Swords and Red ses https://swordsandrosess.wordpress.com/ Review
8/14 Ravenous for Reads https://www.ravenousforreads.com Guest Post
8/15 Literature Approved http://literatureapproved.com Review
8/15 Honestly Austen http://honestlyausten.com Review
8/16 YA/NA Book Divas http://facebook.com/yareeds Guest Post
8/16 Love Bites and Silk http://www.lovebitesandsilk.co.uk/ Guest Post
Amazon.com Links for The Boxcar Baby:
Kindle Version
Print Version
Barnes and Noble Link for The Boxcar Baby:
Amazon.com Links for Crossings:
Kindle Version
Print Version
Barnes and Noble Link for Crossings:
Amazon.com Links for Rails West:
Kindle Version
Print Version
Barnes and Noble Link for Rails West:
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