clockwork dagger

Two-fer-Tuesday

Posted by Beth on Jul 15, 2014 in Blog, clockwork dagger, public speaking, whimsy | Comments Off on Two-fer-Tuesday

I’m over at Sara Dobie Bauer’s site with an interview all about The Clockwork Dagger. She’ll have a review of the book up on Thursday! Eep!

You can also find me at J. Kathleen Cheney’s blog where I discuss the joys of grammatical goofs.

On that subject, Weird Al’s new video has brought me much happiness on a morning where my allergies are doing unkind things to my body. Thanks for the distraction, Al. <3

Artwork!

Posted by Beth on Jul 14, 2014 in Blog, clockwork crown, clockwork dagger | 2 comments

I’ve been blessed with an amazing book cover, but I’m greedy. I want more art! More pretties! Therefore, I reached out to my friend Darryl Knickrehm. He was an editor at Waylines Magazine, where he also handled the artwork. I commissioned two works from him, which I’m delighted to share. They can also permanently be found over on the World of Clockwork Dagger page.

First of all, there’s the illustration of Octavia.

This is closely in line with my original concept of her medician attire, which is strongly influenced by the gear of a World War I nurse. Plus, it includes Octavia’s satchel! That satchel is of vital importance within the book, so it’s thrilling to see it there at her hip.

The other illustration features another central character of the book–Mrs. Stout!

Mrs. Stout is Octavia’s roommate on her airship journey, and quite a colorful character. Mrs. Stout is very much inspired by Mrs. Slocombe from the British comedy Are You Being Served?, down to the vivid hair and bombastic attitude.

I’m so happy with how everything turned out. If you need to commission artwork, go check out Darryl’s page. He’s awesome to work with, and as you can see, the results are amazing!

Publishers Weekly reviews CLOCKWORK DAGGER! Eep!

Posted by Beth on Jul 8, 2014 in Blog, clockwork dagger, publication process | Comments Off on Publishers Weekly reviews CLOCKWORK DAGGER! Eep!

This is the week of amazing press. Publishers Weekly, a major book review and trade publication, came out with their review of The Clockwork Dagger. It’s glowing. They don’t say a single bad thing. Octavia is described as possessing “charming Victorian sensibilities, staunch determination, courage, and outspoken independence.” To quote the final line:

“Ample action and a delectably delayed romance propel the story toward a riveting finale, marking Cato as an author to watch.”

An Analysis of Clockwork Dagger’s First Scene

Posted by Beth on Jul 7, 2014 in Blog, clockwork dagger | 2 comments

I was surprised and delighted to see The Clockwork Dagger featured on Tor.com today. This time, Michael R. Underwood analyzed the first scene of my book to show how and why it successfully hooked him.

As a reader, I love these sorts of insights into books I’ve already read. I usually find myself nodding as I come to some new understanding about the novel. Now, to have this kind of analysis done to my own book? I kinda geeked out. It’s just so cool.

You can still read the full first chapter over on Tor as well! Maybe it’ll hook you, if it hasn’t already.

Cool Stuff! Plus a note regarding my recipes.

Posted by Beth on Jun 21, 2014 in anthology:poem, Blog, Bready or Not, clockwork dagger | Comments Off on Cool Stuff! Plus a note regarding my recipes.

John Scalzi’s Whatever Blog is such a major site among writers, so I was thrilled to see that my book is in his stack of new acquisitions this week! I was gobsmacked. Thanks again to Erica Wagner for the heads-up!

My poem “Mad Scientist’s Lament” will be in issue 2 of Lakeside Circus. It’s scheduled for July 2nd.

If you’re having trouble finding a recipe on Bready or Not, it’s because the recipes are now split between two sites. All the old recipes are still over at LiveJournal and the new ones show up there as well.

To find all the recipes in one place, take a look at my Pinterest board. My trick for searching there: scroll all the way to the bottom to force all the images to load, then do a search by keyword. Or just skim the pretty pictures and drool. I do that, too.

I’m sorry that they aren’t all in one convenient spot on BethCato.com! I don’t know if I’ll ever have the time or opportunity to port them all over. To my amazement, I’ve put almost 150 recipes online. That boggles my mind.

THREE MONTHS freak out

Posted by Beth on Jun 16, 2014 in Blog, clockwork dagger, publication process | Comments Off on THREE MONTHS *freak out*

Three months until The Clockwork Dagger comes out.

AHHHHHHHHH.

Okay. I’m cool. I’m calm. I can handle this. [[Send chocolate.]]

A few things you can expect over these next months:
– reminders that preorders and the first few weeks of a book’s release are huge in a writer’s career
– links to blogs or good reviews [do you have a blog? want me to drop by for a guest blog or interview? drop a comment here or on Twitter or Facebook!]
– news on events around release time
– have you preordered The Clockwork Dagger yet?
– gratuitous use of gifs to convey complex emotions
– September on Bready or Not will be CAKE MONTH. Because CAKE.
– if you can help spread the word through social media/family/enemy infiltration, that’d be fantastic!

I’m doing my utmost to get ready. When dreams comes true, it’s weird and crazy and awesome.

Let’s do this!