Wednesday Writing — Pride & Flowers, Prejudice & Dirigibles

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Pride n Flowers Amazon Promo
Image by Teagan

Welcome, everyone.  Mother Nature has been wreaking havoc across her planet.  Wherever you are, I hope you are safe and well.

I have multiple pots on the fire.  This one won’t be mentioned very often.  However, since the new serial platform, #KindleVella just became available to readers, I’m dedicating a post to it, Pride and Flowers, Prejudice and Dirigibles.  With a decade of writing blog serials behind me, I felt obligated to give it a try.  Hopefully I make some new friends too.

Re-Telling with Teagan-ization

You might call this story a re-telling, or a re-imagining, or just a take-off on Jane Austen’s classic, Pride and Prejudice.  Naturally it has plenty of Teagan-ization!  Even though it’s steampunk and on an imaginary planet, it has the look of the Regency Era. The story is peppered with slang from the 1800s.  Plus, I always felt bad for Austen’s Mary character, so she gets a twist. And then there’s lavium, aka Mother’s Purple Helper.

Here’s the Blurb

A “country house” comedy of manners ― gone steampunk, with a swizzle of adventure.  In the fantasy world Tellus, technology went terribly wrong.  The planet’s surface was rendered uninhabitable.  However, university botany experiments, housed in dirigibles high above were spared.

Generations later, the Tellurians live in floating cities.  The gentry own airships, rather than land.  There, Calytrix Bellefleur and her four sisters must come to terms with their fears about the future, gender inequality, reputation, and of course, love.

Here’s a Review!

La Jardiniere by Simon Saint-Jean 1837 wikipedia
La Jardiniere by Simon Saint-Jean 1837 Wikipedia

I was thrilled with a comment from fellow author, Christine Robinson.

“Teagan, continually outdoes herself with fantasy episodes. This one is extraordinary. I’m laughing at the language, the humor and humanity of all of them. The flower family at their best. Such great characters and story. A great read!” 

Adding to the Fun — Floriography

Along with the steampunk setting, I’ve given all the characters flower and plant names.  So, “floriography,” the language of flowers, had to get in on the act, and I don’t mean the character names.  In the Victorian Era, people used flowers and their meanings in many ways.  In my story, the girls of House Bellefleur are fond of sending messages with them.  That particularly applies to middle-sister, Marigold.  Her older sisters, Calytrix and Jessamine are intrigued when they spot Marigold carrying a bouquet with both purple and red carnations.

“Purple carnations convey capriciousness.  While red says my heart aches for you.  Someone is confused about their emotions,” Calytrix ponderated.

***

Pride and Flowers, Prejudice and Dirigibles is only available through Amazon’s Kindle Vella serials.  Here’s the link. 

If any of you authors have a serial on Kindle Vella, leave a link in comments.

Wishing you an easy coast down the other side of this midweek hump.  I love to hear from you, so friendly comments are encouraged. Hugs on the wing!

***

 

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This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved. 

No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.  Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

All images are either the property of the author or provided by free sources, unless stated otherwise.

 

…

60 thoughts on “Wednesday Writing — Pride & Flowers, Prejudice & Dirigibles”

    1. Hi Ms. Frances. I’ve since learned that Kindle Vella isn’t available to readers outside the USA… If it takes off here, I hope they will open it up to Canada and other countries. I can’t imagine why they didn’t already do that. I appreciate your encouragement.
      My new blog serial (only here at this blog) will start July 31st (I think). I hope you will be on board for that. Have a relaxing evening. Hugs on the wing!

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  4. Your imagination continues to impress and inspire! By the way I finished journey seven and reviewed in Goodreads and Amazon. Not to pressure you but I can’t wait for journey eight! And I look forward to hearing your experience with Vella!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Holy Hanna! Pam, thanks for prompting me. I had not looked at reviews for Journey 7. Thank you so much for posting yours! Just as I was feeling discouraged — this really lifted me up. I’m thrilled that you enjoyed it. Journey 8 will ease a little farther into the fantasy element. I am behind on #8, but should be able to get caught up in time for the first Wednesday of August. Fingers crossed. Hugs on the wing!

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. I’m going to post about it in a couple of days. 🙂 I’m undecided about the process, Teagan, and never having written a serial, I’ve stressing over having something out there that doesn’t feel quite done (because the book isn’t done). Ack! But I’m committed to submitting one book’s worth of episodes. Anyway, enough fretting… here it is!

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        1. I found your story earlier this afternoon. I’ve read the first episode, and you have nothing to worry about. It’s amazing. I didn’t realize the first few episodes would be free. I shouldn’t have made them double-chapter episodes… But whatever. It’s not about the money, but the exposure. Have a relaxing evening.

          Liked by 1 person

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  13. I have read the first two episodes, and I’m loving it. I was happy to see that it appears automatically on the Kindle app on my iPad. Now I have more Teagan to read. That’s always a good thing. You certainly do have several irons in the fire.

    I hope the rest of the week floats by.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Dan you are so kind — thank you. I need to look into that about automatically showing on Kindle. Maybe with the timing of my Internet problem I need to reset something.
      Yepper, lots of irons. Ha! Fortunately I don’t have to iron my clothes any more! Seriously though, even with all this, I feel driven to do even more writing-related projects…
      A nice relaxing week to you too. Hugs on the wing!

      Liked by 1 person

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  16. Teagan, congratulations again with your latest serial. Yes, I loved the episodes! And will follow Teagan on Kindle Vella. Really anywhere she and her creative writing goes. 📚🎶 Christine

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      1. Teagan, thank you so much for the bouquet of pink roses. Isn’t it incredible how friendships grow virtually. Yours is a treasured one. As much as longtime friends. I can just hear our conversations over lunch or coffee. We are Moon Kids and share many characteristics. And we are writers. You, a successful, prolific author. Me, a budding writer, trying to get there. You are inspiring me to take on the challenge my proofreader/editor gave me in her many-to the point-comments on the MS. The book will be the best it can be before publication. Keep writing and stay well. Huge hugs back. 🌷🎶🌸 Christine

        Liked by 1 person

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        1. And you as well, Christine. Maybe one day we can do a Zoom visit.
          I know your book is already wonderful, but it’s good that you want to make improvements. There’s an impulse to take everything to heart, and to want to please everyone. So, one thing I have to remind myself of is that not every comment is something that I really need to do. Anyhow, take good care of you. 🙂

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          1. Thanks, Teagan. Good advice. You bring up a good point. Actually, the comments were valid. Sticking to third person limited POV. I’ve done a little head-hopping. I don’t think I want to change the POV to third person omniscient. If another character has thoughts and something to say, away from the main character, it should be explored all it’s own in a chapter. And I’ve done that. Plus putting more of the main character’s reactions & emotions into scenes, enriches the story. As I work through making changes & additions in the MS, I can see how much better the story flows. I’m a newbie and seriously want to learn how to write better. I’ll get to your high level of writing some day. 📚🎶🌷

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  17. I think the idea of Kindle Vella is brilliant. Unfortunately, it is only available to US Amazon customers. I even signed in on Amazon.com instead of Amazon.ca, but it knew that I was in Canada. I know Vella is the beginning of something very interesting – that will experience growth. So I will keep checking in to see when it will cross the Canadian border.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Hi Rebecca. It’s lovely to see you. I’m sad to hear that. I knew they only gave USA authors access, but I hoped they made it available to readers. Well, now that Mr. Bezos is back on planet earth, maybe they will expand it. 😉 Stay safe and well. Hugs on the wing!

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. I believe that Vella will be expanded. The way we read and write will transition and evolve. You always lead the way, Teagan. Sending hugs across space to where you are. P.S. Mr. Bezos may have gone into space, but I have been on the Delta Pearl, which is much more exciting.

        Liked by 1 person

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    1. You are so kind, Robbie. I’m delighted that you’re enjoying the 5th volume of Dead of Winter! I thought all the ghosts in that one might be your cup of tea. I hope your dad continues to improve, and that everything else is great in your life. Hugs on the wing!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  19. Excellent “Pride & Flowers, Prejudice & Dirigibles”. You have all your re-telling, re-imagining Floriograpy in a row. Like Inchcock, I would say: “Teaganizationalizanalism.” It’s not quite as bodacious as “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, but close.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Haha! Great words, Tim. I actually had the idea last year. I created an outline and a bunch of character names. But I shelved it when I saw someone had done (a very different) steampunk Pride & Prejudice. After people encouraged me to do something for Vella, I knew it would work well as a serial. So I dusted it off. I hope you and Laurie are having a wonderful week. Hugs on the wing!

      Liked by 1 person

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