Eastern Florida Instuctor Authors Popular Steampunk Book
By Space Coast Daily // February 9, 2015
new book now available on amazon
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – When she’s not teaching English at EFSC, Melanie Karsak is developing intricate plots and characters as a connoisseur of steampunk, a Jules Verne-esque style of science fiction.
Her latest book, “Chasing the Star Garden,” climbed into the top 10 in its genre within a day of its release on Amazon.
Melanie Karsak’s Chasing the Star Garden takes readers on a thrilling adventure from the gritty opium dens of gaslamp London to the gem-colored waters of the ancient world.
Lily Stargazer, a loveable but reckless airship racer with a famous lover and shattered past, reluctantly plunges into a centuries-old mystery in a steampunk romantic adventure best described as Dan Brown meets Mary Shelley.
It all begins on one of the worst days of Lily’s life. She just lost the London leg of the 1823 Airship Grand Prix.
To top it off, a harlequin fleeing from constables shoved a kaleidoscope down her pants, told her to fly to Venice, then threw himself from her airship tower. What’s a girl to do? For Lily, the answer is easy: drink absinthe and smoke opium.
Lily’s lover, Lord Byron, encourages her to make the trip to Venice. Lily soon finds herself at the heart of an ancient mystery which has her running from her past and chasing true love and the stars along the way.”
Chasing the Star Garden released at #3 in the steampunk genre in the United Kingdom and at #8 in the United States.
The second novel in the series, Chasing the Green Fairy, was released in Spring 2014.
Melanie Karsak grew up in rural northwestern Pennsylvania where there wasn’t much to do but read books and go for hikes.
Apparently, rambling around in the woods with a head full of fantasy worlds and characters will inspire you to become an author.
Karsak wrote her first novel set in the 1920s when she was 12.
The protagonist, her lover lost to the war, was a struggling stage actress being raised by a conservative grandmother.
She also has written The Harvesting, which she calls “a fun zombie romp in complete rebellion of my previous writing.”
A steampunk connoisseur, white elephant collector and caffeine junkie, the author now lives in Brevard County with her husband and two children.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE MELANIE KARSAK’S BOOK
