Tena StetlerAuthor of Paranormal Romance/Suspense & Cozy Mysteries With Magic Spark!

Dec 8th The Key To His Heart by Barbara Burke

Happy holidays to all!  Give a big welcome to Barbara Burke, author of The Key To His Heart, a Steampunk Christmas Fairy Tale, released December 1, 2017. Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Barbara I see your brought guests.  

Yes, meet Andres Barbot and Arabella Pike

Nice to meet all of your. Thanks for joining us!

First, Barbara, tell us what inspired this particular story?

Beauty and the Beast has always been my favourite fairy tale so I felt quite cheeky having a go at rewriting it. However, I really enjoyed putting it in a new setting: a steampunk version of Newfoundland at Christmas. Now my only regret is that I didn’t make it longer.

Characters act true to themselves. Sometimes the way they do that can be surprising, but if you know them well enough you can tell if they’re acting authentically or just trying to mess with you (and some of them really enjoy messing with you).

I like to have a general idea about a story and a good grasp of the characters. Then I just let them get on with it while I try to get as much down on paper as possible.

Oh, I have to agree some of my characters love to mess with me! Now Andre, would you mind answering a few questions for me?

Not at all.

What event in your past has left the most indelible impression on you?

The airship crashed that caused my mother’s death. We struck the rocks and my body was so badly damaged no one thought I would live. My father…repaired me, is the only suitable way to phrase it. And turned me into a monster thereby.

What do you most value?

My privacy. If I’m forced to live life as a monster then let me do it outside the public eye. Having rocks thrown at you, being jeered at in the street, seeing revulsion on people’s faces. I’ve had enough. I simply want to be left alone.

What is the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life with?

No woman would want to spend the rest of her life with me. I don’t allow myself to dream about the kind of woman I would want to be with always.

What is your biggest secret?

My biggest secret is that I don’t want to live out my life alone and I do sometimes dream of a woman who will accept me for what I am, who won’t feel repulsed by my appearance and my mechanical heart.

Thank you so much, It was wonderful learning about you.

Arabella it’s your turn on the hot seat.

Who were the biggest role models in your life?

Hmm, I didn’t really have any growing up. I’m from a small town – we call it an outport here – and most of the people around me, kids and adults, thought I was pretty strange. I was always mucking about with bits of machines or airships if I could get my hands on one. Fortunately, my father found a way to get me the education I needed to pursue that life.

What kind of man do you want to spend the rest of your life with?

One who recognizes that I’m not just messing about in my chosen career until I get married and settle down. Machines need love and attention, too, and I could no more stop tinkering than I could stop eating.

What kind of man would you never choose?

One who expects me to sit at home knitting and producing babies on an annual basis. Also, one who wasn’t inherently kind.

What is most important to you in life?

Love. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, be it another person or a sunset. Love makes the world a better place and it makes you a better person.

What is your biggest fear?

I try not to let fear take hold of me. Life is a challenge and you never know what’s ahead. Embrace life, don’t be held back by the fear of it.

Those are great words to live by.  Thank you so much for dropping by.

 

Tell us a little about The Key To His Heart. A Steampunk Christmas Fairy Tale.

Since he was a small child Andre has been treated like a monster because of his mechanical parts – scorned and reviled by children and adults alike. He’s learned to hide himself away from people.
Arabella, an airship engineer in training, doesn’t believe he’s a monster at all. But can she convince him of that?
When she’s forced to join him on his airship, The Rose, on a flight through the winter skies it’s an opportunity to teach him that love is for everyone and humanity is more than just flesh and blood.

How about a sneak peek between the pages of The Key To His Heart.

By late afternoon they had traversed most of the island. Barbot explained that they would put down for the night so they could cross the water in the daytime.

“And of course you must sleep,” Arabella said. “You can’t keep this up all day and night as well.”

“I could if I had to, but I prefer not to. We have everything we need onboard. Do you mind putting down away from a town? It will make it easier to get off quickly in the morning.”

“You’re the boss.”

“I wish I could believe you think so, but my mind is full of doubt,” he replied, and Arabella could hear a smile in his voice. “I know a spot not half an hour’s flight from here that will do very well. We’ll dine as soon as we touch down. In the meantime if you’d like to freshen up I will meet you in the salon at -” he pulled a large timepiece out from under his cloak “- 6 o’clock.”

“Nonsense,” Arabella exclaimed. “You’ll need help getting the ship powered off and battened down for the night. I’m not swanning off like some lady of leisure to powder my nose and tighten my corset while you do all the work.”

“And yet less than one minute ago you informed me, with a completely straight face, that I was the boss.”

“But that was-“

“It was not different,” he interrupted. “I know what I’m doing. Go.”

Arabella went.

The Key To His Heart is available at most online retailers including Amazon

About the Author:

Barbara Burke’s peripatetic life means she’s lived everywhere from a suburban house in a small town to a funky apartment in a big city, and from an architecturally designed estate deep in the forest to a cedar shack on the edge of the ocean. Everywhere she’s gone she’s been accompanied by her husband, her animals and her books. For the last fifteen years she’s worked as a freelance journalist and has won several awards. She was a fan of Jane Austen long before that lady was discovered by revisionists and zombie lovers and thinks Georgette Heyer was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. She lives by the philosophy that one should never turn down the opportunity to get on a plane no matter where it’s going, but deep down inside wishes she could travel everywhere by train. Ironically she now lives on an island in the middle of the Atlantic that has no trains at all.

You can find Barbara at the links below.

barbaraburke@nl.rogers.com

https://www.facebook.com/Barbara-Burke-162847103814669/

https://barbaraburkeauthor.wordpress.com/

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with The Key To His Heart!

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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Barbara Burke, Christmas, Romance, steampunk, The Key To His Heart by Tena Stetler with 18 comments.