Blacksmithing, Clockwork, and Inventions

Highlighting Historical Romance with Juli D. Revezzo

We have an extra this week. Join me in welcoming Juli.

I’ve been writing stories set in different eras in history, for quite a while, from the Medieval to the late Victorian age, it’s all good. However, when the idea to write Vesta’s Clockwork Companions hit me, I knew with all the cool new gadgets the era’s inventors were coming up with, what a better time than that for a little tinker like her? This was the era of steam trains, of early cameras, the sewing machine, the telephone, and typewriters (and did I mention steam trains?). There’s evidence that this era even saw the creation of the very first computer! How cool is that? There was even (supposedly) a fella who got a patent for a washing machine, in 1850. And who can forget Tesla’s experiments with AC (alternating current) power?

All these really neat inventions were flying around in the Victorian age making it a time that, to the contemporary man, must’ve felt like living in the future. That alone was enough to inspire my inventor blacksmiths, Vesta and her father.

In the 19th century, the work of blacksmithing is one area where technology remained relatively the same, despite the other innovations I mentioned above. And the work of blacksmiths (like Vesta) remained in high demand. After all, these are the people, who made tools everyone is familiar with: nails, screwdrivers, crowbars, hinges, branding irons, gates, railings, fireplace grills and pokers, pots, pans, and much more.

One area that you might think the occupation of the blacksmith was lacking, is in the number of women working in the field at the time. But in fact, women have always contributed to blacksmith work. Who do you think made the nails and hinges? (Point of interest for you Jane Austen fans, there was a female blacksmith in 1708 named Elizabeth Bennett! [see the Bodleian Library blog: https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2016/05/17/lizzie-bennett-blacksmith/ ]). So, you see, maybe the women of the “ton” and upper classes sat back, sewed, had the babies, and were basically “angels of the house” but in other cases, women were taking on an occupation that we might think of as a man’s field. My heroine, Vesta, also grew up on a farm so I thought, why not give her an urge to make something that combines both skills?

And since the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries were also the time when many women were demanding their rights (especially the right to vote and of equality) well, I couldn’t resist mixing all these points in Vesta’s Clockwork Companions.  (Incidentally, I read that railway spikes and tracks were made in ironworks—which, you’ll see, is what Vesta’s beau runs in the book! ;))

So, Viola there you have it! Vesta’s story and her “Clockwork Companions” were born. I hope you will enjoy it.

Thanks, Caroline, for having me here today!

About the Book: Vesta’s clockwork Companions

When Vesta Bartlett, a wealthy alchemist and inventor, arrives in England to finalize an arranged marriage and help overhaul a family friend’s outdated ironworks, she never expects to find the family so secretive, nor to develop feelings for her fiancé’s younger brother, Henry.

But the growing attraction between Vesta and Henry is just the beginning of their troubles. Things really heat up when they’re drawn into a secret project for Queen Victoria’s military, one that requires Vesta’s knowledge of clockwork and Henry’s iron.

An epidemic has wiped out all the dogs in Britain, and beyond. If the military fail in their effort to restore the species, a clockwork creation may be all that stands in the way of a world without canine companionship.

Are Vesta and Henry up to the challenge?

If you’d like to check it out, it’s available in Kindle and paperback from Amazon:

About the Author

Juli D. Revezzo writes fantasy and romantic stories filled in with elements garnered from a lifetime love affair with magic, myth, witches, wizards, and fated lovers and legend. She is the author of The Antique Magic series and the Paranormal Romance Celtic Stewards Chronicles series, steampunk historical romances VESTA’S CLOCKWORK COMPANIONS, WATCHMAKER’S HEART, and short stories published in ETERNAL HAUNTED SUMMER, LUNA STATION QUARTERLY, among others. She is also a member of the Independent Author Network and the Magic Appreciation Tour.

You can find her here: https://www.julidrevezzo.com/