My Lady Gambler by
Stories of
Erotic Romance, Corsets, and an England That Never Was
Genre: erotica, erotic romance, steampunk romance,
steampunk erotica, steampunk Regency
978-9886468-0-3 (ePub)
978-9886468-1-0 (MOBI)
Number of pages: 200
Word Count: 50,000
Book Description:
A collection
of erotic romance in the Age of Steam, featuring a Regency novella...
Cara St. Cross is determined to play at the
highest-stakes poker club in all of Great Britain... even if getting in
requires her to dress like a man. Stanley, Lord Greenhope, doesn’t truly
believe that “Mister” St. Cross has had relations with his wife, but that
doesn’t stop him from challenging the (wo)man to a duel.
In the early Age of Steam, duels are still legal,
young ladies get kidnapped to Gretna Green, and only the villains seem to care
whether Cara wins at the tables.
As well as the Regency novella, My Lady Gambler, this collection
includes three short stories of Victorian-style steampunk erotica:
Miss Carlotta
Stembridge crafts her own troupe of dancing automatons in “The Clockwork
Dancers”. When she meets a flesh-and-blood dancer who steals her heart, she
must fight society and her own creations if she wants to keep him in her life.
In “On the Curious
Condition of the Anachronism in Modern Aviation Structures,” First Mate
Jess Priory of the merchant airship Aer Nova offers passage to a handsome
doctor. Lucky thing she did, since his skills come in handy when the ship is
attacked!
The possibility of a
time machine causes more problems than it solves in “Dorothea Franklin’s
Marvelous Machine,” Thankfully, the inventor can console herself with the
darkly sexy, powerful Sir George, Grand Master of the London Masons.
Guest Post:
Being What You’re Not: Cross-dressing in Pop Media
Thanks for inviting me to talk a bit about one of my
favorite literary and cinematic themes, Alisia. You see, I've always loved
books and movies where someone cross-dresses to get what they want. Usually,
these also include a theme of "hiding your true nature" coupled with
a romance that dare not speak its name.
Since writers are often told to “write the book you want to
read,” I set out to do exactly that when I wrote the first story in my recently
published collection, My Lady Gambler. All
right, so my “Mister St. Cross” isn’t hiding her true nature. She is most
definitely a woman, and the gentlemen of her 18th century poker club
merely pretend not to notice her femininity. Out of politeness.
But that’s all right because what I like best about all the
cross-dressing is not the fear of discovery or the romantic hijinks. It’s that
the characters trade such an integral part of their identities for some important
cause, and then they have to live with the consequences. For Cara St. Cross,
that means giving up femininity in order to play high-stakes poker, at the loss
of pretty dresses and immunity from duels of honor. It's a price she's more
than willing to pay.
Here are my five favorite movies and books on this theme:
1.
Almost a
Gentleman by Pam Rosenthal. Also a Regency romance that revolves around a
poker player, Rosenthal’s heroine is a distraught widow taking control of her
life. As Phizz Marsten, she proves just how ridiculous masculine society is by
being better at it then the men around her… with the exception of the one man
she comes to love.
2. Yentl. The
film version of this classic Jewish tale stars Barbara Streisand as a girl pretending to be her brother so that she
can study at a Yeshiva. Of course, there is romantic drama with one of her
classmates, but I particularly like that she goes off and finds better things
to do than remain enmeshed in a love story.
This is a fairly standard folk
tale and there’s a neat corollary in the Chinese classic, Mulan, which you probably saw as an animated film.
3. Just One
of the Guys. This 1980s highschool film follows journalism student Terry who didn’t get a
particular internship. She decides to apply again as a boy and goes undercover at
a different school where she’s confronted with machismo, aggressive girls, and
a burgeoning love for a very confused young man. Really, though, my favorite
part is where she (as a he) helps a girl who’s lost an earring back. Just break
the eraser off the back of your pencil. (Maybe that’s a bit dated now?)
4. Men get to cross-dress too. This film is oddly both juvenile and culturally relevant at the same time: Sorority Boys. In this film, a team of frat boys hide from some
not-very-memorable danger by dressing up as girls. They become friends with the
girls from the “ugly sorority,” find love, and question their gender
identities. There’s also a great reversal by the group’s ringleader when he
goes from “guy who date-maybe-rapes sorority girls” to “guy who maybe gets
date-raped.” While the film treats this all very lightly, the themes run deep
and can lead to some serious cultural discussions if you let yourself get
carried away.
In the same vein of “men get to
cross-dress and it looks light and fluffy,” I also recommend Some Like It Hot (a Marilyn Monroe
vehicle).
5. This last one is really about gender identity.
It will make you cry and be scared of men for years: Boys Don't Cry. Perhaps this one isn’t a “cross-dressing” film
in the traditional sense. Main character Brandon is a man, just one who’s been born
in a girl’s body. He journeys to a new town and makes friends who don’t know
about his terrible biological secret. He’s a wonderful boyfriend, a nice guy,
and trying to find his place in the world. Too bad the other men in his life
are vengeful and cruel.
About the Author :
Victoria Pond is a
professional writer on projects ranging from video games to novels. She lives
in Seattle with a husband and a cat, where she sings with a Celtic band and is
working on the next novella in her steampunk erotica universe.
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