Title: The Devious Dr. Jekyll
Author: Viola Carr
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy/Steampunk
Format: Ebook/Paperback/Audible
Dr. Eliza Jekyll, heroine of the electrifying
The Diabolical Miss Hyde—an edgy steampunk retelling of the classic
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—investigates a bizarre murder case in an alternate Victorian London while battling her treacherous secret half: Lizzie Hyde.
Solving the infamous Chopper case has helped crime scene physician Dr. Eliza Jekyll establish her fledgling career in the chauvinistic world of Victorian law enforcement. But the scrutiny that comes with her newfound fame is unwelcome for a woman with a diabolical secret. And there is the mercurial Royal Society agent and wolf man Remy Lafayette. Does he want to marry her, eat her, or burn her at the stake? Though Eliza is uncertain about Remy, her dark and jealous shadow self, Lizzie, wants to steal the magnetic and persistent agent, and usurp Eliza’s life.
It’s impossible to push Remy away when he tempts her with the one thing she can’t resist: a bizarre crime. The search for a bloodthirsty ritual torturer dubbed the Pentacle Killer draws them into a terrifying world of spies, art thieves, and evil alchemy, where the price of immortality is madness—or damnation—and only Lizzie’s dark ingenuity can help Eliza survive.
As Eliza and Remy race to thwart a foul conspiracy involving the sorcerous French, they must also overcome a sinister enemy who is all too close: the vengeful Lizzie, determined to dispose of Eliza for good.
ORDER INFORMATION
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What are you
most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?
I've learned a
lot of things, been a lot of places. I get satisfaction from doing creative
things, so I'm proud of all my novels and the work I've put into learning musical instruments and the like. But there's always more to do!
How has your
upbringing influenced your writing?
I've had a
pretty easy life. I'm middle-class, white, educated, and the people around me
are supportive of my choices. So I suppose my writing reflects that, in that my
books tend to address problems that are a bit higher up the scale of human
needs. My Electric Empire series is set in quasi-Victorian times, but my
characters still have what you might call 'first-world problems'! My heroine,
Eliza, isn't worried about finding her next meal. She's fighting for her
career, for gender equality, for justice for murder victims. She's in a place
where she's concerned about happiness and fulfillment, not raw survival – at
least, not to begin with.
When and why
did you begin writing?
At school, for
something to do. I've always liked writing stories!
Do you recall
how your interest in writing originated?
English class
was something I was good at as a kid, as opposed to the more sporty things, at
which I really sucked. So I got thrown on the 'clever kid' pile. Which meant I
tended to self-select those things. Vicious circle, etc. Was I pigeonholed? Sure. But I wasn't unhappy
about it.
When did you
first know you could be a writer?
I wonder what that means: 'be a writer'. As in, write? Anyone can
do that. Writing for publication takes another level of dedication. I started
doing that in my late twenties. So yeah, don't believe anyone who says that if you
didn't start when you're a teen, it's too late. It's never too late.
What inspires
you to write and why?
Panic, mostly.
At deadlines. Ha! No, I think I'd still be writing even if I'd never landed a
contract. It puts me in my happy place. I read an article once about something
called 'creative flow', and how getting immersed in a task to the exclusion of
all else – even if it’s a menial task, like doing the ironing – makes you
happy. That's me, at my computer :)
What genre are
you most comfortable writing?
Fantasy and
sci-fi first and foremost. I love historical fiction, but I'm at best an
amateur historian. Which is one reason why Victorian steampunk is so much fun
for me – it's the speculative kind of history that I enjoy.
What inspired
you to write your first book?
The first ever
iteration of my first ever novel came from a high-school creative writing
project. I started this horrible high fantasy story, complete with quests and
magical plot-driving items and insufferable main characters. I had no idea
where it was going. Needless to say, those chapters ended up in the bin (yeah,
this was so long ago that I hand-wrote it!) but that idea was the genesis of a
slightly better novel manuscript that I eventually finished. And no, you can't
read it :)
Who or what
influenced your writing once you began?
For a while I
wanted to be Anne Rice. I loved her lush descriptions and courageous characterizations. I learned a lot from 80s-style epic fantasy – yeah, it's
kind of cringe-worthy now! But devouring authors like Weis and Hickman (they of
the Dragonlance books) taught me a lot about plot structure and how to play a
scene for drama. Also about what not to do :)
What do you
consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in
general?
Two things.
Being able to step back and see the big picture is difficult, especially when
you're first starting out and focused on the minutiae of craft. At least, it
was for me. You see and hear about a lot of writers – especially indie writers
– for whom making up a story is easy, but writing craft is, shall we say, problematic
:) I'm the opposite of that. Writing was innate for me. Story came harder.
The other is
motivation. Starting is easy. Finishing – and keeping going when it's not
progressing well! – is a lot harder.
Did writing
this book teach you anything and what was it?
I guess it
reinforced what my other books have taught me: every book is different. Some
well-known author (I forget who?) said that you never learn how to write a
novel – you only ever learn how to write this
novel.
Do you intend
to make writing a career?
I'm working at
that! I write full-time, and my family is very supportive.
Have you
developed a specific writing style?
Yes and no. I
publish books under two author names and they're very different. I have lush,
dark, erotic, highly descriptive books, and slam-bam action-focused books. But
like a poker player's tells, there are certain elements – turns of phrase,
character types, technical aspects – that will always give me away.
Of course,
character voices will always be different. The
Diabolical Miss Hyde and The Devious
Dr. Jekyll have 2 points of view: Eliza's and Lizzie's. They're two halves
of the same person, so I deliberately tried to make their voices 'the same but
different'. They influence each other, and occasionally there's bleedover. It's
how I imagine a 'split personality' in the style of Jekyll/Hyde would work!
What is your greatest strength as a
writer?
I have special blood that doesn't stain the keyboard when I bang
my head. Washes right off. It's awesome. Oh, and I can eat comfort chocolate by
the ton. The ton, people.
No, seriously, I think the best quality for a writer is to make
sure you're always learning, and I try to do that, whether it's research or
craft or just reading other authors.
What is your
favorite quality about yourself?
Apart from
wit, charm and dashing good looks? Er. Nope. Got nothing.
What is your
least favorite quality about yourself?
I'm getting
older. Y'know. Wrinkles and stuff. How is this possible?
What is your
favorite quote, by whom, and why?
One writers'
quote that I always remember was from Hilary Mantel, who won 2 Booker Prizes
for her historical fiction books Wolf
Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. She
said (and I'm paraphrasing here) that when she's writing, she'll invent the
contents of a man's heart, but never the colour of his wallpaper. In other
words, research the parts that can be researched, and get them right – but hidden
motives will always be fair game. Excellent advice for historical fiction,
which is really entertainment first and history a distant second.


Viola Carr was born in Australia, but wandered into darkest London one foggy October evening and never found her way out. She now devours countless history books and dictates fantastical novels by gaslight, accompanied by classical music and the snoring of her slumbering cat. She loves history, and pops down to London’s many historical sites whenever she gets the chance. She likes steampunk, and thought it would be cool to investigate wacky crimes with crazy gadgets…just so long as her heroine was the creator of said wacky gadgets: a tinkerer, edgy, with a dash of mad scientist.
Readers can follow her on twitter at @viola_carr and online at
http://www.violacarr.com.
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