{about the book}
Lucretia's
life as an astronomer is quickly turned on its head by her eldest
brother when he is commanded by the king to build the grandest
telescope in the land. Her nights spent on rooftops gazing at the
stars are replaced by adventure as the family move to be nearer the
king. In a race to build the Forty-foot telescope on time,
misfortunes take their toll. The lady astronomer finds court life to
be more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Can she find the
strength inside to overcome the obstacles threatening her destiny?
Only the stars will tell.
Release Date: September 26, 2012
ASIN: B009HIIKS0
{excerpt}
Siphonaptera
jumped on to the flat roof, hidden by his tiny size and the darkness
of the still night. Though stars peppered the skies with diamond
dust, their light would no more have illuminated the predator than a
candle at one end of a particularly dank, gloomy tunnel.
He
paused on his long hind legs, lifted his head, and fixed a beady eye
on his prey. Three warm bodies for him to gorge on. If his front legs
had been longer he would have rubbed them together in glee at the
thought of the crimson blood lying in wait within his unknowing
quarry. Blood. His tube-like mouth parts quivered in anticipation. He
jumped again and came ever closer. His tiny belly rumbled and he
stopped before realising the noise was so minute, nobody could
possibly have heard it. Victory would be his! Just one more jump.
Two. Three. The excitement of wanting, and knowing it was within
reach, filled him in a great rush. And then he knew no more.
A
sudden shriek made Lucretia's heart leap and her hand fly to her
chest. Her head whipped round and her left eye, hugely magnified
behind her monoscope, fixed on her ring-tailed lemur crouched nearby.
"Leibniz,
how many times have I asked you not to make noise when I'm at a
critical juncture?" She sighed. "What do you have there,
boy?"
The
lemur sauntered over, arms behind his back.
"Show,
Leibniz. Show." She raised herself from the roof and brushed
down her dress.
Leibniz
reluctantly held his arm forward and opened his paw. Within lay a
smudged smear that had once been Siphonaptera. Lucretia peered until
she could make out what it was. She stepped back and grimaced. "Well,
feel free to eat it. I hate fleas."
The
lemur's pink tongue picked the squashed flea up gently and deposited
it into his mouth. Leibniz closed his eyes in appreciation and
savoured the tiny flavour before it disappeared, which it did rather
too quickly for his liking. He scratched his bottom, sat down, and
looked up enquiringly at Lucretia. His long black and white striped
tail curled like a question mark.
"Don't
ask me." She shrugged. "Let's get on with some more work
before sunrise." So saying, she lay down on her stomach again
and lifted her Newtonian sweeper telescope to her good eye.
"Now,
where was I?" She muttered, trying to find the exact patch of
sky she had been studying before being so rudely interrupted.
Katy
is an arts and entertainment journalist and has worked for Time Out,
Associated Newspapers and Comic Relief and her articles have appeared
in The Times (London), Metro (London) and many other arts and
entertainment publications, paper and online.
She
reviews for the Historical Novels Review and the British Fantasy
Society, is a commissioning editor at Pendragon Press and is
co-editor of the Nasty Snips II Project for that press.
Alongside
writing with her Dad under the pen-name Derry O’Dowd, whose first
book ‘The Scarlet Ribbon’ was chosen to launch the History Press
Ireland’s fiction line, she writes under her own name.
‘The
Lady Astronomer’, a YA Steampunk novel, is out with Untold Press.
She is currently writing a Steampunk adult series because writing for
tweens and teens is damnably hard work. However, the good people at
Untold might just have persuaded her to write a sequel and short set
in the Lady Astronomer’s world.
Twitter
@katyod
{facts}
I wrote The Lady Astronomer for my eldest son – he was jealous that I had used my younger son’s name in something else I was writing.
I work with an Astronomer on books that require his expert knowledge – the idea for The Lady Astronomer came to me while reading another book that he recommended I read.
The Lady Astronomer is inspired by the life of Caroline Herschel (1750-1848). She suffered from both Smallpox and Typhus, was a milliner, soprano, her brother William’s Assistant – he discovered Uranus, then known as George’s Star for the King who funded the build of the ‘Great Forty-Foot’ telescope – and most importantly, perhaps, became the first woman in recorded history to discover a comet. Not to mention the first woman in the UK to receive a working wage, from the King if you don’t mind.
{my thoughts}
I read a little of everything but this was different than most of my books because it is aimed more for children. I totally enjoyed it though. It had a great storyline and characters. I was interested throughout the entire book. It made me feel like a little kid in a fantasy world. Excellent!!
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