2015 Most Anticipated ....... This Monstrous Thing

The next selection for This Monstrous Thing, a Frankenstein inspired tale of a brother who uses clockwork to revive his murdered brother. Yup, clockwork. Basically this is going to be amazing.

Read this brief synopsis and you'll be wishing you could read it immediately. Particularly if you're a fan of the classics!

Pitched as a reimagining of Frankenstein set in an industrialized 1818 Geneva, where a teenage mechanic must rediscover the line between man and monster after he uses clockwork to bring his murdered brother back from the dead.

Love that this will mix clockwork with the Frankenstein tale. It really lends itself to this sort of blending and I fully expect it'll be an emotional, slightly unsettling story. You can certainly tell it's taken inspiration from the rich and iconic tale.

Mackenzi Lee took the time to answer some questions about her book, design some tea that is perfect for the season, and share her novel's killer first line.

1 Describe This Monstrous Thing in Twitter format (140 characters or less)

Boy uses clockwork to resurrect his dead brother. Brother comes back monstrous. OH NO PANIC. And it all happens in a steampunked Switzerland
  
2 If someone were to make a tea flavour in honour of your book, what might be included?

The book takes place in December and several key scenes are set in and around Christmas markets, so it would probably be a Christmas-y tasting tea. Apples and oranges and cloves and cinnamon, like wassail. It would smell festive while brewing. The aroma alone would probably make you start caroling.

3 Can you share a secret about your book (either it's world, it's characters, or something that helped inspire the story)?

I visited Geneva, the city where most of the book is set, a few months after I turned in my final manuscript. It was exciting, but also sort of terrifying—what if I got everything wrong?! While I was there, I spent a few hours wandering around the old town, and ended up going to the square where my main character, Alasdair, lives. I was delighted to find that what is actually there is a restaurant called La Clémence—which is also the name of one of the book’s main characters! It felt like a sign. A Frankensign, as my agent would say.
While in Geneva, I also creeped through a hedge for a better view of the house where Mary Shelley lived while she wrote Frankenstein. But that’s another story.

4 What about the Frankenstein tale inspired you to create This Monstrous Thing?

Oh man, what doesn’t inspire me? Frankenstein is such a fascinating book. It asks so many difficult and complicated questions and doesn’t offer easy answers for any of them. There are no clear heroes or villains, and even the best characters do terrible things. 

Because my initial access point to Frankenstein was a stage version told mostly through the lens of the Creature, I became very interested in the questions it asks about the nature of monstrousness. What makes a monster, and are any of us born to be one thing or another? I was also swept up in the idea of Frankenstein as a science creation myth that was born from the anxieties of an enlightenment age. That got me curious as to what the book might have looked like in an industrial setting. What did a steampunk creation myth look like, and what would make a man monstrous in a mechanical age?

5 If you could travel to anywhere, in any time period, when and where would you want travel? 

This is HARD. Mostly because history is awesome, but also disgusting. Whenever I think of a time period I’d like to go back to, I immediately follow it up with, “But disease and filth and sanitation….and also internet….” I would miss internet.

But if hygiene and wifi were not concerns, I would probably go back to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

6 What three things do you need while revising?

Diet Coke, Diet Coke, and Diet Coke.
I might have a problem.

7 If possible, please share the first line of This Monstrous Thing. (only answer if not too spoilery).

“My brother’s heart was heavy in my hands.”

That opening line, right? Shivers. I cannot wait to read this one. Her tea sounds amazing and is something I would love to drink as the time before Christmas grows short.

This Monstrous Thing is set to be released Fall 2015 and no pre-order links are available yet but do keep an eye out for it! You can add it to Goodreads in the meantime.

Be sure to check back later on during the event for a chance to win a copy of This Monstrous Things (or any one of my featured titles!).

You can follow Mackenzi Lee on Twitter, visit her official website, and learn more about the book from the publisher website.

Do you like retellings of classic tales? Are you a fan of steampunk/clockwork novels? Let me know in the comments.