Sunday, September 11, 2011

Virdis

My good friend, Calista Taylor, has released her first novel! Virdis is a wonderful steampunk mystery laced with a hot and steamy (pun most definitely intended!) romance.


The main character, Phoebe, creates an herbal, Virdis, which entrances the elite of Victorian London because of the way it enhances the senses. Phoebe's a fabulous character - she's strong and intelligent and she refuses to be constrained by the strict Victorian rules. You're going to love her!

When one of the guests at Phoebe's club is murdered and her lover (who happens to be a very handsome charming tinkerer) returns from a mission to help the Cause, Phoebe's life is thrown into chaos. And the stakes get upped from there. Calista comes up with incredible twists and turns in the plot and she's not afraid to tackle any subject. Kind of reminds me of Phoebe... :)

Calista herself is incredibly creative. She created the fabulous cover herself. She's also currently working on a steampunk craft book - and she's making all the crafts herself. This book will be published by Fox Chapel Publishing - the tentative date is May 2012. I can't even sew on a button...

Virdis is currently available on Amazon for $0.99 and for FREE on Smashwords. Click on the links to take you there. The 2nd book in the Virdis series will be available soon, so you won't have long to wait! Enjoy!

52 comments:

Riley Redgate said...

Woohoo! Go Cali! This sounds like such a fun story. I'm going to download it (when I don't have homework, so I can actually get work done! XD).

Jemi Fraser said...

Riley - it is!! And, yeah, you'd better get the homework done first - you'll get sucked right into the story! :)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I like Phoebe already! Sounds great :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Lynda - Phoebe is a fabulous character! So strong and so passionate about helping others and being true to herself! :)

Unknown said...

Sounds like an amazing book. I discovered Steampunk about a year ago and love it. Now I read it whenever I can. Going to head on over to Smashwords and check this one out!

Cali MacKay said...

Jemi, thanks so much for doing this post on Viridis! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!

Riley, and Lynda, I hope you'll enjoy it!

Cali MacKay said...

Trisha, I hope you like it! Thanks for the support!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Trisha - it's an amazing book! Calista was the one who introduced me to steampunk - she creates an incredible sotry here! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Calista - you're so very welcome! It's my pleasure to share your book with the world ... or my small corner of it :)

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Congratulations to Calista!

It's so exciting when you see good things happening to your writing friends. :D

Mason Canyon said...

Congratulations to Calista on this release. I love the cover. I've never read steampunk so VIRIDIS will be my first. Jemi, thanks for the introduction to Calista and her work. Wishing her much success.

Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Freelance Editing By Mason

Cali MacKay said...

Thank you, Sharon!!

Mason, thanks for the well wishes! I do hope you'll like steampunk. There are some great books out there (Gail Carriger, Scott Westerfield, Cherie Priest). And so glad you like the cover!

Jemi Fraser said...

Sharon - it really is exciting watching our friends succeed - so much fun!


Mason - thank you! Steampunk is such a fun genre. Calista is the one who introduced me to it a few years ago - I'm so happy to see her book out and about!

Old Kitty said...

Hot steamy steampunk!! Yay!!! Huge congratulations to Calista! Thanks for the intro and links, Jemi! Take care
x

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Congrats to the author of the book. It looks a winner,

Yvonne.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations to Calista!

LD Masterson said...

Jemi - thanks for putting us on to a good read.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the rec! I'm always on the lookout for a good read.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

GREAT review, Jemi! You've certainly piqued my curiosity! :-)

Anonymous said...

Too awesome. I've been waiting forever to read this intriguing novel. From the first sentence you get sucked in and real life blurs to the peripheral.

Good thing I have nothing pressing to do today!

Thanks for highlighting this, Jemi.

Cali MacKay said...

Thank you to everyone for all the support and well wishes!!

Cat, I'm so happy you're enjoying the book!

Angela Kulig said...

Awesome, I like the sound of it. Will def add it to my TBR pile.

Jemi Fraser said...

Old Kitty - you're welcome! Hot & steamy is the right description - great writing :)

Yvonne - I think it does too! Hope it soars!

Alex - thanks for your support! :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Linda - you're very welcome! I really enjoyed it :)

Rebecca - you're so welcome. This one definitely qualifies as a good read!

Shannon - thank you! Hope you enjoy a deeper look into it :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Cat - I agree! It's an absorbing read - full of great characters and intriguing plot :)

AJ - Yay! It's such a great story, I know you'll enjoy it!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I love those women who refused to conform.

Jemi Fraser said...

Susan - me too! You're going to love Phoebe :)

Jackee said...

This one sounds great, Jemi! Thanks! Plants AND steampunk... right up my alley. :o)

Cali MacKay said...

AJ, I hope you'll enjoy it!

Susan, she's definitely not one to conform! Feisty, smart and opinionated. : )

Jackee, I figured herbals and steampunk-- it had to be interesting based on that alone, right? lol.

Again, thanks for all the support! You're all amazing-- especially you, Jemi!

Elliot Grace said...

...an excellent accomplishment! Congrats Calista ;)

El

Jemi Fraser said...

Jackee - you're right - it sounds about perfect for you!! :)

Elliot - it really is - as you well know! :)

Buttercup said...

This sounds great. It's my one of my usual genre, but it's sounds like a really good read. Thanks!

Jemi Fraser said...

Buttercup - it's a really enjoyable read - I think you'll love it :)

Lydia Kang said...

It looks amazing. The story sounds imaginative and different!

Lisa Gail Green said...

How fun! And how nice of you to do this for your friend. :D

Cali MacKay said...

Thank you, Elliot. It feels great (and scary!) to have it out there.

Buttercup, I hope you'll enjoy it. And it's free, so the risk is low, at least. : )

Lydia, I'm so glad you think so! Thanks!

Jemi Fraser said...

Lydia - it is! I think it lives up to all those expectations :)

Lisa Gail - it is a fun read! I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Anonymous said...

Great cover and description. I have my copy. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Medeia - yay! I love the cover too. Calista did a great job :)

Cali MacKay said...

Lisa, Jemi is truly a gem!

Medeia, thanks so much for picking up a copy! I hope you'll like it!

Anonymous said...

Sounds great! Along with writing, Calista is a talented artist. And crafter it sounds like!

Talli Roland said...

Wow, that sounds like such a great read! I find Victorian London so intriguing.

Hannah said...

This sounds amazing! I'm going to buy it right now!

Jemi Fraser said...

Calista - awww - you're a sweetie! :)

Lynn - she really is a talented lady!

Talli - me too! Victorian London has a special kind of pull, doesn't it?

Hannah - yay!! I know you'll enjoy it - it's a great story :)

kathrynjankowski said...

Don't have an e-reader, so I'm grateful it's available as a PDF. Thanks so much, it sounds intriguing!

Jemi Fraser said...

Kathryn - I have an ereader, but I've also read a couple of books on my iPod Touch and I like it so much better than I thought I would! I know you'll enjoy this one :)

Cali MacKay said...

Thanks so much, Lynn!! *blush*

Talli, I can never resist Victorian London, and the best part of steampunk is that it keeps it from feeling too "old" & historical.

Hannah, thanks so much for the support! I hope you'll enjoy it!

Kathryn, thanks for going to such lengths to read it! I hope you'll like it!

Jean Oram said...

Jemi, you are quite right, there is something about Phoebe that is reminiscent of the multi-talented Calista!

The story is a gooder. Fast-paced and at times laugh-out-loud and at others teared jerking. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

:)

Cali MacKay said...

Aw thanks, Jean!! You're far too kind. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Jean - me too!! It's awesome :)

Cali - it's been such a fun couple of days. Thanks for letting me help you spread the word on your great book!

Cali MacKay said...

Jemi, I can't thank you and your readers enough!! It's been amazing! A huge thank you to you all!!

Jemi Fraser said...

Cali - you're very, very welcome!