We offer our apologies for being a little late with the announcement, but Circlet Press Publisher Cecilia Tan alerts us to the fact that yesterday, 13 September, was “International Chocolate Day.” In honor of that day, she writes: “If you’re looking for a calorie-free way to celebrate the holiday, Circlet Press has the solution. The independent publisher of erotic science fiction and fantasy has launched a new free serial on their website today, Chocolatiers of the High Winds by H.B. Kurtzwilde.
“Kurtzwilde, the author of several GLBT genre romances, brings a literary sensibility to what promises to be a steamy steampunk adventure, following the coming-of-age of young Mayport Titus, heir to the Titus Chocolate Company, or what’s left of it after his parents’ untimely demise on the high winds.”
Tan was drawn to Kurtzwilde’s take on “alternate history” in a steampunk universe. “This isn’t just some fantasy land with airships,” she said. “It’s our world of England and India and New Orleans, and our world’s struggles with class, homophobia, and colonialism in the Victorian era—but shifted just so.” Part Dickens, part Faulkner, part Kipling, Chocolatiers has a sweet coating of light-hearted airship adventure around a chewy center of emotional and literary ballast. Mayport must deal with, among other things, the near financial ruin of his estate at the hands of the banks, the rebuilding of his father’s airship and the chocolate trade, and his evolving relationship with a schoolmate in an era when homosexual relations can be punished with dire consequences.
The serial will be updated every Monday on circlet.com, and it’s free to read on the site. Tan has plans for ebook and POD editions to follow once the plot wraps up some time next year.