I’ve also had great fun creating alternate histories, which I consider one of the perks of writing Steampunk. There are so many things might have been but never were. For example, how would the landscape of our county change if Hawaii had remained a sovereign nation instead of becoming a state?

The State of Deseret was also something that never was. I’ve made Deseret an official territory, not a state, and much smaller than originally proposed, about the size and placement of Utah. The MoBatts is a play on the Mormon Battalion, which was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, serving during the Mexican-American war. I entertained the notion that the battalion stayed in service after the war, eventually becoming a privatized security force for Deseret, chasing all sorts of baddies—especially air pirates.

Human trafficking was an issue during the Victorian era. Girls were being abducted then brought to America to work in brothels because the supply of willing girls didn’t meet the demand. In 1910 the American government banned the interstate transport of women for “immoral purposes.” Unfortunately, human trafficking is still an issue world-wide today.

Making art and jewelry out of human hair was a Victorian pastime and ladies magazines even published instructions. I’m not sure if any faeries were commissioning mortals to steal antiquities, but people aren’t always whom or what they seem, which is valuable to remember, no matter age you live in.

—Suzanne Lazear

About the Author

Suzanne Lazear (Los Angeles, CA) loves both faeries and steampunk and has been known to build faerie houses in the backyard and make rayguns to match her ball gown. She’s a regular blogger at Steamed, a group steampunk blog. Charmed Vengeance is her followup novel to Innocent Darkness.