For Immediate Release
June 8, 2012
Seventh Star Press Announces New Young Adult
Steampunk Series with the Addition of J.L. Mulvihill to its Author Family
Seventh Star Press proudly announces the addition
of J.L. Mulvihill to its author family with Steel Roots, an exciting new young
adult steampunk series set in an alternate history with a dash of
folklore. The first title, The Box Car Baby, is slated for release
in the 2nd quarter of 2013, with new titles following at the beginning of 2014
and 2015. Readers can look forward to meeting a host of enthralling,
distinctive characters within a richly-developed landscape woven by the
imagination of J.L. Mulvihill.
(Steel Roots illustration by Rachael Ward)
The Box Car Baby introduces the character of
AB'Gale Steel who was born in a boxcar on a train bound for Georgia, according
to what her papa told her. Bishop Steel, a mechanical engineer for the
Southern Railroad, found his adopted daughter snuggled in a basket of cotton on
an otherwise empty boxcar in the train yard. When no one came around to
claim the baby, Bishop Steel, rather than relinquish the child to the State
only to end up at the Workhouse someday, smuggled her home to raise as his own.
The name on the boxcar he found her in read, A B Gale Logs, and so he named the
baby AB'Gale.
But if the mystery of who her real parents are
isn’t enough for fifteen-year -old AB'Gale, Papa Bishop goes missing. Worried
for her family and afraid of having to spend her life at the Workhouse, AB'Gale
goes into town to see if anyone’s seen her papa, only to find a deeper
mystery. At the train station no one seems to know who her papa is even
though he’s worked for the Southern Railroad for thirty years.
An encounter with a strange Hobo-man, who claims
to know her father, results in the acquisition of a leather eye-glass tube that
he says belongs to her papa. Before AB'Gale can question him further the man
runs away. When she gets home, she finds the Crushers taking her grandma
off to the Oldies-home, so she hides until they are gone.
AB'Gale finds that the leather tube contains a
map of the United States, with markers made by various towns across the
country. By each marker is a word or a name written in her papa’s
handwriting.
Alone, and with only the clues of the map to go
by, AB'Gale has no choice but to set out on her own to find her papa.
"Seventh Star Press has a very vivacious
group of people with an incredible amount of awesome novels and stories pouring
out," J.L. commented on her addition to Seventh Star Press. "I
just thought that SSP might need a little more Teen-Steam, so I am very pleased
they have asked me to come on board with my young adult steampunk series, Steel
Roots."
Born in Hollywood and raised in San Diego, CA,
J.L. Mulvihill has made Mississippi her home for the past fifteen years.
Her debut novel was the young adult title The Lost Daughter of Easa,
an engaing fantasy novel bordering on science-fiction with
a dash of steampunk (Kerlak Publishing). J.L. also has several short
fiction pieces in publication, among them "Chilled
Meat", a steampunk thriller found in the Dreams of Steam II-Of Bolts
and Brass, anthology (Kerlak Publishing) and "The
Leprechaun’s Story", a steampunk urban Fantasy found in the
anthology, Clockwork, Spells, & Magical Bells (Kerlak Publishing)
J.L. is very active with the writing
community, and is the events coordinator for the Mississippi Chapter of
Imagicopter known as the Magnolia-Tower. She is also a member of the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Gulf Coast Writers
Association (GCWA), The Mississippi Writers Guild (MWG), as well as the Arts
Council of Clinton, and the Clinton Ink-Slingers Writing Group.
"J.L. Mulvihill is a perfect fit for our
family of authors, editors, and artists," fellow Seventh Star Press author
Stephen Zimmer commented. "She is already well-loved on the convention
circuit, and in addition to her great talent as a writer, she has a fantastic
work ethic and approach to the realities of the publishing world today.
We are all so excited to have her with us."
The Steel Roots novels will be released in
limited hardcover, softcover (trade paperback), and several eBook editions,
including versions for Kindle, Nook, the iBookstore, and Sony-compatible
devices. The books will also include interior illustrations, in addition
to cover art from Seventh Star Press' award-winning artists.
For further information on J.L Mulvihill and the
upcoming releases, please visit www.seventhstarpress.com or the author's
site at www.elsielind.com
Contact: C.C. James
Public Relations, Seventh Star Press
ccjames@seventhstarpress.com
Seventh Star Press is a small press publisher of
speculative fiction located in Lexington Kentucky
