In the small town of Stubborn, West Virginia, 1880, happily single Cassandra Holloway has decided to come out to her father, Walter, on the eve of Valentine’s Day. Before she can reveal being a woman of “two-spirits” her well-intentioned, but offspring obsessed father has set her up on another blind date with someone named Morgan. When Cassandra attempts to cancel the date she is faced with a first. She must choose between a beautiful, deaf Astronomy Professor at the local University or the Professors’ handsome sign-language interpreter— both named Morgan.
With a comedy filled evening that Cassandra’s cupid playing father could not have planned, she must make a choice as the sun rises on Valentine’s Day. Which Morgan will be her Valentine?
***
Lady
Astronomers in Steampunk
As a kid I grew up around science, whether it
was astronomy, computers or aerospace engineering in the California Bay Area.
When not overseas on deployment, my father would take me out stargazing a few
miles away from the naval base we lived on. The beauty about living on the
Moffett Field was that it housed the, still functioning, NASA Research
Facilities. If I had a question about the stars I only had to walk from Hangar
One and ask some of the most talented people on the base.
When I set out to write my Steampunk romantic
novella, “The Winter Triangle” I knew that stargazing and astronomy had to be a
part of this Valentine tale. Professor Morgan Thibodeaux was created and based
on my research about two of the “Pickering” women—Henrietta Swan Leavitt and
Annie Jump Cannon. Both ladies worked at different times for Pickering as human
“computers” to measure and catalog the brightness of stars.
These findings
were later produced into the Henry Draper Catalogue. Annie Jump Cannon, while
an undergraduate at Wellesley, contracted scarlet fever and became partially
deaf. Not letting that stop her she went onto invent the Harvard Classification
Scheme for stars. Henrietta Swan Leavitt’s discovery allowed astronomers to
measure the distance between the Earth and distant galaxies. Her discovery of
the period-luminosity law for Cepheids is still used by astronomers today.
That kind of dedication and love for the night
sky is what I brought to Professor Morgan and she brings that love to Cassandra
with the help of her sign language interpreter, Hunter. Professor Morgan has
Leavitt’s cheerful personality and it shows throughout “The Winter Triangle”.
Morgan’s silent world is not a hindrance. She sees the world around her in all
its vibrancy and brings a sense of fun to Cassandra’s world during the eve of Valentine’s
Day.
With good humor and cheer, Professor Morgan inspires
both Cassandra and Hunter to look at the night with new eyes. Throughout their
evening in “The Winter Triangle”, the trio’s adventures fill them with the same
awe and wonderment only a clear West Virginia winter night sky can offer.
An
excerpt from “The Winter Triangle”
“What
is a Wicked Night Carnivale?” Morgan asked.
Hunter
and Cassandra shrugged. The
smell of hot maple sugar and popcorn filled the air as they approached the
platform.
The
black stemwinder train commanded the trio’s view. Lights glowed from the
sleeper at the rear of the iron horse and the caboose, but the two middle cars
were dark. All of the cars were painted in saffron yellow and rust red vertical
stripes with a large bolted sign in the center of each that read "WICKED
NIGHT CARNIVALE" in azure blue.
Festive
entertainers circulated amongst the well-dressed passengers gathered on the
platform. One, a
A
very proper looking older gentleman stepped up to Cassandra, Hunter and Morgan
with a tray stocked with dazzling trinkets and sweet treats. Cassandra spoke to
the vendor, and the man handed her a bag of maple pecan popcorn still steaming
in the February chill. She paid him, then turned and handed it to Morgan.
Morgan
hadn’t been to a carnival in years and missed it. She missed the colors, the
contortionists, and the jugglers. The stilt walkers towering above would always
make her Emilie giggle with delight. If Emilie had not been staying with her
parents this evening, her three year old would be reaching her chubby little
hands into the trinkets and food, and attempting to crawl onto everything
forbidden. Her daughter had made it a new practice to close her eyes whenever
Morgan tried to give her a discipline speech. Morgan’s mother had told her that
was normal for children her age, but it still drove her mad. Morgan smiled.
Despite it all, she still missed her little peanut, and could not wait to see
her again tomorrow afternoon.
She
thanked Cassandra, took a small handful, and offered the open bag to her
companions. After they all tasted, the pleasure on their faces made her laugh
and thank Cassandra once again.
The
entertainers had cleared away from the platform though a few of the vendors
remained when a woman with a bright red top hat and matching red stained lips
sauntered toward the loud speaker column. Hunter's jaw dropped yet he managed to
translate what the scarlet woman said.
“Ladies
and gentlemen! We welcome you to the Wicked Night Carnivale! Tonight you will
experience sights to intrigue and delight you! I promise," she winked,
"you will never be the same.”
The
crowd clapped and laughed as they boarded the caboose. The two Morgans and
Cassandra did not move.
What
had they stumbled into?
***
Nikki
Woolfolk grew up with her southern father’s good cooking and tall-tales
and her mother’s science fiction loving influence early Silicon Valley. In
2013, a friend challenged her to mix her two loves, science and writing, the
result is the multicultural Steampunk romantic novella “The Winter Triangle”
now available on Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords.com
Nikki is working on the next book with more original recipes for
the Steampunk Sweet & Steamy series and would love to hear from you. Find
her on Twitter @NikkiWoolfolk
Stop by Nikki’s blog thedrunkenmousse.wordpress.com to
get your free copy of the original Chocolate Mud Cherry Cheesecake recipe from
“The Winter Triangle”!
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