Cogs in Time Anthology (The Steamworks Series Book 1) Page 30

  “Luca?” Astrid knew something was going to take him from her. He smiled, and then hung his head. He turned with a sad gesture of goodbye, and ran behind Mordecai. “No!” she cried, but Luca didn’t answer or turn back to her again. He vanished, as did Mordecai, leaving a wall of fire where they stood.

  A tear rolled down Astrid’s cheek, but she wiped it away. Her cheeks were smeared with mud and tears as the baby in her arms squirmed, demanding attention. She nestled the girl’s warm face in her neck.

  She sat and rocked with the child as the sound of a furnace blowing madly consumed the city, and with it all the madness, the differences, and the pain that had possessed it.

  Astrid unwrapped the orphaned, baby girl vampire from the rucksack and emptied the bag, inside were provisions of food and money. Also, clipped inside the money, was a small picture of Luca. On the back, in a black cursive script, were the words “I give you my life and a new world to make.” She slowly took out an apple from the bag and bit into it, one hand still on the baby. “All for you, my love,” she whispered. “All for you.”

  Author Biographies

  Amanda Gatton-Amanda Gatton is an Ohio wife to Adam and mom to Jacob and Shiny. Amanda has loved to draw and write all her life. In her former life she was a waitress and now she gets to spend her days with her babies and making art. In addition to her creativity, Amanda is a hedgewitch and fortuneteller! Follow Amanda's blog, Under the Sun! www.amandadgatton.com

  Catherine Stovall-Catherine Stovall is the author of Faire Eve, Stolen, Reborn & Eternity of the Requiem of Humanity series, Arcana: The Maiden (A World of Wade Novel), and the short stories, Fearful Day, Bloody Freedom (Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds Anthology), Condemned to Die, and I Am Freak (Cirque D’Obscure Anthology). Catherine is a fearless creature who surrounds herself with the joys of life both in and out of her fictional worlds. She lives in Southeast Missouri with her husband, three children, and pets. When not writing and editing, she spends her time riding motorcycles, wearing elaborate hats, and genuinely enjoying the oddities in life. Visit Catherine on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCatherineStovall

  Robert Craven-Born July 2nd 1966, Robert Craven currently lives in Dublin, Ireland with his wife and children. He is the author of such full-length novels as Get Lenin, and its sequel Zinnman, published by Taylor Street Publishing, an independent press based in San Francisco. As well as a vampire short titled ‘A Communion of Blood’ published by Vamptasy Publishing in their anthology Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds

  Samantha Ketteman-Samantha Ketteman has resided in southern Illinois for 7 years, (though still claims to be an Alabama girl), with her husband and three crazy demon children. She is working on The Forgotten series, as well as the Destiny Discovered series, the Reaping Justice series, and Avenging Innocence, a stand-alone novel, as well as various other projects. She is a caffeine addict, insomniac, and generally scatterbrained most of the time. You can find Samantha on her Facebook page as well as other social media sites. www.facebook.com/authorsamanthaketteman

  Cindy J. Smith-Cindy Smith was raised in upstate New York. She has worked a variety of jobs during her life—waitress, store associate, certified electronic technician. She is currently employed as an over-the-road truck driver with her husband. Cindy has lived in many states from Maine to Florida. She now resides in Indiana. Through all her experiences, she had voices in her head dictating poems. The voices would not relent until Cindy wrote the poems down. She invites you to eavesdrop.

  Emma Michaels-Emma Michaels is a cover artist and the author of Owlet. As the founder of The Writers Voice blog (http://OurBooksOurVoice.Blogspot.com) she loves to connect authors and readers. Her love of blogging started when she created a review blog in 2009 (www.EmmaMichaels.com) which gave her the courage to finally submit her own novels to publishers.

  Faith Marlow-In the fifth grade, Faith Marlow discovered a fondness for writing and has considered herself a storyteller ever since. The notion of transporting a reader into another place or time, to allow the reader to experience life from the perspective of the character is as intriguing is it is challenging and is at the heart of any project she undertakes. In addition to writing, she is an avid reader, movie connoisseur, and a veritable repository for all manner of useless yet entertaining knowledge.

  Faith lives in Tennessee with her high school sweetheart/ husband, Scottie, their son Avery, and Moses the loyal family turtle.

  Nina Stevens-Nina Stevens grew up with a dad who taught her the importance of taking things apart and putting them back together again, bigger and louder than before. Her husband shares her love of everything vintage, shiny and loud and they live on the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast, where she runs their home and their two dogs run the show. This is her first published work, you can read more of Nina’s poetry at All Poetry, http://allpoetry.com/Succubus_Dreams

  Wayne Carey-Wayne Carey devoured science fiction from an early age, the genre guiding him toward a career in science with degrees in biology and education and creating the desire to write. A former research scientist and teacher, he and his wife Brenda live in the wilds of Central Pennsylvania with their three children, who provide a great deal of inspiration for his work.

  Zoe Adams–Zoe Adams is a recent graduate of Professional Writing, at The Grimsby Institute, through the University of Hull. She has always had an interest and a huge love of horror, science fiction, paranormal fiction, and other media. Adams has been writing professionally since 2010, whereupon she first started her course and has continued to push a career since. She can be found at: http://readerwriterzoe.blogspot.co.uk/ and through by email: zeezee92@hotmail.com.

  MJ Baerman-MJ Baerman is a Phoenix transplant currently living in northern Wisconsin. She enjoys writing, art, and running. She was educated in musical performance, focusing on piano and French horn. While she has always been a tinker at heart, she discovered her love of Steampunk in 2010. She is currently working on a collection of steampunk art and a series of novels. Haven is MJ’s first submission for an anthology.

  Andrea Staum-Andrea L. Staum is the author of Blood of the Sire Book 1 of the Dragonchild Lore series. She's a trained motorcycle technician with an Associates in Supervisory Management, is an amateur home renovator, and somehow manages to find time to write. She lives in south central Wisconsin with her husband, two demanding cats, and two ornery rabbits.

  Deborah Dalton-Deborah Dalton is a previously published science fiction and fantasy author. Her first short story was Avalonis published on Oct. 25, 2011 by short-story.me and she has Eden Alive coming out in NCGS Books’ Elkecordaca RA anthology in summer 2013.

  Eada Janes – Born and raised in the wonderful St. Louis, Mo area. Eada Janes is a hometown girl at heart. You can find her walking by the banks of the mighty Mississippi river, dancing the night away at the local clubs, or snuggled up in front of her fire with a good book and a cup of warm coco. After graduating with a degree in fine arts and working in the corporate world of retail for many years, she has decided to return to her creative roots and brave a brand new start as an independent author. Cogs in Time is her publishing debut, but she is currently working on a historical erotica for the near future.

  Cecilia Clark –Cecilia is a writer and illustrator. She has short pieces of fiction and illustrations in a variety of anthologies and magazines. She writes Horror with humour, Paranormal and steampunk romance and stories for younger readers. She is writing several novels and intends to lengthen the short fiction she has enjoyed. She is a member of the Federation of Australian Writers (FWA) and Romance Writer's Australia(RWA) and SCBWI Australia and New Zealand(Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators)

  Cecilia can be found on her Goodreads author profile at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7245110.Cecilia_Clark

  http://ceciliaaclark.blogspot.com.au

  SJ Davis-SJ Davis is the daughter of an ex-patriate British mother and a Southern Baptist ex-CIA father. As a child, she spoke in silly a
ccents and recounted outlandish tales of fantasy over afternoon tea and to this day it remains her favorite activity. Born in Long Island, NY, she was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC and went to school for a very long time (University of Virginia and George Mason University), married an all-around wonderful man, had two kids (smart, funny, full of opinions), moved from Virginia to New Jersey to Philadelphia to Chicago, and began her writing career. She is a believer in passionate romance and love at first sight, an avid tea drinker, a stiletto aficionado, Doc Marten worshipper, punk rock listener, and lover of flip-flops and cardigans. She has a terrible sense of direction, loves twizzlers, and is a Johnny Depp fangirl.