Dear Students,
I am delighted to bring you another fabulous steampunk author today as part of the Steampunk University Lecture Series. Margaret Fox, author of Prince of Hearts will release her second novel in the series, A Dark Heart, on Amazon on November 26th. Please enjoy an interview with her protagonist in A Dark Heart, Inspector Elijah Drexler.
SteamU; The Steampunk University
Series
Author
of:
Prince of Hearts (The Elders and Welders Chronicles, Bk. 1)
Further
Discourses Available: Amazon
An
Interview With a Vampire
by Margaret Foxe
(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This
is a newspaper interview I “unearthed”, featuring the hero of my upcoming book,
A Dark Heart (The Elders and Welders Chronicles, Bk. 2), which is out on Amazon Nov. 26th. Many of my readers have
already met Inspector Elijah Drexler in Prince of Hearts, where he was one of the supporting
characters. He had his own story to tell, but getting him to tell it has proved
difficult, however, as you will plainly see by the futile efforts of the 19th
century interviewer below, who had no idea he was badgering a very cranky, very
dangerous vampire, by the by. But don’t worry. This vampire eventually learns
to open up and find love in A Dark Heart
– eventually being the key word.)
London, April, 1897:
Last week, this author
was fortunate enough to gain an interview with the infamously elusive
detective, Inspector Elijah Drexler of Scotland Yard. The Inspector had made a
name for himself early in his career for his dedicated crusade against the
Black Market that has held London’s East End in its thrall for the past few
decades. However, after single-handedly apprehending the vicious criminal known
as Jack the Ripper nearly a decade ago, Inspector Drexler retreated from his
rising celebrity under mysterious circumstances. He is rarely seen in public
these days.
His mission to clean up
the London stews has continued unabated, however, as was evidenced by the state
in which I discovered him for this interview in his small basement office:
unshaven, with blood staining a suit that had long since seen better days. He
informed me it was from a murder suspect he’d had to “subdue” before hauling
him into the Yard.
This author must admit
to a bit of trepidation upon discovering him in such dishabille, for despite
his apparent infirmities, one senses that this is not a man to cross in a dark
alley. Owing to a childhood accident, one of Inspector Drexler’s legs was crippled,
and an eye was lost forever. Thus he wields a cane to accommodate a noticeable
limp, and stares out at the world from behind a Welder’s brass-fitted eyepiece.
However, this author cannot decide which is more unnerving: the goggle-like
Weldling automata covering the right side of his face, or his one remaining
human eye, so brilliantly blue and shrewd that it seems just as unnatural.
Or perhaps it is the
scar streaking down his cheek underneath his Weldling eye that creates the
general air of menace surrounding this man. That or the Inspector’s scowling
reticence to all of my inquiries. But one thing has become unerringly clear to
this author: if I ever doubted the rumors he brought the Ripper’s severed head
to the Chief Inspector on a platter nine years ago, just like the biblical
Salome, I do not any longer. This man seems capable of anything.
Anything except
accommodating a newspaperman, it seems. Here is the brief interview I managed
to squeeze out of him, such as it is:
Me: It is well known
you were an orphan mentored by the late Earl of Llewellyn. Would you care to
comment on your relationship with him?
Inspector: There is
nothing much to say that has not been said before on that subject. He took an
interest in me when I was a lad and funded my education. He was a
philanthropist. That was what he did. I was nothing special.
Me: That isn’t exactly
true, now, is it? You were more than a charity case for him. And you have
remained close with his heir, the current Earl of Llewellyn, and his sister,
the socialite Lady Christiana Harker. Care to comment on that?
Inspector: I’m not close with anyone, certainly not nobs
like the Earl or her Ladyship. I’m from Whitechapel, not Mayfair.
Me: But the Earl would
call you a friend. You would not do the same?
Inspector: I don’t have
friends. [sighs] I thought this was about police business. If you’re looking
for gossip for the society page, you’ve come to the wrong bleeding place. [He gets
up from behind his desk as if to leave].
Me: Your reaction makes
me think you have something to hide. Perhaps you carry a tendre for Lady Christiana and don’t wish to betray yourself?
Inspector: [Sits back
down, and glares at me with such venom I admit that I break out in a sweat.
After a painfully long silence in which I begin to fear he’d put my head on a platter, however, Drexler
speaks.] What man in London doesn’t? Your own rag called her The Most Beautiful
Woman in London. She is beautiful to look at, I’ll admit. But other than that,
I can’t say. I don’t know her that well.
Me: I’ll take your word
for it. What I’m really interested in are the reports some of my sources have
been bringing me from the East End about strange creatures haunting the streets
at night.
Inspector: What’s new
about that?
Me: Well, perhaps the
fact that these strange creatures seem to be leaving behind bloodless corpses?
Inspector: I have no
comment.
Me: Do you have nothing
to say about Nick O’Connor’s alleged connection to these nighttime activities?
Your nemesis has been busy in recent years, consolidating the Black Market’s
power in East London, despite your best efforts. Should we be worried about
these latest rumors?
Inspector: [still
glaring] I don’t know anything about bloodless corpses. But I know this.
Anything bad that happens in London can be laid at that b-—‘s feet.
Me: So your quest to
bring down Nick O’Connor continues, even after all of these years?
Inspector: I may be
destined for a place in hell, but I’m taking that son of a b—- with me when I
go.
Me: Brave words,
Inspector.
Inspector: True words. And you can print every one
of them. I want him to know I’m coming for him. [With that, Inspector Drexler
ends the interview abruptly.]
Of course, my editors
have forced me to leave blank some of the Inspector’s more colorful language in
regards to Nick O’Connor’s person, but I heeded the Inspector’s request to
publish his latest declaration of war against the Black Market leader.
Despite his
deflections, this author believes the Inspector knows far more about the
disturbing reports currently circulating throughout the city concerning the new
terrors stalking the streets at night. Not since the early days of the Ripper’s
reign of terror have Scotland Yard and other official sources been so reluctant
to talk to members of the press. Should the general citizenry be worried?
Absolutely. Bloodsucking creatures or no, with men like Newgate Nick O’Connor
out there, one should always worry.
But with men like
Inspector Drexler to stand up to the villains – men nearly as fearsome as the
villains themselves – this author feels perversely reassured. My instincts tell
me that if I had to choose between facing Nick O’Connor or the Inspector in the
boxing ring, I’d choose the former if I had any desire to leave the ring alive.
- From The London Post-Dispatch, 1897.
About the Author
Margaret Foxe is a professional musician from Tennessee. She has lived
in several countries and travelled from Costa Rica to Cairo. Her
crowning transcontinental glory was ascending Jebel Toubkal in the High
Atlas Mountains with her best friend, a mule, a Berber guide named Omar,
a bota bag, and lots and lots of orange Fanta. She is currently working
on her master's degree in piano performance in between writing
steampunk mash-ups. Her debut novel, Prince of Hearts, combines all of
her favorite things: historical romance, steampunk gadgets, a touch of
fantasy, and a canine sub-plot.
Margaret has graciously gifted a giveaway for my December 4th release party for Chasing the Star Garden. Please join us for our Steampunk Fete and Chasing the Star Garden release party on Facebook! With more than 30 prizes and more than a dozen steampunk writers donating to the event, it's sure to be a blast!
~ Class Dismissed
