[INDEV] The Automatons of Oleander Isle

What is this?

This is the page for The Automatons of Oleander Isle.  This is a steampunk southern gothic novel I am writing based on a VN I made for Spooktober 6 Jam in September 2024.  You can read/play this game here, but be aware a lot of this is going to be in the book too.  Also be aware that a lot of what is in the book is NOT in the VN.  

Cool.  What's it about?

"Arabella Harlow is a governess seeking new employment in the city of Second London one Halloween season.  Her paths cross with an eccentric alchemist-inventor, who introduces her to his myriad of creations.  One particular automaton is Jack, a humanoid construct with ruby-red eyes and intellect on par with a human's.  But Jack cannot speak - not verbally.  So Arabella is hired on to teach him how to communicate through alternate methods.

As they grow in their relationship - are they colleagues?  are they comrades?  are they confidantes?  Arabella herself is not quite sure. - a series of tragic, dramatic events culminate in a murder.  Secrets lurk in the city of Second London...secrets that may put Arabella's life in danger..."

That's the description from the VN, and while the spirit of the plot is still the same there are a lot of new twists and expansions to the VN's story.  There's already a new title (from Second London to Oleander Isle), new lore based less on Victorian England and more on 19th-Century Texas history (but still with that steampunk or Victorian fantasy flair), new main characters (although Arabella (now named Madge, because there's already a steampunk book heroine named Arabella apparently), Jack, Eyre, and Ezra are all still in), new adventures, new magic system called vidamancy...its shifting and changing a lot from the original VN, and that's pretty cool.

There was robot romance in the VN, is it going to be in the book?

If it is, it's going to be subtle.  A friendship that could be interpreted as romance through the lens of robot-kissing fanatics.  Because that kind of relationship is a lot of fun to write.  :-)  But much like the rest of the book, this could change.

Okay, but what is this page for?

This page is for posting progress updates!  Finishing drafts, showing off workshopping notes, announcing when I am ready to figure out the publishing process...all of that fun stuff!

Are you going to publish the book here?

Since I'm most likely going to go the self-publishing route, I assume that whatever methods allow me to self-publish will also allow me to upload the ebook here.  I can't make any promises because I have no idea what to expect in the publishing part.  I refuse to worry about that until the book is done.

Will there be a physical copy?

Gosh, I hope so!  That's the whole point of this project!  I've wanted to get an actual, physical book published since I was a little girl.  I ain't getting any younger, so if I'm going to make this dream a reality then I need to get going!

Anywhere else I can track progress?

I post updates on my projects in general on X/Twitter: https://x.com/Sciaenops22

I also now have a Bluesky that I need to remember to post to: https://bsky.app/profile/dronegardenstudios.bsky.social

Other than that, just follow my itch.io account: https://drone-garden-studios.itch.io/