ALL MEN OF GENIUS by Lev AC Rosen (Tor 2012)

WELCOME TO WRITER WEDNESDAY! This is our first Writer Wednesday Q&A blog of 2012! And what better way to kick off the new year with some cool steampunk sci fi historical literary fiction by genius writer LEV AC ROSEN? Today’s blog features a fantastic Q&A with debut novelist LEV AC ROSEN, whose first book, ALL MEN OF GENIUS (Tor 2011), is out in bookstores now. (His website: http://www.levacrosen.com/)

We also are excited to host a fun signed book contest with Lev AC Rosen. Please comment at the end of this blog or email me (paula at paulayoo dot com) to be included in a drawing where one winner will be chosen at random. The winner will receive a personally autographed edition of ALL MEN OF GENIUS by Lev himself! The winner will be announced in a blog posted on Wednesday January 25, 2012.

Lev AC Rosen is also speaking on Monday January 30, 2012 at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 6:30 PM (455 Fifth Ave. New York, NY, first floor corner room). If you’re in the area, please RSVP at http://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2012/01/30/author-reading-signing-lev-ac-rosen

ALL MEN OF GENIUS (Tor ’11) is a fantastical blend of historical fiction and “steampunk” sci fi with some Shakespearean elements tossed in as well by this Sarah Lawrence MFA-trained author. The book’s plot is described as: “Inspired by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, All Men of Genius takes place in a Victorian London familiar but fantastical, where mad science makes the impossible possible. Violet Adams wants to attend Illyria College, a widely renowned school for the most brilliant up-and-coming scientific minds, founded by the late Duke Illyria, the greatest scientist of the Victorian Age. The school is run by his son, Ernest, who has held to his father’s policy that the small, exclusive college remain male-only. Violet sees her opportunity when her father departs for America. She disguises herself as her twin brother, Ashton, and gains entry. But keeping the secret of her sex won’t be easy, not with her friend Jack’s constant habit of pulling pranks, and especially not when the duke’s young ward, Cecily, starts to develop feelings for Violet’s alter ego, “Ashton.” Not to mention blackmail, mysterious killer automata, the way Violet’s pulse quickens whenever Ernest speaks to her, and a deadly legacy left by Ernest’s father. She soon realizes that it’s not just keeping her secret until the end of the year she has to worry about: it’s surviving that long.”

(Keep reading after the jump for our Q&A with LEV AC ROSEN. And don’t forget to comment on this blog or email me to be included in our signed book contest giveaway drawing, too!)

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