(I was doing some research on the subject re: the American Civil War, and very young Confederate soldiers in particular. These two things collided, and off I went… What was the spark that inspired you to write a short story set in that world?ĬHERIE PRIEST: I wanted to write a traditional zombie story, and I wanted to write a story about what happens to child soldiers after a war. Priest’s short story, “Reluctance,” and she has generously offered up some of her time to discuss this story as well as odd historical facts, steampunk fashion, MA programs, blogging, and much more.ĪPEX MAGAZINE: “Reluctance” is a wonderful slice of the Clockwork Century world you created in Boneshaker and have continued in Dreadnaught, Clementine, Ganymede, and The Inexplicables. She is the author of the Southern Gothic–style novel Four and Twenty Blackbirds, the first of three novels in the Eden Moore Series, as well as the urban fantasy Cheshire Red Reports Series, among many others, most notably the novels which comprise the Clockwork Century, which are pure American Steampunk at its finest. Priest has published over a dozen novels and novellas, and a good clutch of short fiction of which Apex Magazine has more than once been lucky enough to host within its pages. A Nebula and Hugo Award nominee, as well as winner of the 2010 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, Ms. Although many may recognize her name from the whirlwind success of her Clockwork Century novel Boneshaker, Cherie Priest is no starry–eyed newcomer to the world of publishing.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest