Magic exists where we cannot see.It lives in unexplained phenomena, in attraction to strangers,in a pen and crimson inkwell, from a trunk, in a tent, at a fair, in the fog.I didn’t believe in magic.
Before he died, my father taught me the world was solid. Reporting was more like science, anyway. Hard facts. Logical inferences. Then again, I wasn’t exactly an award-winning reporter so what did I … anyway. Hard facts. Logical inferences. Then again, I wasn’t exactly an award-winning reporter so what did I know about it? But, when Detective Edward Thomas told me he had seen a phantom, something woke up inside of me. I could have tried to dismiss it as a trick of the lamplight, but how else could I explain the body on the cobblestones?
Instead, I simply believed him, and not just because he was arrestingly handsome. I was engaged after all to a sensible, though older man–the same man who published my articles in fact.
No. I believed him because somewhere, deep down, I knew magic was real. What’s worse, I knew it was a part of me. The detective’s ghost story had just woken me up.
As soon as I accepted this truth, everything changed. My writing career, my family, my domestic prospects, and my freedom.
What woman, pray tell, can fit three men and a writing career in her life and still keep her sanity?
But there I landed.
Byron was my fiance. He was sensible. He could provide a modest life of means for my sister and me. He could also continue to publish my little articles in his weekly magazine. He adored me.
Edward was my detective, so good and true, straight as an arrow and noble as a knight. He inspired me to be something more. But, I could never live up to such a high standard.
Bram was a mystery. Who could say where his life had taken him before he met me or what adventures he had endured. Everything he did was curious. I was drawn to him in ways I didn’t understand.
Could I escape this journey with my engagement intact? Which course would lead me down a road to the woman my father always believed I should be?
And why did I feel so angry all the time?
My fingers still have that enchanted twitch even as I peck these words out on an old typewriter. Before another episode comes, let me tell you what happened that fateful autumn in Dawnhurst-on-Severn. . .
Kenneth A. Baldwin bursts into the Gaslamp Fantasy scene with his debut novel.
The Crimson Inkwell is a story about journalist Luella Winthrop. In her journey to become Dawnhurst-on-Severn’s most acclaimed writer, she discovers that her city houses dark, magical secrets too uncomfortable to believe.
When an enigmatic carnival worker offers her a pen that can turn fiction to fact, she quickly learns that tampering with the unknown can be intoxicating, lucrative, and dangerous.
Get your copy today!
more
If you love a book set in a Victorian time period with a touch of magic, suspense, and adventure, then this is the book for you. I enjoyed this book, especially the lead character who is an enigma unto herself. A very good book.
Discovered this gem with it also being the first time in reading this author. As Luella strives to become a noted writer she goes on a path that has her discover some dark things. In writing I do believe you do not know what could or what may happen. Since her fiance happens to be the editor he thinks she should write on safe topics. As of course women were trying to come upon their own she has different ideas on what she should write hence her discovery. A carnival worker gives her a special pen that soon has her trapped I do believe. She has to hurry though a get it back to normal so we are also running with her. Can things get it in time and all the decisions that need to be made.
What can believing in magic get you? It changed the life of one intrepid reporter in Kenneth A. Baldwin’s novel “The Crimson Inkwell”.
She had all good reasons to want to help make her fiancé’s newspaper the best. But in this historically set mystery magical adventure a woman finds more than she thought could exist in her world! Can she control the elements of her life or will elements of her life come to control her? Turning around and around in a dizzying maze of her own creation, the woman reporter has to try and find the correct path to save so many!
Baldwin has etched out a story that is worthy of praise. Creative writing never applied more adeptly to one story! Such depth in his novel, so much worked out detail, makes the tale riveting and fun! Those who are inclined to settle in with an otherworldly good book will want to grab this one up!
A Whimsical and fun fantasy book to read. Imagine having a magical pen that lets you change what you write into something real. Good read. Interesting and entertaining characters to follow.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
** 3.5 stars **
I really enjoyed the writing on this Victorian/Gaslight adventure. There’s a little magic, some mystery, a lot of imagination going on as one woman tries to make her way in the world of journalism by to proving that females can be just as smart and savvy as the men. Luella is despite to break out of the mold that she has been cast and follow her dreams. The daunting case, the mystery that needs to be solved may be just the thing to do it. Throw in a little romance, a dash of a possible love-triangle, and the next book has the beginning of some drama.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Luella is an aspiring journalist, ever striving for the coveted journalistic award, the Golden Inkwell. She is plagued by writing mundane pieces for her fiance’s paper under the pen name, Travis Blakely, and constantly receiving bad reviews from the critic she has dubbed “Brutus.” Luella’s big break comes when she happens to be at the police station and hears about a detective’s brush with supernatural circumstances. Luella writes the story and Travis Blakely becomes an overnight sensation. In search of more titillating tales, Luella comes upon a carnival where she meets an itinerant performer who introduces her to a magic pen. As Luella becomes more and more dependent on the powers of the pen, dark forces beyond her control build up in her life. This story is quite interesting, and I like how it has just the right amount of suspense and magic, together with more than a few romantic dilemmas that Luella is faced with. I also appreciate the fact that this book does not feature sex or violence and the language is quite clean. I recommend this book to people who like to read “PG rated” fantasy or romantic stories This book is part of a trilogy, and I look forward to reading the other two books in the series.
Set in a Victorian London similar ours yet subtly different, Luella’s story is both common and extremely unconventional. An unmarried orphan struggling to support her younger sister, her employment options are limited. But rather than engaging in “respectable” employment for a woman in her position, Luella is a writer. Much like Louisa May Alcott (AM Barnard), Charlotte Bronte (Currer Bell), or Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), Luella takes on a male pseudonym.
Hard work lands her a publisher willing to give her a chance – and a respectable marriage. Seeking leads draws her to a new friend, and a very attractive police officer. Chance leads her to a rather scandalous opportunity for her big break. A magic pen, with magic akin to a djinn in that all gifts have a catch, draws them together into a mad tapestry. What starts as a slow controlled book, and magic that could just be coincidence unravels into a wild and crazy ride by the end – which really isn’t an end but the set up for the next book.
Luella is a woman torn between the stability provided by conventional respectability and the opportunity possible through persuing her dreams. Both come at a very high cost. And none of her choices are what they seemed once magic gets involved. That is where this story really twists into something interesting.
While the language and pacing feel Victorian, there are many situations that are decidedly not. There are a few scenes that feel more like the 1940’s or 50’s. There are some questions I would have liked answered which are just left hanging and I must say the three men whom Luella spends time with have incredible patience for her increasingly erratic behavior as the magic grows.
Overall it was an enjoyable read and I look forward to book 2.