Physics, Alchemy, and Vampires, by Rachel Caine

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So now you've got a feel for Morganville itself, and for some of the people in it.  Here's some of the more ... unusual elements that found their way into a young adult story.

And, of course, the troubles they caused me, as a writer, along the way.

Physics.  Claire could have had any old hobby, but noooooooo.  I had to choose physics as one of her specialties.  Now, this actually stems from the fact that in college I was flat-out fascinated by applied physics; my favorite classes and labs had to do with how physics worked in the real world.  Theoretical physics wasn't quite so easy or fun for me, so naturally, Claire has to be fascinated by that.  Trying to get inside the head of a girl way smarter than me, who understands such things, is a real challenge, one I'm sure I occasionally fail.

Typical resources I've used along the way on the trail of physics knowledge include the reader-friendly The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory, Physics for Dummies, and Quantum Physics: A Beginner's Guide.  Although I had to step up to the highly entertaining book by Michio Kaku, Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel.  Then onward to the really tough stuff, which generally comes bound in textbooks or little chapbooks, and has no concept of "reader friendly."

Ouch.

Alchemy.  Because I knew all along I wanted Myrnin to be a magpie of scientific theories, I knew he would have a solid base in the hermetic arts.  Which I knew basically nothing about, of course.  (I know people say write what you know, but I'd get bored with that, fast.)  Alchemy was the key, to me, behind why Morganville worked so oddly from the rest of Texas, and the U.S., and the world ... he had based its fundamental technology on a cobbling-together of alchemy and science, with extreme steampunk sensibilities.  But alchemy isn't as straightforward as science; in fact, one of the key elements of alchemy is how little the advanced practitioners of it wanted to reveal.  It had its roots firmly in magical theory as well as the early, largely misunderstood sciences.

Typical resources are few and far between, but believe it or not, there is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Alchemy (though, sadly, no one has taken the challenge of Alchemy for Dummies).  Other great resources include the Alchemist's Handbook, and Michael Maier's Essential Alchemical Readings.  Some great websites out there, too, which I will leave you to discover on your own.

So how in the heck does all this fit in with vampires?  Good question, and I'm not sure I have a great answer, except that it makes sense to me for Myrnin to use everything he's learned ... not just what's trendy today.  So some of his instructions to Claire are bizarre ... such as grinding certain powders only at night, under moonlight.  It might not make any difference if you do it under fluorescent lights in the lab, but Myrnin sticks to what works.  (And yes, it drives poor Claire nuts.)

In Carpe Corpse, you meet the ultimate expression of all of these things ... Myrnin's supercomputer Ada.  Ada's got a life and personality of her own, but she's stuck in Victorian-era sensibilities as far as appearance.  It occurred to me that Myrnin would have built her in days before there was necessarily ready access to electricity, so Ada is powered, in true steampunk fashion, by more mechanical means. 

And more mystical means, because Ada also requires blood in order to sustain her vampire brain.

There you go.  Physics, alchemy, and a vampire steampunk supercomputer.

That's Morganville for you.

Rachel Caine, Carpe Corpse, Morganville Vampires, Penguin Books