Virtual Book Tour: Man of Clay, by CL Bledsoe

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Today is the second day of CL Bledsoe’s virtual book tour celebrating Man of Clay, a novel with elements of magical realism and a dash of steampunk. This funny, engaging story redefines what Southern Literature is capable of being. Man of Clay can be pre-ordered today!

 

EXCERPT FROM MAN OF CLAY:

I [1] had recovered [2] nearly completely by the time Master John again decided to test his flying heated air sack. It was a massive thing. The sack itself was woven of the colors of the Arkansas flag. Master John had learned through trial and error that the sack needed to be closed at the top to contain the air, in order to fully capture the lifting pressure as the hot air rose. At the base of the balloon, a sort of modified lamp sat, which, when lit, shot a two-foot high tongue of flame up into the sack, heating the air. The basket was wicker, connected with thin ropes. The basket was lined with samples of plant life and various goods he intended to trade with the Andean [3] population. Because of the weight of these things, and of the two intended passengers, the amount of heated air needed was tremendous, necessitating the air sack to be massive. It towered, higher than four or even five men standing atop each other’s shoulders. It was, likewise, the width of greater than two men with arms outstretched. The bulk of the weight came from the oil needed to maintain the flame, until Master John devised a solution to this problem. It is well known that certain naturally occurring gases are quite flammable, and Master John had managed to capture a great quantity of this gas in thickly woven bags—woven so tightly that the gas could not escape. It was this gas which fueled the flame which created the buoyancy necessary for this trip.

For his test, Master John intended to pilot the contraption with Othello [4] along to simulate the weight of Zeno [5]. All of the slaves gathered, dismissed from their tasks for the occasion. Master John and Othello climbed into the basket, which was kept down with great lead weights. The ropes connecting these were loosened, though several longer ropes were still connected, the gas was set aflame, and the air sack began to rise. The slaves ‘oood’ and ‘ahhd,’ though the basket itself rose only a few inches at first. As the flame increased, and the heat of the air grew, the basket rose, higher and higher, until a man could walk between it and the ground, which one of Mr. Winfrey’s sons [6] did. The slaves applauded this, but Master John wasn’t finished. He increased the flame, and the balloon rose higher and higher, until it was as though he and Othello were atop a great mountain. Clara Bell [7] cried out in concern, but Master John continued to raise the heated air sack.

It took the better part of a day. The slaves grew restless. Eventually, a stone was dropped from the basket with a note instructing that the ropes should be pulled to bring the basket back to earth. Mr. Winfrey went through the onlookers, cracking his whip, and the slaves grudgingly took the ropes and began to pull. The basket was brought back to earth, and Master John and Othello climbed out. The slaves weren’t allowed to let go, otherwise the hot air sack might rise again.

“The air will dissipate now that I’ve turned the fire off,” Master John said. “In a few hours, it will return to the control of gravity.”

Master John and Clara returned to the house, as did Mr. Winfrey and his sons, but not before giving Othello strict instructions to, “make sure the damn thing comes to no harm, or it’ll be your ass.” [8]

The slaves stood, holding the ropes, staring up into the sky, waiting.

 Book Cover

AUTHOR’S INSIGHTS

[1] The narrator is Emet, a golem, who has been bought and shipped to a plantation in Civil War era Arkansas. Master John trains him on all the aspects of farming he has learned and devised, and also uses him to help with his various scientific projects. Emet is a kind of blank slate, whereas John is a brilliant psychopath. Emet’s name has to do with his power as a golem—Emet means “truth” but if you take away the “e” you’ve got death. Master John is based on a real guy—

John Crowley—who was an early settler in the same region of Arkansas. The actual Crowley wasn’t known for being a mad scientist, though. My apologies to his descendants.

[2] The injury he’s recovering from occurred when he saved the lives of several slaves during a mishap while erecting an obelisk for Master John.

[3] John’s plan is to travel via hot-air balloon to the Andes Mountains, with his son, Zeno, when Zeno returns from fighting in the Civil War, as sort of ambassadors. At this point, Emet has come to this plantation and been shown all of these scientific projects Master John has undertaken, such as building a replica of Stonehenge (see note #2). This is John’s purpose for buying and training Emet, ultimately: to help him prepare for this trip with Zeno. This scenario sets John on the path that will ultimately lead to his final fate.

[4] Othello is a slave driver—kind of a foreman slave—who John raised somewhat as a son. Except, of course, that Othello is a slave, and so John doesn’t value him as much as he should. Othello is my favorite character in the book, and I think the most interesting. He’s a brilliant storyteller and spiritual leader for the other slaves, even though he is, essentially, their boss. Slave drivers are an oft overlooked and complicated subset of slaves. They worked for the plantation owners and might be responsible for controlling and even punishing other slaves, and yet there are instances of slave drivers emerging as leaders in slave revolts—the march on New Orleans is a good example of this.

[5] Zeno, John’s son, is named after the Greek philosopher. John tends to name people and things this way. There were actually a couple of philosophers named Zeno. Zeno of Elea is known for his paradoxes, which sound amazing when you’re high. Basically, they were thought experiments. Zeno of Citium, who my Zeno is named after, founded the Stoic school, which probably set up a lot of emotional unavailability. The idea is that if you don’t experience extreme highs, you won’t experience extreme lows. So, not a lot of fun at parties.

[6] The Winfreys are overseers, known for their cruelty.

[7] Clara Bell is John’s long-suffering, neglected daughter. I got the name from a pet rat I used to have. She was very mean, actually, because she’d been abused and neglected. But she mellowed out, eventually. Why I chose to name a character after her, I have no idea.

[8] As we’ve seen throughout the novel, this isn’t an idle threat; if any harm were to come to the hot air balloon, Master John would have the offending slaves tortured and murdered.

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Author PhotoCL Bledsoe is the author of four poetry collections, one short story collection, and five novels, including the Necro-Files series. His stories, poems, essays, plays, and reviews have been published in hundreds of literary journals, including Cimarron Review, Barrow Street, New York Quarterly, Gargoyle, Nimrod, Arkansas Review, Pank, Potomac Review, and many others. He’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize thirteen times, Best of the Net four times, and has had two stories selected as Notable Stories of the year by Story South’s Million Writers Award. Bledsoe currently lives in Alexandria, VA, with his daughter.

 

Tomorrow, the tour heads over to Book Puke, so be sure to follow along for more unique content!