Dicing Time for Gladness

by Austin Scott Collins

Overview

Chicago, 1899. A city known for vice and violence welcomes a new show to town: the Daughters of Aphrodite Lyric Opera. Despite being branded "obscene" by the press and civic leaders, their performances are a popular sensation. Almost 18 and not yet married, Constance defies the will of her parents and sneaks out to see for herself what all the fuss is about. She will come to discover that the troupe's leader, the fearless, gifted, and enigmatic Victoria da Vinci, is a woman with big ideas, big secrets, and a complex past. Constance soon finds herself immersed in a world of danger and mystery . . . and must make a choice. A blend of historical fiction, sci-fi, and adventure-fantasy, Dicing Time for Gladness captures the conflicted spirit of turn-of-the-century America in a time of boundless optimism and shattering upheaval.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492773009
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	11/06/2013
Series:	The Victoria Da Vinci Novels , #1
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

After earning a degree in English from the University of Central Florida, Austin Scott Collins spent 13 years as a cargo pilot and flight instructor for a company which no longer exists before retiring from commercial aviation to concentrate on sailing and writing.
He now lives on a sailboat with his wife Trish. Among the things he does not have are a television, a car, a lawnmower, and a permanent physical address.

When not working on his latest book (and the binary stars of Time and Money are in harmonic alignment), Austin can be found skydiving, flying gliders, riding his motorcycle (sometimes on extremely long trips) or exploring the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, which is where he and Trish are docked for the moment.

Although they were forced to give up most of their books when they abandoned their landbound existence, they agree that the geographical flexibility of having a floating portable home more than justifies that sacrifice, and do not rule out the possibility of becoming full-time maritime vagabonds at some point.