In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a dinosaur nerd. I am also autistic, disabled, and queer. And now I have a story that combines all of these parts of my life.
Let me set the stage. It’s the 1850s, and dinosaur fever is sweeping the nation. The nation of Britain anyway. America… Let’s just say, there is a sequel in the works, and it gets pretty weird. But this is real history. For the world‘s fair, some people built life-size, extremely accurate dinosaur statues, Which you can still see you today in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.
Only problem is, The dinosaurs… In a word? Suck. They are not at all realistic, looking more like fat dragons then the lean and agile animals we now understand them to have been. But back then, they were the pinnacle of scientific accuracy. No one got upset at the way they were portrayed.
Which brings me to my story. Samira is an autistic girl of Indian descent, Living in a steam punk version of 1850s England. And she is mad. Dinosaurs are her thing, her special interest. And she has studied fossils enough to understand that the crystal palace statues are laughable. But she is a gay, autistic, Indian girl. No one is going to take her seriously.
So her day at Crystal Palace is ruined, which really sucks for Matilda, but disabled girl who really wanted to ask Samira to be her girlfriend. What is a queer mechanic to do?
Build a robot dinosaur, obviously.
Of Clockwork Hearts and Metal Iguanodons is possibly my favorite story I’ve ever written. And I know what you’re thinking, “I bet there are a ton of Jurassic Park references in the story!“ And you would be wrong. Oh, trust me, I tried. But every time I tried, it felt really forced.
But never fear, for Jurassic Park has still left its mark on my writing. An entire park filled with dinosaurs that were not made correctly? A park made by a man with more money than common sense? Yeah, that sounds pretty Jurassic Park to me.
Read my story, and listen to it being read, on Glitter Ship
http://www.glittership.com/2019/06/24/episode-76-of-clockwork-hearts-and-metal-iguanodons-by-jennifer-lee-rossman/
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