Steampunk & Ghoulies

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From Ghoulies and Ghosties, Long-Leggitie Beasties . . .
(Part 7)

 
 Out of nowhere, a skeletal hand clutched his shoulder and spun him around.  

(Continued tomorrow.)


And so we move into the future . . .

The second paragraph has begun.  The supernatural element has entered our tale.

You can find all of the story serialized to date here.


And speaking of steampunk . . .

Anytime there's a movement or a trend or a whatever-the-heck-you-care-to-call-it, those in the know ask themselves whether this is something the writers want to write or the readers want to read.  I won't cite examples from the past but, believe me, they could be made.

So the question of whether steampunk is a valid popular form or simply something we writers like a lot because it combines Zeppelins, sexy heroines, and steam-driven robots in one easy-to-write research-lite package is one that that's interested me since the git-go.

Mind you, I like steampunk and I've liked it since long before the category existed and I've even written it myself on occasion.  But is it commercial?

Well, the good people at Tor (who are more commercially savvy than most of us) obviously think it is because they've made last year's Steampunk Week and made it an annual event.


Here's a list of what's going up at Tor.com:

Kevin J. Anderson about working with the band Rush on their steampunk book Clockwork Angels

Award-winning producer Yomi Ayeni on transmedia storytelling in the non-colonialist world of Clockwork Watch

Julie Brannon, marketing wizard behind Steampunk Holmes, on creating a successful Kickstarter for your steampunk project

Professor Calamity of Combustion Books reveals Victorians’ Secrets (the steamiest post for the Week, hands down)

Executive producer Trevor Crafts and head writer Matt James Daley give the lowdown on Bruce Boxleitner’s Lantern City

Chaphop artist and tea connoisseur Professor Elemental delivers the funniest one-liner about steampunk, ever

Cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks draws a tribute to Fullmetal Alchemist

Dr. Lisa Hager, on why this genre-bender is also a genderbender

Margaret “Magpie” Killjoy of Steampunk Magazine throws a political one-two punch about how steampunks can help save the world

Vaporiste Arthur Morgan introduces the Anglophone world to French steampunk

Tee Morris, author of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, names the three things every steampunk filmmaker needs to know

James Ng’s artistic take on alchemy (and Chinese steampunk zombies)

Balogun Ojetade, author of Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman, writes about amazing black folks you didn’t know about (but should) from the 19th century

Cat Rambo gives us the scoop on Nisi Shawl’s highly anticipated book set in the Belgian Congo

Composer Paul Shapera on penning a thrilling steampunk musical

Editor Ann Vandermeer offers an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming Steampunk Revolution anthology

Diana Vick, con chair of SteamCon, dishes about Victorian monsters.

All of it taken from their press release.

You can find it all here.

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