http://www.sutlers.co.uk/Sections2.html

Really? I reviewed Witch Ember (somewhat late, John, sorry but it’s in the queue to be posted) and except for one episode where the protagonist traveled on a steamer, or maybe steam/sail hybrid, I saw not one overt Victorian influence and no other steam. Mercifully, no pseudo Sherlock Holmes werewolves either. Since all my novels have some aspect of steam culture, maybe they’re in the genre, too.

I don’t know about the others’ – authors and fans – claim to steam fascination but I’ve had more contact than just watching steam trains go by. I ran steam plant – nearly melted the superheater tubes of a 600psi steam generator once trying to bring it on line too quickly. Ever see the effect of white hot steam? Another plant had a big turbine pushing an out of balance compressor that one had to start by bypassing all the safety shut-downs and pouring the steam to it fast enough, by hand, that it accelerated through the worst vibrations before it shook itself apart.

Then there was the night I was just a bit too good at starting a balky steam turbine pump. We were bringing up a refinery plant from cold and it was time to direct the butanes into tower 4. For some reason the pump wouldn’t take suction. Somehow I teased it into pumping and the instant howling noises and thumping from all the vessels and pipework sounded as if the place was about to blow up. The whole unit rocked as if everything was going to fall down. Clearly some valve downstream had been left closed.

Since we’d checked the lines it had to be one that was hard to find and almost never touched. Bill went one way and I went the other. In the section with the lye treat vessels the safeties were releasing and closing in quick succession – clouds of horrible vapours of lye and butanes billowed around and the platforms and vessels rocked to the whooping of the released fluids, but I had to plunge into it to look for the damned valve.

Eventually we found it, outside, ten feet above our heads near the base of tower 4. We climbed onto the piperack, slapped a pipewrench on it, and a length of pipe for leverage, and heaved. As if by magic the chaos ceased and calm descended. Bill went back inside to check for damage while I rushed into the control room to see what more upsets it had caused. I don’t have any scenes like that in my novels, but my characters speak with that kind of experience behind them.

In my Iskander series, the small group of moderns introduce steam and mass produced steel into a 17th century society. They need to recruit the indigenous people into their operations and I model the reactions of these people to technology far beyond their experience on the desert Arabs we had working for us when I surveyed on an oil exploration crew in the Libyan Desert. We had guys that had seen a truck or an airplane but only from a distance, and didn’t even know how to open a vehicle door to let themselves out – or to fasten a seatbelt for takeoff. The action in Deadly Enterprise and The Wildcat’s Victory often revolves about the differences between a culture the age of Charles II and Louis XIV and the modern mindset of my protagonists.

In my fantasy, Rast, I satirize the hubris of the mechanistic Offrangs who believe their steam powered galleys and land transporters make them superior to the Riders of Rast and their sorcerer king. Do these aspects make my novels steampunk? I don’t really think so, but if I could get an already formed fan group to take a look I’m willing to craft a story around the features they clearly find fascinating.

If you're headed there, let me know!

What is time? If you're writing SF/F, steampunk, or any other fictionally odd genre, it's a question you may find yourself wondering. How would time differ from one place to another? How do we measure time? What would cause a shift in time?

Some writers choose to think far outside the box, using different "turns" of planets, and other methods to distinguish what parts make up an hour/parsec/etc. For the mathematically inclined, the study of the measure of time can be endlessly fascinating--and even from a linguistic perspective it's a whole ton of fun. Our own world has plenty of wonderful history on the subject!

Initially in The Aldersgate, I didn't consider time to be much different than our own. Earena is very like earth in size and shape, and distance from the sun (the year is a little longer, but not by much). So in the first draft, everything in minutes, seconds, hours, that's sort of thing. As the steampunk aesthetic started to make itself more apparent, as well as the reigning Queen's obsession with machinery, I thought I'd use a "tick" as a minute and a "turn" as an hour--like in a clock. The second hands, technically, tick as well, but so do the hour hands in older technologies. I like it anyway!

One of my pet peeves in fantasy literature in particular has to do with the language of the year. How many books have you picked up that say, "he was eight summers old at the time," or, "she had already lived eighty winters." Yes, seasons are important and, yes, it works as a method of time. But it's hackneyed, folks.

I honestly haven't used a substitute for the year yet, because I need to do more research into the effects of two moons on a planet  like ours. I imagine messing with tides, and phases would change the way that people perceive of time a bit. I do know that when the moons are both at their fullest, it's Spring--hence the whole Blooming Day theme in the first few chapters. Moons, of course, have all sorts of wonderful mythological connections to women, so there's that too. I just need to pick an astrophysicist's brain for a while, and then I can come up with some concrete answers.

At any rate, whatever choose to do with time, make sure it's consistent throughout, and make it your own. Time is a fascinating subject--real and imagined--and is often a small detail that, when done right, can really help transport your readers into another world.

This is my problem: I try to do too much. And this, I think, is connected to the way my girl brain works. I am indeed, how Wil Wheaton put it, "A ferret on meth." Except I don't take meth, and am not, at last check, much of a rodent. I'm always balancing a thousand things at once, and often, I flourish in the chaos--my brain actually works better when I'm busy, ideas come more easily, dialogue flows better. But it also means I sleep less, forget more, and am often an incessant chatter-box. I'm a consummate multitasker.

But there is a tipping point. The first draft of the book had five main POVs; at one point, this current draft had nine.

I am not, I repeat, NOT George R. R. Martin.

My ferret brain is a ferret brain, and there is a point where I just can't keep it up. So. Axe, axe, axe. I took away the narratives that were turning into character sketches and not moving the plot along very well. What ultimately decided the deal for me was, oddly enough, the podcast. I started listening to the chapters as if I were an audience and not the author and realized--heck, I've got to make this more interesting. If I keep introducing characters at this rate, the reader will fall asleep because nothing is happening.

And honestly? I feel like I can breathe better now.

Don't get me wrong, I love characters. Putting these folks on the back burner breaks my heart. I get attached, feel motherly toward, and even get occasionally get crushes (very... weird, yes... but I admit it, and I'm told I'm not the only one) on my characters. But it's not like I'm killing these folks. No, they're just receding to the background and not getting a POV because their stories can be told through the eyes of other POVs.

I've probably stopped making sense by this point. I suppose, what I'm trying to say is that, if you're at a point where you feel like you're stuck in the mire (which I certainly have been feeling) sometimes you need to step away and put on another set of goggles (go go steampunk metaphors!). Telling stories is hard business, and telling them right is even harder.

Words are not nearly as precious as the stories they tell, and sometimes the words have to be rewritten... and rewritten... and rewritten, until they're right. In that way writing is much like sculpture. The work is there, in the stone--you just have to chip away until you find it. And then there are even times that the stone you're working with isn't even worth the work, and you have to start from scratch.

But you keep going. Because well... it's your art.

Writing. It's what I do.

Auteur: Hiroyuki Asada
Editeur: Shueisha
Genre: fantasy, steampunk, aventure, shonen
Volumes: 5 (en cours)
Première publication: Shonen Jump année 2006
Team de scantrad fr: Kaerazaki Team

Les Tegami bachi plus couramment appelés les Letter bees sont chargés de transmettre les « courriers » d’un expéditeur à un destinataire souvent au péril de leur vie. En effet, traverser Amber Ground (le monde) s’avère généralement très ardu, principalement à cause des monstres (Gaichuu) en tout genre qui le peuplent et de son obscurité latente. Ce monde est plongé dans la pénombre, seule lumière pour l’éclairer une étoile artificielle et un crépuscule éphémère.
Gauche Suede est un de ces Letter bees, son courrier du jour, Lag Seeing un bambin de 7 ans, rescapé d’un pillage et qui tente de retrouver sa mère. Ce garçon possède en lui un esprit d’ambre, l’énergie spirituelle de la Terre.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

>> Certains connaissaient déjà Hiroyuki Asada pour son fameux manga I’ll, et bien ils seront très étonnés avec ce petit bijou tout à fait différent de ses précédentes œuvres. Les lecteurs assidus n’ont d’ailleurs pas été les seuls, les boîtes d’éditions ont aussi été désorientées ! Finalement et comme toujours c’est Shueisha qui a fait signer Mr.Asada en premier. En espérant qu’en France, on ne tardera pas trop.

>> Quel magnifique univers qu’il nous a créé, à la fois inquiétant et « soft », futuriste tout en restant ancien, ajoutons aussi féerique et sépulcral à ce panel d’adjectifs. L’histoire en surface peut en rebuter quelques uns : « Quoi un service la Poste ? En manga ?! ». Oui, mais en plus efficace et plus actif ! Mais elle nous laisse un sacré arrière gout de par son unicité extraordinaire. Après ce n’est que question de gout bien sûr.

Steampunk* : sous-genre de la science fiction, plaçant un cadre moderne dans un milieu du XIX siècle.

>> Télécharger tous les tomes et chapitres de Tegami Bachi sur Kaerizaki.net .

]]> http://aldersgatecycle.wordpress.com/?p=487 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:16:16 +0000 aldersgatecycle http://aldersgatecycle.wordpress.com/?p=487 I knew, from having heard their two songs, "Sioux City, South Dakota" and "House of Cards" that, musically, I had only marvelous things to say about Lemming Malloy. They set the bar very high for themselves with those two tantalizing little songs on their site, and so I admit, I was expecting a good deal from them at their debut show. Is that fair? I don't know. I just figured, if someone takes the time to create a modded steampunk keytar, the music should be as cared for, too.

And I was not disappointed, not in the least.

From the second they stepped on the stage I knew that this was something different. This was something unique, lovely, and wonderful. The first opening chords of "House of Cards" were even more electrifying than in the recording, the voices of Mr. Cartwright and Ms. Spitzer melting together to pure audial happiness. I was bopping and dancing and singing along, riding on a current of energy, excitement, and steampunk musical goodness.

As the set progressed, the band never lost momentum. In fact, they seemed to be having a good time. Can I tell you how refreshing it is to watch a band perform that actually looks like they're enjoying themselves rather than being moody, dark, and over performative? Goggles and Marvelons, suspenders and headlamps, the steampunk aesthetic is certainly a part of the magic--but really, it's the smiles, the winks, the conversations with the audience that made Lemming Malloy's performance at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill so amazing. I was totally engrossed in the songs, including those I knew and those I didn't--I was so excited to see "Don't Act Like Prey" and "Brother Rabbit" on the EP because I was totally wowed by them both (not to mention all the other songs I wish I had right NOW).

This is, of course, not to mention "The Curse... of Greyface" (ellipses are mine). Such fun!

The camaraderie and band banter was second to none, and I honestly can't remember having this much fun at a concert since my son was born. Even better, it's a local band that really, truly, rocks. Even my husband, who isn't exactly a steampunk aesthete himself, was completely blown away and truly impressed by the band's tight, happy, clever set.

The EP is also quite lovely to look at; it folds out into a poster, and includes all of the lyrics (which show you just how much craft Mr. Cartwright puts into the words he uses--footnotes and everything!).

I give the show five out of five gears!

Visit Lemming Malloy here.

Buy the EP!

Caterpillar#5bis, originally uploaded by Frederik en Katleen.

I must be. I'm so in love with this Caterpillar that artist Wim Delvoye has laser-cut into fine lace. It is on the Belgian coastline, near Middelkerke. There are several others, shown on Delvoye's web site; and then there are his other gothic works, including stained glass windows made with x-rays of guts and stuff. They are amazing too.

Some say this Caterpillar is parodying religion and industrialism at the same time. Others say it is Steampunk elevated to High Art. It definitely has the pseudo-Victorian look of steampunk. The artist himself describes it as gothic. As always, the interpretation of these things is in the eye of the beholder, so I am not going to try for the "correct" one. I wonder if there is a photo of it against the sunset, reverently bowing its head?

I've never made a plush doll before and I'm actually really new to sewing, so this was an interesting project. It's made in two parts, because I wanted it to be durable (she has dogs) and easily resewn. The top head part is separate from the tentacles, which are their own "pillow" that I then attached to each other. I used red velvet for the top parts and yellow fleece for the underside, both of which were scraps at the thrift store so they cost less than the buttons/eyeballs.

All right, this project isn't so much steampunk as... Nazi-punk. Which, you know, works.

Anyway, I think I have an alternate history. This could easily change at any time, but here's the basics:In general, this world is much like ours, except that the aristocratic classes are magic-users. This elitism has been a part of the general conscienscous for a very long time, and has affected several events in history.

As mentioned in the magic article, magic is seen as proof of divine right to rule, and as such the aristocrats have almost always been in the ruling classes (this is not universally true, however -- in India, magic users are more common in the Brahmin caste (priests, teachers, and scholars) than the Kshatriya (kings and warriors), and other cultures have had magic-users as a priest or an artisan class. For the most part, magic-users have generally been placed in leadership or military positions.

In the West, male-female relations are different, as both males and females can be energopaths. By the time that the telekinetic Queen Matilda came to the throne of England (Stephen of Blois being a non-magic user), women were treated with near-equality. However, only female magic users have been treated as equals to men. Women who cannot use magic were still treated as inferior.

Around the 18th century, it became fashionable not to practice magic. Once the aristocrats had learned to control it, they made no attempt to use it. It was this lack of magic that allowed the mostly non-magic using peasantry of France to rebel against the aristocrats. However, killing most of the country's magic users severely crippled the French army. After Napoleon took over, he tried to reorganize the army to cover for this loss. The beginning of the French invasion of Austria went well, but they were crushed in the Battle of Hodenlinden. This caused a cycle of revolution and reformation that only ended around 1890, during the second restoration of the monarchy.

The Allies won World War I, but the army lost large numbers of magic-users. The end of the war called the value of magic users into question, as the non-magic users had been running the country while its generals were gone. This caused another deposition of the monarchy in France, leading them to stay out of World War II.

The non-magic user Hitler took over the government, insisting that Aryans were magic-users and non-magic users with Aryan features. He stormed across Europe. Britain held out for as long as it could, but without help, it fell in 1942.

Hitler invaded Russia in spring of 1941.  He captured much of the eastern areas of Russia but did not make it to Moscow. There have been a series of skirmishes between the USSR and Germany concerning the land, and Russia regained most of their land in the sixties.

The American government made peace with the Axis powers. With Germany controlling much of Europe and Japan controlling Asia, the United States had to tread carefully to avoid war. Several Nazi sympathizers came into power, and eventually the National Socialist of the United States (NSUS) came into power. They instituted a policy of having magic-users taken from their parents and put into state-run schools. There, they would learn to control their powers. The magic-users often recieved leadership positions in the army when they graduated.

The Academy, or Boot Camp, as it is known by the students, was founded in the late '50s by General Andrew Sinclair, Sr. He still runs the school as its headmaster. The school takes children as soon as they begin showing their powers, usually around the age of six. They keep the children with the same powers together, and discourage socializing outside of that group. Most of these children will never see battle, except for the special Berserker battalions.

Not everyone is happy with the government, however. A small organization of people, mostly government fugitives and non-magic users called the People's Party are communists who believe that the glorification of magic users is wrong. For twenty-five years, they were led by Edward Jones and his wife, Julia. After they were killed in 1969, their daughter Edith took over. The People's Party doesn't pose much of a threat against the government, but their protests and subversive acts, as well as their support of criminals, is a nuisance.

Wow, I got history of the world, history of the government, history of the Academy, and history of the Resistance movement. I think I'll do personal history of the main characters next.

Una nueva creación aparece por ahí para disfrute de todos... o casi. Esta vez se trata de un proyecto de modding en la que un simple ratón Genius se convierte en esta espectacular pieza (eso si, suspenso en ergonomía) . Mas fotos.

Además, su autor tiene a bien compartir el proceso de construcción, actitud que este blog valora especialmente. Proceso de fabricación.

Since the phoenix is severely screwed up (the click for fullscreen thing) I'm using this as a test.

Yup, still messed up.

You're missing like, half the image. Maybe it's time to find a new theme that is more picture oriented. If this is permanent, I feel the need to change.

I didn't realize it (Steampunk) was that widespread beyond con-goers and BoingBoing's constant fellation...but then again, my experience at NYCC and ConectiCon lead me to believe that cons are closer to the mainstream and actual useful methods of cultural connection these days.

Anyway, the problem with Steampunk is the 'punk' part, and has always been for me.  There isn't much 'punk' about it - there literally can't be.  There isn't really much that's 'punk' about punk anymore, if you
really get down to brass tacks.  In the light of capitalism's complete triumph, that is, corporate control of government, media and culture, especially in the 80s and 90s, anything that can be marketed is
immediately stripped of it's ability to be purely a rebellious or DIY movement the moment someone sees a profit in its mass-production and mass-marketing.  Thus we have shoe ads that say, "The mainstream is
polluted," or that mimic the first minor threat album cover.
What does that have to do with steampunk?  The consciousness of this causes some folks to get a little too excited when something stays around long enough to gain a distinct identity and be recognized
culturally with first being co-opted by corporate interests.  This same po-mo consciousness leads folks to be suspect of anything that seems to be a fashion of rebellion without being the real thing.  I
think there is an urge to try and compare anything with a distinct aesthetic to an imagined past punk rebel utopia, and it will inevitably be found wanting.
My personal interest in steampunk is that I think it can be pretty, hot ladies like it, and it takes some DIY doing to make it.  I also like aesthetics that inject a little whimsical fantasy or fantastical thought into the everyday, people that you immediately invent little adventure stories about in your head.  That said, when
confronted with people dressed this way, most of the time I have to choke back my own revulsion at anything that smacks of pretentiousness or conscious thought and effort put into clothing.  This is a result
of the grunge mentality that was drilled into me as my generation's (really those a few years older) first feeling of independence from what came before it/us/them.

--

(note: in case it isn't clear, my general feeling is that people should buy/dress/act however the hell they want.  That said, everything is open to discussion/theory/criticism.  Also, SteamPunk can be liberating/interesting/hot.  I thought I should add those points after re-reading.)

The Design Observer article linked in the i09 post linked above is worth your read.

Let people love what they wanna love. Meh. Panties? Wad? Yes.

My biggest complaint about this "insightful article"? No nods to the literature!

Actually, it seems like the fellow is looking for a bunch of Morrisites. Maybe I should start a new movement: morrispunk, after William Morris...

Regardless, he's brought more attention on steampunk culture, like it or not, than detracted from it. I honestly think he's just pining for attention. Ah, well.

Like one of the commenters said: It's about FUN.

Egads. Grow an imagination.

It's finally here, and it sure is beautiful!

96 pages of awesomeness: retrofuturist fashion, paper dolls, interviews, amazing art and photography, book excerpts and everything else that has made this publication so great... now with extra gloss!

Coilhouse Issue 1will be in stores this Fall, but the "uncensored" early edition is available for purchase on their website now- but hurry, it's only a print run of 1000.

Woodgears es una interesante página dedicada a trabajos en madera en la que podemos encontrar información sobre de técnicas constructivas, proyectos, etc...Incluye también este útil generador de engranges: Gear template generator

Earrings Childhood, like the matching Necklace Childhood made of glass marbles, light bulbs and bottlecaps.

And Android Ballerina - ballet flats with optional leather anklets, rusty gears, bottle caps and steel flowers... the anklets are nice as accessories for other shoes too...

Bliensen + MaiTai @ City17: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Harshap/166/132/59
Bliensen + MaiTai @ Floyd:   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Floyd/140/76/23

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN:  978-0809572564
Paperback List Price: $6.99  Pages: 304
Publisher:  Juno Books

As I mentioned earlier, I finished Clockwork Heart last weekend while out in the PA wilderness. Just being out in the woods made the book even better, I think.  The highly industrialized culture of Pagliassotti's steampunk fantasy was even more real to me since there was little resembeling a high tech society for miles.  Even though the culture is advanced, the setting maintains the rusty, gritty feeling of a fallen age that is often invoked in steampunk fiction.

The two main male and female characters were great although Chris won out as my favorite of the two.  There were so many wonderful little details worked into his character that made him endearing even if he was "very rarely sweet" in conversation.  My favorite of which, was the fact that he wore glasses.  You don't often see heroes sporting those.  It made him so human, always having to wipe them clean whenever they would fog up -wink wink-.  

There was a romantic conflict woven into the plot, but it was done just right.  There was never a time when I felt that the romance distracted from the main plot focus.  It enhanced the story and the level of tension in it.

I had only one silly, little complaint.  I say silly because this sort of thing doesn't seem to bother most people.  There were five blank sheets at the back of the book, that's ten pages!  That's almost a whole signature! Couldn't something have been done?  An interview?  An afterword?  A sample?  An ad?  There was room for an extra scene somewhere!  Maybe another moment of those cute kids driving Chris up the wall?  It is frustrating when you enjoy a book so much, and then there are a pile of blank pages just sort of left there at the end to taunt you.  It's like they are laughing at you saying; "No more for you, but there could have been! Haha!" But then again, I might just be crazy. ^_^

Some previous Issues featuring Lawrence R. Dagstine

THE WILLOWS: www.thewillowsmagazine.com

ORDER HERE: http://thewillows.myshopify.com/

Article for THE WILLOWS MAGAZINE in The San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/06/LVL211GOO2.DTL

Steampunk Subculture in both genre and fashion is on the rise! Historical Fiction and other weird tales with a Lovecraftian feel, too.  Don't miss a single issue!

Other New Entries: "Magazines"