Steampunk pirates

[Arabella Wyatt]

Hello everyone

 

My new book, Lady Mechatronic and the Steampunk Pirates, is out now at Devine Destinies, an imprint of Extasy books. It's a mash-up of Steampunk and the 'shiver me timbers' style of pirate. So I thought an interesting subject for discussion would be: Do you approve of mash-ups, or do you prefer your steampunk to be pure and unsullied?

 

Bella

[Alison DeLuca]

I"m all about mash-ups. And your book sounds fantastic!

[Kevin Mowrer]

Hi Bella

I enjoy a well done mash up as much as a well done pure Genre piece.  For me, it's all in whether or not the book/narrative has world and concept integrity. In some ways, the very nature of Steampunk invites a broader imagining of "what if" than some other genres. 

congrats on your new book!

Cheers, Kevin

[Alison DeLuca]

Well said, Kevin! Like science fiction, steampunk leads to all kinds of imagined worlds.

[Kevin Mowrer]

Indeed! What I'm not as sure about is the rush to label sub-genres such as: Sandalpunk, magepunk, vampunk, and all the other dozens of new "punk" names bubbling up. Using your Science Fiction analogy as a great example of a broad genre, I think so many of these are simply "yesterday's future," A.K.A. Steampunk. Fractionalizing the genre too much I think hurts its overall impact. What do you think?

K

[Alison DeLuca]

Sandalpunk? Really? Wow, I'm out of the loop! 

 

I completely agree. If steampunk fractures too much, then the community loses that great sense of group that I love about it.

 

But now you've got me thinking. Butteredtoastpunk.... grocerlistpunk....hangingchadpunk....

[Kevin Mowrer]

LOL! Now I really want to read a butteredtoastpunk book!

:-)

[Arabella Wyatt]

The Grocerpunk! That has to be a story in the making... 'They messed with his plums one too many times... Now the mechnised melon of revenge is out to get them...'

Glad you two like the idea of the steampunk mash-up, and thanks for the posts. Sorry I've been away all day, I've only just got back from work...

 

Bella

[Kevin Mowrer]

I'm going to go with Mechanized Melon of Murder (just to get all M's)! Must go now. Strangely, I seem to have worked up an appetite...

[Arabella Wyatt]

Oh, my myopia, to miss the Maurading Mechanised Melon of Murder.  Move over V for Vendetta!

[Kevin Mowrer]

Such perfectly played perspicacity.

Alliteration aside, a quick question about your book. Do you post sample chapters of your work? I've recently been in a debate amongst friends about doing so and heard some good reasoning on both sides of that question.

Cheers, Kevin

 

 

[Arabella Wyatt]

Kevin

I haven't done any samples but only because the publisher does them and I don't want to tread on their toes, as they are the experts. Another reason I hesitiate lies in the difficulty of knowing which part to post.

The extract chosen by the publisher on their website is a good one, given that it shows the charcter of the hero quite well, but at the same time it omits the character of Lady Mechatronic, who is central to the book, but she is rather difficult to present in isolation...  So, it is difficult to know which part to select that sums up the ideas/characters but still works on its own merits.

If you want to glide over and tell me what you think of the extract, all feedback will be gratefully recieved. It is at: http://www.extasybooks.com/index.php?route=product/product&prod...

Bella

[Kevin Mowrer]

Thanks for the link Bella

I have gone to the site and read both the description/synopsis and the excerpt.  The description is wonderful and such a fantastic concept. It gets right to the exciting reasons why anyone would want to purchase the book and read it.  The excerpt is beautifully written (you have a fluid and richly voiced style)! Without having read the book I can't say precisely what I would pick as an excerpt but this one didn't really give me a small taste of any of the breakout differences that the description suggest.  Personally, I'd love just a little peak at weird powers of the crew or some such. Not a negative but the description holds such interesting new ideas that I don't think the excerpt is working nearly as hard as it could to hook the interest of one of the browsing curious. Cowboys and Aliens just did quite well with a historical juxtaposition of aliens and the old west.  Your excerpt is your movie trailer/teaser.  I want to be teased more and I think your story has got the goods to do it.

Cheers, Kev