Promoting Interdisciplinary Creativity in Steampunk Worldwide

July 2011 Blog Posts (8)

Whimsy and the death of Steampunk

Nothing wrong with a bit of whimsy, but I fear that it could be the death of Steampunk.

Why? I hear you cry. Alright, I don't, but you know what I mean. The why is pretty simple - if the superficial trappings of Steampunk are all that are perceived of the work, and the characters are cardboard Victorians with stiff upper lips and clockwork blunderbusses who say 'Bai Jove!' a lot, then you are doing yourself, the reader and the genre a deep disservice.

It can be done well. Read G. K.… Continue

Added by dave bartram on July 28, 2011 at 12:30pm — 21 Comments

What the Wattpad? Making Money from "Free"

For the love. First they tell me "tree hugging isn't a paid profession," and now writing isn't either? I pick all the wrong careers. Nothing beats sitting in front of a liquid crystal display jamming my fingertips repetitively into alphameric and numeric buttons all day long to create a splay of digital information from here to timbuk-twitter. Working in my pajamas. Rejecting routine hygienics.… Continue

Added by David Mark Brown on July 28, 2011 at 8:57am — 4 Comments

"Franklyn" - a movie w/steampunk elements

I came across…

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Added by Gail Gray on July 23, 2011 at 6:49am — No Comments

Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard is fighting to keep 123 year old files secret

Originally posted on my Steampunk blog: Nicholas L. Garvery

Jack the Ripper is the name given to an unidentified serial killer who murdered…

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Added by Nicholas L. Garvery on July 19, 2011 at 9:06am — 3 Comments

Beautiful old photos

Have you seen these beautiful old photos on Flickr, posted by Länsmuseet Gävleborg (a Swedish museum)? There's a whole set of them.

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Added by Anna Chen on July 19, 2011 at 4:00am — No Comments

The Sinking of the USS Monitor

The Monitor, the Union's entry into the Civil War arms race.

An eye-witness account of the events on December 29, 1862, tells of the harrowing efforts in the middle of a storm. Just nine months after her epic battle with the Merrimac, the Monitor left port in tow after the Rhode Island.

Favorable weather turned to foul near…

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Added by Ray Dean on July 9, 2011 at 8:00am — No Comments

Jenny Lind - Victorian Personage

Swedish soprano, Jenny Lind, was a sensation in America. When tickets to her concerts and appearances were sold there were stories of ungentlemanly scuffles and upset. In 1850, when she arrived in New York on the ship 'The Atlantic,' there was an estimated 30,000+ in the crowd on the pier. The ensuing crush of the crowd included bruises and blood.

She greeted…

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Added by Ray Dean on July 5, 2011 at 11:11am — No Comments

Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, and the Bible; what do they have in common?

Don't run away, not just yet. A friend suggested my blog include provocative questions. These three are listed in chronological order as they affected my imaginative drive and my desire to tell a story.

As a child I grew up watching Kirk and the Enterprise tackle the troubles that plagued space. As a boy with as yet undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome I identified so much more with Spock. Neither Vulcan or Human he didn't fit in anywhere and he never sacrificed his own identity… Continue

Added by Winfield H. Strock III on July 4, 2011 at 2:11pm — 2 Comments