Books

“Wicked As They Come” is a Wicked Delight

March 29, 2012
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“Wicked As They Come” is a Wicked Delight

When I picked up the advanced reader’s copy of Delilah S. Dawson’s new trilogy-starter “Wicked As They Come,” I was wary. Paranormal romance is a genre that has become a widespread, nearly household term, and as exciting as it is to see the supernatural, spooky and steamy on bookshelves everywhere, it’s also a little overwhelming at times. And while paranormal romance isn’t my first and foremost choice of material, within the first few pages of “Wicked” I knew I had found something different. Dawson’s heroine, Tish Everett, is a nurse whose last relationship was a doozy. Her ex was...

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A Steampunk Bedtime Story

March 29, 2012
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A Steampunk Bedtime Story

First impressions are important. Not just in one’s initiation into the world of Steampunk literature, but in the initiation of reading in general. Young readers can become vulnerable when introduced to new ideas because of their trust in an author. Novelist Emilie P. Bush has successfully accepted this responsibility with Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story. Inspired by the brilliant illustrations of William Kevin Petty, this book is an eye opener to the genre for both the young and old. St. John Murphy Alexander is an explorer robot who is sent out to survey the countryside and report...

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Review: Electrica by Sean McMullen

March 17, 2012
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Review: Electrica by Sean McMullen

The March/April edition of Fantasy & Science Fiction bears a cover that is by itself worthy of mention to the Steampunk community. A screeching raven, an amber orb in which hovers a woman’s face, all against a backdrop of what could only be an inventor’s laboratory? Oh, this is going to be a delightful read. Yes, indeed it shall. The cover story is “Electrica,” by Sean McMullen. And it does not disappoint. Readers are swept back to the year 1811, into the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars, where we don the role of a superior officer reading a letter...

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Rolling the Dice on Steampunk: Part Deuce

March 15, 2012
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Rolling the Dice on Steampunk: Part Deuce

My last list of Steampunk RPGs resulted in several suggestions for a follow up to make sure I included some readers’ favorites.  As I am always glad to expand horizons and answer to the people’s desires, here is a list of other table-top role-playing games with a Steampunk flare.  Given the sheer number of options and varied genres to pull from, everyone is bound to find a game that speaks to them.   Unhallowed Metropolis – While horror might not be the first genre brought to mind when a person thinks of Steampunk, it is still a very common...

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Video of the song of the book Across the Stonewind Sky

March 5, 2012
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As promised in a previous article, Ged Maybury’s book “Across the Stonewind Sky” had in production as part of its promotion a music video of the song written for the book. It was released on Friday 2nd March 2012 as part of a local (Brisbane) film festival.

It’s now on YouTube and you can watch it here:

Review: The Sherlock Holmes Cookbook

March 2, 2012
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Review: The Sherlock Holmes Cookbook

            The Sherlock Holmes Cookbook proposes to take the reader to the Baker Street rooms by way of Mrs. Hudson’s cookery. We’re to join the master sleuth and his companion, the good Doctor Watson, around a veritable groaning board of delicacies. Of course, in this case, the reader is asked to stand in for the landlady, and thus our task is not so much to join the detective as it is to make ready for Holmes’ arrival.   Before getting too far along, it is worth noting the full title of the text under...

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Interview: Steampowered Globe Editor Maisarah Abu Samah

February 29, 2012
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A while back, I posted the Table of Contents for the Singaporean steampunk anthology, The Steampowered Globe, and I got to chatting to its editor, Maisarah Abu Samah, about putting it together. And I thought ya’ll might find it interesting, especially any of you in Asia (and I know some of you are from Asia), to read a very frank interview from Maisarah about the anthology and spec fic generally. Tell us a little bit about yourself! How did you get interested in steampunk? I’m one of the current municipal liaisons for Nanowrimo in Singapore and I try to make people see...

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Press Release: Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story LAUNCHES Today – to rave reviews

February 28, 2012
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Blurbs and reviews are rolling in to Coal City Stories for  its first publication Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story,which is to launch Tuesday February 28th, 2012.   Praise is rolling in from around the Steampunk community for a first of its kind Steampunk children’s book.  Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story, featuring a bonus story, “Three Cheers for Steamduck,” was written by Steampunk novelist Emilie P. Bush and illustrated by William Kevin Petty. Amazon.com exclusively has the book at a special discounted price on Tuesday ONLY. The like to the book is HERE: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Majestys-Explorer-Steampunk-bedtime/dp/0984902805/ The tale is receiving glowing from...

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Press Release: “MENIAL: Skilled Labor in SF” by Crossed Genres

February 27, 2012
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Other people treat laborers like the dirt they work with. But skilled labor is crucial to the continuation of human culture on earth – and if we ever wish to visit the stars, skilled labor will be indispensable. We want stories about men and women who understand the nuts and bolts, the atmosphere and the water and the soil. You know – the things that keep us alive. We want characters who get their hands dirty every day; people who aren’t too proud to work their bodies at least as hard as their minds. We welcome and strongly encourage submissions with...

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Press Release: Video Book Trailer for Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story released.

February 22, 2012
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Coal City Stories provides a sneak peek into its first publication Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story, which is to launch  February 28th, 2012. See the video at the Coal City Steam blog: http://wp.me/pDibz-6C Praise is rolling in from around the Steampunk community. Here is what some early reviewers are saying: “St. John Murphy Alexander, ‘Her Majesty’s Explorer,’ is literature’s most charming mechanical man since L. Frank Baum’s Tin Man.” ~ Jim BarnesIndependent Publisher. “I just finished reading Her Majesty’s explorer to Chloe (9 years old) and 1Isabella (just 6). They both loved it, and both wished they could have their...

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Library of Classics
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