A Pirate’s Pettifog on Proposition and Propriety

March 4, 2012
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Howdy, Captain. Mitchell Brand here. Got some trouble at the office. I wonder if I can pull your ear a minute, see if you can point me in the right direction.  Here’s the skinny. The government came to town a few months back and moved into our building right away. We used to be Chicago’s biggest news outfit. Now I’m stuck in the clubroom with a bunch of government newsies turning out stories to “keep Chicago safe and secure.” So says Minister Crane. He’s the new boss. And the trouble I mentioned.  Back when my pal, Chief, was running...

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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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Here There Be Pirates

March 1, 2012
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If there is One Thing I can tell you about living life as a pirate, its that you will get a lot of attention for doing it. It’s not for the faint of heart, trust me. But, while I glamorize piracy, and historical pirates like Henry Morgan and fictional ones like James Hook, real piracy is nothing glamorous.   Historically, most pirates were thieves and murderers, cowards and bullies. They preyed on the weakest ships they could find, because exchanging broadsides with the British Navy was a good way to get killed. In the modern age, the word piracy...

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Steampunk Mass Communications

March 1, 2012
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Much of Steampunk fiction takes place in the latter half of the 19th Century, with some crossover to the very early days of the 20th.  One element of storytelling that we find in prominent position, and especially for those stories set in the 1890s/1900s, is the concept of improved mass communication.  As a genre richly detailed with historical innovations, Steampunk fiction has several inventions to choose from to satisfy the need for improved mass communications. These include the telegraph, improved printing presses, and the radio, all of which were developed or advanced near to if not within the canonical...

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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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Skull and Trombones: Music Piracy’s Effects on the Independent Musician, Part 2

February 29, 2012
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Skull and Trombones: Music Piracy’s Effects on the Independent Musician, Part 2

By Mark Rossmore Photos used with permission (Credit: Mark Rossmore & DragonCon) Swimming Around a Tsunami What are steampunk musicians doing to stem piracy? Are they “pulling a Metallica” and sowing rabid discontent amongst their fans? Hardly! They’re doing quite the opposite. “We have built our business model on trying to avert, not fight piracy,” Deadly Nightshade’s Hazelton said. “We offer people who buy our stuff a lot of perks and provide the best customer experience we possibly can—and that’s easy since we’re an independent project. We can bend over backwards, refund or give away for free anything we want....

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Press Release: Florida Steampunk Exhibition East April 13-15

February 28, 2012
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Press Release: Florida Steampunk Exhibition East April 13-15

ANNOUNCING FLORIDA’S FIRST STEAMPUNK CONVENTION The first of a three-part convention series is scheduled at Daytona Beach The Florida Steampunk Society will sponsor and host Florida’s first all-Steampunk convention April 13-15, 2012 in Daytona Beach. Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction based on a Victorian vision of a future run by steam power and clockwork, where fantastical machines inspired by the likes of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are commonplace. The literature has inspired an entire subculture and fashion, as well as an emerging musical scene. Florida Steampunk Exhibition East will be a gathering of world-class and internationally-recognized...

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‘Adopt-a-locomotive’ helps old Polish engines build up steam

February 28, 2012
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‘Adopt-a-locomotive’ helps old Polish engines build up steam

‘Adopt-a-locomotive’ helps old Polish engines build up steam (via AFP) Inch by grimy inch, a group of volunteers at a Polish railway museum is scraping away at decades of rust and soot to restore old locomotives to their former glory. Their enthusiasm for steam doesn’t stop with the painstaking labour. Several of the volunteers are happy to pay 400 euros ($500) to “adopt…

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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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Dress Code

February 23, 2012
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Now for a moment many artists fear: time to implement the dress code.  Even in a flexible culture of people such as Steampunk, it is important to put your best foot forward and show off your desire to be taken seriously as a businessperson as well as an artist.  The first step to being taken seriously, is to dress the part. This does not mean to drop the Steampunk gear.  Any businessperson walking into a Steamcon in a modern suit and expect to do business will likely be laughed off the stage unless they are selling pieces that are...

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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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Volume 1, Issue 3 Find out more on MagCloud
Library of Classics
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