Thursday, April 17, 2008

Steampunk



Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy/sf/speculative fiction and usually borrows elements from say the Victorian era and gives it a twist. One of my favourite steampunk writers is China MiƩville
He sets his stories in a fantasy world that uses both clockwork and steam-powered technology and I'd recommend starting with his 2001 Arthur C Clarke winning novel Perdido Street Station.
Anyway. imagine my happiness when reading Jeff Vandermeer's Blog I came across his challenge to have the latest Steampunk Anthology which he and his wife Ann had edited to be photographed in a suitable steampunk place. I immediately thought of Swansea's Industrial Museum where there are displays of steam-powered paraphernalia which once made Swansea become nicknamed 'Copperopolis' as it was the world's largest copper producer during the 1800s



I duly suggested this and low and behold I won an advance copy of the book which is now winging its way over the Atlantic to me on the proviso that I have it photographed in said museum... woo hoo!

My brother-in-law, Tony Harwood is a keen modeller and has scratch-built numerous steampunk models and his site is definitely worth taking a look at.


Thursday, April 03, 2008

AlienSkin



No, I haven't come down with with a bad case of eczema, AlienSkin is a well respected American SF/Fantasy/Horror Writer's site, founded in 2002 by Froggy Bottom Press and they have just accepted and published a short story of mine entitled: DAWN'S KISS. It is a paying market but I am more than content with just having another short story of mine published. Here is a link to the story and I hope you enjoy it.
DAWN'S KISS