Did you see Noni gave my blog readers that name in yesterday's post? How cool is that?! She also promised we'd come up with something funny for today's post.
Well, we didn't.
Oops.
Sleep deprivation is a bad thing. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. Anywhoodle, back to my original plan, which was to jump on the Steampunk bandwagon. Because there's more to life than vampires. (Was that my out-loud voice? Shhh...)
Now, I'm not one of those people who dress up like pseudo-Victorian fantasies. I have no problem with it, if that's what you're into. I'm just not sure I could manage the long skirts. And the corsets. All the women seem to wear corsets.
I do love books that have a Steampunk vibe, though. The genre can cover a lot of ground, from books that rework English history, like the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger, to those that rethink the American West, like Dead Iron by Devon Monk. Check them out if you haven't already.
Steampunk can travel in a post-apocalyptic direction, like The Iron Seas books by Meljean Brooks. Her book The Iron Duke might be one of my all-time favorite books ever. EVER. And then we can't leave out vampires entirely. Steampunk can definitely go paranormal, like the book I'm reading now, Wicked As They Comeby Delilah S. Dawson (which is a rockin' good read so far).
The key to making something Steampunk is to include modern-ish technology and give it a Victorian spin, like fancy airships that run on steam, or little clockwork gizmos like the bird in the picture to the right. A lot of the mechanical stuff is inspired by the stories of HG Wells and Jules Verne, and you can find Steampunk in movies and music, too, as well as the art that's featured in the video above.
So if vampires let us play with ideas about life, death and aging and werewolves help us work through man vs animal dilemmas, what does Steampunk do? Give us the chance to work out the implications of the Industrial Revolution? Remember fondly when the British Empire was all that? Or, just put girls in corsets? Give it some thought, and let me know what you come up with. Peace, Liv
Actually, I was going to title this post Book Whore, but didn't want you to get the wrong idea. Honestly, though, when it comes to buying books, I'm incorrigible, and getting a Kindle has made it worse, because now no one can see the stacks that are coming into the house. You think I'm kidding? In the last week - since 3/24/12 - I've downloaded samples for the following books: This Brilliant Darkness by Red Tash The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle Caught (Gemini Men) by Jami Alden Wicked As They Come by Delilah S. Dawson The Indie Author's Guide to the Universe by Jeff Bennington Midnight's Sweet Kiss by Ann Cory And those are just the samples. They're more like bookmarks, things that caught my eye, reminders of what I want to take a closer look at. And I will take a closer look.
And then, because life is always better when you go to a bookstore, on Thursday night I picked up the following titles at Elliot Bay Books: Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (because it's a great book and I haven't read it in years) The Once & Future King by TH White (because I've never read it and feel like I should, and I love the King Arthur myth) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiel Hammett (because it's such a great example of a mystery, worth studying, and I've never read it) The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory (because I recently tried my hand at writing a historical short story and thought I might learn from someone who's really good at it - this is a novel not a short story, so I'll be looking for how she handled the time period) Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire (because I love the author's October Daye series and hadn't seen this one before)
Clearly I have a bias towards fantasy & paranormal. I figure if I want real-life drama, I'll go to work. When I read, I want something fun, something that takes me out of the real world. And if you follow me on twitter, you'll know I frequently tweet that it's raining in Seattle, so I should have plenty of time to lounge around with a book or my Kindle in my hands.
Not exactly
The problem is I'd need about 37 hours in a day to get to all the books I want to read. But I will get to as many of these as I can - along with the 60 or so other books on my Kindle, and the stacks of books around the nightstand in my bedroom. Because there was something about each one that intrigued me. I know how much time and effort went into the creation of every last one, and I may not end up liking all of them, but I appreciate the fact that someone had something to say, and they put it down on paper. Or, e-paper, for us modern kids. Peace, Liv
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Now, I'm not one of those people who dress up like pseudo-Victorian fantasies. I have no problem with it, if that's what you're into. I'm just not sure I could manage the long skirts. And the corsets. All the women seem to wear corsets.
The key to making something Steampunk is to include modern-ish technology and give it a Victorian spin, like fancy airships that run on steam, or little clockwork gizmos like the bird in the picture to the right. A lot of the mechanical stuff is inspired by the stories of HG Wells and Jules Verne, and you can find Steampunk in movies and music, too, as well as the art that's featured in the video above.
