Monday, November 22, 2010
The Steampunk Convention
By popular demand, I’m going with this on Black Friday instead of my general whine about the holidays. (Yes, Quantum is the popular demander. And he’s such a sweetheart, I bowed to his demands.) (And I know, it’s Tuesday because I switched with Terrio… Confused yet?)
I don’t really want to try to define steampunk, I’m gonna list the panels I went to and see what the crew can extrapolate from the topics! (I love being evil.)
I went to 7 hours of steampunk panels, five specifically on writing. And it was really interesting!
First was Becoming A Writer. Pretty basic stuff but interesting to hear the three writers speak of their path to publication. From a right out of college English major who started with fanfic (hear this, Sin?) and was bought with her first original urban fantasy. She has a ton of books pubbed now. In fact, over a dozen. Then there was the scifi guy, who waited eleven years for his first novel sale, but sold a lot of short stores before that. And he was one of the first to talk about how he wished his books were classified as romance, since that sells the best. (hee, hee!) The mystery author said her path was seven years long. Why were these three at this con? They all had crossed in and out of what is considered steampunk.
Then I went to Magic in Steampunk. Wow! This was fascinating and gave me some real ideas for another blog. So, I’m not going to talk much about this here. It was good.
I spent a fascinating hour listening to a scholar speak of The NeoVictorian Retrofuture. He was interesting, the subject was wonderful and again, gave me food for a future blog. I will share this right now… His take on what makes a book fit into the aesthetic of steampunk is one of three elements. One, technofantasy. Two, neo-victorian. And three, retrofuture.
(I can see a bunch of pirates at this point, pulling out their cutlass and coming at me with fire in their eyes. Here! Have a nice big tankard of techno-neo-future rum!)
The Future of Steampunk Publication was an okay panel. The three people leading it had left careers working for a big bookstore chain and started their own publishing house. What made this panel new for me was they all felt that what steampunk needed to gain recognition and survive into the future (the real future, not the retrofuture) was an official writers guild. Along the lines of the Mystery Writers of America or the RWA. (hee, hee!)
What Makes A Novel Steampunk covered ground I’d already heard, but had a few interesting new bits of info…the idea that ‘punk’ came from the a reaction to authority, which could take part as rebellion, resistance or ignoring authority in general. (Piratepunk, anyone!?)
The next was a bit mind-numbing. Effects of Victorian Industrialization. The three scholars on the panel addressed the reality of the Victorian age and how it impacted the world, both negatively and positively. One of the scholars was a specialist in the American partner to Victorian England. The Guilded Age, with the years before and after. One thing I got from this was the entire concept that because people were reacting to the strict rules of the Victorian Age…one could say this is where woman’s rights was born, children’s rights, and the concept of the rights of the working man. So…give credit where credit is due?
On my last morning, I crawled out of bed and made the Character or Setting panel. Which in the first ten minutes consisted of three authors, their spouses…and me! We were preparing to adjourn to the coffee shop and chat when seven more people wandered in. Drat! Again, another wonderfully diverse group of authors on the panel, two who also wrote romance and will be at RT! This panel ended up meandering about the topic of the setting as a character and touched on the idea of plausibility verses reality when inventing contraptions for your characters to fiddle with. Like a clockwork horse that must be wound up in the middle of a chase. (hee, hee)
All in all, my brain got a workout. My eyes feasted on costumes that were amazing. I ordered a custom made under-the-bust corset and picked up a frippery to give away during Decadent Publishing’s special Holiday blog month. I froze my nose and my toes objected to the new shoes (though not until I’d worn them for six hours, so not bad!) and I got no writing done.
Just still wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay too tired from my shingles.
Next year will be better. The theme this year was Weird Weird West (Hellion, you would have loved some of the costumes I saw!). Next year is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea! Kraken lovers of the world, UNITE! Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!
So, questions? I’ll do my best to answer without giving away too much of what I want to blog about during December…
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58 comments:
Anyone who has stood close to or ridden on one of the original steam engine train going at full speed can only feel awe at the display of raw power, the belching mixture of steam and smoke, the sulpherous odor, the huge pistons pumping up and down and the ingenuity of the governor keeping the whole thing stable.
It used to be every schoolboy's dream to become an engine driver and control that monstrous beast.
I assume that the originators of steam-punk must be romantics who dream of the golden age of steam. They probably wore anoraks as youngsters and huddled on railway stations collecting engine numbers. Many of my school chums indulged in this pastime but I could never see the point. I had much more imaginative tricks to play with numbers. *grin*
After a very cursory glance I'm left with the impression of a Dr Who figure time traveling back to steam to play with the massively engineered engines, but using modern high tech tools.
I look forward to hearing more Chance!
I love it when you bow to my demands ..... Not even Mrs Q does that .... at least not all the time!
Is that weird gadget in your first pic powered by steam?
The clock suggests a time machine.
Wow, I'd love to join Miranda for a ride on Stephenson's Rocket, especially if you joined us.
Go on ... you know you want to! :D
This sounds really intriguing, Chance. Maybe I'll have to add it to my list for next year (I've got this whole "fantasy travel list" in my head right now!) How nice that they've got a Kraken theme for you next year. :)
I like the blending of things in steampunk--kinda like taking the best parts of an era (the great clothes, the inventions, the excitement about the future) and mixing it all together.
Who would you recommend for authors in this genre? The ones you've enjoyed the most? I've seen some folks listed, but wondered who tickles your fancy.
I do love this genre and didn't even know it for a long time. Grew up on the original Wild Wild West television show. And adored the lastest movie version of Sherlock Holmes, which incorporates many of these elements. Oh the clothes. I LOVE the clothes.
And I love how you're creating PiratePunk. That is so perfect. Do you think someday soon we'll see a whole section of the bookstore dedicated to SteamPunk? Or maybe that's already happened and I'm behind.
Q - Steampunk often mixes the Victorian love of folklore and the paranormal into the steam. Hence, the first picture is a fairy with wings made up of gears and chain...
Steam is the driving force, but a real steampunk afficiando also includes the mysterious energy source of aether. There is a lot of magic in the 'genre'! Though one person's magic is another person's science...which is one of the tricks.
And there's a lot of credit to the Brits and their contributions to the dawn of the genre. Michael Moorcock for one!
This is why it's almost resists the very idea of a genre. There are definate steampunk conventions, (not the gathering sort), but no real hard and fast rules.
;-)
You can see why I enjoy dabbling in it so much!
My book, The Kraken's Mirror, contains some small nods to steampunk. No steam, but the power of innovation is certainly involved in keeping the blenders of Tortuga running!
Always happy to bow to your desires, Q-ster!
I just realized that's a person wearing those gears! I didn't even know there was a person in that picture. LOL!
Donna, considering your enjoyment of historicals...and the touch of comedy, I'd suggest Gail Carriger and the Parasol Protectorant series as a good intro. Since you once lived in Seattle and know the environs, you should consider Boneshaker by Cherie Priest...as it takes place in an alternate Seattle of the 1880's.
And I've heard a lot of great things about China Mievelle. "Perdito Street Station". And there is Scott Westerfield's "Leviathan". I haven't read these last two, though I have other titles by China in my Sony and Westerfields book.
I found Ekaterina Sedia fascinating, steampunk with an otherworld sort of twist. I read "The Alchemy of Stone" by her and was really caught by her voice. There are so many!
You can always check out the steampunk scholar for a complete list.
Oh, how fun! Those panels sound great and Steampunk definitely puts the fun back into history. I could see myself enjoying a conference like this. I'm looking forward to your Magic in Steampunk blog! Thanks for sharing!
Bo'sun - The panel on the future of publication in steampunk talked about the shelf space, etc. There really seemed to be mixed feelings on the part of those attending regarding the desirability of a section just for steampunk. I think the worry is to be partioned out and then lose the opportunities of being discovered by someone not necessarily looking for a steampunk title. Right now, for the most part, it's shelved in scifi/fantasy.
Several of the authors on panels who also wrote romance said it was amazing that the big romance publishers want steampunk, but they don't really know what it is. They just know it has 'next big thing' potential!
So, will it have seperate shelf space??? I almost hope not. The publisher on that panel is hoping to see the writers of steampunk form their own guild and have their own rewords... An Airship instead of A Rita, that sort of thing.
But I sorta like it's freerange sort of feel! ;-)
Bo'sun! Yup! I cannnot imagine how heavy those wings were. But a lot of people had costumes that had to be heavy, cumbersome, etc. The dealers room was so packed and then you toss in costumes that include a bustle??? And airship mechs carrying around huge rayguns and mechanized cannonades???
Crazy!
One western steampunk afficiando was hauling around his saddle... The theme was Weird Weird West, remember! Which is why I included the pic of the last couple!
Melissa - The authors leading the Magic in Steampunk panel really made some impressions on me. Talked about rules without getting all 'in yer face' about absolutes. And I always enjoy a bit more of a loose rein!
Hope to have the magic blog ready for next Friday!
I do enjoy how open this genre is. Like romance, it takes elements from several other traditional styles and fits them together nicely. It has to be fun to write this sort of stuff.
And that idea of one man's magic being another man's science made me think again of the latest Holmes movie. The villain seems to have real magic powers, but it's really all explained away by the science of the day. Really cool aspect.
I do love the 'one man's science' aspect of it. And it can be a lot of fun to play with. And leaves wonderful windows to have an advanced science without needing an engineering degree to 'prove' it works.
Aether is a handy element in steampunk, as it can power so many things and is an accepted energy source, without a blueprint.
I have elements of solar in my second kraken book and figure 'if they'd had it, they would have used it' justifcation.
As one author put it, 'you make things plausible and the reader will follow. Make it nothing but the *poof! of magic and they might not!'
Of course, the topic you listed that *I* liked best, you called Mind-Numbing. *LOL* But I would have ADORED it. It would have been a great history class that made me think of Cranford (which features trains and ever fearful PROGRESS!) and North and South.
I'm intrigued by the Character and Setting class because in the case of Steampunk, the setting IS a character, so to speak. I mean, I've heard arguments where the setting of a novel can almost be another character in the book (like southern women's fiction, et al), and in the case of Steampunk, I'd wager this is definitely the case.
And I love the terms: retrofuture and technofantasy and neoVictorian--I can totally grasp in my head what that's alluding to. (Though there are some historicals now that are neoVictorian and don't even know it! *LOL*)
Retrofuture--that's just cool. I think it would be kinda funny to read a "punk" version of the 1950s (Nuclearpunk?)--where we really do have the cars they were designing and the houses and the robots and the Jetsons lifestyle. *LOL* Leave It to Beaver meets the Jetsons.
:-)
You know, I made sure to take one good pic of a 'western' couple just for you! And as I sat in that panel, listening to the American historian link all the Victoriana to America I thought, "Hel would love this!"
It was interesting, just a might academic at that point... The western scholar was hilarious, how she pointed out that America and the rest of the world really did exist during the Victorian eras.
And several other panelists spoke of WWII steampunk, etc. The books are out there that slip around any boundaries that say "England only" ... Like Boneshaker, mentioned above...set in the 1880s of an alternate Seattle.
You really ought to visit the steampunk scholar (http://steampunkscholar.blogspot.com/) site, Hel. Just ignore the Star Wars pics and read it and you'll see why he used that image. He was really fascinating. And I adored his use of the NeoVictorian Retrofuture!
He was really cute, too! I reget not snapping his pic...
And you know, someone made a reference to Rosie the Robot and steampunk...now, if my brain can haul it out of storage...
I admit, I'm not sure I get the NeoVictorian meaning. Can anyone explain to this non-researching wench?
As I understand it...and I'm not a scholar... Neo, meaning new. So...it's about re-imagining the Victorian era. Remaking it along the lines of 'might have been' or 'could have been' or just 'wouldn't it have been fun if it were like this been' !!!
Retrofuture...a future that incorporates more elements from the past as part of the furute. Like steam engines!
Something that was pointed out a great deal at the convention, and I loved it, was to remember the supersticious and paranormal elements of the Victorian age. The seances, the search for fairies...all of which can be toyed with in steampunk to wonderful height! Dracula was written in this era. So was Frankenstein...
And put two of the authors seen as the fathers of steampunk, Jules Verne in a room with HG Wells...two totally difference views of technology and what it can bring to mankind.
Yes, my brain was stimulated!
Hel? If I've got those root words wrong, please to correct. I only go by what I sorta understand it to be...
"Neo" added to anything has always messed with me. A likely result of never attending traditional college and getting to take those really interesting classes. But this makes sense.
Now that I get it, the RetroFuture has to be my favorite. A ton of "What if" involved in that.
Chance, I think Dracula was written earlier -- in the Regency (pre-Victorian) era, and maybe Frankenstein was as well.
But I like the notion of all the paranormal and superstitious elements playing a part. That's a great point, and it really contrasts so nicely with all the forward momentum of that era's technology.
Every era feels like they are so "modern" yet there are always going to be those who feel it is moving too fast. Lots of inherent conflict there!
Hmmmm. Now I have to go see if I can figure out about Dracula... I always understood it to be during the Victorian era...be right back!
Wiki, here I come!
Ha! Nope, Dracula was during the height of the Victorian Age, which is considered to be from 1837 to 1901. Dracula was written in 1897.
Frankenstein was a bit early...1818.
Bo'sun - Yup, so NeoVictorian (the imaginary Victorian era) + RetroFuture (The future which would come about with a re-imagined Victorian era) = steampunk.
Sometimes. When it doesn't. ;-)
NeoVictorian is New Victorian. So in my head, I'm imagining the fashions, the society, the old traditions--but the NEW part is twisting it up with some of our modern preferences (while still working within the realm of what was available in the Victorian period, like the steam engines, industrial revolution technology, "modern medicine", and aether--which was a very real element in its age.) So the modern preferences would Equal Rights and Free Love (which was done on the fringes of society--I think Victoria Hull was a big Free Love advocate) and birth control (which Margaret Sanger would be coming up around the turn of the century--so it's not too far off--and they did start making rubber condoms in the mid-1800s.) I don't know...I just imagine more NEW "modern" attitudes but in Victorian fashion and with Victorian era scientific limitations of the time.
There was a pre-Dracula story in the Regency period though. I know Bram's was 1890 or something like that, but there was a book called Vampyre??--and I think it's partly where he got some of his idea. He just took it to a whole new horrific level. *LOL*
Frankenstein was written on that "camping trip" of the Romantics and their lovers. Mary scared the fuck out out of everyone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vampyre
Hellion - Yup, that works, too!
It is a real blend of 'what ifs' with the whole Neo-Victorian stuff.
And mention was made of birth control, women's movements, child labor reformation.
And the utopian aspect of Free Love...
Which reminds me! I saw a blurb the other day for a new movie coming out regarding the invention of the vibrator as a cure of women's ills...darn! (Which I think would fall into this time era.) What was it called? Looked to be a right fun movie to go see!
Yeah, I have a history book on the history of the vibrator (I'm not kidding), it's the most hysterical thing ever. The vibrator was invented because doctors were complaining it was taking too long to attend to all their patients and they needed something more efficient. (In the good old days, if a woman was sexually frustrated--though they didn't call it that, they called it HYSTERIA--she went to the doctor who "took care of her".)
God forbid anyone SHOW the girl how to do it herself and tell her it was okay to do so.
Yeah, Bram turned it into an allegory of women and venerial disease.
Or it was just a ripping good yarn and leave the literary scholars out of it!
Hellie, you don't want to render the male unnecessary, do you? LOL
Imagine a steam-powered vibrator. Goodness.
Gives a whole new meaning to the term "hot box" don't it, Donna!?
Hel, do you remember...was it invented during the Victorian Age?
Man, I wish I could remember where I read about the upcoming movie!!! I bet it was that issue of Entertainment Weekly I read in the airport in Seattle and then left for someone else to enjoy...
I still can't imagine going to your doctor to be "taken care of". And they say people were more uptight back then?!
This reminds of that scene in Pleasantville with the mother in the bathtub. When she figures out she can take care of herself and her world goes from black & white to color. LOL!
I can remember a movie with Mathew Broderick and the Kellog guy... I think. Where a particular doctor specialized in relieving women's hysteria...
I believe there was a steam powered vibrator actually.
And I rendered the male unnecessary about 20 years ago. Now I just keep one because he's very pretty...and accomplished.
And hard working with great stamina.
Just sayin'...
Hel, do you remember…was it invented during the Victorian Age?
Oh DEFINITELY. They were using some form of "water massage" in the 1830s, I think (cold water, I can't say it sounded appealing). And I think the first vibrator was in the mid-1870s?? They looked like things you'd find at Jiffy Lube. Very Victorian.
In fact, you could start buying home vibrators around 1890s or so (they were called something else because of the Comstock Law would have made it illegal to ship it otherwise, but they got around that)--and you could buy an ELECTRIC home vibrator a full 10 years before you could get an electric vacuum sweeper.
There were some vibrators that look like those manual egg beaters--which I would want no where near my personal space, thank you.
Ah! I thought so! Makes perfect sense that at this time of great innovation, someone would come up with a way to free the doctors from this onerous duty!
Hee, hee.
I remember someone last March, at the Nova Ablion steampunk con...she had one of the first vibrators strapped onto her costume. And yup, if she hadn't said what it was, I never would have guessed.
OK, crew...I got to book and get the dog out while thr rain has let up. Been raining steady for hours and I've got a little window. I'll hook back up at Starbucks!
I loved that scene in Pleasantville!! (Though when they described women going to the doctors for this--it's not what you imagined. It's not the porn version, I mean. *LOL* Well, maybe occasionally, I don't know. *LOL* But they described as the woman would come in, lift her skirts and he'd put his hand on her and "work her" (I think that was the term) and the doctors didn't like it because their hands got tired. They liked to pass it off to midwives to take care of because THEY were better at it! (That was the part that made me spit out my soda.)
Oh, what was that Matthew Broderick movie? It was weird...I didn't get to see it. *LOL* Was it any good? *LOL*
It was amusing, The Road to Wellville. Had a lot of people that were fun in it... And he was his usually bemused self!
I wouldn't mind seeing it again...
http://www.vibrators-faq.com/history/invented.html
What an interesting blog, Chance! And thanks for sharing the pics.
Hellie, I know Frankenstein doesn't fit chronologically, but narratively, it seems like steampunk to me.
I have Maljean Brook's The Iron Duke, a steampunk romance, on my TBB list. It's received a lot of buzz and is on several "Best of 2010" lists. It sounds like a good book to introduce a romance reader to steampunk.
Has anyone else seen the steampunk jewelry on Etsy? I want the owl clock.
Sorry for the disjointed post. My mind's still in 13th-century Africa, and it's about to return there. I'm on a lunch break.
I've seen the stuff on Etsy! That stuff is so cool. I ADORE cameos, and they have some real beauties. Chance was sweet enough to get me one earlier this year (or last year?) and it's just perfect.
I'll have to look up the Brooks book.
No, Hellie, I didn't mean YOU were rendering the male unnecessary--I was referring to your comment about the male doctors not showing the woman how to take care of herself. LOL I mean, if a woman was self-sufficient, what would she want to do next by herself? :)
Interesting discussion today, pirates. LOL
I mean, if a woman was self-sufficient, what would she want to do next by herself?
Vote and Drive, which incidentally are the two things I've heard from men that ruined women. *LOL*
Hellie! That article is sweet! Not intended to induce female orgasm! HA!
Bo'sun - I know Rae is intending to set up a webstore for her cameos... I hope it happens soon! She does some incredible work!
Janga! Glad to see you leave the wilds of Africa behind long enough to visit!
Yup, lots of incredible jewelry on Etsy of the steampunk aesthetic!
I'll have to add "The Iron Duke" to my list.
Donna, you know women of quality never do for themselves what they can pay others to do for them! ;-)
It's really a fascinating genre that isn't really a genre.
Voting and driving ruined women, eh? But I guess we allowed to read, so we would have a use for cookbooks, right?
Cool blog, Chance. I too was a huge fan of Wild Wild West back in the day. I also love the whole "one man's science" idea. That whole era is sort of fascinating. Just about as fascinating as all the info Hellie has on vibrators...
You need to write an historical, Hellie, and include all that info. That whole aspect of history (the behind the scenes realities) are truly amazing, IMHO. It's the whole "why didn't they fight back" argument. I have this argument with my kids all the time in regards to slavery, the Holocaust, pretty much any country bordering England over the past few centuries, and women (the DH loves that I add them into the mix). History shows that there are usually more (in actual numbers) of the underdog but they are still repressed, abused, felt to feel less than, etc. due to mind games.
I think the really interesting people to know at that point in time would be the men who didn't buy into it all. There had to be a few who felt women were equal and I wonder what went through their minds when they were alone with their thoughts at night.
I liked Wild Wild West too and I loved the new Sherlock Holmes movie. And League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was lots of fun too.
I haven't read any of the books yet though. I want to pick up the Parasol Protectorate books but... well, I've wanted to do lots of things this past year. LOL!
This sounds like such a cool conference, Chance. I'm so glad you had a good time. :)
Irish, it was interesting, one of the moderators for the Victorian Industrialization pointed out that until the Victorian age, women didn't even have a vocabulary to express the concept of being oppressed. That although the era typifies some very obvious abuses, it also brought the subject to light.
As it did the review of child labor laws and the rise of worker's rights. All the abuses brought to light, much due to the advent of modern journalism...
It was a fascinating era!
Marnee - It was pretty fun to see the steampunk western folks. The details on their costumes that made things steampunk...really fun! And the one author who talked about her steampunk western with the clockwork horse that needed winding? Mind blowing and certainly a bit silly, but that is part of the fun.
They even had a panel on Dr. Lovelace and the silver scheme. An episode of Wild Wild West when Dr. Loveless tried to corner the silver market. There were nice touches that paid homage to WWW at the convention! Including the autobiography of the actor who portrayed Dr. Loveless, Michael Dunn.
When you have a spare moment, (I know, HA!) try Souless. It's a fun read!
Time for me to break for lunch! I hope more folks stop by to comment and stay encouraged, I will blog about several of the panels in detail come December.
Lunch? I'm thinking about dinner? It's already DARK outside. LOL
it was interesting, one of the moderators for the Victorian Industrialization pointed out that until the Victorian age, women didn’t even have a vocabulary to express the concept of being oppressed.
This I'd believe. *LOL* The vocabulary was probably geared toward women being PROTECTED from big bad men, so they can't possibly be oppressed when women are actually PROTECTED, worshiped (for being the Lady of the House), and revered for being the gentle hand that soothes the savage beast (men). Blah, blah, blah. And why would you want to vote? Why dirty your innocent little mind with the vulgarities of the world and politics?
Yeah, I probably do have a bit too much knowledge about the history of vibrators. *LOL* Oops.
Well, yeah, Donna! I eat a late lunch and so it was 2pm here and over 5 where you are...that's about right!
Hellion - Yeah, I thought it was interesting how the moderator put it. That journalism and teaching the general population to read lead to an awareness that there was life outside the village, outside the four walls... And the advent of news sheets, the way the tales of Jack the Ripper crossed the world...all of it made for a fascinating view of history and the rights of men and women and children!
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