MUSINGS JANUARY 19TH, 2014 ~ JUST CHILLIN’

I went out today for the first time since Thursday and it was fantastic!

I of course went to Barnes and Noble for the first time in at least five months and being amongst all those books it felt different somehow. There’s a reason why that I’m not quite ready to reveal yet, but I hope to soon. Right now it was just nice to be out and about. I didn’t stay too long because I had a few errands to run but sitting there enjoying a cream puff and Caramel Flan Frappuccino was really nice and relaxing.

So what did I see on the shelves? More of the usual paranormal, however I’m also seeing a bit more Victorian era steampunk. I’ve actually picked up one A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway, and a very interesting site Ms. Holloway has. If I like the first book, of course I’ll see about the rest of the series.

Afterwards I gave into temptation and put a serious hurt on my Lane Bryant card. Oh well, everything was 60% off!

While I was being checked out by the clerk at B&N, she noticed A Study in Silks and said,

Clerk: “Oh, you’re into steampunk? I love that.”

Me: “I just recently started getting into it.”

Clerk: “You know there’s a steampunk convention in New Jersey? It’s called The Steampunk’s World’s Fair.” .

I didn’t and I was quite surprised by this. And I wouldn’t mind at the very least attending the workshops. Apparently steampunk is very popular now. I’d love to do a steampunk story but seriously, how much research do you have to do? What kind of research? Do you need to know about engineering? Which of course will never happen with me since I can barely pass algebra!

I want to do something different, however. I know lots of steampunk takes place in Victorian England and oft times, Jack the Ripper is the bad guy. I figure there were lots of other time frames that could work well with this genre, and we know there were some evil SOB’s walking around back in the day besides Jack, so think of the possibilities?

If there are any steampunk authors out there who see this, feel free to comment.

I also bought The Dark Griffin by K.J. Taylor. An epic fantasy it seems, although on her site under Fun Facts it states, “She dislikes Lord of the Rings and ironically reads very few fantasy novels.” Um…ok.

Now I’m sitting home, my brother made spaghetti and I’m enjoying a glass of wine while watching the episode of The Simpsons: The Book Job (with Neil Gaiman). And every time Lisa gripes about writers writing only for love and not to get royalties, I shake my head and say, “Poor deluded child.” Well yes, we do write for love but damn it all some of us want to get paid too!

Peace ~

“I just hope we put in enough steampunk – whatever that is.”

~Homer Simpson: The Book Job – Season 23; Episode 6 of The Simpsons

2 thoughts on “MUSINGS JANUARY 19TH, 2014 ~ JUST CHILLIN’”

A good thing about writing steampunk would be that you probably wouldn't have to do that much research. Create your own world and characters, kind of like writing a fantasy story. Steampunk is an alternate type of history.

I'm glad you were out and about, I need to get out a bit more myself. And you're completely correct in thinking authors want to get paid. We write because it's what we love to do, but it's still nice to be rewarded when we finish our latest masterpiece. Hang in there CJ and give steampunk a try. I'm sure you'll come up with something brilliant!

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