Steampunk Heroines: A Rant

There are a hundred other things I could be doing right now but instead I'm jotting down notes about a (first ever) steampunk short that's been nagging me for several months. There are two reasons for this madness.

First: I am nearly always disappointed by the portrayal of women in fantasy. Be it "sword and fantasy" fiction, science fiction, cyberpunk, steampunk...the heroine is too often a spunky feminist or a sex object (or both). If you like that, sure. I don't.

Authors who write heroines of this type into steampunk fiction lose not only my admiration of wow, this person has a published book! but also my suspended belief. Granted, there are many forms of "steampunk," indeed, the genre's definition is highly debated. I'm talking about the Victoriana alternative reality setting -- your girl should not walk and talk as though she's from this reality of 2011. Worse still, she should not think like someone from the twenty-first century and yet possess the mannerisms of Victorian Era England. It's just confusing.

My Beatnik Friend

A Triad of Announcements


     First -- thank you everyone for all the kind messages while I was sick (twice!), it was encouraging to know that my writing was missed. I certainly missed it!

    Second -- sketches are forthcoming, never fear. Watch this space.

    Third (and the best) -- my good friend, Amy Zoellers, is working on self publishing her first ever collection of poetry. How cool is this? Very. And it gets better. I am proud to be one of her "backers" on www.kickstarter.com and you can be one too! Go to her project and help get Winter Cocktails published, there are all sorts of awards and prizes for your efforts.

Check it, as they say, out.