Welcome to What’s in a Genre? If you missed my earlier posts you can find them on my blog.
Part One: Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy : Part Two: High Fantasy versus Epic Fantasy : Part Three: Dark Fantasy versus Sword and Sorcery Part Four: Magical Realism versus Sci-Fi
This week I want to talk about a genre that I love, love, love! Steampunk! But I get a lot of people asking me what Steampunk is.
Steampunk can be defined as Victorian Futurism. Don’t know what that is? Let me explain!
Steampunk is set in the Victorian Era. The time of corsets and top hats. Waistcoats and parasols. It can be set in New England or England. The wild west or in the south. No matter where it is set it had to be in the Victorian Era and it had to include futuristic elements.
Ray guns and airships, jetpacks and goggles. The Sci-Fi elements are futuristic for the time period. Vehicles are often powered by steam and made from copper, iron and brass.
Women wear corsets and carry weapons at the same time.
And plots usually are about a dark overlord trying to get their hands on technology to dominate the world. Technology plays a large part of the stories and the science behind them is well thought out and extensive.
Just putting gears on things won’t work. Especially for avid Steampunk lovers. For them you need to really know what you are writing.
Some of my favorite movies are Steampunk and I even have a Steampunk Alice in Wonderland story that I have sitting on my hard drive. Steampunk is fun and fanciful and the technology is only limited by your imagination. Just make sure that you have a lot of time for research because once you start, it’s hard to stop!
Here’s a photo of me and my kids at Comic Con San Diego this year as Steampunk Alice and Wonderland! (All Rights Reserved. Please do not use without permission)
Welcome to What’s in a Genre?
If you missed my earlier posts you can find them on my blog.
Part One: Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy : Part Two: High Fantasy versus Epic Fantasy : Part Three: Dark Fantasy versus Sword and Sorcery Part Four: Magical Realism versus Sci-Fi Part Five: Steampunk