Author Shelly Goodman Wright

     

     About three years ago, J.T. Evans (President of Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group) challenged the group to a writing exercise. There were strips of paper in a box with different genres and we each picked two. When I pulled out my two strips, I was terrified when I read the words STEAMPUNK.

     “What the heck is Steampunk?” I remembered asking.

     The group had done their best to explain it by giving me examples of Steampunk movies; some of which I had been a big fan of. Examples like A Series of Unfortunate Events, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Wild Wild West, and Sucker Punch. I went home, opened Google, and typed in the words Steampunk, and BAM, I found a whole sub-culture. The world of Steampunk is much more than stories and movies. There are clothes, collectable items, inventions, theories, workshops, seminars, and conventions going on all over the world.

      Who knew?

      Wikipedia defines Steampunk as : “a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.[1]Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain—that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of Steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or more recently Philip Pullman and China Melville.”

     Getting back to my story, I completed the challenge. I submitted it my critique group and after a few drafts (taking their suggestions on how to improve it, along with a critique from my friend Brook—on my website I talk about importance of a writing critique group), I submitted my story to Steampunk Tales E-Zine. Almost immediately, they accepted the story, only it would be almost two years until there would be a space for it. It’s been two years and my story is finally out. www.steampunktales.com , issue twelve.

     Steampunk Tales is not only a collection of stories based on the Wikipedia definition, but the headquarters is right here in Colorado Springs! Therefore, if you are looking for stories to escape into, these are great and because of groundbreaking marketing strategies, downloading in just about any format is easy. At $3.99 a download, for eight stories, it is a real bargain. We can also feel good about supporting a local company, and a few local authors.

     “We stand at the beginning of a revolution in the distribution of print,” says John Sondericker III, Steampulp Publishing’s founder. “While not possible just a few years ago, as an independent publisher we are now able to reach readers in millions of homes worldwide. The combination of low distribution costs and the potential for high-volume sales allows us to provide our magazine at an astounding value for the consumer. The iPhone and other modern eBook readers are platforms that can truly do them justice.”

Shelly Goodman Wright

Author of THE IRREVERSIBLE CATASTROPHE OF PROFESSOR BABCOCK‏

                                                                                  in Steampunk Tales Edition 12

Author of TWISTED ROOTS, coming Spring of 2012

www.shellygoodmanwright.com

FB Fan : A Light into the Darkness--Series