BLOG

The Journey

“The Journey of Inspector Roux” was the result of a single idea: in the steampunk world, what sort of medical advancements would be available?

I was in the middle of editing my science fiction novel the day my daughter invited me to join her in writing a short story for this Steampunk anthology. Medical advancements in the sci-fi universe are expected, even taken for granted, but what about in the alternate reality of steampunk?

Steampunk is full of extraordinary inventions, on a grand scale. I could easily imagine that accidents in a steam-driven society would have the potential to be frequent as well as catastrophic. Medical technology would need to step up in order to meet the needs of those injured in such incidents.

My character, Inspector Roux, is dealing with the aftermath of a fiery accident. (Not a spoiler, you’ll know that from page 1). His personal preference is to not be noticed; however, therefore his choice of medical aide is generally not as exciting as what could be available to a less humble man. The opportunity to look around him and speculate on the endless possibilities of medical advancement in a steampunk society is what makes me think I might be willing to revisit his story-world in the future.

I found the characters of Inspector Roux, and his side-kick Junior Inspector Noel easy to write. We are all surrounded by people dealing with various medical issues and sometimes chronic pain. Some of my best friends suffer daily and constantly look for new answers. I can only empathize with them as far as my own limited experience allows, but I often wish that the medical advancements found in fiction, whether past or future, could soon become a reality to give them relief. Until then, I would hope that more of us would be like Noel: optimistic and ever eager to be of service.

“The Journey of Inspector Roux” is a first for me. Though I have written for many, many years, I have never published. I have to express my appreciation to my daughter, Shauntel, for believing I had the skills necessary to write a likable short story. Without her invitation, I would still be writing only for myself.

I am thankful to the staff of Xchyler Publishing. Being asked to edit my own story according to the desires of someone else’s vision is probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Inspector Roux gave the opportunity to learn the process of publishing on a small enough scale that I didn’t run away from it, (even though I wanted to at times) but pressed forward.

A note about my writing process—since that’s the sort of thing people want to know—is that I am the proverbial “pantzer”. I don’t write my first drafts with a plan in mind. Sometimes an idea comes as a scene that might be a beginning, a middle, or an end that I write to get to. Sometimes it’s just a thought: “what would medical advancement in a steampunk society look like?” and there I go.

My initial research for Inspector Roux was French names (Why France? You ask. I don’t know, just felt like it) and I knew he needed to travel around the world. I picked a place in Africa with French influence in my chosen time-period, wrote that scene and then with child-like “Where are we going next?” searched for a location in Asia, etc.

One of my favorite things about being a “pantzer” is the fact that I have written in multiple genres, just to see if I could. Contemporary romance (or paranormal or whatever) is more difficult to write for me because I have to put my characters in the real world and I always worry that people will call me out for details like “you’ve got the wrong store on the corner in my home town”, because I’ve heard my other writer friends mention that sort of thing.

I find that fantasy is my favorite genre to write because I have the most control over my specific universe. Writing science fiction is so much fun, but of course you still have to make sure your science is correct (or at least sounds like it’s plausible even if it’s totally made up), alhough science fiction based not-at-all on an Earth-centric universe might be more like fantasy (hmm, giving myself ideas here).

Steampunk was actually difficult for me in regards to historical accuracy. It required more research than I’ve ever had to do and yet it was the shortest story I’ve ever written.

Still, I have to admit I wrote Inspector Roux in about five hours. Sometimes my muse works just works for me, (especially when I wait until the second-to-last-day of an anthology contest to start writing). I enjoy the muse experience when it happens, (you might rather say you’re “in-the-zone”) but it is surprisingly rare. The majority of my writing I work for, line by line.

I write everything by hand. It’s an oddity in this era of bigger-and-better technology, I realize, but I feel a better connection to words as they come off the tip of a pen. I have a tendency while typing to lose my sense of “show don’t tell” and I end up re-writing scenes by hand to make up for it. When I type a hand-written story into the computer I have the chance to rearrange and fix things as needed, which results in an automatic second draft and less overall editing.

One last thing is something you’ll notice right away, and that is that I prefer a character-driven story. I especially enjoy dialog, both internal and external. I do not describe events and setting with much detail unless the character has a reason to describe them. I like to let the reader fill in those blanks themselves and enjoy my stories for the characters in them. I’m not sure how that’s going to work for avid steampunk readers. I hope it does.

I hope people will enjoy “The Journey of Inspector Roux.” I am proud of the story. I will look back at it always as a great first step.

C R Simper is an Arizona native who has never lived anywhere else. She graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Purchasing and Logistics Management. She married another Arizona native in 1991 and is now the stay-at-home mom of three daughters and one son. She has found that writing is a great way to maintain a sense of order in her life.

“The Journey of Inspector Roux” in Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology is Simper’s first published work.

On Inspiration:

I have a confession to make. It’s not something that many people know about me. Behind these dark brown eyes lies a hidden passion that I’m only now beginning to reveal. It drives me to reach a hand up to a sky filled with airships, ride on the back of a dragon, glide across an ocean filled with talking dolphins, and charge across a field against a seemingly unconquerable army (or run like hell depending on which chapter I’m on).

That’s right, I’m an author. I’m the one who chooses his career not based off of the hope of making millions, although that would be nice, but because I love to fall into the pages of worlds born of my dreams and forged in the fire of my mind.

The wizards who stand by my side and guide me across a foreign ocean are the talented editors who sacrifice so much and receive so little recognition for the worlds they help us to save, or destroy. My writing will be loved by some and disliked by others. But I don’t write because readers love it, but because I do.

My story, “The Promise,” was born from a very real promise that was made long before I was born. A gold watch was to be handed down through my family and given to me on my birthday. But a war happened, and for a time the watch was lost. It passed through many hands and for a time it was completely forgotten. Then by chance it made its way to my mother, who immediately recognized it, and gave it to me on my promised birthday.

I often wondered what happened to the pocket watch while it traveled the world. Where did it go? What kind of people held it before it was passed on?

One day my editor shared the news about an upcoming anthology that was open for submissions: Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology. The moment I heard about the concept, I knew I had the perfect inspiration for my story. It was time to let my hidden passion take flight again, open a new door, and allow the watch to lead us through.

Why let the watch lead? Because I believe that when a person encounters a moment so powerful, with an undeniable impact on fated events, meaningful objects can retain a bit of his or her essence. For some, this would be like a soul passing through the object, leaving a fragment of a memory or intent behind that remains connected. In my story, “The Promise,” such an object is born when a father passes before he is able to keep a promise to his son.

Now I would like to make a second confession. I hate it when a story ends. I’m forced to say goodbye to characters that I’ve watched grow from the first page. I’ve been there for tears and triumphs, fear and relief and yet when the story ends I don’t get to find out what happens next.

Perhaps that’s selfish of me, but in truth, I write because I’m selfish. I want to write as many stories as I can to enter unknown worlds and share what I see and experience.

“The Promise” isn’t just about a promise between father and son. It’s about the way we reach out to one another in a world that can appear so crazy and yet, just beneath the surface, there are events happening page after page in this wheel of life we are on.

Books are like that. They connect all of us in ways we don’t even realize. In a world where technology has connected us more than ever before, we find ourselves distanced. But no matter how far we advance, the objects we touch, the lives that cross our own, will always be connected by something invisible and yet so very important.

I hope that as you read about the lives of every person in “The Promise,” you will remember, as I did, that the hearts of characters, readers and author alike will cross paths on every page and that the story will never truly end.

But ahead of us, dear reader, are worlds we haven’t reached yet. We’ve been given a key by Xchyler Publishing, and have only to open the door, walk through it, and step out into a land we can discover together, one made of steam, hearts, and hope.

So please join me in the world of The Promise, and the many other worlds my fellow authors have the pleasure and honor of sharing with you in Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology!

Michael Cross entered the industry in 2013 as a wandering hopeful, seeking to have his own adventure in the literary world. When he isn’t working on his next novel, he is reading, modding Steampunk inventions, or working on his airship with his copilot Chihuahua.

Cross’ short story, “Time Out of Mind” appeared in Moments in Millennia: a Fantasy Anthology published by The X in January of 2014.

Come see what secrets can be discovered in the hidden library of Michael-Cross.com. Follow Cross on the web:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest

Living With Writers

Writers—let’s face it, we’re an odd bunch.

I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, the next time you are in a bookstore try and play ‘spot the writer’. It’s actually pretty easy, we are usually the sun deprived ones sporting a caffeine-induced eye twitch, RSI-riddled typing fingers and indented craniums from repeatedly bashing our foreheads into our keyboards from prose-borne frustration.

With this in mind, it would be easy to see why the rest of civilisation might be inclined to give us a wide berth whilst we are out and about; we are certainly a strange and obsessive breed.

Infatuated with our own imaginary worlds, we are the sort of people who will happily sit in the corner at a party as we plan a way to get back at the guy who cut us off at the traffic lights by putting him in our next book just so we can kill him off. Meanwhile, all the other guests are busy making polite conversation as we grin like demented idiots and chuckle maniacally into our punch cups.

And don’t even get me started on what happens when some poor, unsuspecting fool decides to interrupt our devious plotting and ask, “How’s the book going?”

Oh those poor, sad, unfortunate people. They clearly have no idea what they’re getting themselves into.

Don’t get me wrong though, having been firmly bitten by the writing bug myself, it is a lifestyle I wouldn’t give up for quids. The lows, rejections, and occasional aggravations which inevitably accompany this craft are far outweighed by the sheer joy that comes with being able to see a new story take its form through your very own words.

It is a very special type of magic, one you really have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate. It’s addictive and, quite frankly, I don’t think I could envision my life without it.

But with every magical act of creation, there is often great pain—not only for ourselves, but also for people with whom we share our lives. As writers, we all owe a collective debt of gratitude to the people who surround us: to our partners, our children, our roommates and our friends.

We owe them for enduring our mental absences as we ponder complex plot points during important conversations. We owe them for witnessing the tantrums we throw when our words stubbornly refuse to do what we want them to. We owe them for not suffocating us in our sleep for being single-minded, story fixated loons.

So with this in mind, I plan to begin repaying some of this accumulated debt on behalf of us all. To every non-writer out there who has shared their life with one of our peculiar kind, firstly I would like to say thank you. That you have not yet faced aggravated murder charges for enduring our nonsense is a credit to you all (especially when there is probably not a jury in the world that would convict you).

Secondly I would like to offer you all something that will make each of your lives that much simpler. With my most heartfelt gratitude I present to you <insert game show theme music here>. . . 

6 Simple Rules for Living with a Writer:

Rule #1: Monosyllabic grunts are a totally acceptable form of communication.

If our head is firmly buried in a notebook or staring at a screen, you would probably do well to avoid attempting to initiate conversation in the first place. But, if you really must insist on having a chat whilst we are mid-paragraph, please accept that our brain’s linguistic faculties are firmly engaged elsewhere. If you are fortunate enough to get an “ungh” out of us, please take it to mean that “I really appreciate you as a person, and I would love to sit down and have a meaningful conversation with you. Now is not a really a good time though, and if I don’t finish getting this thought down I may be tempted to start throwing things in your general direction.”

Rule #2: The hot water system will refill itself eventually.

Yes, we know that there is only so much hot water in the morning. And yes, we know you don’t like having a freezing cold shower when you wake up, but the best ideas strike wherever they may and they deserve our fullest attention when they do.

Really, what is more important? That we finally manage to nail that dialogue sequence that has been bothering us? Or that you don’t catch hypothermia as you’re getting ready for work?
Just apply little perspective, that is all we’re asking for.

That and a waterproof laptop that we can use in the shower.

Rule #3: No, we did not base that character on you.

Seriously, we didn’t.

They may bear some loose physical resemblance to you, or might use a similar way of phrasing their words, but their painful and gruesome fate is by no way a reflection of our underlying opinion of you.

Unless you really liked the character and they managed to live happily ever after, then yes, we actually did base it on you.

Rule #4: No, we did not base that character on your mum / dad / boyfriend / girlfriend / sister / brother / cousin / next door neighbour / carpool buddy.

Please see above.

Rule #5: This is legitimate research, just go with it.

Of course we could try and look it up on Wikipedia, but that won’t tell us exactly how hard it is to drag a body down a flight of stairs and stuff it into a car boot. Just be quiet, and we promise we’ll let you out soon enough.

Now where did you put the duct tape?

Rule #6: We really can’t do it without you.

Yes, we are all too aware that we can become a little fixated on our writing, and your continued patience with us as we move through draft after draft is truly a thing of wonder. We sincerely appreciate that you help us celebrate our successes and give us the space we need to solve our quandaries. You are by far our most important readers, reviewers and critics.

Thank you for all that you do, and for accepting that all too often this gratitude is usually expressed with a simple yet sincere “ungh”.

TC Phillips cohabitates peacefully with his loving wife, three young children, a spoilt cat and an overactive imagination. An avid reader from a young age, he has held a long standing attraction for the written word and is excited to able to make his own contributions to the vibrant and ever shifting world of storytelling. Holding degrees in both Theatre Studies and Education, he is also currently completing his Master of Arts (Writing) through Swinburne University of Technology.

Phillips’ story, “Ripper Bound,” anchors Terra Mechanica: a Steampunk Anthology, slated for release May 31, 2014.

Follow Phillips on the web:

Website | Facebook | Twitter 

Embracing the Terra Unknown

I admit it: I’ve only written one steampunk story in my life.Normally, this admission would be something I’d keep close to my chest. I’d bury it down there with the packs of baseball cards I used to steal as a wayward pre-teen, and that time I lied to a girl at summer camp after I found a ring and gave it to her, only for her to get chewed out for thievery by her counselor who lost it (!) Sometimes the brightest intentions yield the darkest results.

But I’m proud of my first foray into steampunklandia, a terra incognita that partially resembles our own world. I’m grateful to Xchyler Publishing for including my tale in their new anthology, the aptly titled Terra Mechanica. It’s basically the story of a young woman taken under the wing of a gifted inventor named Dr. Pax who wants to change the world—first, by proving that his wild, pneumatic science (pressurized air and wind) is capable of carrying a craft all the way around the globe.

Pax has all the right accouterments to accomplish his great task: special monocles for seeing, special Morse gloves for tapping, and a desire to reach past the unknown that borders on hubris. He also has a secret weapon.

That secret weapon is Dr. Pax’s seventeen year-old Turkish mechanic, Nidj. Nidj is like the foreign exchange student you might have taunted on the bus all year, and then, at some party at the end of the year she broke your arm. If one thing can be said about Nidj it’s that she’s resilient. Through horrible circumstances she learns to adapt and overcome, battling the unknown in her own way . . . and coming out swinging.

I suppose it helps in all this swinging that one of her arms is no longer human, not entirely. It’s been modified by Dr. Pax into a mechanical tool which allows his protégé to scan and fix pieces of their ship, the Whirly-Bird, or, if things get ugly, hurl razor-sharp disks at enemies’ heads. Who knows what she could do to unfaithful boyfriends.

Nidj is a badass. Maybe that’s my own hubris talking, but I’m not ashamed to say it. She’s everything I’d want to be if I could let go of my fears (though I’d like to retain my appendages, and incidentally, my manhood). I fell in love with Nidj the day I doodled a headstrong girl standing on the wing of a ship, legs fiercely astride, mechanical arm raised in the air as if taunting you to try to steal her ship.

In order to ease the effects of high-altitude maneuvering, I drew a mask that Dr. Pax would have dreamed up: a modified conch shell, complete with a breathing and Morse code apparatus. Looking back, I thought I must have stolen the idea from a Miyazaki film, although I’ve searched and searched and haven’t found evidence of the theft yet (I wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it—Miyazaki is king!).

Gazing up through the epileptic pen strokes of my excitement, my character seemed to wink up at me, as if wanting a life of her own. I felt like Victor Frankenstein, or perhaps like Dr. Pax himself, smiling down on his greatest creation, a human-pneumatic girl.

I may not understand the magic that goes into writing a good story. I’m learning each day how to write better, leaner, with great clarity as well as great subtlety. With a great editorial team behind me at Xchyler, the learning curve has become a dream not a nightmare. But if I could say one thing about writing, especially about writing about foreign and potentially intimidating subjects, it would be this: EMBRACE THE UNKNOWN.

Yes, you do need to know your subject to write about it. Nobody wants a vampire story about a baby who’s just abnormally teething and bites his mother on the neck by accident. But I didn’t at the outset of my tale need to know everything about the world I was creating—that came later.

I needed to learn Morse Code to understand Nidj’s relay system from below deck to inside the cabin; I needed to learn about plants that had life-preserving aloes if Nidj’s ship ever crashed into the jungle; I needed to smell and taste the desperation of horrible circumstances as if I myself had been flung head-first into them. I needed all these things, but I needed Nidj first.

I should also say that no part of the learning process that came later was intimidating. It was inspiring. After all, I just wanted to tell the story of a total badass steampunk chick, right? I knew that if I could transfer my overwhelming love for my character to the reader, then I could probably place Nidj in the middle of a supermarket going through her grocery list and still keep your interest . . . at least for a page or so.

You can build a bridge through the unknown, and like a lot of things, it begins with love. That is the closest reaching for elusive stars that I’ve learned, and even when you come up short, you still come up with everything.

I hope you enjoy reading “Dr. Pax’s Great Unsinkable Bird” and all the whirling, buzzing, steam-powered adventures that wait inside Terra Mechanica. If you don’t, lookout for razor-sharp disks hurled from above. They really can put a damper on an evening.

A lover of graphic novels and the occult fiction of the late great John Bellairs, James gravitated towards the paranormal world from an early age. Watching the first episode of The X-Files with his older brother was a transformative experience, as well as an education in great storytelling and mythmaking.

Since “growing up,” James has devoted his time to finding his voice through writing, publishing short fiction in The Portland Review, and winning two international short story competitions for science fiction and horror. When he’s not writing, he tours with his incredible wife Amy as “The Crooked Angels,” an Americana duo specializing in rocking your socks off.

Potter’s short story, “Dr. Pax’s Great Unsinkable Bird,” is included in Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology, slated for release May 31, 2014.

Potter is currently collaborating with artist Klaus “Plaid Klaus” Shmidheiser in the graphic novel series “Glimmer Society.”

Follow Potter on the web:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google +

Grimm’s Steampunk

Once upon a time, there was a call for Steampunk stories to be included in the new anthology from Xchyler Publishing. Having been to several of the X Team’s launch parties, and having read some of their books, I was intrigued. I had become acquainted with several of the X writers, and they spoke very highly of the company, so I thought I would give it a shot.

I am a sucker for Steampunk. Ever since I was a small girl, I have been a fan of anything and everything Victorian. Something about the period has piqued my interest for decades. I grew up reading biographies of Lillie Langtry and Oscar Wilde; speculating about Jack the Ripper; loving lace and pearl buttons. The period is fascinating and full of inspirational nuance.

When Steampunk began to pick up traction as a genre, I was ecstatic. It was a genre made for me. My first Victorian publication isn’t Steampunk, but was my jumping off point. Bloody Rain is a musing on Jack the Ripper. Once I got started, I really enjoyed writing in the genre.

I have a second Victorian tale in the upcoming Terror by Gaslight from Fantom Enterprises Iron Clad imprint. A poem appears in Issue 10 of Gearhearts Steampunk Glamor Revue, with a short story slated for a future issue. My latest novel, The Marvelous Mechanical Man” is Steampunk. I thought I was really good at Steampunk . . . but I had a lot to learn. The X Team editorial staff helped me polish my story to a true gem.

A little side note here: I have never worked with a more thorough editorial staff. My story was turned in at 6,335 words. By the time we were through with the edits, it is 12,955. It wasn’t easy to get there. We started with version 1, and finished with 11. Along the way, it went through a content editor, a line editor, and at least two more pairs of eyes.

I learned a great deal from the process (fighting all the way—I admit, I am not easy to edit) and in the end, after a fifteen hour final proofreading session—where I apparently impressed someone—I was invited to join the editorial staff. I am looking forward to my first assignment. I hope to be worthy. End side note.

Besides Steampunk, another one of my favorite things is a good fairytale. And I am not alone. When television gives us Once Upon a Timeand Grimm in primetime hours, and the big screen is full of films like Frozen, Maleficent, and other recent adaptations, I decided to take another lesser known fairytale and base my Steampunk offering on it.

Fairytale revision is one of my favorite things. I have an entire collection of fairytale poetry, Straying from the Path. “Beauty Within the Briars” and “Chains of Straw”—Sleeping Beauty and Rumplestiltskin respectively—are short stories that have found homes with other publishers, and The Head Above the Gate—The Goose Girl—is in the short fiction slush pile at Tor.

So I was really excited to try again. This time, I looked for something that would lend itself to an around-the-world adventure. Some stories, like Cinderella, have been done recently (Cinder by Marissa Meyer, for instance) and very well. I wanted something more obscure . . . a story that would intrigue people because they might not have read it before.

I chose “Bearskin.” Basically, a young man comes home from war and makes a deal with the devil for riches. The fairy tale was a very simple story and quite short—about twelve pages on my phone. I had the main characters and plot to work with, and then I began to have fun.

What was the soldier coming home to? What effect had war had on him? I made my soldier a Confederate veteran making his way back to his Tennessee home after the War. He needs a new start, so he sells his family farm and sets out to travel around the world. I don’t want to give the entire story away—I want you to read it—so I will leave it at that.

It was fun indeed, even before I worked to make it specifically Steampunk. I added some little details, like a winter spent in Switzerland with Heidi and her grandfather and an allusion to piloting a steamboat on the Mississippi. And I tried to put some bits of cultural interest in as well, like information about the Mongols and their horses, and Egyptology in the 1860’s.

Now that I had my basic idea, I had to make it Steampunk. How could I embellish things to bring that element into the story? One of my decisions was to give Toby—my hero—a robotic companion, a silent contraption that follows him on his travels. Toby was a munitions tech in the War, working with vile contraptions that didn’t exist in the real world of our timeline. Another aspect that was easy to Steampunk was the methods of travel. Toby takes an automated steamship to Europe. He hops an airship to Ireland.

Having read the entire anthology, I wish I had gone bigger with my Steampunk . . . given Toby an artificial limb as a result of his time in the War. Or put him to work as an airship technician, working on the big ships traversing the aether. Perhaps he could have used his expertise as a demolitions officer to devise a new fuel, or craft a new mode of transportation. The wonders of the Toymaker’s gadgets and what Toby learned of them could have been expanded.

I should have started with the Steampunk and then added other details. I learned a valuable lesson, and I think it will serve me well going forward with The X. Still, I am pleased with the way my story turned out, and I hope that you enjoy “The Seven Year Itch” as much as I did writing it.

Rie Sheridan Rose has been writing professionally for over ten years. Rie’s short story, “Seven-year Itch,” will appear inTerra Mechanica: a Steampunk Anthologyslated for release May 31, 2014.

She has published six novels, one short story collection, two chapbooks of collected stories, and five poetry collections as well as contributing to numerous anthologies like Reloaded: Both Barrels, Shifters, Nightmare Stalkers and Dream Walkers, and A Bubba in Time Saves None. She also wrote lyrics for Marc Gunn’s “Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits” CD.

She has a poem in the next issue of Gearhearts Steampunk Glamor Revue, and upcoming Steampunk stories in this magazine and Fictionvale. Her latest novel, The Marvelous Mechanical Man is the first in a Steampunk series called The Conn-Mann Chronicles.

Follow Rose on the web:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google + | Goodreads | LinkedIn | DeviantArt