For Whom the Gear Turns is Closing, but I’ve got a GIFT for you to say THANKS!
Hello fans and followers!
In case you aren’t aware, I moved full time over to SteampunkJournal.org in 2016. Many of the articles and reviews on this site have been updated and reposted to that website already. Plus, I’ve added tons more content both there and on my author website. In an effort to keep from “competing with myself,” I will soon begin the process of removing the material from this site and permanently closing it down.
I am also going to launch a monthly newsletter through my author website starting in November. Subscribers will receive a FREE e-copy of my 150-page reference collection, The Steampunk Handbook. This is the very best of my articles from both For Whom the Gear Turns, the Journal, and guest posts, all in one convenient place. Plus, about 1/3 of it is all new material that has never been posted online. The book includes the history of Steampunk as a genre, tips and tropes for “punking your steam,” and descriptions of various books, movies, and other media in the Steampunk genre to help you find even more to love!
Why give it away for free, you ask? First of all, I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped and supported me over the past 5 years as a Steampunk blogger and author. So, this is the best way I could think of to say THANK YOU. So come on over to Phoebedarqueling.com and put your email address into the bar at the bottom. When the book is finished, I will send you your FREE COPY in both epub and mobi formats!
I am still in the process of doing the final revisions, but check out this awesome cover made for me by P.R. Chase. You’re the first ones to see it 🙂 The goal is to have The Steampunk Handbook ready to send before my appearance at TeslaCon Nov 15-18. Later, it will also be available to purchase, but I’m starting out offering it exclusively as a free gift to my awesome fans.
My second reason for giving away this book is that I’m celebrating! Both of my novels were recently picked up by publishers and I am over the moon about it. I’ve already revealed the cover of Riftmaker, my YA portal fantasy adventure coming out Feb 14, 2019.
My official announcement for the second novel is coming up soon, but I’m keeping the details under my hat for the moment so Riftmaker gets a chance to shine for a little while before sharing the spotlight with No Rest for the Wicked, an adult paranormal thriller. People who subscribe to my newsletter are going to get all the details first, so head on over to my author site and put your email address in the bar at the bottom to sign up!
So THANK YOU once again for being fantastic followers, commenters, and sharers over the past 5 years. I look forward to hanging out with over at the Journal, through my author site, or on my Facebook group, United we Steampunk Divided we Fall.
Glub glub in a Steampunk Sub
I have started work on the sequel to Riftmaker, and I am planning to include a super cool Steampunk submarine. I have been collecting images for inspiration so I thought I’d share the fruits of my labors with you. When possible, I have credited the artist but most of these images came via Pinterest so if you see something miss-credited or you know who was the brains behind a certain sub please let me know.
Featured Artist: Remedios Varo
There is some debate about whether or not something can truly be called “Steampunk” if it was created before the term was coined in 1987. Personally, I like to include all kinds of things under that umbrella if they feature motifs and styles that would appeal to Steampunk fans no matter when they were made. Remedios Varo was a Spanish artist who lived from 1908-1963, and her beautiful artwork could certainly fit into the Steampunk canon even though it predates the movement by decades. She is clearly influenced by Gothic and Surrealistic styles, as well as by the works of other Spanish artists such as Pablo Picasso and one of my personal favorites, “El Greco” who was active during the late 1500s and early 1600s. Here is a sampling of her artwork to inspire your own creations.
Mechanical Menagerie: The Creepers and Crawlers
There are lots of artists doing interesting and often Steampunkish things with insectoid forms, or even the insects themselves. Check out my gallery of just a smattering of these amazing works of art.
Like what you see? Check out some of my other “Mechanical Menagerie” posts about undersea creatures, birds and our four-legged friends.
My Entries into the Indiana and Kentucky Steampunk Societies’ Pin Contest
I found out from following the Pandora Society that both the Indiana and Kentucky Steampunk Societies are having a competition this month. Both states are looking for new designs for pins based on each one’s state seal. I am pretty clumsy in the Adobe design suite, but overall I am quite pleased with what I could do.
Above is my submission for Indiana, which substitutes a teacup-wielding robot arm for a torch and gears for stars (source material at left). The Kentucky design is below, and I decided to focus on the motto, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” rather than the picture on the seal. I was hoping to capture a “Writers and Makers Unite!” sort of vibe. What do you think?
The prize is free admission to either the 2015 or 2016 International Steampunk Symposium, which is held in Cincinnati annually. I am already planning my visit in 2016, and getting to contribute to the Midwest Steampunk efforts would be icing on the cake.
In order to enter I have to post my design on my own site, but voting doesn’t start until Feb. 17 so I’ll let you know how to cast your ballot for my designs once voting commences. Want to try yourself? Here are the details.
Wish me luck!
Mechanical Menagerie: Dragons
Ever since watching the campy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes I have been thinking about mechanical dragons. I have been sitting on a photo of the new mechanized Malificent-as-a-dragon from Disney’s parade for months, so I went out and scoured the interwebs for some more scaly Steampunk friends to join her. I hope you enjoy the gallery!
Hay’s Gallery and “The Navigators”
The Tower Bridge is worth visiting all on its own, but when I spent a day exploring the area I also found some other great things to tickle your Steampunk fancy. I could see on the map that St. Katherine’s Marina was nearby, and on my way I found a hidden treasure tucked away inside a Hay’s Gallery. In it’s heyday in the 19th century, the then-named Hay’s Wharf received 80% of the tea shipments bound for the Pool of London. Today the amazing glass ceiling provides shelter to restaurants, homes and shops in Victorian-era buildings, as well as an amazing sculpture called “The Navigators.”
The combination fountain and sculpture by David Kemp was installed in 1987 and has a decidedly Steampunk feel. The 60-foot homage to the shipping history of the area is made of bronze which has been pleasantly oxidizing. Some parts of the piece have been selectively polished, and the pool has been painted blue which detracts somewhat from the artist’s original intention to combine “Gothic fantasy, sea monsters, man & machine in this Kinetic Sculpture”, but it is still a lovely piece installed in a historic setting that reflects the Steampunk aesthetic from around the time the term was coined. (http://www.davidkemp.uk.com/the-navigatorslondon-bridge/)
For Whom the Gear Turns 