Completed Serial

My supernatural steampunk adventure, The Power of Steam Compels You, has been completed. It ended up being 13 chapters, and you can read it from the beginning here. I hope you give it a look, and I'd love to hear what you think, either right here on the comments, or over on the comments where the story is published. Thanks!

The Power of Steam Compels You

I want to apologize for the week break I took in my serial, The Power of Steam Compels You. That dreaded reality of real life got in the way of Zephyria for a while, but we're back and running now. You can head over to Adventures from Zephyria right now to give the newest chapter a look! I hope you are enjoying the supernatural steampunk adventure!

Not Many Limits on Steampunk

Before I start, if you aren't quite sure what steampunk is, give it a quick look in your search engine of choice. There is already a ton of helpful information on the genre/lifestyle. Today I'm simply offering my opinion.

The thing I like most about the genre/lifestyle of steampunk is that there are very few rules. The overall scene is very accepting. You might be more into the gaslamp scene, or dieselpunk might be your thing, but overall, you can call it steampunk and be right. (Again, Google is your friend if you're not sure what those and other subgenres are.)

Of course, you can't simply glue gears on something or put on a pair of goggles and say it's steampunk. (Well, the great thing is, you probably can!) You really should research what has come before and go from there. After you know more about it, however, you can pretty much do anything you want in the genre. From ancient alternate history, to pure Victorian Steampunk, and far forward to Future Dystopian Steampunk, the world is your oyster!

So, my point being? Simply as I said. Whatever your interest in steampunk, you aren't confined by many rules. Find the basics, and you can basically go anywhere - past, present, or future. If you want to be a steampunk, do it however you like, and you're doing it correctly. I love that about the movement!

So what do you think? Do you agree with me, or am I being far too general in my view? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Writing Prompt #1

I love writing prompts. They're excellent for writing practice, creating short stories, and even sometimes unlocking a key point in a longer work that you just couldn't make right. Because of this, I want to occasionally post writing prompts here. Use them however you like. There is no need to credit me with whatever you come up with. Writing prompts are simply ideas, so any stories or plots you come up with are fully yours. 

With that being said, here is the first writing prompt. Of course it has a steampunk bent to it, but use it for whatever genre you like. (Note that I say "you" in the prompt, but, of course, this means your character.) Have fun with it, and I'll see you in the aether! 

Prompt #1:
You're walking along the beach when you see a bottle with some sort of parchment stuffed inside. You investigate and find it's a schematic to create a fantastic machine. There is also a short note. What sort of machine is it, and what does the note say? Does it lead you on an adventure that only the fully-built and functional contraption can help you conquer? Or does it leave you with a moral dilemma about the possible uses of the machine? Or does it say something else entirely? 

New Serial Introduction: The Power of Steam Compels You

Hello again! This week I want to introduce my new serial, The Power of Steam Compels You. It's almost but not quite set in my steampunk-like world of Zephyria. (More on that later.) Follow the link to jump over to my other blog, Adventures from Zephyria, to read the first chapter. I will be publishing new chapters (or portion of chapters) each week, so check back!

This is a story about a supernatural group called the Spirit Wranglers who need to help a rich mercantile family rid themselves of a pesky spirit in the gold mining town of Prosperity. Before it's all said and done, they'll need to face more than a simple ghost. Can they do it? Keep reading each week to find out! I have 13 chapters plotted out, and a few of those chapters will likely be broken into two parts, so you can visit Prosperity in this alternate Zephyria for the next four months or so!

Why do I say it's an alternate Zephyria? And what is Zephyria? Let me quickly tackle that second one first. Zephyria, as I said, is my steampunk-like world. I will tell you much more about it in the future, but for now know it is a mix between Weird West and Victorian Steampunk. It is not based on actual history (which is why I call it a Steampunk-like world), but I do use some knowledge of the American Old West when building it. The only real thing I need to point out about this story, I feel, is that you will see the capital city of Zephyria is called Phoenix. This isn't the Phoenix in Arizona in the United States, but rather a floating city in Zephyria. (Yes, a floating city! Again, I'll introduce these in a future blog post.) It's named Phoenix because it rose from the ashes of its resting place on the ground.

As for why this is an alternate Zephyria when this is the first Zephyria story I'm telling? I loved the plot I came up with, but after I plotted it, I decided I might not want spirits and other supernatural beings being so mainstream in Zephyria society. The Spirit Wranglers exist, so many people know about ghosts. Spirits, demons, and other supernatural beings most likely exist in the real Zephyria, but I don't want most citizens to be aware of them. Yet. So maybe instead of an alternate Zephyria, it's actually a future tale from Zephyria. Time will tell, so to speak, eh?

With that introduction into the story, I hope you take the time to read not just the first chapter (which you can click here to read), but the rest of the story, as well. Please leave me some comments from time to time to let me know if you are enjoying the tale (or not), or if you have any questions. You can do that right here on this post, or on any of the chapters over at Adventures from Zephyria. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the Aether!

Introduction and Hello!

Greetings and salutations. Welcome to my little corner of the Internet. Today I simply want to say hi and let you know what you can expect to see here in the future. I'll mostly be talking about steampunk, so if that's your passion (or even just your curiosity), I hope you'll enjoy your time here. My goal is to publish a post once a week, so check back often.

What will I be posting? I'll be talking about steampunk (obviously), world building for fiction, storytelling and story building, and plenty of other goodies. I'll also be talking about my own writing, including my steampunk world of Zephyria. In addition, I likely will give occasional reviews of steampunk books, movies, and other such things. I might even occasionally talk about non-steampunk topics for a change of pace. All in all, there should be plenty to entertain!

You can visit my other blog which I will be using for stories you can't find anywhere else. I hope to have some soon, and I'll let you know here when new ones appear. Also find me on Twitter, on Tumblr, and on Facebook. The links for these are to the right. I'm looking forward to connecting and talking with you. See you in the aether!