GUEST POST: The Perilous Prophecy Haunted London Blog Tour with Leanna Renee Hieber

About the Haunted London Blog Tour: The Haunted tour has become tradition to celebrate release week of my Strangely Beautiful series of Gothic Victorian Fantasy novels. Here I introduce the real, documented London haunts who “ghost-star” in the latest book. Special thanks, as always, to Richard Jones, www.haunted-london.com, for being my foremost ghostly resource! About this prequel novel: The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess features a young Beatrice Smith grappling with her duties as leader of The Guard of spectral police, while a faltering Goddess of beauty and light sacrifices all for a snow-white child of destiny to be born into the gilded Victorian Age. For all involved in the making of delicate Prophecy, the answers to divine questions lie in passionate, imperfect mortal hearts. -- I write Gothic novels, so prepare a capital D for Drama, set your sights on ghosts and myth, prophecies and fraught perils, all manner of intense characters, and come along for the ride!

Today’s ghost: The Ghostly Duelist of the Camden Arms

In the 1840s Colonel Fawcett died in a bloody pool at the Camden Arms Inn, the fallen loser in one of London’s last historical duels. Presently there’s a Brewing Company on the site of the Camden Arms. Many a patron said he was seen in a rear staircase of the building, thought to be near his exact place of death. He hasn’t been seen some time, but pub expert Mike Lewis was reported as saying about the matter; “Just because he hasn’t been seen for a while doesn’t mean he’s not there.”

Here’s how I allude to this story in a latter chapter. From The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess:

Back in London, Alexi and his Guard were ghost hunting. It was a rough case. The Pull had brought them to a grand inn outside the city proper, a stone edifice ringed with lush rose bushes and a tended lawn.

            The storm was merciless, rain soaking them as they worked. Alexi wound fire around the irascible spirit of a man who’d died in one of London’s last legal duels, but his was not the only spectre braving the storm. The sky was lit with a horde of luminous dead, all swaying, mouths open, as if offering proclamations or warnings. Not that the Guard could hear their wailing cries.

            “Alexi,” Rebecca called in alarm. She stood under a portico with an open notebook. She furiously scribbled down every particular of the situation, as was her custom.

            “Yes?”

            She pointed to the stone foundations lined with red rosebushes. “The roses.”

            “What about them?”

            Her face was ashen. “They were white. When we arrived, these roses were all white.”

            Throwing a definitive punch of blue fire to stun the duelist spirit into submission, Alexi bent to touch the deep red blossoms. They were wet. He brought his fingers to his nose and took a step back. All the roses were covered in blood.

            Josephine the Artist cried out. “Is this a sign of Prophecy?”

            Alexi set his jaw. “Everything in our age is a sign of Prophecy.”

He touched his blue fire-kissed palm to the open bloom, and the blood streaked to reveal a still-white petal beneath. As he made contact, the crimson began to roll away as if repelled. Too oily to be human, the gore dripped to the earth.

            “So shall we heal the world,” Michael intoned, staring at the subtle miracle. “Through blood and fire.”

            “So long as the world is not too awash in blood,” Alexi retorted. “Every power has its limits.”

He glanced at the sky filled with clustered dead and wondered at the Guard’s ability to maintain balance. They felt dangerously close to a fulcrum. With such omens, he couldn’t be sure of long-term success, even though the duelist’s spirit appeared mollified. He used his cerulean fire to kiss clean the bushes.

-- (End of Excerpt)

Leave a comment for your chance to win either a download code or a print copy of one Strangely Beautiful book from the series (winner’s preference)! Follow along the rest of the tour for more ghost stories and chances to win! Tour schedule available via the Haunted London Tour page of my website: http://leannareneehieber.com where you can also find the archives from Haunted Tours past! I also hope you’ll join me for the launch of my new MAGIC MOST FOUL saga of Gothic Victorian Paranormal novels set in 1880s NYC with Sourcebooks Fire. DARKER STILL (Magic Most Foul #1) hits the shelves 11/11!

Thanks so much Free the Princess for hosting me! Happy Haunting!

Leanna Renee Hieber

Twitter: http://twitter.com/leannarenee

FB: http://tinyurl.com/lrhfbfan

Blog: http://leannareneebooks.blogspot.com

GUEST POST: The Dangers of Steampunk – Don’t Forget the Punk

Sophie Playle is living the impoverished aspiring writer’s dream. She is currently studying for an MA in Creative Writing and works as a freelance editor to pay her library fines. Her writings can be found at http://sophieplayle.com. This article originally appeared on Sophie's website.

Steampunk celebrates the aesthetic goodness of the Victorian era – and herein lies the problem. When steampunk becomes all about the way things look (a pretty parasol here, a cog-powered machine there), and the theory of advanced technology is applied to the creation of a superpower/empire, the genre is in danger of losing the most important part of its namesake: punk.

Paul Jessup addresses this danger in his article ‘The Future of Steampunk‘ which can be found on his excellent blog, Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf & Book Review:

Novels not only give us a bit of escapism, but are also inspirations and blueprints to our thought process and our moral centers. [...] Steampunk as escapism that tells us Empire is grand! [...] We need to see more books with an anti-Empire bent, about anarchists trying to overthrow the evils of Colonialism and the wrongs of a Monarchy. Or even more books taking place in worlds that don’t have Empires.

Steampunk has been criticised for ignoring the bad elements of the Victorian society, such as child labour, slavery, extreme poverty, imperialism, racism… etc, simply because of the want to romanticise the era.

C Scott Morris adds to the discussion:

I don’t think Steampunks romanticize imperialism. One of the key features to the genre/subculture is ‘punk’. Rebellion.

Steampunk does not ignore the negative side of the period, nor does it embrace it. With Steampunk, and it’s sister Cyberpunk, there is a feeling of dystopia, of tyranny and repression, and Steampunk rebels against it. Steampunk is away of saying that all those negative things from the past are still going on now, and we don’t like it.

So where is this impression coming from? Could it be that by revelling in the aesthetic elements of Victorian times, people are essentially romanticising the era? Can such a leap be made, from the appreciation of artistry to the acceptance of out-dated values? Perhaps Jessup has a point: despite the innocence of escapism, are steampunks inadvertently attaching themselves to these values?

But wait. As Morris says, we mustn’t forget the ‘punk’ in all of this. There is a difference between Victoriana and steampunk.

Steampunk is not there to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at the prettiness of the 19th century. The whole point of setting the genre in the past is to highlight the same terrible issues that are still relevant today. Just as dystopian fiction is usually set in a parallel future society to hold a mirror up to our own, steampunk is set in a parallel historical society to say ‘learn from the mistakes of the past – look what could have happened. Look what is happening now.’ If the steampunk book you’re reading doesn’t have this element to it, perhaps it isn’t steampunk.

(image from ectoplasmosis)

GUEST POST: You can Steampunk Revolution, but Revolution will Never be Steampunk

Cross-posted, with author Jaymee Goh's permission, from Silver Goggles.

That will be tonight's #steampunkchat topic: steampunk and revolution.

Let me explain this title. 

Revolutions and rebellions are, by their nature, painful things. They come about from oppressive environments. They are started with discontent people who band together to overthrow their conditions. 

Wikipedia defines revolutions as "a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time," which I don't have to tell you is an incredibly flawed perspective. Revolutions turn power structures upside-down, but often, it means a replacement of one elite with another elite. 

But revolutions must occur, because the alternative is to be silent and sit still while an oppressive regime erodes the rights of the community. 

Steampunk as technofantasy, steampunk as retrofuturism, steampunk as eco-critical position, steampunk as alternate history, steampunk as roleplaying subculture -- could never truly encompass all that revolution entails. 

Right now there are revolutions happening all over the place. I'm not entirely keen on discussing revolution, particularly with relation to steampunk, because I'm not interested in applying a Western gaze to the revolutions happening now in Tunisia and Egypt (if steampunk isn't Eurocentric, then Beyond Victoriana and this blog wouldn't exist). You are wholly encouraged to educate yourself and keep abreast of the happenings.

In steampunk literature, however, there can be an undercurrent of discontent and unrest, in terms of class, if not also race. Sterling and Gibson's Difference Engine, for example, has an atmosphere for political unrest (which I'm not going to claim to understand). Westerfeld's Leviathan illustrates how the Serbs were scapegoats for starting WWI, building off the unrest that was building between the governments of Europe at the time, and in Behemoth shows the protagonists working with revolutionaries in Turkey (referencing the unrest with the Ottoman Empire that, in real life, manifested in the Young Turks Revolution). 

Perhaps on a more familiar ground, Stephen Hunt's Court of the Air depicts a revolution of Carlists, paralleling Marxism-inspired movements, overthrowing the Jackellian government. The Carlist movement, however, proceeds to re-create the citizens, "equalizing" them forcibly -- an example of how revolutions, even with the best goals, re-create the same oppressive conditions that the previous hierarchy enforced. 

What does revolution look like in a steampunk setting, in which industrialization has begun? Why would revolutions happen then? How would such a revolution differ from the revolutions we have seen happen in the past? How would accelerated technology be harnessed, either by governments suppressing revolts or the masses pushing back against oppressive regimes? 

Terms for Discussion:

This is not the space to ask "how can we steampunk revolution?" without asking the accompanying questions of, who's revolting? Why? What are the systems in place? 

This is not the space to draw real-world parallels without critically engaging the importance of their happening, their significances to today's geo-political landscape, and their effects on the real people that lived then.

This is also not the space to play conflict resolutions officer. Show some respect for real events and tread with care. 

What's happening right now in Egypt and Tunisia is important, because it behooves us, as writers and consumers of steampunk cultural product, to be mindful of how large-scale changes in just a few aspects of life can affect whole societies. It is imperative that we not create a spectator sport of painful events that are borne out of oppression, even as we speculate on how we might reproduce such events.

See you all tonight.

GUEST POST: K.M. Weiland on 13 Places to Find Inspiration

People are always asking writers where they get their ideas. My typically trite reply is, “Everywhere.” I once grabbed a kitchen towel and told someone, “I could write a story about this towel if I wanted to.” While that response was likely a bit extreme (I could write a story about a kitchen towel, but I couldn’t guarantee that it’d be interesting!), it is true that inspiration is all around us. As I explain in my recently released CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration (http://www.kmweiland.com/books_CWBASI.php), inspiration is always there for the taking. We just have to figure out where the harvest is ripest. Following are some places where we’re always sure to find inspiration:

1. Dreams. Pay attention to the vivid imagery and the bizarre juxtaposition of your dreams. Perhaps even start a dream journal.
2. Movies. The visual/auditory combination of movies and theater has something to offer just about everyone. View movies as more than just entertainment; consider them idea labs.
3. Paintings. Great artistic ventures offer us the emotional high points of human history. Visit an art museum and study the paintings to figure out what draws you, what repulses you, and what leaves you cold.
4. Music. Music is the arguably the purest form of storytelling, since it taps directly into our emotional core, without even the necessity of words. Find an instrumental song and see if you can write out the story it’s trying to tell.
5. Life. Even if you don’t want to write about your own life, never discount the value of your experiences. Live widely and live deeply.
6. Nature. The virtue, the violence, the vibrancy, and the variety of the natural world is a never-ending well of possible story ideas.
7. Books. As writers we feed off each other, gaining and giving in a never-ending cycle. Read voraciously; it’s the best way to study the craft.
8. Dictionary. If you’re stumped for a new story idea or for a way to progress your plot, open your dictionary to a random page for an instant story prompt. Pick a word and see where it takes you.
9. History. Even if you don’t write historical fiction, history, as a recording of all of human experience, is rife with story ideas. At the very least, understanding history can bring a broader understanding of life and its truths to our work.
10. Exercise. Who says writers need to be pudgy desk jockeys? Get out there and pump some blood. Your brain works better when the rest of your body is moving.
11. Shower. Need a good idea? Just add water! Writers should just take up permanent residence in the shower. Something about that warm, running water is always good for jumpstarting creativity.
12. Curiosity. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it’s what puts bread on the writer’s table. Never stop asking questions—especially what if?
13. Eavesdropping. Join the writer club and you get a special exemption card that allows you to eavesdrop with impunity. Who knows what juicy tidbits you’ll pick up on your next jaunt to the grocery store.

Of course, this little list isn’t anywhere close to exhaustive. But hopefully it serves as a reminder for us to keep our eyes and ears and imaginations wide open wherever we go. Inspiration is waiting. All we have to do is find it.

K.M. Weiland

K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, editing services, workshops, and her recently released instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.

GUEST BLOG: What If?

Jon S. Lewis is the co-creator of the world of The Grey Griffins in The Revenge of the Shadow King (2006), which has been optioned for a movie by Deathly Pale Productions. A new Grey Griffins trilogy begins with The Brimstone Key, Book I of The Clockwork Chronicles. The book is the first foray into Steampunk that Jon and co-author Derek Benz have taken with the series.

I spent quite a few Saturdays in my local comic book shop growing up, and I was always intrigued by Marvel’s What If titles. Each issue asked a deep philosophical question like “What if the X-Men died on their first mission?” or “What if Spider-man had six arms?”

Okay, so maybe the questions weren’t very deep, but we’ve all played the “what if” game, right? “What if I would have married the first person I kissed?” or “What if I would have gone to medical school like my brother who drives the BMW?”

“What if?” became an important question for the Grey Griffins . . .

Derek and I decided early in our writing careers that we weren’t going to name modern technology in our books. That meant words like “cell phone,” “laptop,” “SUV,” and “iPod” were banned. Why? Technology is moving so rapidly that we didn’t want to date the stories. I mean, when we were writing our first book (The Revenge of the Shadow King), the term “smart phone” wasn’t even coined yet, Napster had stronger brand recognition than iTunes, and eReaders were little more than a dream.

There was a problem, though. Tweens and teens are hardwired into digital communication and even though the hardware is bound to change, their passion for digital media won’t. So introducing technology into the series was critical, but how could we do that without making our stories stand out like butterfly collars, bellbottom jeans or parachute pants?

At about that same time, Derek picked up a copy of Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. We were already fans of the Steampunk aesthetic, but for some reason the idea of introducing Steampunk into our stories hadn’t crossed our minds. Alan Moore helped us see the light, and we asked ourselves the following question: “What if our world was invaded by Steampunk culture?”

It was the perfect solution! We could introduce futuristic technology wrapped in a timeless package, like laptops in leather cases with brass corners where the keypad looked like it was taken from an early model Remington typewriter. And instead of walking around in wizards robes, the students at Iron Bridge Academy could wear things like classic safari gear, petticoats, knickers with argyle socks, driving caps and goggles.

Then, instead of fighting trolls, dragons and faeries, we could set our heroes against fresh villains like clockwork soldiers and steam-powered war machines. It was too delicious to pass up.

We hope the end result is an action-packed adventure that fans of our original trilogy will enjoy. At the same time, we’re excited about introducing a new crop of readers to Steampunk in much the same way that J.K. Rowling introduced an entire generation to fantasy books through Harry Potter. Okay, so maybe we won’t have quite that impact, but you never know.


EDITOR'S NOTE: The contest to win a Grey Griffins prize pack is open until November 5; put your entry in the comments thread of the announcement post to be entered for a chance to win.

GUEST POST: The Asylum: A UK Steampunk Event in Lincoln

Alex Keller's debut novel Haywired, a steampunk fairytale, was released on 1 September in the UK by Mogzilla Books. Alex maintains a blog at http://alexkelleruk.tumblr.com, where he discusses Steampunk, the life of a writer, and other assorted items. You can purchase Haywired at the Mogzilla shop, Amazon UK, and at Waterstones. Its sequel, Rewired, is due out April 2011 in the UK. Haywired will be released to U.S. readers sometime in 2011.

The Asylum was the first Steampunk convention I'd attended and I had no idea what to expect. I've never really been one for conventions to be honest. I've nothing particularly against them, but I've never been a big fan of group things so I've avoided them like the plague. I've always preferred my own company rather than being stuck in a crowd, but I was genuinely pleasantly surprised by the Asylum. I had a really good time. It looks like I've made quite the mistake.

What first struck me were the costumes: they were incredible. The effort people had gone to was tremendous. I don't really know much about the Steampunk community and I thought that maybe a few people would really make the effort while the majority would just be in jeans and t-shirts with a slightly steampunky feel to them, but wow was I wrong. I wore a pair of brown trousers, a shirt, and a waistcoat, and I felt massively under-dressed. However, there was no ostracising because I hadn't gone to the lengths most others had. Every person I spoke to, and I mean everyone, was friendly and talkative.

Anyway, to keep this concise, there were a couple of things that really blew me away. First of all, people actually bought my book. This was AMAZING. I'm proud of Haywired and extremely happy with the reception it has received on the review circuit, but what I found incredible was that people, real flesh and blood people, were prepared to part with their hard-earned money to get a copy. And they even wanted me to scrawl something barely legible in it as well! It felt very strange being in this position but I'm delighted they wanted my signature, let alone the book itself.

The second thing that felt very strange was having Mr Robert Rankin on the stall next to me. I knew he was going to be there, but I thought he would be in some closed off area for him to perform whatever person magic he wished, not be sitting at the stall next to mine looking like an ordinary mortal. I have to admit, I didn't speak to him much as I was a bit star-struck, but he seemed like an incredibly nice guy. He and his wife got involved in all the events that were going on, and on the one occasion when I did pluck up enough courage to speak to him, he was very friendly.

I do come away with a few regrets though. As this was my first convention, I was a bit cautious. There was a ball on in the evening and I thought that might be a bit too much for me, but once I was there I was disappointed I hadn't signed up. On Sunday, everyone was saying it was great! Oh well, there's always next year.


EDITOR'S NOTE: Alex has pictures of The Asylum up on his blog, http://alexkelleruk.tumblr.com. Scroll down a bit and you can see a photo of Robert Rankin and a slideshow of other pictures Alex took.

GUEST POST: Steampunks Around the World, Unite: Multiculturalism in Steampunk, Conclusion

What does steampunk and multiculturalism have in common? A lot more than you think. Ay-leen the Peacemaker, proprietress of Beyond Victoriana, explains the connection between what we learn in school to how we engage with steampunk in a theory that might change everything you thought you knew about steampunk subculture. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This essay will be posted in its entirety in the upcoming first issue of Doctor Fantastique's Show of Wonders, and will be reproduced at the website of Steampunk Magazine. Thank you to Ay-leen for allowing me to post the separate parts here first.

Conclusion: Why Multiculturalism is Steampunk

Overall, despite current flaws in its implementation, multiculturalism in steampunk is a welcome development in the subculture. Not only that, its promotion within the subculture fits a subversive premise that many already associate with steampunk.  In rebellion against many oppressive Victorian ideas, steampunk's use of multiculturalism can act contrary to the imperialist leanings in education. Moreover, the connection between steampunk interest and imperialist influences in education proves that the steampunk community cannot be enshrined on an imaginative pedestal, untouched by real life.  Yet what does multiculturalism mean for the steampunk community now and in the future?

To steampunk hobbyists who don't care about mixing politics with creative interests: this argument was not written to spoil your fun or to make you feel guilty. But an undeniable fact is this: you cannot deny that you are --all of us are-- part of a greater cultural machine that had been constructed generations ago, a cultural system which impacted how we think and how we connect with others.  To deny the political factor will always put you at risk in perpetuating socio-cultural machines of oppression whenever you engage in anything multicultural--that is, anything outside your own experience and upbringing. This applies not only to steampunks who identify with the dominant culture, but also to minorities outside of this culture.

The option of "being apolitical" limits people to two options: only to do "what they know"--Anglo-whites only doing British steampunk, Asians/Asian-descents only doing Eastern, etc--or using steampunk to perpetuate all the "'-isms" that reduce them into imperialists supporters who choose to support all the problematic issues that occurred during the nineteenth century. If these options appear extreme, it is because they are. Most steampunks, whether consciously or not, act within a socio-political range. Even simple choices like whether or not to act racist/sexist/classist, to use slurs in-character, to play up stereotypes, or even to believe whether "racism exists" are all political decisions. Steampunks in general, for the sake of well-meaning civility, are steering themselves toward a progressive political mindset, even if they do not consciously realize it.

To the steampunk hobbyist who rejects an “apolitical” stance, remember that when you live in a multicultural world—in today’s world, in our world—to disregard hurtful messages or representations for the sake of art or play sake alone, is to miss the entire point of creativity: as a means of expression. And what do you want steampunk to express about yourself? And how does that expression affect others? The answers to these questions are not simple, but the journey taken to solve them is what matters.

To the self-proclaimed punks of steampunk: Multiculturalism is a vehicle of rebellion against those systematic oppressions in ways just as engaging and productive to "steampunk lifestylers" as D.I.Y.ing your wardrobe, supporting environmental causes, or advocating against centralized authority. You are fighting for freedom, and what greater freedom can there be than fighting for a world more acceptingly diverse than the one we had grown up in?

And a final word: we are all multiculturalists. At the beginning of my essay, I pointed out that the definition of multiculturalism includes more than race and culture. We are not carbon-copy human beings. We come from different backgrounds, across a spectrum of gender, class, race, abilities, ages, and cultures. Diversity is increasing both because of globalization and localization: the barriers of the world are falling away because of massive migration and de-segregation of society, and on the local level, people are choosing to keep and promote their individual cultures as opposed to assimilate. And as the world globalizes, customs and habits that had been previously viewed as different and foreign are now becoming familiar. Our awareness of the world is turning more cosmopolitan; our engagement with it, more global with the Internet.

All this emphasis on globalization and increasing role of technology sounds quite cyberpunk, doesn't it? Add in overarching systems of control, larger paradigms impacting everyday relations, mass technology perpetuating our interconnected lifestyles and transmitting our ideas in a heartbeat: in terms of subculture development, steampunk fantasy is being created through a cyberpunk reality. Not that this is the hypocritical fulcrum within steampunk, or an "unsteampunk" blasphemy, but a social evolutionary signpost. You want your sepia-toned, sunny steampunk dreams? Now is the chance to mold one before it becomes choked with the chains of the past, by using the mindset and technology of the present.

Thus, multiculturalism captures that common sentiment expressed in so many steampunk online communities, websites, articles, interviews, documentaries and fan magazines. We're creating yesterday's future today. We're picking apart the old to engage with the new. We're rebuilding the past to construct a better future.

The steampunk era can be one for me and for you and for that person on the other side of the aethernets and halfway across the globe.

And it is happening now.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author’s Bio: Ay-leen the Peacemaker is the founding editor of Beyond Victoriana (beyondvictoriana.com), a blog about multicultural steampunk and retrofuturism. For the past couple of years, Ay-leen has been involved with the steampunk communities in the New York metro area and New England as a convention speaker and general rabble-rouser. Her upcoming published work will be included in the fashion anthology Fashion Talks from SUNY Press this fall. She has also been interviewed about steampunk and its evolving subculture for Tor.com and for the Fall 2010 upcoming books The Steampunk Bible (Abrams Image) and Steampunk: Reloaded (Tachyon Publications). She currently lives and works in New York City. You can reach her via email at attic [dot[ hermit [at] gmail [dot] com. 

GUEST POST: Steampunks Around the World, Unite: Multiculturalism in Steampunk, Part 6

What does steampunk and multiculturalism have in common? A lot more than you think. Ay-leen the Peacemaker, proprietress of Beyond Victoriana, explains the connection between what we learn in school to how we engage with steampunk in a theory that might change everything you thought you knew about steampunk subculture. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This essay will be posted in its entirety in the upcoming first issue of Doctor Fantastique's Show of Wonders, and will be reproduced at the website of Steampunk Magazine. Thank you to Ay-leen for allowing me to post the separate parts here first.

Part 6 Intersection of Steampunk & the Non-West: Endorsing the Hegemony or Rebelling with a Cause?

Until educational reforms promoting a more diverse curriculum comes into full fruition, however, the effects of the Western-European cultural hegemony in education creates challenges when steampunks engage with non-Western and multicultural alternatives to steampunk. From my observations, the intersection of steampunk and multiculturalism largely play out in two different ways:

1) In how marginalized people are perceived and treated in the community as an addition to the subculture rather than a previously existing group in the subculture;

2) In how white participants engage in non-Western, non-Eurocentric steampunk: ranging in a spectrum from co-opting imagery to promote a "rebellious" subversion to nostalgic objectification to a complete dismissal of it from steampunk whatsoever. In all instances, the non-Western is seen as additional, as supplementary, as compartmentalized, and as excluded from a more centered West in all forms of dialogue.

In terms of involvement of steampunks of color, I already commented upon the lack of visual attendance in my assessment of the Steampunk World's Fair and at other conventions. Yet there are steampunk sites and groups run by people of color, some with a non-Western focus: Edwardian Promenade, Silver-Goggles, Afro-Steampunk in Black Science Fiction Ning community, Moorwing Archive on the Steampunk Empire, and Steampunk Nusentara are only a few examples.  This imbalance between what I read online and what I see in person makes me wonder about how welcomed steampunks of color feel in physical spaces where their minority status is immediately identifiable, compared with their online personas.
In addition, a common defense against observation of a white-dominant steampunk representation is how "we can't force people of color to like our stuff" and cries against having "quotas" in the steampunk community. Both are derailing tactics that ignores the honest examination of why peoples of color and from non-Western cultures may not be attracted to steampunk or may hesitate in revealing their racial or cultural difference in steampunk communities. One reason I had pointed out above -- that steampunk as it is now caters to the Western-European hegemony -- adds another implication: that the impression non-Westerners and people of color receive about steampunk is that it (at least unintentionally if not blatantly) would favor a white, Eurocentric audience.

Thus, another argument about marginalized peoples' involvement that has been previously overlooked is the possibility that people of color and non-Westerners are very much interested in steampunk, but choose *not* to engage in the community because they do not consider the community a safe space for them. The most obvious example is the co-opting of steampunk by various conservative, right-wing and white supremacist groups, such as those seen on the white supremacist forums of Stormfront. Less obvious but still significant is the conversations sci-fi fans of color have about steampunk outside of steampunk community spaces. Garland Grey in her essay "Cause I'm Nerdcore like that: Towards a Subversive Geek Identity"notes that marginalized peoples are still aware of their outsider status in “nerd spaces,” even as they embrace these spaces that are supposedly accepting of mainstream outsiders: "Every time we enter nerd communities, we do so knowing that we may be shouted down and dismissed, bored to tears by useless pissing contests, have our legitimacy or motives questioned, or just be completely ignored." In a more steampunk-specific example, naraht writes about the discomfort felt about the prospect of entering the steampunk community as a person of color: "Not that putting brass cases around iPods must inherently be ideological, but the glorification of explorers and adventurers in the late nineteenth century mould isn't something that can be viewed in isolation. Deep down, or perhaps not so deep down, there's a sense in steampunk that having an empire must after all have been rather fun. Perhaps for a few it was. And somehow people are still being persuaded to join in the fantasy that they would have been one of the privileged few." And, as many people from marginalized backgrounds know, pretending to be "one of the few" can feel even more disingenuous when you are definitely *not* treated as one of the privileged few outside of fandom spaces.

Indeed, as outside observers of steampunk question whether the style chooses to romanticize an Anglo-centric Empire, current discussions about steampunk justify these questions. For instance, the argument that steampunk only takes place in Victorian England is one example.  This definition is quickly being knocked down in steampunk dialogues, for it excludes many literary works that are considered steampunk, like Boneshaker, Leviathan, Girl Genius, Clockwork Heart and Alchemy of Stone. On the other hand, what also correlates with critics who state the "only Victorian England defense," is the assumed whiteness of Victorian English society and then superiority of that whiteness in England's massive hierarchy of empire.  Although other nations engaged in imperialism and colonialism, no empire was ever as great as Britain's. Coupled with that fact is the knowledge that many of these other nations (including European ones) had more visibly diverse populations (or non-white ones, as it is the case with Japan). Of course, the idea that there were no people of color living in Victorian England is not true, but their visibility in British Victorian society is not as widely acknowledged as it is in other societies. Therefore, when one argues for "Victorian Britain" as the sole location for steampunk, they are also indirectly associating the idea of a more visible Anglo-whiteness in empire-building and role of that whiteness with what is considered steampunk.

Intrinsic double standards also exist in how steampunk celebrates optimistic and fun creativity by imitating Victorian "stereotypes." In the well-known "What Is Your Steampunk Style?" online quiz featured on steamfashion, for example, the creators point out how Victorian types play a significant role in subculture creativity and acceptance: "Most of these outfits are inspired by certain characters or images from Victorian history or steampunk fiction, and these break down into a collection of styles that share certain features in common." The results of this quiz emphasize how white, European Victorian types are playful, interesting, and exciting: the Aristocrat, the Scientist, the Officer, the Explorer. On the flip side, representations that do not conform to the Western-European aesthetic are not featured, and the reason why they are omitted is obvious. This is because while Eurocentric Victorian types in steampunk fiction are depicted as positive and enjoyable, non-European Victorian types live on as today's damaging stereotypes: The Dragon Lady & China Doll/Geisha Girl, The Savage, The Deceptive Mystic, The Manservant, The Ursurer, The Indian Princess. Since steampunk style has considerable pulp fiction/Victorian fiction elements, the creation of non-stereotypes for steampunk isn't even considered. This oversight is not seen as problematic, though, as long as participants stick with a Eurocentric result. Thus, steampunk encourages the promotion of Western-European tropes as desirable while at the same time ignoring any possibility of creating similar positive non-Western models for creative play.

The most encouraged method for non-Westerners and people of color to engage in steampunk then, is by adapting the roles of the conqueror for their own use, by "assimilating" into the Western-European hegemony. This assimilation can be re-purposed into a rebellious act against mainstream society (as with the work of anachronaut) or seen as a celebration of steampunk's minority inclusiveness.  However, the act of assimilation also has uncomfortable echoes of reenacting the historical instances of assimilation that society had imposed upon marginalized peoples.  In this case then, steampunk isn't rebelling against the dominant culture's standards of conformity, but imitates it in its own microcosm. The "melting pot" theory is played out once again, now in spaces of play as it had in society as a whole.

What can save steampunk into turning into another example of Western-European cultural hegemony is steampunk participants' cheeky self-reflexive attitude towards history and their interpretation of it. A poster created by Brute Force highlights this awareness in the most sardonic (but quite insightful) way possible:

Image courtesy of tripletlads

This ironic awareness of empire's devastations in history is one way that differentiates steampunk from an unexamined interpretation of Neo-Victorianism.

In fact, steampunk aesthetics are continually evolving outside of London, as steampunk scholar Mike Perschon points out in his essay Leaving London, Arriving in Albion:
“Does it matter if steampunk leaves London? Absolutely. If the success of open-sourcing has taught us anything, it is that a proprietary grip in the information age results in the death of a technology. For steampunk to thrive, it needs to be free to be applied wherever people have an interest in gears and gadgets, in the tenuous spaces between memory and history, wherever dreams of traveling in an airship ignore the failure of the Graf Zeppelins. This freedom does not imply it ought to be frivolous or foolish. Good steampunk can blend high adventure with questions about identity, war, nationality, and technology....Further, steampunk’s emancipation from the corseted constrictions of Victorian society permit it to playfully examine what may end up being an endless array of worlds, times, and themes.”

While Perschon's assessment is very progressive-thinking and optimistic, the means which steampunk employs to diversify its definition can be problematic. While views of cultural equality are encouraged, the message becomes less encouraging when promoted through vehicles that still endorse the concept of white supremacy in the community. The Gatehouse's editorial remarks denying racism's relevance in its Victorientalism issue is one example (and the implications of that issue has already been discussed at length by myself and several steampunk sites and observers). G.D. Falksen's article on Tor.com "The World is Not Enough...but it is Such a Perfect Place to Start" is an informative basic primer on non-Western steampunk possibilities, but the article's title and authorship allude to a imperialistic relationship between the West and the non-West in the steampunk community by having a white male speak for people of color and their histories (of course, this perspective is countered by Jha Goh's own work on Tor.com). The treatment of multicultural aspects, then, typically exists as a supplement to Western history controlled by white authorities. Extending this observation, then, one can argue that in steampunk, the non-West does not matter unless it has a Western association. In many historical-based steampunk narratives, the non-Western world exists in conjunction (if not subjugation) to the West as opposed to being independent from it or treated with equal respect.

The use of multicultural steampunk also risks the encouragement of cultural appropriation, especially as white steampunks are "inspired" by non-Western styles. Cultural appropriation is a complex subject, and as steampunks engage in steampunk belly-dancing (which I also discuss in-depth) and other forms of non-Western steampunk, results have been varied.  As Canadian artist Richard Fung pointed out in his theory of cultural appropriation, interest in non-Western lands was spurred in part by the economic and political benefits they possessed for the colonizing nation/people:
“Foods, religions, languages and clothes all betray contacts with a larger world, which includes our closest neighbours, as well as distant imperial centres. There are no clear boundaries where one culture ends and another begins. But while some of this fusion may be celebrated as exchange, a larger proportion is the result of domination. The task of establishing cultural hegemony in the colonial context, for instance, entails the supplanting or harnessing of the social, economic and cultural systems of the subjugated, by those of the dominant power. For Native people in Canada, this has meant an often violent process of assimilation, coupled with the marketing of superficial difference either for profit (the tourism industry), or political gain (official multiculturalism).....

Colonialism operated differently in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, and varied also according to the colonizing power concerned. To enslave and uproot the population, it was convenient that Africa be represented as a place without a culture or a history of its own—requiring, of course, the excision of Egypt from that continent. On the other hand, the aesthetic contributions of India, China, and Japan had long been valorized in Europe, and it is the products of their culture and agriculture that motivated and justified colonialism in those parts.”

In steampunk, while there are sites and publications that focus on appreciating non-Western culture and histories in itself, much of non-Western cultural representation has also resulted in the commoditization of non-Western culture as steampunk accessory items (on Etsy you can find hundreds of Eastern, African, and Native examples of this). While the appreciation of the non-Western in steampunk can be positive, the relationship between this appreciation and consumerism reduces cultures into trinkets that can be made and bought by anyone.

Yet Perschon's optimism about the use of multicultural steampunk cannot be completely dismissed, and I agree. Already I mentioned several sites that are actively contributing non-Western perspectives. As steampunk becomes a narrative vehicle used to question and reevaluate the oppressions of the past, standout examples of multicultural steampunk are popping up more frequently. Steampunk stories such as Joyce Chng's "Moon Maiden's Mirror," Maurice Broaddus's "Pimp my Airship," Stephanie Lai's "The Last Rickshaw," Dazjae Zoem's self-published Wonderdark and Jon Munger and Krista Brennan's webcomic Virtuoso are all works that center around non-Western experiences that exists independently of the West. Jha Goh's "Between Islands" tells a tale of politics on the high seas (and high skies) where several actors across several non-Western cultures stop the seed of British imperialism from ever sprouting in their land. Carolina Free State re-imagines a Native American world developing after expelling European colonists from their shores. Moreover, with steampunk subculture's tendency to include non-steampunk artists into the fold, works that subvert European norms in order to create a voice for the subaltern, such as that of Nigerian-Brit Yinka Shonibare MBE and Native artist Kent Monkman, are also considered quite steampunk.


TOMORROW: Conclusion: Why Multiculturalism is Steampunk