An Interview, Steampunk Week, and Steamcon III

My sister, me, and my niece at Steamcon II last fall. (Photo by the Steamcon Photo Booth Guy)

While the Steampunk Scholar blog has been largely silent this past month, I have not. Earlier this month I was interviewed at Albertan YA writer Judith Graves' website, covering some old ground for my long time readers, but new for Judith's YA paranormal romance audience.

I was also writing and submitting articles and abstracts to academic anthologies that are in the offing (that's all I can really say at this point). I submitted three posts to Tor.com: a longer version of my "Steampunk Gilgamesh" for steampunk week (Oct. 3-7, 2011), and two appreciations: one for Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy, and the other for Candlewick's Steampunk! anthology. I'll link to all of those as they go live.

Reading from Soulless with Gail Carriger at Steamcon II (photo by Rio Jones)

Finally, I've been prepping to present at Steamcon III, coming up in less than two weeks on October 14-16. Here's my presentation schedule for the weekend:

Friday, October 14
4: 00 p.m. Steampunk Lit to Watch For - Regency C
What writers and new fiction should we be looking out for this year? (Here's the rub - I know a few, but I want MORE! So if you're a steampunk writer with something new to release next year, give me the skinny.)
I'll moderating, with authors Ren Cummins and Andrew Mayer as panelists.

Saturday, October 15
10:00 a.m. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in under an Hour - Grand B
Hurtling forward at Nautilus-like speed, this session will both summarize and illuminate key points from Verne’s classic novel, as well as social commentary and character development excised from most translations.

11:00 a.m. Meet Gary Gianni - Grand E-G
An interview with Artist Guest of Honor Gary Gianni.

Sunday, October 16
10:00 a.m. Steampunking 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Grand I
This session catalogues and summarizes steampunk novels using Verne’s classic work as their basis, such as Arthur Slade’s The Dark Deeps, Jonathan Green’s Leviathan Rising, Mark Mellon’s Napoleon Concerto, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Joe Lansdale’s Zeppelins West, and Thomas F. Moteleone’s The Secret Sea.

11:00 a.m. Captain Nemo: A Biography - Cedar
Combining the fiction of Verne’s novels with historical facts about the British Raj, Sepoy mutiny, and historical figures, this session treats the enigmatic figure of Captain Nemo as a real person, a complex hero and villain, and arguably the protagonist of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

If you're at Steamcon and come to any of the panels or presentations, please introduce yourself! I'll be milling about in the afternoon and evening.

What I look like between panels, because I'm in such a bloody hurry.  (Photo by Taja Blackhorn-Delph)