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Tag: World Building

More Technology of “The Sauder Diaries” – A Steampunk Dragon; What’s Not To Like?

Published by MichelV69 on November 30, 2012

Post Views: 468 Introduction This is the third part of a three-part set answering this Question From the Audience. So, without further ado, allow me to continue on discussing the various technologies that Hans encounters and uses, and evaluate “The Reasonable Plausibility Level” (RPL) of each. Science and Technology of “The Sauder Diaries – By Any Other Name” The “Dragon” One of the most memorable scenes in “The Sauder Diaries – By Any Other Name” is the dragon attack in the chapter titled “A Quiet Little Town”: “It came into view at the lighted edge of town, lumbering out of the night. The lights of the town glinted off its armoured hide as it advanced. It was easily two heights of a man to its shoulder, if not three, and double that…

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The value of taking tea in story writing and RPGs

Published by MichelV69 on August 1, 2012

Post Views: 374 A reader emailed me after the initial release of “The Sauder Diaries – By Any Other Name” and commented that one of the things she enjoyed so much about the book was that “the camera” followed the characters even into their “quiet time”. Little amusing jabbs between the characters about how they took their coffee, how they conducted their private lives and implied whistfulness at “roads not taken”. This style of exposition was inspired by two individuals I respect in their given fields, Scott Westerfeld and Nicholas Jequier. At a meet-the-author evening in Vancouver, BC,  with Scott Westerfeld of “Uglies” and “Leviathan” fame, he commented that most of the fan art he received for either set of characters had nothing to do with scenes in the books…

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Questions From The Audience – July 25th, 2012

Published by MichelV69 on July 25, 2012

Post Views: 243 “I’d love to hear some more about ‘real world science’ versus ‘technology used in The Sauder Diaries’. How does it differ?” – Matt Jenkins Introduction This is the second part of a three-part set answering this Question From the Audience. In the first installment I got about halfway through the first novel in “The Sauder Diaries”, sub-titled “By Any Other Name”. So, without further ado, allow me to continue on discussing the various technologies that Hans encounters and uses, and evalutate “The Reasonable Plausibility Level” (RPL) of each. Science and Techology of “The Sauder Diaries – By Any Other Name”, Part 2 Double-barreled Flare gun The original flare gun was designed by American naval officer Edward Wilson Very (1847–1910). The system he developed and popularized…

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Questions From The Audience – July 18th, 2012

Published by MichelV69 on July 18, 2012

Post Views: 305 “Fanfic” — John Wiens While I am not sure how well I can deal with such a drilled-down and narrow-focus question, this is going to be the topic “du jour”. Fanfic is a two-word mash-up of “Fan” and “Fiction”. It’s loosely accepted to mean fiction writing produced by fans of an existing author, using that author’s story world and even sometimes characters. So in other words, if you are a fan of a 1980’s TV show called “Tales of the Gold Monkey”  and pen a short story about Jake and Sarah running into an orphan kid that they add to the crew, well that’s fanfic. You’re a fan and you’ve composed fiction set in your favorite existing setting. If you love the Twilight series, and…

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Questions From The Audience – July 10th, 2012

Published by MichelV69 on July 10, 2012

Post Views: 446 “I’d love to hear some more about ‘real world science’ versus ‘technology used in The Sauder Diaries’. How does it differ?” — Matt Jenkins Introduction One of the hallmarks of Steampunk is that it is often typified as “Victorian Science-Fiction”. In otherwords, the “science” component of the story needs to be within the scope of Victorian understanding. For example, Jule’s Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” is all well thought-out and reasonably plausible; the only hitch was that no one actually had the –ability– to build a ship like the Nautilus. The science theory supported the design, but the metalurgic reality did not. I’d like to draw your attention to a phrase I just used: “reasonably plausible”. What I term as the “The Reasonable Plausibility…

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My Thoughts On World (Re)Building

Published by MichelV69 on December 11, 2011

Post Views: 255 … For Steampunk or any other historical-fantasy setting, you are obligated to mess with the world. Even with a near-future setting, you have to be mindful of the current condition of what we know about the world. “This is Charlie Two.  I am heading north of Old Toronto.  I’ve got five Birds available for a micro if anyone can give me a road report.” “Charlie Two, this is Daniel Five.  I’m on the Eleven, in the Park, blade raised, rolling at one-fourty in the clear, over.” That’s a snip from a short story I’m working on titled “After Three Degrees and One Percent”.  It’s set in Canada, after global warming turned out to be true, and the Occupy movement didn’t get us to wake up.…

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Here there be (Steampunk’d) Dragons

Published by MichelV69 on December 5, 2011

Post Views: 155 “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! DRAGON!” Annika shouted. As if cued, another searing arc of electrical energy cut the bell-tower off the Church. It crashed to the ground and the echoes of the bells rang cacophonously against the sounds of smashing timber and planks . It came into view at the lighted edge of town, lumbering out of the night. The lights of the town glinted off its armored hide as it advanced. It was easily two heights of a man to its shoulder, if not three, and double that to the top of its steel head. It was probably the length of a Pullman railway car including its tail, advancing on three pairs of legs. Six bombard-styled cannon barrels were set along its spine, each…

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