Not-So-Innocents Abroad is Not-so-much-a-Blog-Tour. . .as a change of pace
WHERE IS THE PUNK IN STEAMPUNK?
WHERE IS THE PUNK IN STEAMPUNK?
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| Image of the Air/Steamship, Xanadu |
Roland Yeomans, here: reader, writer, dreamer.
Ah, the “punk” would be me. I’ve taken history, sprinkled in bad girls,
airships, and villainous former presidents/Civil War Generals – and tossed them
like a salad. All done with a strong punkish attitude toward socio-political
injustices like V FOR VENDETTA.
Have you read a bit of history and gone: “That was
just wrong!”
Me, too.
Take Sherman’s Bloody March through Georgia. Read this actual excerpt from Sherman’s
telegram to General Grant:
“Until
we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter
destruction of its roads, houses, and people
will cripple their military resources.”
Or
read Sherman’s actual orders to his officers:
“If a torpedo (mine) is suspected on any part
of the road, order the point to be tested by a carload of prisoners, or by
citizens implicated, drawn by a long rope."
“We are not only fighting armies, but a hostile
people, and must make old and young, rich and poor, feel the hard hand of
war, as well as their organized armies.”
“The entire populace must be ground to the
dust. Gentlemen, no consideration
must be paid to the fact these homes are occupied by families, but all of
Atlanta must be cannonaded.”
Or read this excerpt of Sherman’s letter to
Secretary of War Stanton:
“There is a class of people, men, women and children,
who must be killed or banished before we can hope for peace and order.”
Or consider President Lincoln ordering the most
people hung in a mass execution (38 Dakota Indians).
Their crime?
Fighting to keep their lands promised them by a prior treaty. They were tried by an illegal tribunal. Though they did not understand English and
thus could not defend themselves or even understand the charges against them,
they did not receive defence counsel.
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The punk in Steampunk springs from anarchy and a
rebellion against society’s injustice to those who cannot defend themselves.
THE
NOT-SO-INNOCENTS ABROAD full cover design
So just what is my first Steampunk novel about?
Here’s the back cover copy:
Come aboard the XANADU, the first air-steamship!
Experience 1867 in a way history says never
existed!
Sherman’s bloody march through Georgia never
happened.
Lincoln was never assassinated.
The Great Sioux Nation still exists.
The Reason?
Great-souled Samuel McCord, cursed Texas Ranger.
Join him and his alien empress wife, Meilori
Shinseen, on their honeymoon
Above the stormy Atlantic ocean
With their friends:
Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horace Greely, Ada
Byron, the immortal Lucanus, Margaret Fuller, 11 year old Nikola Tesla.
With their enemies:
General Sherman, former President Abraham Lincoln,
revenant Benjamin Franklin, crafty Thomas Edison, Captain Nemo, Revenant Empress Theodora;
And the twin sister of Meilori Shinseen – Maija
Shinseen.
Steampunk Disasters were never so much fun!
When I write, I often think of my novel as a movie.
Here is the tune I imagine playing over
the opening credits as the Xanadu sails across a brooding sky towards adventure
and mayhem.
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Check out the blog and you'll see how prolific Roland is, and learn about the haunted jazz club, Meilori's, in old New Orleans on a certain corner. It's a nightclub of changing dimensions and clientelle. Be sure to look for Sam McCord, former Texas Ranger.
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Have you read any of Roland's novels? Do you have a favorite? Do you like Steampunk tales? Airships? Time travelling characters?
Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and either Roland or I will respond.
Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and either Roland or I will respond.
Thanks for dropping by!
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