My Muse's Musings

Steampunk is a genre inspired by a mixture of the real industrialization of Victorian and Edwardian England and the science fiction literature penned during the period. Authors such as Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are all considered influences of the genre. Ask anyone who has written a Steampunk story and they'll admit to having read some or all of these authors. I have. AN AUTOMATED DEATH The term Steampunk came about in the 1980's Until that time, the genre was called cyberpunk or just Victorian Fantasy. Writer K.W. Jeter was given credit for the Steampunk moniker. It was an apt description because of the steam powered engines developed during the Victorian Era and the manipulation that writers of the 1980's through today use to hype the history to include more and more fanciful inventions that pushed the genre. Because the stories written during the real Era were so imaginative and built around that grain of ...

I've been very, very busy this month. I did a 1000 and 1000 challenge with Kerry Nelson of writing 1000 words a day and reading 1000 words a day.  The reading part is never a challenge. I read over 1000 words every day anyway. But the writing 1000 words is a little more work.  By the end of the month, I had done 21,500 words. I had broken the 32,000 word mark on my latest SEAL book and I've written 4500 words on the next short story in my To Capture A Highlander's Heart short story series.  So I'm closer to 25,000 total. I'm determined to break that 1000 words a day thing though. So, that is going to be my goal for the month. Write at least 35,000 words for the month. I'm on the down hill slide of finishing my 10th year with Eastern Kentucky University. I teach Art Appreciation at one of the satellite colleges here in Kentucky.   Next, I have just re-released my Scottish Historical Romance HIGHLAND MOONLIGHT . If you haven't read it here's...

An Automated Death An Automated Death was published March 13th, 2013.  And I thought I'd post an except from the book for those who are interested. The story has two endings. One dark and one light.  I've published the story with them both.  Here's the excerpt: Automaton: A non-electronic machine that mimics the movements of an animal or a human.   A nineteenth century robot. London, England, 1863 Rain clouds rolled in over London, bringing with them a gray tinged afternoon light that struggled to penetrate the shop’s plate glass windows. Alan Cartwright turned up the wick on the oil lamp and moved it closer to the mechanism he worked on. Despite the gas lamps lining the interior walls, working on the small fittings of the automaton required additional light. The wooden clock cabinets and music boxes he built gleamed in the warm glow, their brass fittings sparkling gold. The smell of freshly cut wood and machine oil hung in...