Thanks for inviting me to talk about steampunk holidays, Wenona.
Since I’ve just published a collection of steampunk romance stories, My Lady Gambler, I hope I know a little something about the genre. Steampunk takes its foundations from the Victorian period, the time where cities were springing up and the Industrial revolution was underway.
In some ways, this means that a steampunk holiday is easy! After all, Christmas as we know it today started with the Victorians. They went crazy over indoor trees, chestnuts on the open fire, and paper to wrap gifts.
Here are five easy ways to take what you already have and steampunk your holiday. (Note: Since the Victorians were Christmas-centric, this list skews toward that holiday.)
1. Play Dickensian Christmas carols. Skip Bing Crosby this year, and find something really authentic. How about going to hear the Dickens Carolers? Or buying this Victorian Carols compilation?
2. Go for clockwork-inspired tree ornaments. I know you’ve already got the DIY globes and hooks at home. (If you don’t, any craft store will have them.) Then, glue on some spiffy golden gears like these, just $6/bag from Amazon. Heck, you could hang those straight on your tree. Or, simply buy some beautiful, pre-made ornaments, like these from Etsy
3. Make your own wrapping paper with a marbled look. This is a bit more advanced, but there’s no way to do it wrong! Start with 100% cotton paper, some inks, and go for it. Here’s a video from the BBC.
4. Make a mistletoe ball. You’ve heard of the tradition of kissing underneath the mistletoe, but did you know that the Victorians had a mistletoe ball? You can make one yourself with mistletoe, wire rings, and little decorative bits. Between making the wire cage (pretty darned steampunk on its own) and choosing how to decorate it, you have the chance to personalize with gears and wrought iron, but the ball alone is historical-cool. And Martha Stewart has a guide, of course.
5. Read some steampunk books… out loud. In those bygone days where no one had a radio, much less a TV, people got their fiction-based kicks from performing for one another.
Some family-friendly favorites might be Airborn by Kenneth Oppel (which is full of airships and pirates), Leviathan by Scott Westerfield (which may be the most popular book of its kind), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (which came free with your Christmas-present Kindle).
Then, when the lights go out, you can curl up by your fire and read steampunk literature for adults, such as my own My Lady Gambler by Victoria Pond (with bonus Regency drama), Iron Dominance by Cari Silverwood (with a BDSM flair), and Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina (more about the chemistry labs than chemistry, but still a great read).
Happy Holiday Crafting!
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My Lady Gambler
Stories of Erotic Romance, Corsets, and an England That Never Was
Victoria Pond
Victoria Pond
Genre: erotica, erotic romance, steampunk romance, steampunk erotica, steampunk Regency
978-9886468-0-3 (ePub)
978-9886468-1-0 (MOBI)
Number of pages: 200
Word Count: 50,000
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Book Description:
A collection of erotic romance in the Age of Steam, featuring a Regency novella...
Cara St. Cross is determined to play at the highest-stakes poker club in all of Great Britain... even if getting in requires her to dress like a man. Stanley, Lord Greenhope, doesn’t truly believe that “Mister” St. Cross has had relations with his wife, but that doesn’t stop him from challenging the (wo)man to a duel.
In the early Age of Steam, duels are still legal, young ladies get kidnapped to Gretna Green, and only the villains seem to care whether Cara wins at the tables.
As well as the Regency novella, My Lady Gambler, this collection includes three short stories of Victorian-style steampunk erotica:
Miss Carlotta Stembridge crafts her own troupe of dancing automatons in “The Clockwork Dancers”. When she meets a flesh-and-blood dancer who steals her heart, she must fight society and her own creations if she wants to keep him in her life.
In “On the Curious Condition of the Anachronism in Modern Aviation Structures,” First Mate Jess Priory of the merchant airship Aer Nova offers passage to a handsome doctor. Lucky thing she did, since his skills come in handy when the ship is attacked!
The possibility of a time machine causes more problems than it solves in “Dorothea Franklin’s Marvelous Machine,” Thankfully, the inventor can console herself with the darkly sexy, powerful Sir George, Grand Master of the London Masons.
About the Author :
Victoria Pond is a professional writer on projects ranging from video games to novels. She lives in Seattle with a husband and a cat, where she sings with a Celtic band and is working on the next novella in her steampunk erotica universe.
Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/VictoriaPond
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