Bill Bodden's Blog - Posts Tagged "steampunk"

The author with Sarah Hans, author, editor, and all-around snazzy dresser

I just returned from Motor City Steam Con in Livonia, Michigan, and man, are my gears tired.
Motor City Steam is a first-year convention with a Steampunk theme. This was my first time taking my enthusiasm for Steampunk out of state, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The appeal of Steampunk for me is twofold. First, I love seeing the outfits people come up with. Steampunk is, at it’s heart, alternate history. Because of this, for someone (or a group) to say that something-or-other isn’t Steampunk is pure arrogance and elitism. On the other hand, I do love seeing people who make an effort, rather than just throw on their favorite renfaire outfit and go to town. Second, I’m fascinated by...

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http://billbodden.com/2016/07/25/the-...

Four Steampunks cosplaying at Gen Con, August 2015


Because I'm a fan of Steampunk -- both the literary movement and Steampunk-oriented fandom -- I get asked from time to time to define steampunk as concept. To quote Reference.com :

"Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction literature that uses the aesthetics and technology from 19th-century industrial times. At its core, it maintains the idea that science and technology never developed beyond steam-powered energy. Steampunk can take place either in present day or in the 19th century. The term steampunk originates from the 1980s as a variant of cyberpunk, though some literature written in the 1960s and 1970s is now considered influential to the genre..."

To read more of this post, please visit http://billbodden.com/2016/12/19/the-...

I'll be attending steampunk convention Geneva Steam Con the weekend of March 10-12. The convention is being held at the Lake Lawn Resort in Delavan, Wisconsin.

I'll be participating in two events at the convention, both on Saturday. At 3 PM...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2017/03/06/gene...

Having quit my part-time day job, I'm having to cut back on convention appearances for 2019. There are several favorites that I wouldn't miss, but I have to be a little more careful about money for a while. Also, Onyx Path is changing the way they attend the bigger gaming conventions, so they don't need my help covering the booth this year for GenCon. Being super-expensive -- and not terribly productive, professionally speaking -- not going to GenCon is probably a wise move for me.

January...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/12/17/next...

I just got back from Geneva Steam http://genevasteam.com/ this week, and boy, conventions can take a lot out of you — especially when you have a stomach issue of some type that pops up on Friday and doesn’t leave until Saturday afternoon. Makes for kind of a short convention experience.

I really like Geneva Steam. It’s steampunk, as the name suggests, but it’s a smaller, laid-back convention with lots of music, a solid slate of programming, and a decent dealer’s room. I also have enjoyed the venue: the Lakelawn Resort https://www.lakelawnresort.com/ in Delavan Wisconsin, though the sprawling complex can be tough on people who are less mobile than I.

In the past, I’ve volunteered my time working on an author track of programming. I know a bunch of local steampunk authors, and it has always disappointed me that...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/03/14/conv...

Recently, a blog post from a self-proclaimed steampunk fan posed that very question to his readers. He listed several reasons why Steampunk was dead: unsurprisingly, those reasons focused on a highly self-absorbed premise; that, because Steampunk wasn't exactly the same as when he started, it must be dead. At the very least, it no longer held any interest for him, which is clearly all that matters. Another opinionated blogger opined that Steampunk, having lost it's anti-authority edge, could no longer claim the "-punk" moniker at all.

Piffle.

Sorry to use such harsh language in front of the children, but seriously, I've been attending Steampunk events now for a decade. Steampunk is still going strong, and while the community certainly...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/05/20/who-...

Wrapped up GameHoleCon https://gameholecon.com/ last weekend. My games went well. I was a little rusty running Pugmire, but my players had fun. My Scarred Lands D&D games went very well too, and of 24 seats sold, 20 people showed up which, considering the nasty weather we had on Thursday, is a highly respectable turnout.

Then Monday afternoon I started to feel...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/11/11/conv...

November has proven to be a month of extremes for me this year. Incredible lows and a few very nice highs have competed for brain space, leaving me tired and cranky and out of sorts, and looking forward to the new month and a fresh start.

Followers of this blog may remember me writing about a fall I had earlier this month in my home. I slipped on our carpeted stairs, landed heavily on my butt, and had an epic bruise for weeks afterward. To this date, there is still a small spot inside the muscle that is intensely painful; not sure if it's just a deep bruise or if I chipped a bone but fortunately it only bothers me very rarely. I also weathered TWO different bouts of the common cold this month; the first immediately after GameHoleCon, and the second on the heels of TeslaCon. I've now spent more than half the month sick, and indications are that this latest batch will last into December. I've spent the last half of the month in something of a fog because of it. This after nearly two years of not getting sick at all; guess I was due.

However, there is good news to report as well. First, I had a short story published in the Darkened Streets ebook anthology - available on DriveThru RPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294150/Darkened-Streets?term=Darkened+Streets) and had word that...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/11/25/hope...

People with chronic illnesses have a clever saying: that they are "out of spoons" meaning they have no energy to do whatever is being discussed. Some tasks/activities require more spoons than others, and I've found myself not leaving the house much lately. Besides being sick quite a bit, I've also had a couple of major events that forced me to be social and "on", and that really takes it out of me these days. Some days, there just aren't enough spoons to do all the things I want to.

Sharp-eyed readers of this blog noticed that I didn't post last week. I've been sick for much of November - first a mild cold, then later a more serious one. The more recent version had me coughing hard enough to...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2019/12/09/a-sh...

Yesterday, a convention I attend every year, Geneva Steam, announced that this year's event would be their last. I was stunned by the news. It's a small event, it attracts mostly locals, and it seemed to have a lot going for it, but in the end, the three main people running it all found that life was pulling them in other directions: they just didn't have the time to devote to it any longer.
It should be no secret that running a convention is a lot of hard work even for a small event. Besides just staying organized, it's a huge...

To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2020/02/17/losi...