Michael Tierney's Blog, page 4

Happy Birthday, Michael Faraday

Today, Sept. 22, is the great British scientist Michael Faraday’s 226th birthday. Faraday’s contribution to science are many, and it’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that before Faraday, electricity was batteries, and afterward, it was Edison and … Continue reading →

How the Victorians Built Britain

Originally posted on London Historians' Blog:
A guest review by LH member Laurence Scales, of the new Channel 5 series.  Feeling a bit lost at present on Saturday nights without a Swedish murder to mull over I turned to Channel…

Art Deco Locomotives

Right about the time that diesel locomotives were gaining ground on the older steam locomotives, some railroads redesigned their steam engines.  By streamlining their design, the railroads hoped to keep the steam engines running.  In some cases, the re-design was … Continue reading →

On-line Resources for Writers

This page is based on a talk I gave at the 2018 Clockwork Alchemy con entitled “On-Line Research for Steampunk Novels”. During the course of writing my novels, I’ve discovered a number of great on-line resources that I found extremely … Continue reading →

The Harrison Clocks

Originally posted on Airship Flamel:
A recent post on the Two Nerdy History Girls blog prompted me to remember the wonderful book “Longitude” by Dava Sobel chronicling the history of John Harrison and his lifelong pursuit to develop an accurate…

Starting with Steampunk — Wally Smith

This first poem for the NaPoWriMo month of April ought to have been posted some hours ago, shortly after going to the Easter Sunday church service and lunch at a local hostelry. However, that is when we met a couple … Continue reading →

Steampunk Road Trip – Clockwork Alchemy — Airship Ambassador

We’re back in sunny California for our next stop, chatting with Charlie, who is the head of Marketing for the Clockwork Alchemy convention. Hello Charlie! When is the convention being held this year? Charlie : This year it will be … Continue reading →

Old House Idiosyncrasies #8–Sarah Winchester’s House

Living in San Jose, California and being interested in all things Victorian, it would be impossible for me to ignore the largest Victorian house in the United States, the house built by Sarah Winchester. A recent article on the always … Continue reading →

Pantsing vs. Plotting

If you spend any time around writers, the conversation will inevitably come around to “pantsing” vs. “plotting, that is, writing by the seat of your pants, or writing from a well-plotted outline.  Neither of these two methods is “right”; it’s … Continue reading →

Old House Idiosyncrasies #7–Ceiling Medallions

Ceiling medallions, those ornate plaster castings from which chandeliers seem to hang, are unique to vintage buildings.  A recent Facebook post from a friend who is restoring his Victorian house about his gorgeously painted ceiling medallion ended with the question, … Continue reading →