Automata Fetish

Andrew Chase's Robotic Cheetah

I confess my fetish.  All authors must have them, these objects the subconscious courts, and these furtive meetings fuel the writing.

My last fling was with Tippoo's Tiger, an automata at the V&A:

Tippoo's Tiger

The automaton has a bellows inside which simulates growling and human cries– this informed the imagining of the locusts in the novel, though of course this has only revealed itself to me in hindsight.

More wind-up life can be found here: automataonline

...