Steampunk Academy

In a week, I’ll be over at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California to present lectures in the Steampunk Academy series at Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium. This may sound like pretty serious business, but in fact, it’s all great fun. The Steampunk Academy is basically the Symposium’s series of workshops and presentations. I’m working on presentations about such mad scientific pursuits as nineteenth century Martian astronomy and a telescope building demonstration. I’ll also be reading from Lightning Wolves and, as an extra special treat, if the weather is clear, I’ll bring a couple of telescopes out on deck so we can view such objects as Jupiter, the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Here’s my tentative schedule for the event:

Friday, January 16
2pm – Verandah – Reading. I’ll be reading from Lightning Wolves and will be available to sign books.
5pm – Gazebo – Victorian Astronomy. Come learn what was going on in the world of astronomy in the nineteenth century. Afterwards, if the weather is clear, we’ll move out on deck to observe those objects which are available.
Saturday, January 17
4pm – The Board Room – Mars Across the Aether. This presentation is focused more specifically on Mars than my Victorian Astronomy presentation. Come learn about the canals on the red planet and hear extraterrestrial recordings from a Teslascope.
6pm – Gazebo – Telescope Viewing. I’ll be out with the telescopes again, weather permitting with another opportunity to see what’s in the skies over Long Beach.

Sunday, January 18
2pm – Regent Room – How to Build a Steampunk Telescope. I’ll show you how you can build your own functional telescope, and give suggestions for how you can steampunk it up to your heart’s content!

Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium always features great music. This year, performers include Lee Presson and the Nails, the Nathaniel Johnstone Band, and Unwoman. What’s more, the Queen Mary is a great venue for a Steampunk event. I’m delighted to be returning and hope you’ll join us if you’re able! To learn more about the event and buy tickets, visit http://hrmsteam.com

While on the subject of mad science, I’m proud to announce the release of Tales of the Talisman volume 10, issue 2. The issue features thirty stories and poems by such folks as Lee Clark Zumpe, Rick Novy, Abra Staffin-Wiebe, and Erin K. Wagner. You’ll find stories about elder gods breaking the barriers of time and space using the Large Hadron Collider, the steampunkish origins of the artificial heart and even a modern-day quest for King Arthur. Issues are available at talesofthetalisman.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.