Do you Steampunk? Steampunking in the 21st Century...

So there I was, doing some research for my latest novel, looking up some info on the 1940's and some other things I want to include in the novel when I stumbled upon this blog: Hawkins Strongbox. Now, this is some fun and intriguing work and it has me excited thinking of all the fantastic possibilities for authorship in this technological age. I've seen and heard of ideas like this before, but Mr. Pepper (a Disney writer) has put a crazy amount of time and effort into this blog, not just the writing, but the artistic side as well. The blog is fascinating and the potential is endless. And it is an example of "steampunk" writing.

Having never heard of the term "steampunk" until today, I am surprised to find myself already a fan of the genre. I've long been a science fiction fan, loving the futuristic works of Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, and the like. I've also liked The Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen which is based on the comic book series by Alan Moore who also created the anti-hero V of V for Vendetta fame Apparently those movies are somewhat Steampunk. Similarly, I've always been intrigued by the movie starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline which is based upon a television series of the same name - Wild Wild West. Apparently, this is Western Steampunk. And, of course, I have long read H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, which apparently a lot of steampunk artists base their stuff on. Do you find yourself scratching your head and saying, "Huh?" out loud to yourself? 'Cause I certainly did earlier today.

So, I did a little research and found out that steampunk actually has a long and fascinating history. What I find equally as fascinating is the apparently large cult following of all things steampunk and how little I previously knew of this interesting genre and its audience. A quick search on Amazon.com for steampunk turned up everything from books to apparel to props and more.

My momma always told me, "You learn something new every day." Today I learned more than one thing. I learned about a new genre, I learned something about what the future of writing might be and how it could involve the internet and I learned that steampunk is a word...okay a made up word...but, hey, Shakespeare made up a whole bunch of words that we don't call made up any more!