In celebration of Phoenix Comicon, I’m doing free downloads of my novel Centrifugal Force on May 24-26th. Some of you may already have seen it, but if you know of anyone who might be interested, please spread the word! This will likely be the last time I do free
days on CF, because I’m letting my Kindle Select expire so I can finally publish the Nook version. Thanks to everyone for your support!
Sci-Fi Pros and Cons
Recently I attended the 39th Annual Leprecon in Mesa, Arizona. No, it wasn’t an Irish festival, but a science fiction convention, so named because it was originally held around March 17th. I have attended several of these events in the past, and this one was a good time as always. Unfortunately, Leprecon’s attendance seems to have fallen off in recent years, and 2013 was no exception.
As far as I can tell, these conventions haven’t changed much over the years. There are still lots of interesting people and activities. There are sci-fi and fantasy related panel discussions, signings by authors (including, this year, yours truly), a game room, dealer room and art show, and a theme dinner on Saturday night. The average age is increasing, though. Most attendees appear to be to be baby boomers or Gen X’ers. I’ve noticed a similar trend at Coppercon, which is the Phoenix area’s other annual sci-fi convention. Coppercon has been traditionally held in September, but for 2013 it will be August 8th through 11th.
It seems that these small, local gatherings are being upstaged by the mighty Phoenix Comicon (Phoenix Convention Center, Memorial Day Weekend), which has always been jam-packed with people of all ages whenever I’ve been there. Of course, it’s a fraction of size of the mother of all Comicon’s in San Diego. Contrary to its name, Comicon isn’t just about comic books; there are strong elements of science fiction, fantasy and horror in all media. In the past they’ve hosted talks by Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, the cast of Star Trek Next Generation, and Max Brooks, author of World War Z.
Perhaps this is just part of the overall trend of consolidation, in which small stores, organizations, and events are being supplanted by larger ones with a national or international scope. Happily, there’s another side to that story. Anime (Japanese animation) conventions are now quite popular. In the Phoenix area there are at least two – Saboten-con, which is held in September and Taiyou-con in January. Here, the attendees are overwhelmingly in their teens and twenties. Of course, anime is not the sole focus; they also focus on manga (comic books) and video games. It’s not completely Japanese, either. Recently they’ve been swarmed by legions of Homestuck fans. For the benefit of you older folks, this is a wildly popular web-comic created by an American, Andrew Hussie. At anime cons you will see hordes of teenagers dressed as the Homestuck “trolls,” which involves lots of gray skin paint, rainbow-striped “horns” glued to the forehead, and t-shirts bearing zodiac signs.
This brings me to another point – at anime conventions, cosplay (costume play) is huge, as much or more so than any stereotypical Trekkie convention. Homestuck is not the only series that fans flatter by imitation. Another extremely popular theme is the anime series Hetalia, in which characters represent the different countries of the world. Older folks (myself and girlfriend included) also enjoy dressing up, especially in the “steampunk” genre. The Dark Ones, a local sci-fi-related social group, made this the theme of their biennial Dark-Con in 2012. I have not yet made it to the steampunk-oriented Wild Wild West Con in Tucson, but I’ve been hearing great things about it. Yet another costuming craze is the “furry” scene, in which people don full-body animal costumes. (Yes, you may have heard tales – or should I say “tails” – of rampant kinkiness in this group but a friend assures me that those “creepy furries” are a small minority.) Phoenix will host a “Fur Con” this October. It sounds interesting but personally, I’m too claustrophobic to want to wear a cartoon animal head for any length of time.
Despite my initial worries, I don’t think the sci-fi/fantasy convention scene is going away any time soon. It’s just changing and adapting with the times. Since my convention experience is, at the moment, confined to Arizona and Southern California, I welcome comments from my readers about their own perspectives. Are the traditional sci-fi cons dying out? Are fan gatherings with a costume-related theme on the rise? I’m quite tired of seeing only spammer-generated comments for genuine cheap imitation designer handbags, so if you’re out there, please respond!
Fairness Shmairness
The US Senate recently passed the so-called “Marketplace Fairness Act,” which mandates that Internet retailers collect sales taxes from their customers and remit these amounts to those states that charge them. The argument is that the current system, in which out-of-state sales taxes are virtually un-collectible in many situations, is unfair to traditional brick and mortar businesses, is hogwash. The real reason is greed. State and local governments have spent themselves deep into debt, and are looking for a way out. They don’t deserve one.
This law now goes to the House, which may or may not pass it, but it’s likely to pass both houses of Congress in some form eventually. You can be certain that the President, be he our current “socialist” or a potential “free market” Republican successor, will have no trouble signing it. That is unfortunate. This is one few cases of “states rights” that the Federal government should oppose.
Sales taxes have gotten completely out of hand, soaring to 10 percent or more in many areas. Local politicians have used deception to gain the acquiescence of the public, promoting this boondoggle project or that, raising the level of theft a penny at a time. Many of these taxes were supposed to be temporary, but keep being renewed when the roads, schools, or parks in question encounter the inevitable cost overruns. Sometimes these taxes fund “development” projects such as professional sports stadiums, which invariably fail to deliver the economic benefits their proponents fraudulently predicted.
Besides being used to fund wasteful projects, sales taxes are also highly regressive. They hit the poor and the elderly on fixed incomes the hardest. In a time of economic downturn, this is a powerful argument for decreasing them. Exempting Internet transactions completely from sales taxes would give states and cities a good reason to reduce or eliminate this onerous form of plunder.
Extending tax collection to all Internet businesses, even tiny ones, will be a heavy burden on commerce that does NOT fall on brick and mortar stores, which only need to collect for their local jurisdiction. I expect that “sales tax collection services” will spring up around the country, and that they will impose a significant cost on small business, over and above the taxes themselves. I also predict that members of Congress, who are largely exempt from the insider trading laws that plague private investors, will be heavily invested in these business, just as former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff invested in airport X-ray machines after 9-11.
People who know me may be shocked that I suggest that Congress take any sort of action at all, but in this case I part from my usual anti-Federal prejudices. Congress should use its power under the Commerce Clause to completely ban the so-called “use taxes,” which allow states to levy sales taxes on transactions conducted outside their borders. Such a law would have the happy effect of abrogating recent state agreements that require Amazon to collect taxes in jurisdictions where it has no physical presence.
And what of the affected states and municipalities? They will be forced to make deep cuts in spending, as well they should. These cuts should start at the top, slashing salaries of governors, department heads, mayors, city managers, and the administrators of school districts as well as fire and police departments. In many cases “public services” will need to be cut. Sweetheart contracts with public employee unions in states like California can and must be broken. In other cases, cities will declare bankruptcy. This should be viewed as a normal and necessary check on the ability of local governments to over-spend. Once bond-holders start to lose money on these allegedly risk-proof “investments”, they will think twice, and investigate a city’s fiscal responsibility before doing so again.
Incidentally, the idea that states “need” to collect this money is disproven by the fact that North Dakota, a state with full coffers due to is oil boom, continues to collect “use taxes” on Internet transactions. Furthermore, though I oppose taxes in principle, if sales taxes were to drop to 3% or less, they would have little or no effect on physical businesses. Local shopping has its own advantages, which include immediate gratification and saving on shipping costs.
Brick and mortar merchants may see a tax-free Internet marketplace as unfair, but this does not mean they have the right to equalize their misery. They should instead agitate to reduce or eliminate the outrage that is sales taxation.
Calling All Space Cowboys
The Western genre, so popular in my youth, has fallen out of favor in recent years. It survives mainly in “shoot ’em up” video games like Red Dead Redemption. Yet it has had a lasting influence on other genres, especially science fiction. Though despised by sci fi purists, so-called “space westerns” have attracted legions of fans.
Combining sci fi and westerns seems like a weird idea until you consider the historical context. The 1950’s were in many ways a “coming of age” for the science fiction genre, arguably being the latter half of its “Golden Age.” At the same time, cowboys were everywhere in the popular culture. It’s only natural that there was some cross-pollination. Also, when there’s a high demand for any type of fiction, the market is bound to attract lots of hack writers. People will think, why not combine the two genres and make it even more popular? That’s probably why space westerns have such a bad rap. Galaxy Science Fiction magazine satirized them in a 1950’s ad campaign for an imaginary series based on a character called “Bat Durston,” a name which still pops up in sci fi circles.
Two sci fi TV shows, both which generated their own cult followings, proved Galaxy to be wrong. One was the Japanese animation Cowboy Bebop (1999); the other was Joss Whedon’s Firefly (2002.) Both combined space exploration and western themes artfully and both, unfortunately, lasted just a single season. Older fans often mention Wild Wild West (1965-69) which has its own enduring following, especially among steampunks. This one, however, being a historical adventure series with sci fi elements, does not fit the “space western” description, being more properly called a “sci fi western.” All three of these series demonstrate that combining disparate elements can create good fiction.
When you look beyond the disparity in settings, sci fi and western fiction have a lot in common. The two genres are dominated by American writers and publishers. Both feature characters and plots which espouse the American themes of individualism, self-reliance, and justice. Both have an element of the frontier, with its central conflict of man against nature. There is a strong element of escapism in the two genres.
The purists are free continue to judge space westerns harshly. If so, they are missing out on some very creative and original work. The rest of us will continue to ignore their opinion. In closing, I’ll quote the ending screen from Cowboy Bebop: “See you space cowboy.”
Silver Circle
When I heard about the movie Silver Circle, I was anxious to see it. It was billed as an animated adventure about a rebellion for the cause of liberty and sound money. The film’s creator is a software engineer named Pasha Roberts, an enthusiastic newcomer to film-making. Though Silver Circle didn’t quite live up to my expectations, I applaud the fact that a movie with such an unconventional theme was made at all. In the past, the gatekeepers of the media industry would have made sure it didn’t happen.
I saw Silver Circle at a one-time screening at a local multiplex theater in Tempe. It was well attended, though I wonder how it would fare in competition with mainstream movies. After the show, local activist Ernest Hancock said a few words about the film’s purpose, which was to introduce more people, especially youth, to libertarian ideas. As such, it would extend the outreach effort of Ron Paul’s recent Presidential campaign, especially since it focuses on one of Paul’s major issues, the Federal Reserve.
As a work of entertainment, Silver Circle has several good points. There’s lots of action, including explosions and car chases. I enjoyed the rock’n’roll soundtrack, which included Jordan Page, one of my favorite artists. Some of the movie’s predictions, I expect will (unfortunately) come true, such as increasing government repression and monetary inflation (a sign in a bar advertises “$90 Beer Nights.”) Last but not least, the the movie’s primary villain is Federal Reserve, an agency which has escaped public scrutiny for far too long.
The movie has its share of drawbacks. Its worst problem was the crudeness of its digital animation. I’m a big fan of animated moves, especially the shows that come from Japan, where they are considered a serious form of entertainment. I’ll give Roberts kudos for getting it done on what, relative to those Japanese media conglomerates, must have been a tiny budget. Yet I fear that Silver Circle‘s animation will turn off its intended audience. The characters look like they came out of a 1990’s video game, with a kind of “near miss” realism that made them look creepy. In many places, movements such as walking and running did not look natural.
Secondly, the plot seemed somewhat contrived. It’s not believable that a high official of the Federal Reserve System would dirty his hands by engaging in corruption in the housing market and employing a team of thugs to dispatch his opponents. I agree that the Fed’s policies both promote financial corruption and fund the murderous actions of the national security state, so Fed officials are responsible, indirectly, for these evils. Of course, it’s difficult to show such complex economic connections in a standard length movie. Likewise, Silver Circle‘s rebels are omni-competent and overly diversified in their activities. Besides minting and distributing their own silver coins, they engage in acts of sabotage against the state- it’s all in a day’s work.
Roberts’ most brilliant move was the merchandising tie-in. They’ve minted real “silver circle” coins made in one-ounce and tenth-ounce denominations, which are sold before and after the show. The coins’ design, which is featured prominently in the film, is quite striking (if you’ll forgive the numismatic pun.) In addition, they have a tangible value, unlike the paper trash printed by the Federal Reserve.
Though I wouldn’t say that Silver Circle is a masterpiece, I definitely endorse its pro-liberty message. That’s sadly rare in an time where so much of what the corporate media produces are fawning accolades to the state. I expect to see more from Pasha Roberts, and I’m hoping his next work keeps up this positive trend while addressing some of the shortcomings of his first one.
Eight Myths about Conspiracy Theories
This time I’d like to stray from science fiction and write about one of my favorite topics- conspiracy theories. Why do people, especially in the mainstream media, view them with such disdain? I’d say that it’s due to a number of misconceptions, which I’ll address below.
- Believing in conspiracies is a sign of mental illness.We’ve all met the disturbed, paranoid type. I once encountered a homeless woman who muttered continually about Richard Nixon “reading her mind” with spy cameras. Then there are the “tin foil hat” people, like Mel Gibson in Shyamalan’s movie Signs (or in Mel’s case, real life.) Since some conspiracy believers are crazy, the argument goes, all must be- a conclusion that violates Logic 101. There’s nothing crazy about keeping an open mind. Even if a given conspiracy is nonsense, it can still provide inspiration for a good story. Chris Carter took advantage of several of them for the X-Files.
- Conspiracies can’t work in the real world because conspirators are always caught.People often cite the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals as proof of this assertion. These guys were caught and prosecuted, despite their powerful positions. More likely it was due to the plotters themselves. Nixon was a paranoid drunk and Oliver North was an arrogant fool. Yet on the topic of organized crime, people draw the opposite conclusion. When we hear of a truck full of drugs being busted on the border, we wonder how many others got through.
- Someone will always talk and expose the conspiracy.Never underestimate the power of group loyalty. For example, a policeman who blows the whistle on corruption in his department runs the risk of losing his job, and will likely be viewed as a turncoat by his friends on the force. In intelligence agencies and the military there’s the added threat of legal sanctions. Look what happened to Bradley Manning, reviled by millions as a “traitor,” despite his good intentions.
- If conspiracies were real, people who threatened to reveal them would be killed.There are numerous examples of people with knowledge that was dangerous to the powerful who died under mysterious circumstances: Clinton aide Vince Foster, British weapons inspector David Kelley, and JFK mistress Mary Pinchot Meyer to name just three. In most cases, however, it’s more effective to harass, intimidate, and otherwise marginalize the truth-tellers. Even the most damning revelations are harmless if no one believes them.
- Companies and private organizations conspire, but democratic governments don’t.The media can’t dismiss all conspiracies, because they like to point the finger at modern bogeymen such as tobacco companies and the Vatican. Foreign governments are also fair game if they’re enemies of the United States. Right wing pundits accused Saddam Hussein of plotting to attack America, but our “friends” the Saudi monarchy (who actually do support extremism) were off limits. See Gary North’s article explaining how conspiracies for monetary gain are acceptable but not those for political power.
- Belief in conspiracy theories is bad for public health and/or the environment.
This is why the Climate-gate scandal never gained traction in the mainstream media: environmentalists can only be motivated by good. Instead we hear how parents in Pakistan refuse to vaccinate their children because they suspect the CIA of poisoning the injections. The media doesn’t consider the behavior of the US in Pakistan (especially the drone strikes) as a likely cause of these suspicions. Obama aide Cass Sunstein has publicly expressed his desire to suppress web sites that promote “false information” on health issues. No doubt he would like to treat conspiracy theorists the way European governments treat Holocaust deniers- with arrest and prosecution.
- Because some conspiracies are false, they all are.
I’m a big fan of conspiracy sites such as Prison Planet. This doesn’t mean I accept every one of their theories as fact. Even the ideas I consider to be far-fetched (chemtrails, HAARP) may contain a kernel of truth or, as I noted before, provide fodder for sci-fi stories. My own theory is that agencies such as the CIA secretly promote bogus conspiracies to discredit the government’s skeptics. Consider the many bizarre and contradictory theories about the 9/11 attacks. Debates about “pods” under the aircrafts’ wings and molten metal under the twin towers draw attention away from more obvious questions, such as, did someone in the government have foreknowledge of the attacks? Could this be why FBI agents were ordered not to investigate suspicious Arab flight students?
- Governments practice secrecy not to manipulate and exploit us, but to protect us.There are plenty of counter-examples that show how governments, even Western democracies, view their citizens as expendable pawns in the “great game” of international politics. Consider the Pentagon Papers, which revealed that the Johnson Administration deceived the public about the Vietnam War. Or the Downing Street memo, which admitted that the reasons for attacking Iraq were rationalizations for a policy that had already been decided. For me, the clincher was the book Day of Deceit, by Robert Stinnett, which uses declassified documents to prove FDR had foreknowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack, which he welcomed as an excuse to get the US into the war. What I find most amazing is that so many people are still so gullible. If the government proposes yet another war against an apparently harmless enemy, they conclude that “the President must know something we don’t.” Who, I ask you, are the crazy ones?
Conspiracy theories are not always far-fetched or implausible, though even the crazy ones can be entertaining. Sometimes they make more sense than the conventional wisdom. Perhaps the theories themselves may be part of a larger conspiracy.
Next Big Thing Blog Hop
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My previous entry was about my current work, but as you can see if you check out the other authors, I don’t follow directions very well. Here are the answers to the official questions in the new author blog hop. I don’t yet have anyone lined up for the next hop, but I’m working on it.
1: What is the working title of your book?
Fidelio’s Automata
2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
There were two characters in a previous work whom I had to delete because they didn’t fit the overall theme. I hated to give them up, so I transported them back in time.
3. What genre does your book come under?
Steampunk (Sci-fi alternate history.)
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I hadn’t thought about that much. The title character is Cuban, so I’ll have to research Latino actors. As for his sidekick Hank, maybe Nathan Fillion?
5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
In an alternate-history America of 1901, a gay Cuban engineer and a cowboy turned Quaker team up to oppose a disastrous war.
6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
It is not published yet. I am considering the possibility of self-publishing it as a serial in several parts.
7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
So far, about six about months. I hope to finish the entire novel by October.
8: Is this your first novel?
No. I finished my first novel, Centrifugal Force,in October of 2012. It is political science fiction involving a group of computer hackers who plot to overthrow the government. Since I didn’t see much of a market for it in the traditional market, I self-published It’s currently available on Amazon.
9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
A friend of mine was writing a steampunk novel and it looked like fun.
A Fascinating History
One of the things I found most intimidating about writing a steampunk novel was the prospect of historical research. I needn’t have been worried. It’s been the most fascinating aspect of the project. Most steampunk fiction is set in the Victorian era, in the mid to late 19th century. My book, Fidelio’s Automata, begins in 1901, at the tail end of this time. One of the things I needed to learn was what peoples’ daily lives were like in those times, around when my grandparents were born. In those days, indoor plumbing was a luxury and electric power was an innovation mostly found in larger cities.
Among the more important issues to resolve was how my characters should travel. In 1901, the horse-drawn carriage was still a major mode of transportation, albeit a slow one. The automobile was new on the scene, and transcontinental highways were not even begun. I was intrigued to learn that the first cross-country highways were privately-run projects, in some cases spearheaded by western businessmen as a way to promote tourism from the East. Another factor was the newly invented bicycle, which required a smooth surface for riding. Cycling groups formed the core of the “good roads” movement.
Although I wanted one of my characters to have a car, since the book is centered around emerging technologies of the time, the most efficient way for the characters to travel would be by rail. Another mandatory form of transportation would be the airship, especially since that’s a staple of the steampunk genre. Since this is fiction, I’ve advanced this technology by a few years. This seems plausible because the airship required less in the way of infrastructure than did land transportation.
One of my favorite things about writing about this era is that it takes me back to my childhood. No, I’m not nearly that old, but since I grew up in a rural and backward part of the country, I had experiences shared by few people my age. For example, I attended a one-room country schoolhouse through the third grade. By the way, this facility did not have plumbing; we had to use the traditional little wooden building with the crescent moon on the door. The farm where my family lived was connected to the electrical grid only a few years before my birth. The wind-turbine my parents and grandparents had used for power still stood at the top of a tower in the middle of the yard.
This is all the more amazing when I consider that my son, who was born hear the close of the 20th century, has never known a time without video games, computers, and the Internet. Speaking of the Internet, this has been my most valuable resource. It’s quite easy to find population statistics for various cities that appear in my book, such as Buffalo, New York, and Toledo, Ohio. I can even download street maps from that time so I can use correct names. Outside of the fictional aspects of the book, I try to stick to factual whenever possible, to preserve its historical feel. Years ago, when I first began writing, I had to make a trip to the library every time I needed this kind of information, which was quite time-consuming. Thus my book about the past is being made possible by the technology of the future. I hope that when it’s finished you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did creating it.
Oz The Not-So-Powerful
I’ve always had a great affection for The Wizard of Oz, having seen the movie at least 15 times in my youth. It was our family ritual to watch it when it came TV on every year. Thinking of it now reminds me of something JRR Tolkien once said – that Britain had no mythology, so he decided to invent one. L Frank Baum did the same for our country, even if he only considered it to be an American fairy-tale. So I had to see the new prequel “Oz the Great and Powerful” when it came to the theater. The trailers featuring Mila Kunis in leather pants were also a motivator. Sadly, Mila’s pants didn’t make up for this not-so-great movie.
Like the original 1939 classic it begins in black and white. The early 1900’s artifacts and costumes seem convincing. The protagonist, carnival magician Oscar Diggs, gets to Oz in the expected way, the tornado-based time-warp wormhole. Big surprise: when in Oz, the movie switches to color. This new Oz looks like an acid trip combining elements of Dr Seuss, Lewis Carroll, and 1970’s Yes album covers. As Oscar narrowly escapes death and crashes into a river, good witch Theodora comes strolling along to rescue him. She immediately assumes he’s the Great Oz of the late king’s prophecy, the wizard who will save the realm from the wicked witch. To me it was puzzling. Why was she walking when witches can fly? And why did she need Oscar’s protection, when (as we later discover) she can shoot thunderbolts from her fingers?
There are a lot of clever effects and cute moments, many of which hearken back to Baum’s book (such as a “China Town” inhabited by porcelain people), but those elements don’t salvage this predictable story. They seem to be trying too hard to make a non-musical clone of the 1939 masterpiece. As in the original movie, the main characters in Oz are the same actors (or voices) of people from the Kansas segment. In this case the concept makes little sense, since Oscar never “wakes up” from his dream. Also, this Oz seems strangely modern. The dialog sounds too 21st Century. The people of Oz are a diverse PC bunch, with blacks, Asians, and a guy in a wheelchair, though they forgot to include gay munchkins. One of Oscar’s new compadres is a flying monkey; the new, scarier baddies are flying baboons. Because Oz has a 3-D version, this movie is full of annoying “things jump out at the screen” moments. The overriding theme is, as with the original, “believe in yourself.” This time, however, it’s less about overcoming one’s own fears and more about being tricked into self-confidence by a phony wizard.
I wouldn’t say that Oz the Great and Powerful was a total stinker, though it wasn’t really worth the cost of a full-priced theater ticket. Neither was it bad enough to accuse it of blasphemy against America’s Oz mythology. In fact, it only increased my appreciation for Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and the rest of the old gang. Wait for this one to come out on cable, and until then, have another look at the original.
Why Steampunk?
If anything has surprised me about the steampunk movement, it is its longevity. At first it seemed like a transitory fad, more about the fun of wearing “high tech” period costumes to conventions than the stories themselves. Perhaps that’s true, but the literary movement is going strong as well. This is one of the reasons I am currently writing in this genre- my own interest, coupled with its current popularity.
My first exposure to the genre was The Difference Engine by Gibson and Sterling. This sci-fi alternative history about the rise of mechanical computers was published before the “steampunk” term became popular. Alternate history, and the steam era were frequent themes in science fiction (such as Michael Moorcocks’ Warlord of the Air) but only recently did it become a true sub-genre. Since then we’ve seen talented young writers such as Cherie Priest and Scott Westerfield emerge to capitalize on this trend.
Conventionally, steampunk focuses on the Victorian era, which coincides roughly with the reign of Britain’s Queen Victoria, 1837-1901, in particular, the latter years of the 19th Century. In America, this was known as the Gilded Age. Then, steam power dominated the world. It was also a time of great optimism about humanity’s future and the advancement of technology. This is when writers like Jules Verne and HG Wells invented the science fiction genre – though admittedly not all their works were optimistic.
I’ve heard it said that nostalgia for the Victorian era is strong nowadays because in those times, the future looked bright, in contrast to today’s bleak economic and political outlook. Even the rigidity of western society in those bygone times seems refreshing compared to our modern decadence.
Still, there are those of us who can’t quite leave the Gilded Age as it was. This is where the “punk” element comes in. According to Wikipedia, sci-fi writer K.W. Jeter coined the term for the sub-genre containing his own works. The term was originally a pun on the term “cyberpunk,” a popular sci-fi subgenre of the 1980’s, which was in turn associated with the appropriately named “cypher-punk” political movement. At that time “punk” signified anarchy and/or decadence. Eventually the suffix the “punk” came to signify “alternate,” such as the modified histories of steampunk and other new genres such as “dieselpunk.”
Though I’ve always been fascinated by history and period novels, alternate history, such as the works of Harry Turtledove, are even more fun. This kind of writing provided the inspirations for my upcoming novel Fidelio’s Automata. What would have happened if McKinley had not died from the shooting in Buffalo, and Teddy Roosevelt had not become president? Because I grew up in North Dakota, TR (who lived there for a time) was part of the local mythology, and it would be fun to change his life story. Other fascinating characters from that time and place were the Marquis de Mores, an eccentric French nobleman and entrepreneur, and his “liberated” American wife, Medora. What if their business had not failed? The Marquis would not have returned to France, gotten involved in extremist politics, and died as the result of a political plot in North Africa. In Fidelio, I can change these events and speculate on what might have been.