Thomas Willeford, owner, designer, artist, and founder of Brute Force Studios is facing tough times. The below has been shared from his personal Facebook page and is being reposted here. Updates to the situation will follow as they come in. Anyone interested in helping Mr. Willeford should contact him directly. Details are on his website here.

Mr. Willeford’s Statement:

The story thus far: My apologies for just thrusting out there the woes of my company yesterday. Many of you were lovely and very eager to help (and I thank you!), but what I said yesterday was not too terribly useful for that, so I thought further explanation may help. Last year there was a huge flood which knocked out much of my equipment, a massive and expensive repair on my industrial cutting laser (one of the core tools of Brute Force Studios), and the year before we had tens of thousands of dollars in which clients informed us they were unable to pay for the product and were seeking bankruptcy protection. Previous to all of this, I had someone working for me who confessed to other friends of mine their desire to destroy my business; they nearly did so. I weathered all of this. We’ve had a recent change of hands in the office and when I looked at the state of our email correspondence and books, the effect was devastating to me, to say the least. People ask “How could you let it get that way?” Well, I’m the writer, the maker, doing lectures, traveling… no one can do this alone. There always has to be others to help, and you can’t watch them all the time. I’m not saying any of this was malicious, but it’s still devastating, and I spent so much time fixing these problems that were popping up that there was no way for me to complete all the projects that are here on my books and my table. It is absolutely overwhelming. I really was planning on just completing the orders I have, and folding the company within the next several weeks because I CAN NOT do this alone. All of your offers of help and hope have given me the idea of just seeing if it is possible to fix this, so to that end, instead of just crying “WAH!” I’m going to list the problems, which may be more effective.

– Fulfillment. I need to get someone else in the shop who is effective, intelligent, and most of all can actually do what they’re told. I’m not telling people to lick a hot curling iron here; just reasonable stuff.

– Web presence. Yes, I’m all over the web, but so many people don’t even know that what they’re looking at is necessarily me or mine.

– Well, of course, money. My company has always been underfunded over the past couple of years, because, well, even the nicest, friendliest divorce is still expensive, and my credit was destroyed in this. I’ve been operating out of pocket (quite successfully, really) for years. Because I’ve been working on my latest book, and the office work was not being done correctly, orders and sales have dropped drastically. Yes, it would be great to just hire people to do this, but that requires a huge chunk of orders and income, which would require further help, which requires…..you see how it’s circuitous?

– Time. This is always the killer. One of the ways in which I’ve been able to stay competitive and keep the copycats at bay has been to use the laser and proprietary knowledge that I have to create my products. The problem is, I’m the only person who knows how to operate my laser and how to do some of the more complicated pieces, so the pinch point of production is always me. As I am writing the books, appearing on television, operating a laser, and generally being Thomas Willeford, I have not said much about it, but it has been taking quite a toll on me, including two trips to the hospital, strictly because of collapsing from exhaustion.

I do appreciate all the offers for help, but there’s not an easy, ‘quick fix’ here. But, you know, you guys may know something I don’t about some of these problems, and all of your help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Thomas Willeford

CONTACT:

Brian Gardner

www.steamstock.org

415-260-7147

swinggoth@gmail.com

http://www.steamstock.org

SWING GOTH ANNOUNCES “Steamstock II: An Antiquarian Exposition” at CRANEWAY PAVILION!

Swing Goth presents: Mr.B the Gentleman Rhymer
Frenchy and the Punk – Psyche Corp. – Hannah Thiem
This Way to the Egress – The Cog is Dead – Good Co
Unextraordinary Gentlemen – 5 Cent Coffee
Vagabondage – Saints of Ruin – Bloodwire
Thee Hobo Gobbelins – Parlor Tricks – Brass Farthing

The Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA—“Steamstock II: An Antiquarian Exposition” is a music festival lost in time. Transported to our world from another reality where rock was more worldly and swing was a genre of electro, this retro futuristic music festival is born of an alliance between The Steam Federation and Swing Goth. Full of some of the most innovative and visual musical genres active today, Steamstock brings together bands who play Chap Hop, Electro Swing, Junkyard, and Neo Cabaret.

Craneway Pavilion is the perfect venue for a Steampunk Music festival; with its metal and brick frame, remaining artifacts of when it was a car factory, and GIGANTIC windows that look out over the Bay, the venue is exquisite! To add to the scenery, on July 27th and 28th the Bay Bridge is slated to be lit up with the art project celebrating its completion.

The event will not simply be a music festival. Cirque and variety performers will join the bands on stage; the event will include aerialists, “fire” dancers, belly dancers, gymnasts, and more! Parked around the Pavilion will be some of the Bay Area’s finest food trucks, a hookah lounge, and a tea shoppe!

Video from last year can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYHc2Y-i2gM

Swing Goth is an organization dedicated to partner dancing to modern music and known for holding events such as: The Bowie Ball, The Ball of Cthulhu, The Burton Ball and The Ball of Justice. Dance lessons will be offered early in the day, focusing on Swing on Saturday and Waltz on Sunday.

The Steam Federation is the largest open-membership Steampunk organization in the Bay Area and hosts weekly meetings in the East and South Bay. They also recently hosted Clockwork Alchemy, a Steampunk Convention, in conjunction with FanimeCon.

Steamstock features some of the world’s best best Steampunk, Neo Cabaret and retro futuristic bands, including:

• Mr.B, the Gentleman Rhymer, the first chap to start rapping about tea, high society, pipe smoking, proper accents and word usage, and of course cricket. He’s a parodist who performs Chap Hop (hip-hop delivered in Received Pronunciation) whilst playing a ukelele, a banjo, or any number of other novelty instruments. After wowing audiences in Europe for years, Mr.B brings his unique flavor of Chap Hop over to The Colonies for the first time in July. Steamstock will be his first and only appearance on the West Coast this year. – http://www.gentlemanrhymer.com/

• Frenchy and the Punk are a steaming cauldron of foot-stompin’ bohemian cabaret folk, world, French chanson, and ’80s punk, with a dash of vaudeville charm, steampunk flair, and pixie spirit! A Euro-American duo, Frenchy and the Punk have performed all across the US, and in England, France, Germany and Canada. They’re one of the top-reviewed live acts in the underground cabaret scene today and they have been fan favorites at every major steampunk and faerie convention and festival in the US. In 2011 Yahoo Music listed French-born singer and percussionist Samantha Stephenson as one of “25 Women To Watch” in music, and guitarist Scott Helland is listed in the Encyclopedia of Punk with his legendary first band Deep Wound. – http://www.frenchyandthepunk.com

• Psyche Corporation combines performance and dance with songs from a dystopian future. Born on the borderline of Cyberpunk and Dieselpunk, Psyche Corp. is named after a company built by manufacturing and selling dreams. Lead singer, Psyche Chimère, says, “Greetings, twenty-first century human, greetings from the Shadow Court. I hail from the City of God and I come as a messenger of the future. I am a Dream Spinner, a deliberate acouasm, a scientist of chimeras. Let me fill your mind with music.” – http://psychecorp.bandcamp.com/

• Hannah Theim is an NYC-based trend-setting violinist, versatile in genres ranging to pop, electronica, gypsy, dubstep and more. She has toured in the US and internationally and performed for audiences of all kinds. Hannah’s inspiration stems from formative experiences with Eastern European traditional music, which has become a definitive core to her artistic identity. Hannah studied electronic music production at Dubspot; classical, world, and composition at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA; and music studies in Europe and Morocco. She is perhaps most succinctly described as a steampunk/dubstep violinist. She’s worked with Beats Antique, Voltaire, and Brian Viglione (of Dresden Dolls), to name a few… but we’ll let her music speak for itself! – http://hannahthiem.com/

• This Way to the Egress has a firm musical base of ol’ timey roots, and weaves elements of klezmer, balkan, blues, ragtime, swing, and punk-rock into whiskey-soaked melodies, upbeat rhythms, and infectious refrains. All the while they fuse their eclectic sounds with visual antics such as confetti snow storms, tuba farts, and puppets of various sorts. In the process, they create a modern slant on the good old days of Vaudeville and present a performance unique from any other in their genres. – http://thiswaytotheegress.com/

• Good Co is the Electro Swing band everyone can agree on. Good Co has flown straight out of the Roaring ‘20s to bring that growling speakeasy sound, but with an added dash of that electronic funk so desperately needed in today’s hectic workaday world. Live performance is fused with the remixed sounds of yesterday along with a few surprises in between. So sit back, order up a stiff one, and keep Good Co! – http://goodcomusic.com/

• The Cog is Dead was spawned in 1893 when John Sprocket, who owned a small clock shop and loved mechanical gears, discovered that Hamilton was developing a new kind of clock that had no need for gears. In desperation John and two compatriots set out on a journey across time to spread word of how dark the world has become now that The Cog is Dead. Their influences range from rock and roll to ragtime to Russian folk music and movie scores: all styles that they have encountered as a time traveling band. Temporarily disoriented, they don’t that know rockabilly elements “don’t belong” with operatic elements—and the crowds to whom they play don’t seem to care. – http://www.johnmondelliproductions.com/thecogisdead/

• Unextraordinary Gentlemen are romantic, evil-minded, tainted disco, future pop, from a past that never was. Their music and lyrics conjure up a sparsely populated industrial era ghost town inhabited by the down on their luck, the nearly enslaved, and the whorish performers who remain to entertain them. This trio of performers from the Los Angeles area remember the days of sleazy electronica and pair it with something akin to gothic Americana, of all things. Come tap your toes to the danger swing. Throw your soul wide open to the decadence at hand and know that Unextraordinary Gentlemen are here to get you through the night. – http://unextraordinarygentlemen.com/

• Poplock Holmes, America’s first Chap-Hop artist, is the perfect mood music for hunting yeti, taming wild beats, and drinking tea. Poplock Holmes is fun for the whole Steampunk family with his take on the quirky, Victorian-flavored hip-hop known as Chap Hop. – http://poplockholmes.blogspot.com/

• Lee Presson and the Nails (LPN) have been playing together for over 17 years. They are the inventors of Sinister Swing and the only gothic swing band. They bring a dark flare to a brand of music traditionally thought of as light and fluffy. The front man, Lee Presley, is also known as the actor who plays Edgar Allen Poe at The Dickens Fair and has been a staple of the West Coast music scene since the swing revival of the 1990s. – http://www.leepresson.com/

• Bloodwire, including Bay Area musical treasure Shawn Brice (Battery, Deathline International), reunite for Steamstock! Bloodwire is passionate neo-electronica, where the organic meets the electronic. A distinctive fusion of emotion and technology, richness and warmth, their music lives where heart and circuit are intertwined. – http://www.bloodwire.com/

• Victoria and the Vaudevillians are a zombie punk cabaret band from the East Bay (or Beast, if you speak Pig Latin) in California. Not your ordinary band, Victoria and the Vaudevillains is visually stunning performance art. Fronted by Victoria Victrola, the Vaudevillains’ punk cabaret sound ranges from soft and pretty to clanging, banging piano rock. Dancers and living statues create an atmosphere of a twisted burlesque carnival… with ZOMBIES. – http://www.victoriavband.com/

• 5 Cent Coffee is a Neo-skiffle Junkyard Blues band. Their music is filled with dirty ukulele with howling vocals; sometimes a sad accordion wails, sometimes your toe taps to a twang. Moody and candy-like, 5 Cent Coffee writes songs that cast you back into another time. They are inspired by sounds ranging from the clang and thump of old jug and skiffle bands and early 20th century American music, to Kurt Weill and Lottie Lenya, to Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and the Tigerlillies. In this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR644wV5HyE) from Steamstock last year, frontman Spitshine Delacroix whips himself into a frenzy and then proves he can be just as powerful without amplification, jumping down into the crowd to lead call-and-response with the band on stage! – https://www.facebook.com/5CentCoffee

• Filling out the two day line up are more fantastic local bands: Saints of Ruin, Thee Hobo Gobbelins, Parlor Tricks, Vagabandage and Brass Farthing!

For additional information on Steamstock, contact Brian Gardner at 415-260-7147, email swinggoth@gmail.com or visit

http://www.steamstock.org

About Swing Goth

Swing Goth is what happens when rock-a-billy meets goth, and is peppered with a little blues, waltzing, and a healthy portion of dirty dancing. We do partner dancing to modern music and are limited by nothing. We are no more a “swing” dancing club than we are a “goth” club, as we try to stay true to the original forms of both before definitions came in to draw boundaries. Our playlist is focused on “post-punk” of all kinds (right up to Franz Ferdinand, The Gorillaz, and The Killers in the modern era) and our dance sets include blues, waltz, and polka numbers. Sometimes dancers transition seamlessly from one style to another in the midst of the same song!

must one day end, or so the saying goes. Clockwork Alchemy drew to a close for us on Sunday. With still one day remaining in the event calendar, packing for departure was a harsh reality to wake up to that morning. We took a quiet breakfast buffet in the bistro downstairs, enjoying the early morning parade of guests and staff gearing up for the penultimate day.

After a chat with the authors and a final tour through the Artist’s Bazaar, my wife and I, with our friends, joined the LARP of the day: Laboratory Retrievers. Dressed in yellow plastic lab smocks, we Igors roamed the con looking for a variety of items needed to create The Monster. As all good LARPs do, this scavenger hunt caused a great deal of staring and hushed commentary by hotel guests not associated with the convention. We also had plenty of fun with con guests who, much to the Monster Hunter’s dismay, seemed more inclined to assist the Igors.

Con goers like monsters. Go figure.

After a spot of nosh in the bar, we set out for the gaming room on the 2nd floor. A friend had brought her printed (from pdf) copy of A Study in Emerald, successfully kickstarted the day before the con began. Sadly, we didn’t get a chance to play the game as our time was running horribly short.

All the con is indeed a stage

Not so sadly, we came across this as we walked upstairs wondering where the delightful enchanting music was coming from.

Left to right, you’re looking at Laura Tempest Zakroff, Unwoman, IrinaXara Dance, Nathaniel Johnstone, Poplock Holmes, and Martin Irigoyen. This incredible lineup was later joined by Pinky Weitzman of Not Waving But Drowning for a final jam before the group separated to prepare for their respective shows that night. Coming across this impromptu set was a major high point of the con, and the small crowd (<30 by my estimate) gathered to enjoy it made it that much more of a treasure.

And so, farewell

After the wonderful experience of the balcony jam, the idea of leaving the con was a bit easier to swallow. We took time to say goodbye to friends, stopping first at the Ladies of Steampunk table. The Seans (Makiney and McCaffery) held their post across from the ballroom doors. With now four issues of their magazine available on MagCloud, the Ladies of Steampunk has grown from humble beginnings to become quite the enterprise. They’ve recently expanded to publishing adult (NSFW) content with their Bronze Age line of magazines. News around the aether is that Lady Clankington will grace the pages of July’s issue.

Industries of Antiquity

After chatting with Sean and Sean, we stepped downstairs for a last pass by the author tables and to check in again at the telegraph office. The aethiric device accepted communications via the anachronism of text messaging. Sending to a 10-digit number resulted in this marvelous contraption producing a printed copy of your message, with delivery details included (by you). The telegram was then sealed in an envelope and carried by one of the official messengers to your recipient’s location on the con floor. Providing you designated the right location, and your recipient did not fail to arrive before the message arrived, all went well. Of course, time travel again…a few messages always end up in the dead letter file.

Like every con weekend, this one was too short, and moments were missed, sights left unseen. Fortunately, next year’s theme has been determined: Alternate Empires. For more details and info about registration, head over to the Clockwork Alchemy Facebook group. You’ll also see loads of pictures from this year’s event. Go check ‘em out!

Airship Down

Hot on the tails of Clockwork Alchemy, this reporter came across a creative effort well worth a few minutes of your time. Airship Down, a combined effort of professionals and students, promises adventure and excitement set in an alternate history San Francisco. And filmed in the real San Francisco!

The project boasts a crew with over 30 years of know-how. These people are the ones you want making your Steampunk movie. Even better is that the professionals involved are working with Los Gatos High School student interns, training them and teaching them how to make movie magic happen and happen well.

Give the video a whirl and then swing over to the Airship Down Kickstarter. With 25 hours to go at the time of this writing, we are smack in the middle of that eleventh hour.

73 backers. $9,110 raised for 91% of goal. Can we push them over the top?

Clockwork Alchemy Expands through Time and Space

Erasmus Drake and Sparky McTrowell

These authors have no idea that hot potatoes are about to be thrown their way.

The day started as a quiet journey through the author panels. It ended with new friends around tables squeezed together in the tight space of the hotel bar and a night of swing dancing. We started our day in Drake and McTrowell’s “Hot Potato School of Writing.” Built from their adventures as team authors, the panel had two published authors (including yours truly) paired with audience members to spin penny dreadful flash fiction. Additional audience members contributed plot twists on 3×5 cards, which Inspector Erasmus Drake lobbed like flaming spuds at the teams up front. The whole reminded me of the writers’ room from the movie The Radioland Murders, which is to say that I enjoyed the Dickens out of it and wish we’d had more than just one hour for the panel.

Curiosities, grotesqueries, and rayguns are the specialty of maker Anthony Jon Hicks.

From there, we toured the Artist’s Bazaar and marveled at the sights and wares. The room full of handmade and unique offerings ranged from gentleman’s attire to handbound notebooks, fine leatherwork, fantastic curiosities, on-the-spot portraiture, 3D printed tentacle magnets by SteamyTech, wonderful hand sewn attire and accessories for the ladies, and intricate clockwork jewelry. Standouts for me were the marvelous historical pieces by Compass Rose Design, and the grotesqueries and rayguns of Anthony Jon Hicks – Tinplate Studios.

The Spirit of Radio

Later in the afternoon we had the pleasure of hosting a cocktail hour with friends. Drake and McTrowell joined us along with Gene Turnbow, the mastermind behind Krypton Radio. The “Sci-fi for your Wi-Fi” station has recently added The Adventures of Drake and McTrowell as their first original content. If you missed the first two episodes of the duo’s derring-dos, it’s not too late to catch up. Krypton also airs the original Superman radio plays and other favorites from those thrilling days of yesteryear.

To Infinity and Beyond

Our evening was consumed with conversation over dinner. We got better acquainted with Drake and McTrowell as our group discussed the state of creative enterprise in today’s world. With all the pageantry on display at Clockwork Alchemy, creativity was easily the hottest buzzword in our little corner of the aether. And yet as much as we all enjoyed the conviviality, Emperor Norton’s Ball had begun! Away to the dance floor!

Tripping the Light

We’d missed the first two performances of the ball, but arrived in time to catch Lee Presson and the Nails. Front man Lee Presson’s energy filled the ballroom, and the band blew life into the dance floor with gale force. Many a snappy step was to be seen as SwingGoth dancers jammed to the band’s jumping beat. Boom Swing blew onto the floor in the Nails’ wake, and impromptu swing lessons took place in the corners. It was a night for sights. If you’re local to the San Francisco Bay Area and haven’t already done so, you owe it to yourself to check out a SwingGoth event soon.

Clockwork Alchemy is amazing!

We arrived at 11:30 yesterday. First stop, registration. That was easy. Last year’s combined registration with FanimeCon created unweildy lines that stretched from the Convention Center to somewhere near Kyoto. Not so in 2013. Clockwork Alchemy organizers arranged everything picture perfect and reg was a breeze.

L to R: Madeleine Holly-Rosing, Janice Thompson, T.E. MacArthur, Elizabeth Watasin, Sharon E. Cathcart, and Deirdre Sargent

From reg we visited the Art Gallery to admire some truly wondrous works. A short step down the hall an hour later had us in the Tea & Trumpets authors event. Billed as a casual meet and greet with the authors over cookies and biscuits, the panel kept true to form but for one slight deviation. Brownian motion can be a bit of a problem, what with allowing for infinite improbability and all, so tea was not served at the event. We did, however, manage a cuppa upstairs in the Alchemist’s Tea Parlour afterwards. So all was well. Down on the main floor, Fanime attendees freely intermingled with Clockwork Alchemy members. Costumes ranged from top notch to homespun, all impressive.

These two sported some of loveliest pageantry of the weekend, changing every day.

Many attendees added plumage to their attire.

Among the more remarkable costumes was this Weird West duo and their considerable compliment of props.

For a full review of the fantabulous costumery, have a visit over at the Clockwork Alchemy Facebook page.

Entertainment Tonight

Unwoman performed all weekend, on stage and out on the con floor.

Friday night’s show was great fun. Poplock Holmes, in his fourth ever performance, opened the Wind-Up Cabaret with a rollicking adventure through chap-hop, American style. Following Poplock’s set, he took on the role of MC for the evening as the Ladies of Steampunk hosted a fashion show. Unwoman took the stage next and performed material from across her career. Her rich and evocative vocals blanketed the crowd gathered in front of the stage. Guests danced to her waltzes and lined the room on all sides and at tables in the back as well.

We turned in early  

…and therefore missed The Nathaniel Johnstone Band and Steam Powered Giraffe. I apologize for all of those eyes that just popped out of your heads as you read this. Had we the energy to remain standing, we’d have been there. But it was a long day with little sleep the night before.

Chapter One

In the first chapter, readers are introduced to Samuel Hunter and his field partner, medium Andrew O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan’s tenure is short lived in the tale, but his daughter, Caitlin, emerges to continue the family’s pursuit of the paranormal. With Hunter’s begrudging tutelage, Caitlin O’Sullivan helps tackle a bothersome spirit that has been troubling a local elite and his household.

With a clear eye for social mores of the era (1895), incredible illustration and coloring, and a cast of strong characters, The Boston Metaphysical Society promises to be an exciting addition to the Steampunk canon.

Keep up with Ms. Holly-Rosing on Twitter at Boston Metaphysical @MHollyRosing and grab Chapter One and Two now!

Yes, everyone, you heard right. Headlining this year’s Steamstock 2 performance roster is none other than that most honorable chap, that mustachioed master of the microphone: Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer!

Mr. B joins a fantastic list of performers, with many returns from the inaugural event. Frenchy and the Punk, anyone? How about The Cog is Dead, Saints of Ruin, and Bloodwire? Or maybe you’d like a bit of Good Co. with your This Way to the Egress.

A full schedule is anticipated for as early as Memorial Day weekend, so keep those eyes peeled.

How do I get in?

Well step right up, just through the curtain there. That’s it! The newly opened

Steamstock 2 website

Tickets are on sale now. Yes, now. You got them? Wonderful!

Now, as with last year’s event, representatives of the Ministry of Chronological Propriety will be monitoring the Aethersphere for time travelers. It is imperative that you attend the event only twice. That’s right, twice. Two days. Consecutive.

July 27th and 28th, 2013

Can we get a big round of applause for Steamstock 2 organizers pulling together and finding not only a repeat of last year’s event, but an additional twenty-four hour period that they have brought in especially for this year’s guests. Hip-hip Huzzah!

How does one exhibit?

So happy you asked. Vendors may apply to the juried Steamstock selection process via the website.

Jurying will take place May 15th, 2013.

THAT’S NEXT WEEK!

Let’s also say thanks to the Kickstarter backers who made the Cross Country Caravan possible! And a big shout out to all the fantastic creatives behind the rewards!

Be seeing you at Steamstock 2!

There are only eight contributions with varying lengths in this collection, with only nine authors to their credit. But be assured, each selection exemplifies the revisionist theme by introducing new angles on old ideas. Here are brief rundowns of what you can expect.

Anthologies are tricky in that editors are encouraged to put their best foot forward if they want to grab the reader’s attention for the entire volume. Tropic of Cancer by Neve Talbot is the first installment of the collection, and a strong candidate in letting the reader know just what to expect in the rest of the book. Fashioned around the moral awareness of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the familiar character Edward Fairfax Rochester is the determined protagonist this time around. With the industrial challenges of a Steampunk era mixed in with a little mystical romance, the hero battles atonement to an estranged father, an ambitious brother and the empowerment of love. Charlotte Brontë would approve.

Styled after Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Anika Arrington gives her story a Steampunk feel with more of a pirate twist. In Sense and Cyborgs, the young Margaret Dashwood Campbell is not only the first mate on the sea vessel named Maiden, she is also married to the Captain “Dagger” Campbell. This mystery adventure finds the crew in Singapore in search of a physician known as the Elephant Butcher. The captain is gravely injured and a clockwork prosthetic leg may be his only way of survival, but dangerous surprises stand in their way.

Characters from Charles Dickens’ classic David Copperfield appear in Micawber and Copperfield and the Great Diamond Heist of 1879 by David W. Wilkin. This is also a Steampunk pirate tale, but this one takes place in airships rather than on the sea. The Dickens characters make a smooth transition to the genre, but the setting and insightful detail on airship battle techniques is what brings this tale to life.

Little Boiler Girl by Scott William Taylor is a story that tugs at the same heartstrings as its influential predecessor Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. A dark and depressing steam powered city depends on the dedication of a small girl to remain running. But rather than relying on a few matches for enlightenment, this little girl’s curiosity powers the discovery of a madman’s hidden secrets along with her own mysterious past.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux is another classic story nicely suited for the Steampunk genre. But for this anthology, inspired author M. K. Wiseman introduces an elusive Opera Ghost playing cat and mouse with theatre officials in A Clockwork Ballet. Meg, the featured star of the theatre productions must face her emotional ties with the strange beast hiding in the shadows along with those of her ailing mother. With exciting Victorian era drama, the mysterious links between the three characters slowly unravel.

Of course Victorian imagery is essential in many Steampunk worlds. But relying on familiar characters from iconic works like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens can be quite an ambitious goal. Author’s Aaron and Belinda Sikes take the challenge a step further in the story titled His Frozen Heart. Here, Ebenezer Scrooge is a shrewd businessman who doesn’t need ghosts of time to make him understand the true price of love. By adding both romance and horror to this timeless tale, the authors have provided a new dimension to the archetypical miser.

Our Man Fred by A. F. Stewart also addresses A Christmas Carol in a different and unexpected point of view. Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew Fred is a daring agent of the Clockwork Department of London. Hot on the trail of a sinister madman, Fred and his partner Mary are armed with fantastic Steampunk gadgets as they partake in this nonstop adventure to save the world.

Finally, it’s surprising Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus hasn’t been pulled into the Steampunk fold more often. Titled Lavenza, or the Modern Galatea, the last installment in the anthology by Alyson Grauer is a unique take on the legendary monster story. Elizabeth Lavenza is a young woman driven by family loyalty and passion. But as the mystery of her sordid past unfolds, the reader begins to question who the true Frankenstein monster really is.

Each entry in A Steampunk Anthology: Mechanized Masterpieces is styled after a classic canonized story most readers are probably already familiar with. If not, you should take the opportunity to search them out and see what the fuss was about. But the new stories here are not just rehashed or “mechanized” to fit the Steampunk idea. Relying on genuine character development separated from the original stories and fresh imagery, these talented writers have created masterful works of their own. It’s obvious that Xchyler Publishing made the right choices for this anthology.