Dreams of Steam

I'm happy to announce that Dreams of Steam, a steampunk anthology published by Kerlak Publishing is available now at Barnes & Noble! Get it online HERE or come see me at an event. (I should have copies to sign.) My Steampunk Weird West story, "Engine 316" is included.

Also: Thomas Riley is on sale at Amazon.com get it for $11.19 before it goes up again.

Steamposium

The first annual Steamposium Conference was held in St. Louis two weeks ago. I was lucky enough to be a guest at the con and I have to tell you, it was a blast.

Like many cons, Steamposium is organized to help raise awareness and money for a charity. This particular one raises money for Cystic Fibrosis. Being the first one ever, Steamposium was a small con based solely around steampunk culture. Everyone was great. The vendors, the attendees and I saw some really amazing costumes and personas.

I did a panel on Friday night and I had no idea until I got there that I was scheduled. A bit panicked, I basically told the crowd a little about the book then I thought it would be fun to ask them questions that I'd heard at other cons about steampunk and see what they thought. It turned into a really fun discussion ranging from literature, to movies, to the popularity of the culture/genre. I'll tell ya, it was really nice that everyone participated because I had no idea what to expect. Through that panel and the people that came by the booth I have to say I made some really great new friends.

As the charity goes I contributed a book as well as auctioning off a character in a short story that I was writing. "The Baron Bon Bar" won that... so look for him to appear in an upcoming short story. (More on that soon.)


My new airship friends together on a time bending adventure.

So included in this wonderful little con was a Victorian Poker tournament and salon games, Formal Victorian ball, live music from 3 Pints Gone as well as a wonderful salon performance from a sting trio. (Watch a bit here. Great stuff!) While I didn't get to go to the city museum, I still had a blast.

3 Pints Gone


Couple at the formal ball.

Got to reconnect with writer extraordinaire Elizabeth Donald as well as meet a ton of new friends. The Frenzy Gals have a wonderful website with steampunk goodness all over it. See it HERE. Oh! I had a brief interview which is now on You Tube HERE. It's so strange to see myself at work.


Me with the Frenzy Gals.

Look for a new blog in the next few days about my last insane weekend in Knoxville, Montgomery and Nashville... I'm totally exhausted. Also new notes: I've submitted stories to Kerlak Publishing's Steampunk Anthology (Engine 316) & to Steampunk Tales Issue #8 (Double Crossed At Gray Raven Mill).

Clarksville, Louisville, Evansville & Elizabethtown

Clarksville, IN
My adventures for the last few weeks have been plentiful and prosperous. Last week I went to Clarksville, IN for The Almost Famous Book Faire. It took place in the Green Tree Mall and I think there were at least 70 authors of just about every genre in attendance. I've never sold in a mall before and it was a different experience. For me the day was a great one. Selling in a mall can be difficult. Usually people simply don't go to the mall to buy books. Still, the day was a great success for Thomas Riley. I spoke to hundreds of people and with the help of Christiana we had a good day in the sales department. Again, I don't have a lot of pictures but I was in a lot of pictures, so anyone that was there, I'd love to get my hands on them. I think these are the only two pictures I have:
Christiana at the table:


I'm always the last one to leave book fairs and cons so I had to take a picture of my lone table amongst the empty ones. Oh, so loneley.


Louisville
The next day I went to Barnes & Noble in Louisville, KY. I'll tell you I love that town. Even though I didn't get to grab a pizza at Wick's or a Diner-styled meal at Twig & Leaf there is something just awesome about Louisville. This was my first signing at a major bookstore and I couldn't have been more pleased, selling out of copies in 1 hour and 24 minutes... Yes I counted. My friend's Clover and Mary showed up as a surprise and actually got pictures! Enjoy:


and...



Evansville
The week flew by and I found myself at Barnes & Noble in Evansville, IN. There's something about this town that I simply love. It's hard to describe but Evansville is my escape-ville. It's like my own personal getaway. Not too small and definitely not too big. I guess this feeling stems from when I played in a band. We would play little clubs in Evansville and besides having a strong fan base there, everyone was really great to us. So I liked the town from the first time I visited. Since then I've been there on research trips and explored the haunted library, grave yards and the odd little strip on West Franklin Street which I loved so much that I wrote an entire book (The Adversary) based in Evansville which features an abandoned tattoo shop on W. Franklin St. (Picture below. This is where Fallon and Aleser take up residence when they come to America.)Anyway, the B&N signing was awesome! Sold out again. Two for two.


Fallon's house:


After the signing I had dinner at The Gerst Haus which is a great German place. We have the other one in Nashville but this one is somehow better. I also stopped by Turoni's for a few hand crafted beers. Thanks guys!

Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown, Kentucky... on Easter... Oops right? Surely no one is going to go to Barnes and Noble... much less but a steampunk book right? Wrong. Elizabethtown was huge. The staff was perfect and again, Sold out of books. Three for three. This one was extra good because they offered to buy more if I would stay and sell more... well of course I did. Great day!


Fort Knox
Oh! en route to Elizabethtown I passed what I'm pretty sure was my first nuclear reactor and out of the blue I passed Fort Knox. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of it. It goes by really quickly. Oddly enough, I just used Ft. Knox (Or Fort Duffield as it was called in the 1880s)in my latest short story "Engine 316" which I just submitted to Kerlak Publishing for their steampunk anthology.


Next up
I'll be in St. Louis, MO this weekend... all weekend for the Steamposium steampunk con. I have no idea what to expect but I'm pretty excited. Three days of 100% steampunkery. If anyone is close, drop by, say hi and don't forget your top hat.