Wednesday 12 July 2023

#27 Now Showing + Attempting Steampunk

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today I'm going to talk a little about my (mis)adventure in attempting to craft a steampunk story but I suppose we'd better check in on Brennan and Riz!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


Our antagonist reveals themselves! Sort of. The identity was never going to be a mystery, especially if you've read A Boy and A Rat, but this will mark the first time that he's appeared in comic form...though he was originally supposed to appear much earlier. An tentative version of the tenth issue would have had Brennan go head to head with Gallows in a game of wits...Of course it never turned out like that! The script just failed to come together, hence why it turned into what it did. Next week, we'll learn what hoops our heroes will have to jump through (it'll probably involve zombies).

Phantom Dawn: Memories of a Rose

When we last left the story, Dagger and Haze were joined by Void, their 'father'. Who informed them that an even more special guest was due to arrive...

Let's see who it is...

(First posted 18th April 2021)

"Grandfather?" Dagger and Haze said in unison, the twins voices in shock and fear.

From the portal, he emerged, that smirk saying to the world that it should feel #blessed for him being there.

"Did you miss me?" Gabriel asked.



(First posted 19th April 2021)

"I'm here to remind you of your purpose," Gabriel said, putting his hand to Dagger's chin.

"Everything you are, is because of me," Letting go, he circled her.

"You wouldn't want to disappoint me again after losing the girl on your #watch."


(First posted 20th April 2021)

"Grandfather, if I may. The target was stronger then we anticipated," Haze started, before she was interrupted by a gun pointed at her, black mist swirling around it.

"This isn't #personal Haze, but you know how I hate excuses," Gabriel sighed.


(First posted 21st April 2021)

"Now," Gabriel took his gun away from Haze's face. "I think you're motivated." His smirk belied the fear he'd generated in both Dagger and Haze, the two girls trembling in face of his storm.

"Of course, a reward always does well." Gabriel added...


(First posted 22nd April 2021)

"A reward?" Dagger and Haze looked at each other, noting the intensity in their grandfather's eyes.

"Bring her to me, so I can find out how she survived. Do this, and this dimension and everything that #settles here is yours!" Gabriel laughed.


(First posted 23rd April 2021)

"I have to be going. Void?" Gabriel called.

"Yes, Master?"

"I leave your daughters to your care. Don't fail me," Gabriel said leaving. His voice rumbled like distant #thunder, but those there felt the intensity like lightning, striking deep inside.



(First posted 24th April 2021)

"Well, girls," Void said, refocusing their attention to the task at hand. A #ring of darkness grew around him like a sinister halo. "We have a job to do. We find her, we keep her alive."

"In pain?" Dagger enquired.

"Master only said alive."

That's the end of another arc right there, so a perfect ending point for this week! We'll pick things up with Rose again then!

Attempting Steampunk

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was taking on the task of doing four short stories at once. Two of which are done and are in the hands of those that need them. With that task done, I set upon the next one...Only to realise what I'd gotten myself into!

See, Harvey Duckman Presents is going along the themed route at the moment, which is interesting as it forces me to write things I normally wouldn't. Last time it was post-apocalyptic, this time it was in steampunk.
Oh, dear.

That 'oh dear' isn't a bad thing I should point our but more of me underestimating how hard it was to adjust a genre I'd never considered before. This was something that my post-apocalyptic writing struggle with as I'd worked in that space before (see those Phantom Dawn tweets above!). Steampunk had only been something I'd read about...in the pages of Harvey Duckman. It was just never a thing I'd been into, though it does go nice with a dash of cosmic horror. My ignorance of the genre really shown when it came down to plot my latest short as my notebook pages were still blank after an hour.

None of my ideas were really feeling steam punky and I started to wonder if I even knew anything about the genre. There was no doubt about it, I was going to have to hit the books! For this, I read individual stories as well as several essay on a what a good steampunk story should look like. None of these helped.

The biggest break through I made was when I decided that the antagonist would be a very familiar face...You'll soon see who I mean. I still needed the rest of the plot, but it was a start. More details started to prod themselves forward.

After a few days intense writing (and lots of deleting), I started pulling a plot together. As I hadn't been lucky in other approaches to the genre, I changed tact and wrote about a character who first ushered in that change for this version of the world. I also linked this with the next element that came forward.
That being the end of the world. It stood to reason that this technology was going to be a game changer, then it would quickly find certain agencies wanting it to utilise it for their own nefarious ends. It wasn't a leap to consider that for many, a deep dive into the tech would take them to dangerous places, for themselves and the world.

That's where I am now of course. I've got the bare bones of a plot that I need to flesh out, but it's certainly better than nothing!

Join me next week to see if I've managed to get any further.

Till then,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

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