[cross-posted from http://community.steamfashion.livejourna
l.com ]
SteamPunk Bestiary...?!?The present entry/proposal was inspired by an LJ entry of Captain Robert Brown (</a></b></a>
robert_from_ap from the SteamPunk Seattle-area band Abney Park (</a></b></a>
abneypark, and found elsewhere across the web!), which was done on November 10, 2008. The entry concerned a picture of a creature called the "Snurtle" which he created:
http://robert-from-ap.livejournal.com/546353.htmlIn any case, the idea for a "SteamPunk Bestiary" was floated in some of the comments there, and a while back, I wrote to Robert and asked him if I could run with the project and head it up as editor, since it is likely he won't have time to do it. He most graciously agreed, and so I'm going to move forward with it.
I had hoped to have done so much earlier than the present, but my own schedule has been pretty full. The thing which prompted me to do it now, though, was Robert's most recent entry, on the black lab that needed adopting:
http://robert-from-ap.livejournal.com/558936.htmlEven though someone derided his efforts with that entry in the comments to it as a "drop in the bucket," the indomitable and insightful Captain most eloquently replied "even if it's a drop in the bucket, if everyone makes a drop the bucket will soon be full" (paraphrasing the good Captain slightly), and I think that's a very excellent and poignant statement indeed.
But what does that have to do with a SteamPunk Bestiary?
Well, as this would be an edited anthology of art and words, the profits for such a thing cannot easily be shared amongst the contributors. Generally, edited anthology profits just go to the editor, since they tend to have a lot more footwork to do than any of the individual contributors. BUT, in the present case, I think the recipient of any profits generated by the sales of such a volume should neither be me, nor anyone else, but instead some
animal-related charity that all of the contributors end up deciding upon democratically. (Appropriate enough, considering that it will be a Bestiary, eh?) As completion of the anthology won't be until several months down the road, and then sales of it at some point thereafter, we won't have to worry about who the recipient of its sales will be immediately; but in the meantime, this is the plan, and I think it is an excellent one indeed.
So, the question now becomes: what would be contained in a SteamPunk Bestiary?
As a real-life medievalist/Celticist who has done a lot of work with animal literatures, ancient travelogues and wonder-tale accounts, bestiaries, and the like, there is a general format for these things established by tradition--and I think we can incorporate elements of that, but not be slavishly devoted to sticking to it. I'm also someone who has enjoyed more modern forms of Bestiaries, including the various iterations of Dungeons and Dragons'
Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, Monstrous Compendium, and so forth. Other, less serious things, like Ricky Gervais'
Flanimals series, also would qualify as modern bestiaries. Even just taking into account these limited examples, there are a million options for how one might proceed with this matter...
Here are some suggestions for what I'd love to see in a miscellany like this (and it will be a miscellany in the end--I don't think there is too much need for, desire towards, nor likelihood of, a standardized format for peoples' submissions and their style):
--SteamPunk travelogue narratives, detailing the amazing creatures which various airship crews, explorer teams, time travelers, and so forth have encountered on their journeys
--more "academic" (or pseudo-academic), naturalist-style entries on the life, habits, and behaviors of different creatures
--artwork of all types (which will have to be in some sense "photos" in electronic format, in the end, to be included in a book like this) depicting fantastic and amazing creatures, on their own or in landscapes, in interaction with adventurers of diverse types, or even anatomical/dissection views of them for the more mad scientist-inclined folk among us
--profiles and mini-biographies of famous SteamPunk naturalists, explorers, scientists, travelers, and others who have come into contact with such amazing creatures (though, I would please suggest that people not indulge their fanfic/Mary Sue/Marty Sean tendencies with this too much...these type of entries/submissions should be limited to something like 300 words, so no one gets carried away...though, with more renowned and famous folks of this type, exceptions could be made...?!?)
--actual scholarly, academic, well-footnoted entries (with bibliographies!) on certain types of fantastic creatures well attested in premodern literature (and by "premodern," I mean pre-1930, let's say...)
--and, anything else you might like to suggest!
With any/all of these, it is possible to go a variety of ways. When one looks at medieval bestiaries, for example, some very strange and ridiculous things are said about elephants, for example, that go all the way back to classical literary precedents (which are equally nonsensical--e.g., elephants have no knees, so if they fall down, they can't get up again and die), and so accounts of Victorian explorers from England encountering ferocious lions in Africa, strange kangaroos in Australia, weird penguins in Antarctica, and so forth, which are silly and fictional but nonetheless based on actual animals, would work. Then one can go in the direction of well-known fantastic or legendary creatures--dragons, unicorns, fairies, but also zombies, vampires, and werewolves--in any of the formats/styles suggested above. One could also go through major SteamPunk literary works (or quasi-Steam things or influential texts, e.g. the works of Lovecraft, etc.), computer games, films, and so forth, and profile new or different creatures that are found in those (as long as proper citations and credits are given for the original sources, and permissions are sought and granted for these things where necessary). And, of course, one can also be purely inventive and original in their efforts, and just make things up in as convincing and entertaining a manner as possible. The options are endless!
I am going to stake my claim on one thing meanwhile, though: as a major part of my Ph.D. dissertation was on werewolves, and I have a few academic publications in that regard, I'll probably write a short piece detailing them in premodern literature. So, werewolf encounter (or confessional!) stories, poems, and such are possible, but I'd prefer no other submissions on "profiles" or "details" of werewolves for the anthology. My apologies if this destroys an idea you were anticipating proposing (though, feel free to still do so...I'm a very reasonable person!).
I would expect that individual entries should be no more than about 2000 words in length (though, if something is longer, please inquire about it). Short fiction and such in the travelogue style that has been previously published (electronically or in print) can certainly be accepted, as long as the author has retained the rights to it and other places of its publication are cited in it.
While some stylistic things (like layout/format) might take a while and some discussion to decide, a few things should be observed at this stage: submit text documents in Word format (I'm on a Mac, and I'll be using MS Office/Word 2008 to do the editing), and pictures/graphics/photos/etc. in .jpg format; if you are using footnotes, please use footnotes rather than endnotes, and number them in Arabic numerals (i.e. 1, 2, 3); for bibliographic entries, please use the Vancouver style rather than any other, and have full citations in footnotes rather than in an appended bibliography or list of works cited; and please include, with whatever materials one submits, a 100 or so (but not 150!) word short bio of yourself (with SteamPunk persona name and "real name" included, unless one is entirely absorbed in the other).
I'd anticipate using a print-on-demand facility of some sort to create this book--very likely Lulu, since they do hardbound books, and I think something like this really ought to be in a durable and handsome format like that (and getting vellum pages and leather bindings is, alas, not very likely for something like this, but if it is hardbound from the start, getting a special casing or cover made for it wouldn't be difficult), and it would probably be a full-color interior so that the wonderful artistic contributions and beautiful colors of peoples' outfits in photos can be appreciated in their complete glory. Using POD eliminates the middleman, as it were, and would allow a much faster release of the book, as well as a much easier handling of profits, distribution, and the book never going out of print (huge bonus!) or being remaindered and pulped (which is ecologically sound!), and other matters. Something like this would probably run in the $40 range for purchase in the end (of which around $30 would just be production costs), which may be a bit much for a book by some peoples' standards, but since it is for charity, I'd hope people would be willing to spend that much for a volume that I surmise will be a wonderful one to have on one's shelf for posterity. If there are any actual publishers, or people connected with such, who like the sound of this, and think they can make a better pitch for why this project should be produced through them, I am certainly open to discussing that.
In terms of deadlines: I'd say let's suggest June 30, 2009 at this point. That way, it might be out by the time SteamCon comes around in Seattle in late October!
If there are any further questions, comments, or concerns on this, please feel free to message me via LJ, or send an e-mail to alfrecht (at) hotmail (dot) com. Please also feel free to re-post this proposal in other relevant communities, lists, and so forth.
Yours sincerely,
Prof. Jeremy M. R. F. Chesterfield-Pickles III
[I am very intrigued by this. After things calm down from Willy Wonka in March I will have to play around with this. Steph should do it as well!]