‘The Colossus of the Thames’
My first publication, ‘The Colossus of the Thames, and Other Tales’ - a steampunk collection
I’m shortly due to publish my first book, I thought you’d like to see the cover art and also hear a bit about how it came about.
When I finished the first draft of my novel, ‘Typhon’, in June 2020, I wondered what to do next.
I sent ‘Typhon’ off to my reader panel to be beasted but I didn’t want to lose the momentum I had built up finishing the novel. I toyed with a fantasy novel (more on that later, as I think it has legs!) but I really wanted to do something a little different, which allowed me to continue to train my writing muscle but without the pressure of a full-blown novel.
To be honest, I hadn’t written a short story in over 25 years, and the last one I wrote - I found it not long ago, lying in a box in the back of a cupboard - was pretty ropey. I had always felt I wasn’t very good at them, so had not put myself through the pain of trying to do something I couldn’t do.
What an idiot! Not thinking you’re any good is a classic rookie writer notion. Just write, see how it feels and then keep doing it. Read and watch all you can on how you can improve and you’ll get better, and it will become easier. Not writing is not an option, if you’re a writer.
Anyway, enough self-flagellation!
I’ve always loved the steampunk genre, so figured I’d have a crack at writing a steampunk story.
For those of you who are not familiar with steampunk, it’s a sub-genre of science fiction which takes its primary inspiration from the cyberpunk genre (think William Gibson’s amazing ‘Neuromancer’ and the movie ‘Blade Runner’).
Steampunk is set in an alternate Victorian era (technically 1837-1901) where technology - this time powered by steam - features heavily. Typical steampunk elements include anything clockwork, early automata, primitive computers and airships, but other fantasy and science fiction themes often appear.
For my money the best steampunk novel is ‘The Difference Engine’ by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, which is beautifully detailed and highly imaginative. In movies, you might think of ‘Mortal Engines’ (also a book series), ‘The Golden Compass’ (from the Philip Pullman books), ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ (also graphic novels), ‘Wild Wild West’ and animated classics such as ‘April and the Extraordinary World’ and ‘Steamboy’ as well as some of the Miyazaki /Studio Ghibli movies such as ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and ‘Castle in the Sky’.
So I started writing steampunk and soon found not only that I loved it, but that my own steampunk world was emerging.
My world is set in the world of Queen Alexandrina Victoria, the Forever Queen, monarch of the Empire of Great Britain, the Fifteen Colonies and the Good Hope. It’s a world which features many of the elements I’ve mentioned above, but which weaves in a little horror, some political and social commentary and even a little romance.
Soon, I had a dozen stories all set in the same world. I found a great editor (an old school friend of mine who is a published novelist) and a great graphic designer, who put together the amazing cover art and suddenly I had a book on my hands.
That book - ‘The Colossus of the Thames, and Other Tales’ - is coming out very soon…watch this space!
This AMAZING cover art is by instagram.com/nutkin
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