Darswords

Here are some of the music and events from last weekend’s Steampunk World’s Fair.  If you are around NJ in Mid-May next year you should try to make this event.  It is so much fun.  Come in costume or in regular cloths.  Everyone is welcome.

Music-

Steam Powered Giraffe:

First of all, these guys are so fun to watch in person.  They look, act, and sound like robots.  It’s a little freaky (in the good kind of way.)

I had no idea how popular they were.  They filled a massive tent and overflowed into the parking lot around the stage.  Much fan girl screaming was had.

Check out their site here.

The Folks Below:

My family fell in love with this band and stalked them throughout the event.  Not creepy stalking… just making sure to hit their performances.

Check out their site here.

Kate Kat:

A lovely Opera…

The beautiful people were everywhere at Steampunk World’s Fair 2013.  Everyone was so sweet when we accosted them asking for photos.  No one turned us down and everyone posed and smiled on queue.  It was fabulous.

I chased this lady down the hallway to get her photo crying “Monarch Lady!  Monarch Lady!”  It was worth it.  A friendly Jedi helped catch her attention for me.

The friendly Jedi.  He really was a trip.  His light saber had a power pack that lit up attached to his belt that looks so snazzy.

Even though it was drizzling outside this gentleman posed for us to snap his pic.  I fell in love with his hair.  Can’t explain it.  All I know is he looked particularly dapper.

His parrot moves and talks.  Need I say more?  When I was wearing my wings he actually stopped me and said “I love your wings, and…

Am breaking this up into a few posts because there was just so much to see and do.

Steampunk World’s Fair (SPWF) 2013 is officially over.  I’m back home on the west coast and beginning to return to normalcy.

There is so much to say and show I’m not entirely sure where to start…

…I’ll start with me.  (Call me self-centered.  It might be true…)

I was dressed in red as the Fairy Catcher Extraordinaire on Friday.  Then I saw Steampunk C3PO, accosted him, asked for a hug, and made Juana take a photo.  One of my fav moments of the night.

Next day I was the Raven Lady.  Lots of black and feathers, although I don’t think you can see the feathers too well in the photos.  My bustle was made entirely of them, and the faux iron wings were lined with feathers on the top.

The lovely Juana…

Are You Quick on Your Feet?

When I trained as a boxer, we did a lot of footwork. Dart in, hit, then get out of the way. Best way to win a fight? Simple. Don’t get punched. Or at least get punched as little as possible. When our opponent takes a swing? Don’t be there. The skill of sticking-and-moving requires endurance, strength and flexibility. Being a successful Digital Age Author requires the same.

Learn to Stick and Move

Get quick on your feet. Change, adapt, overcome. The lithe survive, especially now in the Digital Age. The big traditional publishers are suffering because their size doesn’t allow them to adapt to the rapid changes that come part-and-parcel with explosive technological advance.

Indies, in this sense, have an advantage. An author can change covers if one isn’t working. He or she can respond directly to what consumers want.

A friend of…

Writing is a scary thing.  Sitting down to do it after a long break due to health issues, laziness, busy schedules, and stress feels like sticky summer days.  The kind where you know the plunge into icy swimming pool waters is exactly what you need, but you hesitate.  Toes over the edge you breathe in deeply, tell yourself to jump in, but your body disobeys your mind.  You stay frozen.  An iceberg adrift in a sea of heat.  Your only salvation the very thing you refuse to do.  The water will be cold.  It will shock your body as you hold your breath and lose yourself as you sink deep into the dreamy, blue, depths.  You will burst up with a splash, gasping for air, water up your nose, and wiping chlorine droplets from your eyes.  You shiver for a minute, smiling without knowing it, and you float weightlessly.

This…