The Steampunk retro-futuristic sub-genre of science fiction has been around since the days of H. G. Well’s 1895 novella The Time Machine, and if his story was true, it could have been around since the days of the dinosaurs. It’s a wonder how a T-Rex could write with his little arms, but I digress. Well’s work inspired generations of writers, but the term Steampunk didn’t arrive until the 1980’s as a play on the word Cyberpunk, which was an already established sub-genre of science fiction. Cyberpunk stories contain a dystopian, futuristic setting where the gleaming, high-tech wonders are mixed in with dark, gritty, realism. Steampunk is similar, except not really because it’s different. While Cyberpunk travels forward to a bleak future, Steampunk travels backward to an optimistic past.

Considered to be alternate history or a different dimension, Steampunk stories are normally set in the late 1800’s, most often in the British Victorian Era or the American Wild West. In these stories, inventors create wild, futuristic inventions for their time that employ some use of steam power to bring these wondrous machines to life. In reality, these inventions would have changed the world as it was known then, but in these fictional stories, they are an ordinary way of life.

“I’m taking the dirigible to work, darling,” a man’s voice crackled through the robot head’s speaker box. “I’ll be home later.”

Over the years, piles of wondrous, incredible, jaw-dropping, Steampunk stories have spread across bookstore bookshelves like wildfires across… well, bookstore bookshelves, but I always felt there was something missing from the genre. While whimsy and creativity and silliness abounded, I do not remember laughing very much. Many stories seemed to focus on wars or torture or zombie cyborgs who tortured during wars. As a die hard (but mostly live soft) fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, which combines comedy and science fiction in a weird, wonderful, Britishy-humor kind of way, I felt inspired to bring that same fun to the Steampunk genre. (I also just enjoy adding an S to the ends ofs words.)

While I wanted to add the funny, I also wanted to subtract any fantasy elements. Though I absolutely adore fantasy, my inclination is for Steampunk science fiction to be filled with science. If there is someone flying around in the sky, I want there to be a jet pack attached to her and tooting out steam. If the city is suffering from unnatural earthquakes, I want an invention to be the cause, not a masked man speaking Latin and doing jazz hands. Personal preference, even though jazz hands are sometimes a crucial part of my morning breakfast.

Rebellion has become a common theme among the Steampunk genre, which is a natural cause/reaction during that time period. As the Industrial Age wound up, the people in power ground down the commoners beneath them. The concept of “cogs in the gears” applied to multiple levels of storytelling here. The oppressed would rise up to fight for equality and all that important stuffs, perhaps even leading to a happy ending or, at the very least, a five-day workweek. (Thank the Workers Union for that, kids.)

Adding it all together, 1800’s Science Fiction + Comedy - Fantasy + Rebellion = my protagonist Adelaide, a runaway, teenage girl with a mechanical arm, a quick wit, and a habit of getting herself into strange situations. The location is made up, the history is imaginary, and the points don’t matter. Specific years or timelines or cities or countries didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to write a solid story that existed in its own world. Enter the fictional Parsons City in a timeline reminiscent of the late 1800’s, but not really and quite different.

In conclusion, I have concluded that I tend to write a lot of silly nonsense, but if it brings some joy or inspiration to someone out there who has tastes as questionable as mine, then it was all worth it. I feel like anyone of any age from any stretch of life can find something to love about this story. Nonsense can make sense with the realization that time can be wasted well. The roundabout course filled with excess words and unnecessary footnotes can sometimes lead to a delightfully fun journey.