When you’ve got lemons, the saying goes, make lemonade. Or if you’ve got a two-hour daily commute, make it enjoyable with audiobooks. Recently I’ve been doing audiobooks at a rate of one every week or so. Once again I found myself on Audible searching for another steampunk novel. Kathleen McClure’s Soldier of Fortune: A […]
The Original Words of our National Anthem
Since “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been at the center of controversy in recent years, I thought it appropriate to reuse and update an article I wrote a few years back. Most people know (I hope) that Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics over 200 years ago during the War of 1812. Few people know that […]
Happy Canada Day!
Lately, we Americans have been obsessed with Mexico but it’s all too easy to forget about our other neighbor, Canada. No American forgets about Cinco de Mayo (actually a rather minor Mexican holiday), but I’d be surprised if more than one in a hundred knows about Dominion Day. This commemorates Canada’s transition from British colony […]
Netflix’ Series “Altered Carbon”
When I heard Netflix was doing a cyberpunk television series, I was excited to try it. I was not aware of the 2002 book by Richard K. Morgan on which it was based. The show followed some familiar themes: a technologically advanced future in which medicine has made it possible to live forever. However, only […]
Review, Paradox Bound by Peter Clines
One of my favorite things about writing for Steampunk Desperado is that it motivates me to discover new authors and gives me the opportunity to promote them to the world. Peter Clines’ 2017 novel Paradox Bound is about time travel, and normally I’d see that as a red flag. Even more concerning, it’s strictly about […]
Batman Ninja!
We all love mashups – the combination of characters and elements that are not supposed to be together. They don’t happen often, outside of unofficial fan fiction, due to the logistics of copyrights and such. But sometimes there’s an idea that’s so cool it has to be made. One of those ideas was to combine […]
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere is Everywhere
Neil Gaiman is one of those people who has earned my profound jealousy. His creative talents have given him success in a multiplicity of areas: fantasy, children’s books, and comics among them. I’ve recently gone on an audiobook kick to occupy my time on my long commute to and from my day job. Gaiman’s Neverwhere […]