{: Scott E. Tarbet is welcomed to Jorie Loves A Story :}
Author of "A MidSummer Night's Steampunk"
Scott Tarbet writes enthusiastically in several
genres, sings opera, was married in full
Elizabethan regalia, loves Steampunk waltzes,
and slow smokes thousands of pounds of Texas
style barbeque. An avid skier, hiker, golfer, and
tandem kayaker, he makes his home in the
mountains of Utah.
I’d like to take a moment to welcome, Mr. Tarbet to my blog today, and for being especially gracious in his responses to my forthcoming Interview! I was blessed to have found this small Indie Press via Twitter whilst catching sight of a tweet about the very book I am reviewing by Mr. Tarbet! There is something to be said for “Shakespeare” & “Steampunk” which instantly catches your attention! As you will see throughout the Questions I asked of Mr. Tarbet, I was most esteemed to have an author who was as receptive as he was and willing enough to answer my enquires! We spoke on behalf of Steampunk as a genre as much as the stories of which we identify as ‘steam’ inspired! I do hope you enjoy the conversation as it materialised!
Book Synopsis:
Immerse yourself in this Steampunk retelling of Shakespeare’s classic, replete with the newfound wizardry of alternative Victorian technology, mistaken identities, love triangles, and deadly peril, set against the backdrop of a world bracing itself for war, and Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
Pauline Spiegel, a master artificer like her mother before her, wants just one thing: to wed the love of her life, Alexander MacIntyre, a lowly undersecretary of the Royal Household. However, a long-term pact between her parents, and a noble House, stands between her and her happily ever after. When a priceless mechanoid of unfathomable power is stolen, Pauline finds herself entangled in skullduggery and international intrigue, upon which the fate of nations rest. Only with the help of her friends, and a brilliant scientist with a swarm of micromechanical insects, can Pauline survive the dark forces determined to destroy her. But will her betrothed and his rag-tag band of semi-mechanical soldiers reveal Alexander’s secrets as well?
I have appreciated William Shakespeare for most of my life, as his plays always resonated with me. I am quite curious how you took one of his famous plays and ran with it into a new vision which in turn spun together a tale of steampunk suspense!? Your impetus to write this story stemmed from a bit of the play which turned ‘mechanicalisms’ on its head. How did this lead you forward and did you have to conduct research to make the science behind it sound plausible to the reader?
The idea for A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk sprang directly from the question, “What if the ‘rude mechanicals’ in the Shakespeare play actually were mechanical?” In the Steampunk sense, of course. From there it became a Steampunk/alternative history retelling of the whole story line. I sat down with the play, which I have loved since high school, and outlined it in detail. Being a Steampunk author, I have done a lot of research on the era, and knew that there were lots of events and people who would fit well into an alternative history retelling.
How did you approach the adaption of the play whilst balancing the elements which bring the story into the forefront of the steampunk genre? Whilst keeping it new, tangible, and fresh?
One of the things which we all admire about Shakespeare is how timeless his story lines are. I’m a huge fan of productions of his plays (my wife and I try to see all the Shakespeare offerings of the Utah Shakespeare Festival every year) and one of the things we enjoy most is seeing the plays adapted to different time frames and circumstances. Such productions shed new light on the timeless quandaries of the plays and their characters. So why not the late 19th Century? Why not mechanized men? It seemed a perfect fit. Because of the timelessness of the story, it wasn’t much of an effort on my part to keep the material new, tangible, and fresh.
Will you be re-envisioning more Shakespeare plays or other classical works of literature?!
Absolutely! Steampunkified Shakespeare is a natural. The subsequent works in the universe first explored in A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk will have similar blends of Shakespeare, Steampunk, and alternative Victorian and Edwardian history.
I also have a Steampunk short story retelling of Moby Dick that is in the hands of the editors at Xchyler Publishing (“the X”).
I read in another Interview of yours, you’ve written a science fiction techno-action (Dragon Moon), which is waiting in the wings for publication. Have you decided to stretch yourself into different genres as the muse suits you? OR do you have specific story ideas for a couple of genres which you feel are your niche?
I think “speculative fiction” is my genre, and that genre is pretty broad. It includes Steampunk, techno-thriller, straight up sci-fi, and alternative history. Amongst other sub-niches. There’s plenty of material there to keep me writing stuff that piques my interest for the rest of my life. And more ideas keep finding their way into my writer’s notebook all the time.
What do you feel makes steampunk a technically difficult genre to write in fiction?
There are two hard things about Steampunk: 1) defining the very term ‘Steampunk’ to the satisfaction of both the writer and the reader, and 2) keeping it fresh.
Every Steampunk I know has his/her own private definition of what the genre is. I subscribe to the inclusive definition put forward by Steampunk Scholar Dr. Mike Perschon, which defines the term as an aesthetic, and doesn’t try to narrow it to the literature, the gadgetry, or the cosplay.
The aesthetic of the late 19th Century has its own attractions for us in our modern world. Overlay it with the thrill of new inventions (with which the period was rife) and you get the genre we know and love.
For me, keeping Steampunk fresh requires crafting characters and stories that are compelling in their own rights, and don’t require gadgetry to be attractive. Some authors successfully base their stories and characters on the gadgetry. No offense to them, but for me, the gadgetry is an embellishment, not the heart. It’s just as hard (if not harder) to keep steam-powered gadgets fresh and interesting as it is to keep robots fresh and interesting: it’s been done.
I must admit, like you, the optimism stitched into steampunk is what grabbed me initially to pursue seeking out writers who give such fantastical insights into a newly minted dimension of our world. It’s quite exciting to live for a bit inside the stories which give birth to where Victorian technology could have taken us. Do you feel that part of the Victorian age of ‘steam’ power might have helped lead us out of the hurdles of the Industrial revolution without the heavier off-sets of environmental issues we face now?
To a great extent we’re still working our way over the hurdles that we were just beginning to see as the Industrial Revolution got underway. My favorite Steampunk takes us back to the hope-filled mindset we had before all the ugliness made itself manifest. It does away with our current crop of problems, including the heavy environmental costs, by putting them off for our future selves.
But that’s all right! We don’t always have to wallow in our sorrows. Once in a while we can tell ourselves, and each other, cheerful stories with happily-ever-after outcomes. It’s one of the best ways we as a species have to refresh our spirits.
For those seeking to sink into steampunk but like the cosy side of story-lines without the oppressive war and/or violent threads of where most take their steampunk stories; which writers would you steer that particular reader towards?
Look for the group Steampunk With Heart on Facebook. It’s a group of self-published and Indie Steampunk authors who write for the heart, not the battle reflex. The group has a number of stand-out stories and authors, with more coming all the time.
Also look on Amazon for the X’s Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology. And coming soon, Mechanized Masterpieces II. The first volume was Steampunked world literature, the second is based around Classic American Lit.
One more mention: there is a budding young Steampunk author at the X by the name of Alyson Grauer, whose work I am watching closely. An intro of her Steampunked Shakespeare adaptation of The Tempest appears at the end of A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk.
Have you attended a Steampunk convention and if so, do you get excited about the people you will meet once your there? I have heard they are a synergy of creative electricity, where creativity and science converge!
There is no lovelier group of people anywhere than the folks you meet at a Steampunk con. They are full of positive energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. If you haven’t been, you should really make it a priority to find one near you.
My favorite is Salt City Steamfest, which is the first I attended, and with which I am most involved on an ongoing basis. My peeps!
Being that you’re a history enthusiast, I noticed that you inserted 12 historically known characters into your story. Do you feel you’re creating a new niche in steampunk which might be considered historical steam? Where those who appreciate historical fiction might find themselves crossing over to reading your stories due to the nature of how much history you’ve woven into the background?
Nice term, that: historical steam. I like it. It captures A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk very well in its “something for everyone” essence. And by ‘everyone’ I mean ME. I believe that an author worth reading will be writing something that they would want to read themselves. For me that means having way more than one element to any story. Mine always have at least two of three, sometimes more. A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk has Steampunk, Shakespeare, and alternative history. I would want to read it. It tickles me pink that other people find it a satisfying blend as well.
One of my favourite reasons for enjoying science fiction isn’t just the cautionary tales writers organically write into their sci-fi stories, but the measure of balance between our humanity and our technologic advances which at times can off-set the balance. Do you feel the hidden messages inside science fiction are resonating still with the audience, or do you believe there has been a shift, to where most people now see those cautions as fictional theories?
Just as with every genre, there is good sci-fi, bad sci-fi, and all sorts of stuff in between. And what we each consider to be in each of these categories is not only reflective of the writer, story, and characters, but of the age in which we live, and who we ourselves are.
Cautionary tales, including the balance between technology and humanity, comprise the very fabric of sci-fi in every age, from Jules Verne on down to Neil Gaiman. The technology changes. Our humanity does not. The wars and near-wars of the world change day by day; young people marching off to war does not.
No, I don’t think the embedded cautionary tales are any less relevant today than they were when Jules Verne first wrote of being shot to the Moon by a giant cannon, or of wreaking havoc on civilian shipping with his fictional undersea boat. I believe sci-fi is one of the best art forms for making sense of our rapidly changing world.
Through my background research, I discovered your blog posts on working with Xchyler Press and found a startling revelation: your Penny Freeman’s brother!? I found this an interesting tidbit on the level that although you’ve grown inside a creative family of writers, creative writing found you at an interesting crossroads. I oft felt I was better at writing fiction and poems verse writing expository pieces as I couldn’t find my niche of expression within the constraints of the opposite form of writing. Did you find shifting from one branch of writing into the creative difficult or a unique challenge to stretch your wings through your imagination?
There’s a saying at Xchyler Publishing (“the X”): “Writers gotta write.” We tell each other that all the time. I’ve got to write. So I write. I tell stories.
I volunteered to put my business background to work and help Penny out when she was in the excruciating process of getting the X off the ground. She and her partner, Heidi Birch, had thrown themselves into the deep end of the pool, with great talent, caring, energy, and grit, and I wanted to do what I could to help them float. So for a few months, at their request, I took on some of the necessary duties. But in the end my desire to tell stories, and the enormous commitment of time and energy that it entails, overcame me. I have to write. I couldn’t do both. I’ve got to write.
You have a wonderful gift for cheeky humour which is quite evident in how you express yourself and in how you write. Does this stem from coming from a family whose focus was not only on family but on the lighter side of life? Of keeping a balance between the difficulties and the joys? I, myself, have a close-knit background full of antidotes and humour etched into our living histories.
Your question is a wonderful compliment. Thank you.
Penny and I come from a family that is large, creative, and amazingly closely knit. We delight in principled debate and in-depth discussion of important issues. Wit is an important part of the way we interact—not the comedic sort, but the cheeky (another good descriptor) sort. Our father and mother both taught us that the snappy bon mot was the one of the highest manifestations of intelligence.
In your sideline bio on your blog posts, there is a reference for BBQ Catering, and in this, I can relate as worked the front house of a BBQ take-out restaurant after I graduated high school. Catering ran con-current to the business. My favourite part of being in that environment were the ‘characters’ who arrived at the window to order! Each of them set my mind afire for creative personas and the ability to see how unique each BBQ appreciator can truly be! Did you ever consider writing a foodie fiction story set within a world opposite the modern? Somewhere between fantasy and steampunk?
I have an email box that is exclusively for writer’s notebook ideas. When I meet fun people—which is nearly every day I BBQ—I speak entries into my phone for my notebook of characters and story ideas. It’s a wonderful technological age we live in.
I do have a few ideas jotted down for foodie stories, but as I mentioned above, I don’t know that I’ll get to the end of my story idea list any time soon. But I’m sure having fun trying.
You’re championing the cause for editors and I completely agree with you! On my own merits, being a writer who’s already disclosed she’s dyslexic (under My Bookish Life), editors are naturally a saving grace for those who struggle with spelling, grammar, and usage! Why do you think some writers fear editors as much as they do? And, how do you think Indie Publishers such as Xchyler are changing the way in which writers and editors relate to each other?
Editors are scary! It’s really tough for most new authors to give up on the idea that every sentence that drips from their fingers is a pearl of great price, worthy of preservation at any price—including from the predations of editors, whose business it is to fly at 35,000 above the story. It’s hard for most new authors to recognize that they are down in the weeds, intimately acquainted with what their character had for breakfast, how their tummy feels, and how they slept the night before. We authors know so much that it’s often hard to convince us that all our elaborate back-stories don’t add to a well-paced story. A good editor not only helps with the janitorial work—grammar, punctuation, usage, etc.—but with the story itself: the intent, pacing, character development.
The X is one of the only publishers I have ever come across that frankly acknowledges and fosters an outright partnership between budding authors and good editors. This partnership is not only creative, but down-to-brass-tacks financial: the editors have every bit as much financial incentive in the success of a book as the author does.
There are a lot of people out there who are just plain feeding off the explosion in self-publishing. From a business perspective I understand it—they want to make a living too—but from an artistic and humane perspective I just don’t buy into it. My advice: find an editor who believes in you as a writer enough to invest their own time and energy into putting out a good book, without soaking you for it in advance, and you’ll have found a long-term, invaluable partner that you can believe in.
When did you make the choice to go from expository to creative endeavours?! And, step into the forefront of a fiction writer!?
Expository is work. I wrote my way through high school, an undergrad degree, a professional certification, a master’s degree, and a long career in Big Business. Write write write, work work work.
But Creative is play for pay—not the same thing as work. I have always had creative writing going, in various stages of gestation, since I was in grade school. It is only recently that I’ve pushed through to completion and gotten any of it published. Play play play.
What emerging new writers have captured your attention and why?
I’m a literary omnivore, so that’s a very long list. I’m constantly seeking (and finding) wonderful new talents across multiple genres.
Within the Steampunk sub-genre, this especially includes several of my fellow authors at Xchyler Publishing, including the aforementioned Alyson Grauer, and kindred spirit Scott Taylor. I always rush to sneak peek anything either of them writes, and look for great things from both of them as their nascent careers emerge.
Among the more widely-known (i.e., already launched) Steampunk authors, two names jump instantly to mind: Scott Westerfeld and Gail Carriger. Westerfeld was actually my introduction to Steampunk with his Leviathan series. It’s one of those ostensibly YA offerings that jumps the fence into the wider ‘grown up’ pasture. Love it! Look forward to much more from Westerfeld. (And BTW, what is it with authors named Scott??)
Carriger’s The Parasol Protectorate (Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless and Timeless) are true Steampunk must-reads. Her writing is a delightfully quirky blend of Steampunk and supernatural, manners and alternative history. She is witty, inexhaustibly tongue-in-cheek, and very prolific. In short she embodies the very soul of the Steampunk aesthetic. Look her up. Buy her stuff. You won’t be sorry.
What’s the one question no one has thought to ask you!? Can you elaborate!?
Question: “Oh Scott! You write so poetically! Surely you must have a vast collection of unpublished poetry just waiting to take the world by storm?”
Answer: “Why yes! Yes I do! But like one of my literary idols, Orson Scott Card, I am convinced that most volumes of poetry are purchased by poets wondering how the other guy managed to get them published. So . . . maybe posthumously. But I doubt it.”
Author Connections:
Follow Scott E. Tarbet online at scotttarbet.timp.net or on Twitter @XchylerScott | @setarbet Converse via: #MidSummerNightsSteampunk & #XchylerPublishing
I’d like to take a moment and thank Mr. Tarbet for dropping by Jorie Loves A Story today, and for providing myself and my readers which such a hearty glimpse into Steampunk as a genre! I have appreciated ‘Steampunk’ from afar for a number of years, soaking into the artwork, the fashions, truly all the bits and bobbles surrounding the movement ‘except’ for the literature! I truly only started to pick up books with steam-themed story-lines this year! I even participated in a Steampunk-themed book blogosphere event, in which I reviewed my first clockwork (a sub-genre of Steampunk) novel “The Clockwork Man” by William Jablonsky.
Ever since that moment, I have been further intrigued to carve out my niche within the literary realms, seeking out stories which dynamically add to the whole of what I love about Steampunk! I was thrilled to bits to read your responses to my Questions, because you took them into the depth of which I like to examine! I thank you for your time and your attention to giving me something to ponder whilst getting to know a bit about the writer behind the book I am going to review! Likewise, I am hopeful my readers have appreciated the insights & reflections!
This Author Interview is courtesy of:
Xchyler Publishing
check out my upcoming bookish events and mark your calendars!
Drop back on Jorie Loves A Story, on 8th April, when Jorie reviews “Moments in Milliennia”, which you were introduced too whilst Jorie interviewed Penny Freeman! Arriving on 12th April will be my review of “A MidSummer Night’s Steampunk”! I look forward to your return visits & conversations!
You will not want to miss my ruminations!
Be sure to leave a note in the comment threads for Mr. Tarbet! Especially if you are a newcomer to reading “Steampunk” like I am, or if you have had a long acquaintance with the genre! I’d be keen to learn of whom your favourite writers are and what your individual notions of what makes ‘Steampunk’ a success!? What initially for instance gave you the inspiration to pick up a novel by a Steampunk novelist!? What captured you by their writing style and voice!? And, are you an appreciator of Shakespeare who is celebrating how his writings are still an inspiration for re-tellings and continuations!?
And, thanks for dropping by Jorie Loves A Story!
{NOTE: Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.}
{SOURCES: A MidSummer Night’s Steampunk Book Cover, and synopsis were provided by Xchyler Publishing and were used by permission. I requested an Author Interview with Xchyler to run in conjunction with my book review of “A MidSummer’s Night Steampunk” as I was most curious in learning a bit more about Mr. Tarbet! I received the replies directly from the author himself. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs.}
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