Great news to start off the month of October. We broke our monthly page view record again, this time we sit at a healthy 11,921 page views in the month of September. I will be completely honest with all of you, I didn't think we could do it. I have been cutting back on posting here not only to give more attention to my fiction writing, but also to avoid being burned out by alternate history. The fact that we broke our record again is a testament to our awesome fans and talented contributors. Thanks to all of you.
Speaking of fans, we got our first readers from Rwanda and Mauritius. Welcome! This week contributor Chris Nuttall has a new book being published by Elsewhen Press called The Royal Sorceress this Saturday. Starting Wednesday I will be giving you all a taste of the writing style of Mr. Nuttall, plus a long awaited interview.
The results from last month's poll is in. The Art of Steampunk series will not be renewed and Airship Updates will not take off again (see what I did there). Sorry for everyone who voted for them, but there was just not enough support. That being said, the fans have spoken and you will be seeing Showcases and Multiverse Profiles again in the near future.
By the way, we have a new poll for the next two weeks. I want to know how many of our fans read self-published alternate historians, so please vote now.
And now the news...
Even More on Revolution
Seb gets a lot of credit for helping us break out monthly record thanks to his review of the first episode of NBC's Revolution. So with that mind, we continue our coverage of the show that has perked the interest of so many alternate historians. Here is something that will get you even more excited...a map:
I found several reviews that may be of interest to you. Darin R. McClure at My Reader Starred Items reviewed the first episode and provided some interesting insight on how technology effects the thinking of Americans. Recent reviews of the second episode include the aptly titled "Revolution: After the power goes out, our main energy source will be passive-aggressiveness" by Charlie Jane Anders at io9 and one from Two Men Enter which believes the show has improved since the pilot. Will Revolution stand the test of time?
Submissions Wanted
The folks at Horror Tree created a calender of upcoming anthology deadlines you should all check out. They are, however, mostly horror anthologies, but the calender did help me find an upcoming anthology about zombies in alternate history. I will be submitting a story to them and I hope you do too. Other upcoming anthologies you might be interested in include stories on war, apocalypses and time travel.
Looking for more work? Nightmare Magazine has launched today. Check out their Submissions guidelines if you are interested in sending them your work.
Finally, Quirk Books, the guys who brought us Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, are looking for an experienced Writer/Editor to join their staff.
As always good luck and...BRAINS!!!
Things to do
For those extroverts out there, here are some more fun activities for you to enjoy:
Oct 14-Nov 3: A steampunk re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland art show, which is still looking for artists, in Mesa, AZ.
Oct 27: 37th Annual unCommon Cause's theme this year is “Chaos Reigns, Steampunk Rules" (Columbus, IN).
Links to the Multiverse
Article
10 Ways To Spot A Time Traveller by Brad Williams at WhatCulture.
The Iraq Red Team by Michael R. Gordon at Foreign Policy.
Steampunk Australia by Jenny Schwartz at Steamed!
Vanished Kingdoms – Tolosa at Kilobooks.
Books
Alternate history catches fire by Doug Johnson at the griff.
Chapter 2 is finished by The Kiat at An Alternate History of the Netherlands.
CLASH of EAGLES Sample Chapter by Sebastian Breit.
Dies the Fire and the Emberverse by S.M. Stirling at Click Clack Gorilla.
Guest Blog by Lee Collins, author of The Dead of Winter - "Weird West is Weird" at The Qwillery.
Guest Post: Harvey Simon (The Madman Theory) at Bibliophilia, Please.
Jeff Greenfield re-envisions history by Patrick Gavin at Politico.
Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman.
Review of Blades of Winter by G. T. Almasi done by Bastard Books.
Review of Other Worlds Than These done by Alan Cranis at Bookgasm.
Steampunk Visual Novel Shiei no Sona-Nyl Coming To PSP by Spencer at Siliconera.
Films
Aurora – Steampunk Short Film Q and A – Tuts+ Workshop by Adam Everett Miller at ae tuts +.
The Trailer Tai Chi Zero Breaks New Ground For Martial Arts Movies by Ryan at Reelz.
Games
Dishonored Enters "The Mind of Madness" by Andy Chalk at The Escapist.
Steampunk themed social RPG Conquista Fantasia has arrived in English at Droid Gamers.
‘Torchlight II’ Review: Now With Twice As Many Diablo References by Adam Dodd at Bloody Disgusting.
Interview
William Gibson at io9.
Rian Johnson at AV Club.
Music
Top 10 Steampunk Songs by Jef With One F at Houston Press.
Television
Face Off “Dishonorable Proportion” Review – “If you don’t do Steampunk well, Glenn is going to murder you.” by Kelly Michele at TV Equals.
TV REVIEW: Continuum Series 1 Episode 1 – ‘A Stitch in Time’ at Geek Syndicate.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.
Regarding Revolution, I thought the show actually got worse with the second episode. I'll still keep watching it, at least for one or two more episodes.
ReplyDeleteStill haven't watched it myself. I have read so many mixed reviews and promos I've seen from the show (like the map above) are scaring me off. I am still dvring it so when I am ready I can sit down and watch it at my leisure.
DeleteI'd be curious to hear your take on ep. 3. I've pretty much reached the breaking point on being able to watch this show. I'm finding the writers are basically insulting the audience's intelligence at this point (if they weren't with the basic setting already). And watching CHarlie is unbearable; killing her character off would give the show a boost both plot-wise and in watchability.
ReplyDeleteBut, io9 is reporting it has been given a full season, which is surprising.
I can think of a few reasons for a whole season: 1) It has gotten some good reviews and io9 keeps defending it, 2) With Abrams and Favreau's names attached to the project, it is hard to cancel something that might upset their fan base and 3) NBC put a lot of money marketing it so to pull out now would mean losing a lot of money. The show did take a ratings drop after episode 2, but it still beat out Hawaii 5-0, so for the producers and fans of Revolution, that is good news. SF fans who tend to analyze and dissect anything they read/watch won't enjoy, but the average viewer doesn't take their entertaining that serious and they might be the ones to keep the show afloat.
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