Stephen King has a non-scarey book called ‘On Writing’. It is what I have in large print over the dash board of my cross trainer. Whenever I read a book about writing I feel pretty good because it is almost not procrastinating at all. Reading on a cross trainer feels even better because it isn’t even slothful and as far as I know, nobody has figured out a way to write on a cross trainer.

Most self help books contain 50 – 100 thousand words but you really only take away 100. You just don’t know which 100 until you’ve read the lot. Mr King has some stuff to say about being faithful to yourself as a writer – about telling your own truth. I sort of thought I knew what he meant – he talked about how he grew up writing horror and for him writing horror is his truth. But then I thought about my steam punk project.

First of all I got into steam punk because I love the imagery, and I’m still haunted by the wonderful book The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson) which first introduced me to a sci-fi cyber punk community of new-Victorians. But more than that, within this brilliantly imagined post capitalistic world was nestled the stories of little girls. The sub-title of the book is: A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer. If you haven’t read it you should go out and read the first 90 percent of the book immediately. I think the publisher mistakenly printed the last ten percent however … but as usual I digress.

So for me when I think of Steam Punk I’m not really thinking of an assortment of objectified women in corsets and silks. I’m thinking of kick ass ladies en masse getting the vote and anything else they damn well please.

In a book coming to your cybershelves soon you’ll get to read about some feisty females – and males too – as you join them Between The Stars. (That’s the title)