Today's steampunk entry is mostly about the visual oohs and ahhs. If you'd like something with a little more density, however, sink your teeth into the history of science fiction between 1900 and 1910 - great material for research and inspiration! (Swiped from Matt's weblog.)
And now, on to fantastic robots that clank, a synthesizer that steams, a weblog full of artistic wonders that tick, and a game of clones and Cherry Chronoberry pies.
And look, a steampunk podcast! Huzzah!
SL: A novel with an automaton for a protagonist is about as steampunk as you can get, I think! What inspired you to write about Mattie?
ES: I am always drawn to not quite human characters -- I think because by being so essentially different they help bring into focus some of the more human concerns. With Mattie, who is explicitly a thing, it created an additional layer of interesting questions -- such as the agency of a created entity and the possibility of directly interacting with the person who gave her life. It also seemed like an interesting vehicle for talking about gender and essential definitions of such.
SL: The city almost seems like a character of its own in the book, and [your previous book] The Secret History of Moscow features a city as well. Is there something that draws you to cities personally?
ES: Yes, I do love cities, especially in the sense of them being expressions of people who live in them, accumulating those layers of history. The way they grow tells us so much about what happened to people in it, how this city came about -- LA, for example, is a city built around cars, while many European cities have such narrow streets that they are much more welcoming to pedestrian traffic. You see cities springing quickly with industrial development, or slowly expanding over centuries; you see cities planned on a grid and cities that are completely haphazard. So yes, places where people live are important because of what it says about them.
SL: Do you have a certain room or a certain space for writing?
ES: I have a small office in my house, and I do some of my writing there. I also have a NEC 900 handheld PC, and that allows me to write anywhere. I'm not at all picky about space -- I'm quite happy writing on a train or while watching TV with my husband.
SL: Which character is your favorite in the book? And which one gave you the most trouble?
ES: Mattie would be too obvious, so I'm going to say The Soul-Smoker. He is a sweet sweet man whose mere proximity will kill you. What's not to like?
Loharri was the most troublesome. He, as a perspicacious reader once noticed, is an asshole, and yet he's not devoid of some good qualities. So keeping him balanced and complex, without letting his veer into too much melodrama or evil, was difficult. The readers will see whether it actually worked.
SL: What's next for you? Do you have more books in the works?
ES: I have one more book coming out with Prime -- The House of Discarded Dreams, should be out next year. I am currently working on another book -- steampunk/alternate history. And I have a YA in the works, so keeping busy.
SL: Do you write your books in Russian or in English? Do you find that one language is more expressive or more restricting than the other?
ES: I only write in English, because I find it easier. Russian is a more complex language, and it is more difficult to write *well* in Russian -- for me, at least.
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Again, many thanks to Ekaterina, and I hope to feature more of this literary bent in future posts!
...to point you to the Brooklyn Museum's Flickr page, and, more specifically, their photographs of the 1900 Paris Exposition. Gorgeous.
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