Today we welcome Maureen O. Betita
I’m Maureen O. Betita, creator of The Kraken’s Caribbean Series and A Caribbean Spell Series. I live in California and am so damned lucky to find Steampunk conventions flourish on the west coast.
Steampunk Convention(s)
By Maureen O. Betita
There is nothing like attending a Steampunk convention. Big, little, in a hotel, on a cruise ship, wearing a corset or overalls. It’s just…a world outside of itself. And inside itself. I often feel as if anything could happen at one of these conventions.
Dr. Who could wander thru one of these wonderful events and no one would blink. Captain Jack Sparrow, Sherlock Holmes (pick your favorite)…and Jack the Ripper, Mr. Hyde, Dracula. As if there is a huge neon sign blinking into the cosmos – ALL ARE WELCOME!
Flash Gordon? Come on in! Ming the Merciless? We have a table for you right over here. Miles Vorkosigan? Luke Skywalker? Captain Nemo! Love the turbin, let me set your sword over here…
Wander any Steampunk conference and you’ll see it all. If you open your eyes and look. James West and Artemis Gordon just wandered thru the ballroom, Jim took a spin with that redhead sporting tentacles under her skirt…
Music plays, commerce takes place, couples wander, arm in arm, posing for pictures. Tea is served, battles are discussed, as are great scientific accomplishments. The man from SETI is in the forward meeting room, setting up a slideshow. The company following whales from the dirigible are babbling about how close they got to a mother and calf, migrating to Alaska.
And off in a corner, there are shadows and strange meetings. Beneath the haunting music of Unwoman a writer huddles, scratching away at her tablet, beset with an idea…
I was that writer. Aboard the Queen Mary at Her Majesties Royal Steampunk Symposium, Long Beach, California. I thought, what if…
And Lorelei’s Song was born. My newest release from Decadent Publishing, a mix of Steampunk/horror/erotic romance. What makes it Steampunk? It takes place at a Steampunk convention, mostly. What makes it horror? Well, the descendants of Cthulhu are stalking their prey. What makes it erotic romance? There are two of them and one of her and she wants to be caught.
Cthulhu was part of the Steampunk con on the Queen Mary. The Sunday morning service was in homage to his great tentacleness and from there…I knew. I had to see his horribleness wander a convention.
For those who don’t know who Cthulhu is…get thee to Wikipedia! His immensity has become a bit of the patron god of Steampunk. Born of the imagination of H.P. Lovecraft…or channeled, who knows… he’s taken the world by steam! And his distant sons take Lorelei…
Here’s an excerpt, the men are setting up the Steampunk convention, hoping to find the one woman who can help them remain sane and handle the strength of their passion… Unknown to them, she’s in the room. Instincts try to take control…
His nostrils caught the perfume of something different. Spicy, with a hint of dry driftwood, it wafted in the air and he froze. Damn, what the hell was that? He started at a sharp rap on the table. “Fuck.”
“Get up here!” A kick arrived with the plea.
He rose, rubbing his head, to find Jerrod snatching up a pair of goggles and sliding them on.
“What the hell?”
“My eyes. I can’t—” His kinsman turned his back on the nearly empty room. “I smelled something odd and—”
“Okay, okay. Sit and—”
“Get me the hell out of here!”
Jerrod gripped his arm tightly, head turned so Nicholas could glimpse the shadow of the change on his cheek bones.
Nicholas didn’t think. He wrapped his arms around his cousin and pulled him down to the shadow of the table. Lowering a hand, he gripped the steel-rod erection he knew he’d find beneath the loose pants.
Holding the rigid cock, he whispered, “I smelled her, too. She’s out there. You just have to be stealthy. Be the monster who stalks. Blend in. We’ll find her.”
“I…want….”
The hollow echo of the deepest crevasse of the ocean reverberated against Nicholas’s bones in the low voice.
“Yeah, we’re gonna find her, and we’re gonna fuck her, and this time, we aren’t going to hold back.”
……
Lorelei’s Song – available as an ebook at Decadent, Amazon, Smashwords and most e-outlets.
Tell me of your favorite monster and who you would like to see wander a Steampunk convention. One random comment will win a copy of Lorelei’s Song.
~Maureen
Decadent http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=751&osCsid=od4lb7goki9vvlpaa1t5519og7
Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/300475
STEAMED! 
Great post Maureen,
I LOVE the excerpt, now I’ve gotta get the book. The Convention sounds AWESOME. My favorite monster would have to be Mr. Hyde, total sensualist/hedonist. I love to see James West and Artemis Gordon, Dr. Who (all of his regenerations) and Captain Nemo.
Mindy 🙂
Birdsooong@comcast.net
Mindy, I was at a Steampunk con with a wild Wild West theme! Such wonderful costumes…
Thanks for letting me climb aboard!
Great post. I would love to bump into Dr Who or Captain Jack Harkness. One of my favourite monsters is Fenrir.