Idea for Online Dieselpunk Fiction Zine

Steampunk has lots of fiction to read. It did start as a literary movement after all, that morphed into a DIY subculture. Dieselpunk, however, rose from numerous sources - films like Sky Captain, The Rocketeer, etc., the swing revival of the 1990s, and a few other things. Yes, I'm generalizing. Let's not start an argument. But one thing I have not seen much of is Dieselpunk fiction.

I see a few people here on the forums saying they are beginning to write some DP fiction. I wanna see it, and I think these stories should be available in one place. I would like to start a 'zine that is reminiscent of the pulp magazines of the era, filled with new stories, whether standalone or serialized.

I want to make a test issue, to see if this could be do-able on a regular basis. So I am going to need some help.

Stories: I think the first issue should have 2-3 short stories of about 6-10 pages, and one longer piece that is 20 or so pages long, that could either stand by itself or be the start of a serialized piece. I will contribute one story myself.

Stories should evoke the Dieselpunk era, so please keep it between the wars, but feel free to use the sci-fi tech. In other words, no Mad Max or other futuristic XP settings. If this thing takes off, there will be themes issues, and I'll be happy to include those kinds of stories in the approprite issues.

Artwork: This thing is gonna need a cover. I'm thinking it should be more like the cover of a pulp magazine and less deco-inspired. There should also be a pinup somewhere in the middle. I'm undecided whether or not there should be more, like a comics page or something. What do you guys think?

Rules: If we wanna get this off the ground, I'd rather not run into any legal problems, so please don't use copywrited characters in your stories. No Shadow, Rocketeer, Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade. The gumshoe archetype is pretty well-defined, so really, just slapping a different name on the character is probably sufficient. Hell, Chandler did that.

Does this sound like a good idea?

If you want in, you can email me submissions at tleland1980@yahoo.com

Thanks, all.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eldritch Engines on April 13, 2012 at 4:55pm

Hm. Have a couple of ideas for short fiction. May have to work something up. Had an idea for a prequel to what I'm writing now, but it should stand on its own enough to work.

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Permalink Reply by Travis James Leland on April 13, 2012 at 5:13pm

Thanks, Chef. I'll be glad to take a look when it's done.

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Permalink Reply by Eldritch Engines on April 13, 2012 at 9:32pm

Theft of the Red Witch is what I'm calling it. The story of how my less-than-heroic air pirate captain and his bunch of miscreants got their hands on their airship, stealing it from out from under the collective nose of the Victoria Province militia. No idea about the details yet.

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Permalink Reply by lord_k on April 14, 2012 at 1:52am

First, I recommend to repost it to our Authors & Storytellers group - every member will receive a notification. It's important.

Second, if we agree to showcase some excerpts from novels and novelettes (not more than one per issue), it may work fine.

Third, contact Tome Wilson - some episodes from the Titan RPG are worth publishing.

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Permalink Reply by Travis James Leland on April 14, 2012 at 3:10am

Lord_k,

I will definitely repost it there. Thanks.

Also, I was interested in possibly having either a full issue or a recurring episodic thing written by different authors all set in Titan.

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Permalink Reply by lord_k on April 14, 2012 at 3:26am

Fine. And if (and when) you are going to give some love to the excerpts, let me know. Got something up my (or rather, our) sleeve.

Travis James Leland said:

Lord_k,

I will definitely repost it there. Thanks.

Also, I was interested in possibly having either a full issue or a recurring episodic thing written by different authors all set in Titan.

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Permalink Reply by Dan G. on April 14, 2012 at 10:52am

Yes, YES, PLEASE!!! An ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT idea!!!!

And Well Overdo! Can not wait to see this happen! Might even force me to finally find time to write something of my own.

I'm sure that fellow Diesel Heads everywhere will ~ THANK YOU! ~ Travis.

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Permalink Reply by Alisa Breiling on April 14, 2012 at 11:15pm

Dropped you an email in regards to the art. Fair warning.

Will be working up some possibilities in the meantime.

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Permalink Reply by Travis James Leland on April 14, 2012 at 11:42pm

Alisa - Got it and responded. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Mim McDonald on April 15, 2012 at 2:28am

Once it's been up and running for a while (and it is clear that the quality is high), I might be able to get it some publicity. (I review SF books/films for a UK publication.)