Dieselpunk + Steampunk Culture
New girl in town
Hi! I'm here to learn about Dieselpunk, at least the fiction end of it. I've been a fan of sorts since the 80s with Indiana Jones and Tailspin. Heck, I even have Cape Suzette as a real city, the American Hong Kong in my not so little writing project! Cape Suzette is actually on American-owned Timor.
So that's what I'm trying to do, write the great Alternate History/Sci-Fi/Dieselpunk novel. I want it to be the best one too. So modest I am. So I thought I'd make an introduction. Be well everyone!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hayen Mill on -
Welcome! Looking forward to read your story! I am a writer myself, though not too experienced.
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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on -
Welcome to Dieselpunks, Charlotte!
Have you started outlining your novel yet? What's the theme?
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Permalink Reply by Larry on -
Welcome Charlotte! Great to have you with us. I've written a first draft of a dieselpunk novella, which of course needs a lot more work.
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Wolery on -
Oah! Larry, hope you are making more progress than I. The damned perfection bug haunts my every step. I HATE having to edit. I never wrote a second draft in school, I hated the thought of 'doing it again' that much. Computer typing programs saved me in the end.
As to my project: At heart it's an AH where a Dieselpunk/post-Steampunk German General overthrows Hitler in early 1945 and attempts to force the Allies to make peace with the Reich. Mind you the Germans of my world have fought a MUCH better WWII and have fought the Allies to a standstill. And they are getting nukes. Everyone I've outlined this to is emphatic that the Germans MUST have nukes to survive.
Right now I'm trying to do a early start depicting that world's 1939. I am hampered by the fact I know NOTHING of German culture, much less German culture in the Third Reich. And before anyone suggests it, I cannot go to Germany, not for YEARS. I can't afford to drive to Chicago. I'm very afraid of making the my characters (All German) too and painfully so American. Except the General that is, who is an Americanophile.
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Permalink Reply by Larry on
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Charlotte,
My story is a sequel to a steampunk novella I've written. Same universe but set later in the diesel era. I'm in the process of doing a second draft of the steampunk novella. If I get something good then I'll rewrite the dieselpunk sequel.
Your story sounds great. I hope you finish it someday. For research there's a lot of good sources. I'll ask around and see what I can find for you.
Don't feel bad about doing a rewrite. Everyone does at least one. Find a trusted friend who's knowledgeable of creative writing and who will give you honest feedback. Screw your courage to the sticking place, accept the feedback and then act on it.
Charlotte Wolery said:Oah! Larry, hope you are making more progress than I. The damned perfection bug haunts my every step. I HATE having to edit. I never wrote a second draft in school, I hated the thought of 'doing it again' that much. Computer typing programs saved me in the end.
As to my project: At heart it's an AH where a Dieselpunk/post-Steampunk German General overthrows Hitler in early 1945 and attempts to force the Allies to make peace with the Reich. Mind you the Germans of my world have fought a MUCH better WWII and have fought the Allies to a standstill. And they are getting nukes. Everyone I've outlined this to is emphatic that the Germans MUST have nukes to survive.
Right now I'm trying to do a early start depicting that world's 1939. I am hampered by the fact I know NOTHING of German culture, much less German culture in the Third Reich. And before anyone suggests it, I cannot go to Germany, not for YEARS. I can't afford to drive to Chicago. I'm very afraid of making the my characters (All German) too and painfully so American. Except the General that is, who is an Americanophile.
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Permalink Reply by lord_k on -
Welcome, Charlotte.
I'm busy with my own project that in some respect is a negative of yours: set in 1972, the story goes in the world without WWII. Quite different from all kinds of 'Germany Victorious' or 'Red Europe'.
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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on
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@Charlotte - Keep your eyes out for my upcoming series about WWI. While it's an entirely different war, it built the foundation of WWII.
Countries got pulled in because they had promised to protect their allies, which set off a long and convoluted chain of "I have to fight, because X got attacked."
When warfare became mechanized, and was less about people and more about technology, the "knock-out punch" everyone was hoping for never came. There was never a clear-cut Braveheart moment when all of the good guys rushed the bad guys and the winner was the last man standing. This lead to attrition, which lead to frustration, which lead to more technology being developed that could deliver that knock-out punch. Hence, poison gas and eventually the atom bomb in WWII.
It wasn't until we saw proof that we could destroy whole countries (and hurt ourselves in the process) that we stepped back.
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Wolery on
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lord_k said:Welcome, Charlotte.
I'm busy with my own project that in some respect is a negative of yours: set in 1972, the story goes in the world without WWII. Quite different from all kinds of 'Germany Victorious' or 'Red Europe'.
Oh snap! So I imagine the Soviet Union is there, without a Red Alert invasion, cause that would be a WWII. What happened in Germany? Did Hindenburg liquidate the Nazi-fill Reichstag and re-implement the monarchy as was in his will? Or did Wiemar survive? I'm rooting for the monarchical Third Reich but still. And did the Japanese go to war? Any Cold War? All question I know but all possibilities.
Tome Wilson said:@Charlotte - Keep your eyes out for my upcoming series about WWI. While it's an entirely different war, it built the foundation of WWII.
Countries got pulled in because they had promised to protect their allies, which set off a long and convoluted chain of "I have to fight, because X got attacked."
Oh yeah, I know it. Since my world went steampunk, WWI is slightly different. Zeppelin airdrops behind the trench lines, German Armored Cars, the heavily mechanized German agricultural sector, none of it makes any difference in the end, although the Women's auxiliaries were used to pull women into combat formations, and as a result Feminism kinda wins on the battlefield and Women's equality is de facto achieved in Europe by WWII. Thing is, women get more respect, femininity does NOT, so a whole generation of women are shaped by an equality that encourages them to act, if not always dress, butch. And surprisingly, with female alteskommares, the Nazi Party is one of the most ferocious promoters of female equality. The Kirke, Kuche, Kindern is there, but it's a aspiration (every bit as valuable as men's roles) of life after the Reich is victorious. Until then, women march and fight with the men.
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Permalink Reply by Tome Wilson on
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@Charlotte - Have you read anything about Russia's "Women's Battalion of Death" and "Maria Bochkareva" in WWI?
If not, you may be in for a shock.
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Permalink Reply by lord_k on
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Well, the Soviet Union is still there, but it's not the Soviet Union we know: a self-isolated entity that lost all its posessions East of the Ural mountains. No monarchy in Germany - 10 years of military rule, then pseudo-democracy under the watchful eye of Mr. Speer. Japan went to war twice. There is a Cold War between Europe and Japanese-dominated Asia. US influence is restricted to Latin America.
Charlotte Wolery said:
Oh snap! So I imagine the Soviet Union is there, without a Red Alert invasion, cause that would be a WWII. What happened in Germany? Did Hindenburg liquidate the Nazi-fill Reichstag and re-implement the monarchy as was in his will? Or did Wiemar survive? I'm rooting for the monarchical Third Reich but still. And did the Japanese go to war? Any Cold War? All question I know but all possibilities.
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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Wolery on
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Well Mr. Wilson, I got the idea from learning about the Women's Death Brigades. My vision of a WWII with Women in sex-integrated combat units, just wouldn't go away. To add plausibility I had Constantine raise to Legions of women in the late Roman Empire (and used them to retake Dacia), and they were destroyed at Adrianople, and the Pre-Napoleonic French Revolutionary Army was sex integrated too. Biggest thing I am wondering, is how much you can up the military manpower with women without shutting civil society down. I banking on 25%.
Lord_K, that sounds interesting! Though, I have to say the Japanese taking Siberia from the Russians is nigh on impossible. The Japanese logistics was horrendous (which explains the slow conquest of China), and the Russians had three to five times the industrial capacity. No army could move fast enough to conquer Siberia in a short war and the Russians would win any long war. And besides, Khalkhyn Gol showed even a Purged Army could take on the best of the Japanese and manhandle them. BUT, might I suggest that the Japanese back Admiral Kolchak to the hilt in the RCW. He was based out of Vladivostok, and the Reds were weak enough that the IJA could force them to ceasefire somewhere between Omsk and the Urals. Kolchak would 'save' part of Russia from the Commies, and the Japanese would push the Russians out of their sphere of influence, and given the tiny population of Siberia, Kolchak would quickly be forced to become a puppet of the Japanese. The Soviet Union would have the means to crush Siberia (or the Despotate of Kolchak), but the sheer distances involved would overwhelm any invader. If you can break the zimbutzus in Japan and have a post-war style industrial revolution, then you're cooking with gas!
But why would Europe be feuding with Japan? Besides the fact that Britain France, Holland and Germany make up like 40% of the world's industrial capacity, it seems to me the Japanese are significantly outgunned. And also, did the Americans just abandon the Philippines after independence. Isolationism is one thing, abandoning confirmed business interests is another.
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