Petter Tupper: There's steampunk as an aesthetic or visual style, which I see as a revolt against the modernist, minimalist view of the future which has dominated our view of the future since the 1960s. Call it a rebellion against the featureless black slab of the iPhone.

There's steampunk as a genre of fiction. Some of it uses the aesthetic I mentioned above. Others make a point of examining the social aspects of the era, the social inequality, the technological and economic culture shock, and so on.

There's also steampunk as a modern subculture, with values of civility and technological creativity and self-reliance.

TL: When approaching this anthology, did you have to do a lot of research?  If so, what was the focus of your studies?

PT: I didn't say, "I think I'll do a steampunk collection. Start the research." I already knew a lot about the Victorian era through my university education, and my BDSM history research, focusing on things like gender, sexuality, pornography, colonialism. The stories grew out of that.

I think some people regard research as a chore, something they have to do so nobody can go, "Aha! You got that wrong!" Really, research can be a fuel for creativity.

TL: Tell us what makes this story Steampunk as opposed to just historical fiction in the Victorian era.

PT: Some reviewers of my book have said it isn't steampunk. I assume because of the lack of technology as central elements. I'd say that too many people put too much emphasis on the "steam" part of the genre and not enough on the "punk" part.

For example, take Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel, "From Hell", an exploration of the Jack the Ripper murders. There's no steampunk-type tech in it, nor does it diverge from real world history, but I'd say it's kind of steampunk. When we read it, we see a world familiar to us from other media, but Moore and Campbell create a sense of unfamiliarity by how they tell the story. They avoid cliches and tell the story from the perspectives of the prostitutes, the occultists, the gangsters and others who might have been ignored in other treatments of this material. By making us look at a familiar era in a new way, we see our own era in a new way.

William Gibson said that his cyberpunk books were in part based on asking himself, "In these high-tech future worlds, who are the underclass? Who deals the drugs? Who does the sex work? What do criminals do?" Steampunk can ask the same question could be asked of the past: Who are the underclass and what are their lives like?

Gibson's most recent trilogy is actually set in the immediate past, but it feels like science fiction. It's a point of view, a way of thinking about society.

TL: You based a lot of your characters in this anthology on real, historical figures. Do you feel more comfortable fleshing out a character who's already got a loose template?  Or do you like building a character from the ground up?

PT: There are so many fascinating people in the 19th century, and so well documented, that it is pretty easy to make a fictional version of them. Sometimes I'll just develop a character as needed by the story.

TL: What character in this story do you feel you relate to the most?

PT: Ricar, in "The Innocent's Progress", is probably my most autobiographical character. I wrote that when I was feeling a bit burnt out in the BDSM scene, having been involved since the early 1990s.

TL: With your studies in the history of BDSM and sexuality, do you feel that the Victorian/ Steampunk genre is an obstruction or liberation when writing?

PT: 19th century Europe and America was perhaps the first culture of nearly universal literacy, so there is a vast amount of historical documentation. There's a huge number of books about Victorian sexuality alone: the pornography, the homosexual subculture, the place of flagellation in society, the early sexologists, the influences of race and culture and religion, all of which fuels the creativity.


TL: The overall message of the anthology seemed a bit of a cautionary tale to the over-glorification of The Victorian period.  Was that your intent?  

PT: I don't want to come across as finger-wagging, but I admit that when I look at steampunk, there's a little voice in the back of my mind saying, "Um, didn't the 19th century suck for a lot of people, even if you add airships?" If there's a unifying theme in this collection, it's characters who feel isolated and confined by social pressures.

TL: Talk about your next project.  What can your readers expect going forward and when?

PT: I'm still working on the BDSM history project (www.historyofbdsm.com).  I just finished a story for another Circlet Press anthology, based on the works of HP Lovecraft. It was a challenge to write erotica based on the works of an author notorious for his horror of the sensual and the feminine, but I think it worked out pretty well. I'm also working on a fantasy story that's kind of a Farley Mowat-HP Lovecraft mashup.

Final thoughts:

I found this anthology to be significant for the fact that I believe that Steampunk done right is a fanbase of remarkably smart people. Peter Tupper has contributed an excellent book that one can point to and say, “See!!! This is Steampunk!”  It’s not just about fancy pants dressing and being a Goth-inSepia.  It’s a real mindset that appeals to re-purposing, ingenuity, fashion, music, sexuality, art, and fine manners. What I like most about this anthology is that it speaks not only to the idealists of the neo-Victorians and Steampunks, but it also talks about its warts.  That new technology does not a perfect society make. Something we can take away currently most assuredly. I adored the message of “Spirit of the Future”.

On one hand those not interested in human sexuality and all of its little quirks may not see the destruction or loss of such a collection as something that should matter in the grand scheme of adventures. Afterall, who wants to read about saving some old sex books when there are great golden treasures to be found and dirigibles to fly? One could say a story whose corner stone is to save a great library of humanity and its sexual perversions preserved is a trite thing to write about, but I say nay.  Not because of who I am or the work I do - because, as a burlesque performer, I am commenting on human sexuality all the time.  Be it through my performance, persona, or writing - I do it because it’s part of our humanity.  It’s part of our heritage and history.  The ritual of sacred sexuality in all forms is as important if not more so than any other piece of literature we may aspire to preserve. As we all start to move away from the printed word, what shall be the modern day equivalent to the burning of The Great Library of Alexandria?  Who shall be the next Anthony Comstock? Will the transfer to E-Readers be our Fahrenheit 451? Will what we read and how we read it fall under the vice-police’s grip? I like what Peter had to say with this last story. I will let his words sum that up here:

I wish to thank Peter Tupper for his writing and for his contribution to my own little library. May it, and all of its other little perverse volumes in my collection never go up in flames.  Here’s to contaminating the future!  Happy reading!

Talloolah Love is a contributor to the Steampunk Chronicle, founder of the Atlanta Burlesque & Cabaret Club, as well as a burlesque sensation and promoter of events.  You can follow her activities at www.talloolah.com.