That's right, on Saturday I was at the second launch of new steampunk collection Steam Flashes, at Cogs Bar, Birmingham (UK)'s first steampunk bar. Steam Flashes contains one of my flash fiction (ie, short) stories, plus some of my photographs.

As you'll know from previous posts, all profits from Steam Flashes go to the charity New Futures Nepal. Not only did all contributors to the book - authors, photographers, makers - donate their work free of charge, all performers at Saturday's event performed for free, and Cogs Bar generously hosted without charge. Thanks go to everyone involved for their generosity in contributing to this project!

With my own good self as Mistress of Ceremonies, the evening began with an introduction to Steam Flashes and New Futures Nepal from Steven C. Davis, the man behind the entire project. Not only was this Steven's idea, he also managed to convince publishing company Tenebrous Texts to waive any fees in publishing the book beyond their costs. He concluded by reading his flash fiction story from the book.

We then moved onto tea duelling, and on this occasion first-time dueller Craig proved victorious. In another first, we were graced by author C.S. Wright, reading his contribution to Steam Flashes, and making his public reading debut with great aplomb. Craig is also the man behind Cogsmith Publishing, currently running a crowdfunder project for a new work, Airships and Automata.  And I also read my contribution to Steam Flashes, a flash fiction piece entitled Sun, Snow, Steam.

Yet more entertainment came from Jessica Law, playing an acoustic set with a resonator mandolele, from Count Rostov and his amazing puns (not to mention the Beetroot Rap - can you dig it? (then layer it with a little compost?)), and from the excellent Magpie Cafe with their blend of electro-swing. Special mention to Mark Round from the Magpie Cafe, playing the set on his birthday.

Additional thanks must also go to Count Rostov once more for providing commentary on the tea duelling over which I presided; and to Lady M for making some splendid steampunk cupcakes (with cogs on - oh yes), all profits from which she also donated to New Futures Nepal. Thanks also to soundman Andrei who did a great job and also took part in the tea duelling!

Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves, so I hope that was indeed the case. We made nearly £200 for the charity on the night. You were all marvellous - mwah! 

And what else can I do but leave you with the image of one of Jessica Law's Octokittens - along with the image of the book, of course, which is still available, priced £10, from Tenebrous Texts.  But hurry! A sell-out may soon be on the cards...

Having had its first launch at the annual event for the charity New Futures Nepal, new publication Steam Flashes has got all greedy and thrown in a second event!

Steam Flashes is, of course, the steampunk collection of flash fiction, photographs and articles in aid of New Futures Nepal. It features a flash fiction work from me, as well as some of my photographs from last year's charity event at Southcart Books in Walsall.

This time we'll be in Cogs bar in Birmingham with what promises to be a splendiferous evening on 23rd April - well, with me as MC, what else could it be? (ahem) The evening's entertainment will include:

•  An introduction from Steven C. Davis, author, GASP radio host and the man who conceived of Steam Flashes and convinced his publishers to publish on a costs-only basis.  That's right, folks, ALL profits will go to New Futures Nepal, to help them carry out their work with disadvantaged people in Nepal.
• Readings from various contributors to the book, including Steven C. Davis
•  Music from Jessica Law, formerly of The Mechanisms, and an author in her own right
• More music from The Magpie Cafe, local electro-swing heroes
• Entertainment from the legend that is Count Rostov (yes, that's 'Count')
• Tea-duelling - your chance to take part in a game of skill, nerve and biscuits

And of course, you get the opportunity to purchase the tome as well - £10, with all profits to charity as previously mentioned.

The event is FREE entry, and starts from 6pm (Cogs open from 4pm).  We hope to see you there!
​(But if you can't make it, you can now obtain the book from Tenebrous Texts - £10 plus postage)

Last weekend I did something I haven't done for a while.  I went out on a jolly!  With a bunch of lovely and exquisitely dressed personages, namely, various members of the West Midlands Steampunk Assembly  (Assembly Assemble!)

We visited the picturesque Victorian surrounds of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and spent a lovely few hours under surprisingly sunny skies, all togged out in our Saturday best.

It's not often that I go just for fun; more usually weekends are either spent writing/ composing/ doing stuff for the #GASP radio show.  As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to remember how to do the going-out-for-fun stuff.  So big thanks to the assembled Assembly for giving me a very timely reminder!  And it also got me thinking - there are some lovely places in the West Midlands.  Where else might be good for a steampunk style outing?

Here's a few I could think of, with some help from fellow Assemblers:
 

• Birmingham Back to Backs http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/birmingham-back-to-backs/
  
• Birmingham Botanical Gardens  http://www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk/
  
• Black Country Living Museum  http://www.bclm.co.uk/
• Bridgnorth Cliff Railway  http://www.bridgnorthcliffrailway.co.uk/
  
• Cadbury World (yes, chocolate is steampunk, and so is the neighbourhood of Bournville) http://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/
  
• Cannon Hill Park  http://www.cannonhillpeoplespark.net/
  
• Dudley Zoological gardens (for safaris)  http://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk/
• Edwardian tearooms at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG)http://www.bmag.org.uk/birmingham-museum/cafe-shop
• Hereford Waterworks http://www.waterworksmuseum.org.uk/?module=landing&e=notvalid
• J W Evans Silver Factory https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/j-w-evans-silver-factory/
  
• The Jekyll and Hyde Victorian gin parlourhttp://www.thejekyllandhyde.co.uk/
• MAD Museum, Stratford on Avon  http://themadmuseum.co.uk/
  
• Newman Brothers Coffin Workshttp://www.birminghamconservationtrust.org/current/newman-brothers/
  
• Severn Valley Railway  http://www.svr.co.uk/
  
• Soho House (home of Matthew Boulton)  http://www.bmag.org.uk/soho-house
• Thinktank, just for the working steam engines alone! http://www.thinktank.ac/
  
• Tyseley Loco Works - their open days have some SERIOUS engineering & home base of vintage trains (see below) http://www.tyseleylocoworks.co.uk/tlw/
  
• Vintage Trains/ Shakespeare Express http://www.vintagetrains.co.uk/
  
• Winterbourne House & Gardens  http://www.winterbourne.org.uk/

So where else is good for a jolly?  Let me know if you have any favourites that I've missed...

See below for a few photos from the event - the Assembly themselves are concealed on my facebook page, but they know who they are...

Now that the studying is out of the way, I'm turning my attention to other things.... like the third and final volume of The Automata Wars, a new musical collaboration, a new literary collaboration, and a host of other ideas.  Of course, it isn't always easy switching from a particular style of painstakingly researched writing to something that demands completely different styles of productivity.  I thought I'd share my top tips on how to make it all work.

1. Try writing individual ideas on post-it notes.  You can either stick them on a large piece of paper to see where they might fall in the grand scheme of your idea; or preferably stick them to the cat and treat the order in which they fall off as the intervention of fate.
2. Ensure cats are well-fed before you start, ten minutes after you start, and then at 30 minute intervals.  Either that or don't feed them, and treat the results of them rolling on the keyboard as the intervention of fate.
3. Do not be tempted to open the windows.  This will only admit insects for cats to chase.  Either that, or do open the windows, and treat the results of cats charging backwards and forwards over the keyboard as the intervention of fate.
4. Make sure your working environment is comfortable.  Sitting on a cat's tail can be detrimental to your comfort.
5. Do not forget to check social media sites regularly.  It is very important to keep in touch with your friends, colleagues, potential readers, and their pictures of cats.
6. If your creative endeavour includes any artistic medium, ensure that the design calls for cat fur in both strategic and non-strategic places, because you know it will end up there anyway.
7. Ensure all electronics you are using, including surge protectors, are protected from surges of cat vomit.
8. Do not pause to stroke cats even if they look cute.  It is difficult to create with a stone of cat hanging from your finger by its teeth.
9. You may wish to consider shutting cats out to ensure you remain undisturbed.  If so, ensure your timetable allows for refitting carpets/ repainting doors/ making good external woodwork that has been damaged by cats attempting to regain entry.
10. If you are getting stressed about your project, remember that cats are excellent for helping reduce stress (it says here).  Why not take a break from your project to feed your cat?  Just don't leave anything drying, unless you're happy for it to have footprints in it...

Well, there you have it.  I hope you can make good use of these tips in your future projects.

Just before signing off for this week, I wanted to say a big thank you to A. Stuart Williams and to Amy and Scott of Southcart Books, Walsall, for hosting and coordinating another fantastic writers event last weekend, and to all the wonderful writers for their various talks and readings.  I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did!

That's right, there's a few things to update you on this week, so let's see how we go...

... for Sunday's gig at the Black Country Steam-o-Rama at The Griffin, 8 Stone Street, Dudley, DY1 1NS, from 5pm, Sunday 20th July - FREE ENTRY
Reasons you should attend:

• It's a nice early finish, so you'll still be able to get up for work in the morning
• Crimson Clocks will be doing some more recording for a video - and we'd like you to take part with your own recording!*
• There will be tea dueling**, hosted by me and ably abetted by Mr Steven C. Davis as biscuit wallah
• There will be opportunity to purchase books written by Mr Davis and myself, just in time to take away with you on your summer holidays.
• There will be other stalls, including Sparkles By Gem, Steampunk Relics, and Clare's Prints, with shiny things available
• There will be music from BB Blackdog as well as Crimson Clocks
• There will be a lovely steampunk burlesque performance from Steam Tease
• It's FREE Entry! That's FREE!

*Videoing - we are making a video for our song, Shadow.  When we play it, we'd like YOU to film a clip of yourself watching, and us playing, and send it to us.  Doesn't have to be high quality, or even very long.  We'll then merge them all together to make a video so that we can be watching you watching us watching you watching us....   send clips to CrimsonClocks@CrimsonClocks.com, please!  And include your name!

** tea dueling - a ferocious face-off between dashing duelists - the terror of the high teas!  Face your opponent over a malted milk biscuit.  Do you have the nerve?? Open to all...

...for Southcart Books, who, you'll remember hosted a book reading only the other week - see my blog from last week.  Southcart are the only independent bookseller for miles around, and they are looking for ways to help them stay around.  So they've set up a crowdfunder to try to fund improvements to the shop and help to keep it a community venue, with events for local people, and accessible to all.  You can read more here and there's also a facebook event here.

...in a helicopter, no less, was what I was doing last weekend!  Is there no end to my jet-set lifestyle? (yes there is).  A helicopter pleasure flight over Berkshire and surrounds enabled me to capture some in-flight pics, some of which may be appearing in a 'mystery' project later this year... watch this space.

As to the helicopter flight itself, it was a great experience, taking us towards Farnborough Airfield, close enough to London that we could see The Shard, plus over lots of very posh houses and other things.  A word to the wise, though - when the helicopter banks, hold onto your stomach.  Eep!

Right, that's it for now, back to the dissertation work we go...  stay vigilant!