Halfway. Ish.
Not long ago, I wrote that I was planning to write a steampunk novel, but I wasn’t letting myself just dive straight in. Not this time.
First I had to:
1. Read at least twenty relevant history/technology books.
2. Write all my twittertales for 2011.
3. Write all my monthly short-short stories (there’s an email list – and yes, you can get on it) for 2011.
4. Take a break between the reading and the writing, so I don’t get overly excited and start lecturing readers on historical dates and/or how to build a steam engine (don’t you hate it when writers show off how much research they’ve done?)
About five seconds ago, I finished #3 with a murder mystery. Yay!!
#2 is one-quarter done, but I can do plenty more during #4.
I’m halfway through # 1.
These are the books I’ve read so far:
“Australian Bushrangers” by Bill Wannan – which also has a short but very useful section on guns.
“History’s Worst Inventions” by Eric Chaline
“Savage or Civilised” by Penny Russell
“Australian Lives” by Michael Bosworth -more on the 1900s than the 1800s, but still very good detail.
“Oxford Illustrated Dictionary of Australian History” by Jan Basset
“Black Kettle and Full Moon” by Geoffrey Blainey – again, focused on the everyday details that are so important for writing.
“A History of Victoria” by Geoffrey Blainey – good, but not as good as the above.
“The Most Powerful Idea in the World” by William Rosen – good, but the most useful bits were above my head.
“Commonwealth of Thieves: The Sydney Experiment” by Thomas Keneally – heartbreaking and enthralling reading.
“The Aeronauts” by Time/Life Books – SO much fun.
I’m also reading all the modern steampunk I can find that I haven’t already read, and I plan to read some 1800s fiction (which I have ready to go), but right now my non-fiction to-read pile is ridiculously big. So I’m going to stop procratinating and go start on “Technology in Australia 1788-1988”.
Felicity Banks 
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