~Questions and Answers with Cherie Priest~
Cherie Priest is the author of a dozen novels, including the steampunk pulp adventures Ganymede, Dreadnought, Clementine, and Boneshaker. Boneshaker was nominated for both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award; it was a PNBA Award winner, and winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. But what really matters is that she's a cat person, is totally into Steampunk (including video games!), and was the guest of honor at the first Teslacon!
Question: What is the definitive Steampunk book for you?
Answer: I haven't read it yet. Steampunk comes in too many flavors for me to pick one and hold it up, saying, "THIS AND NONE OTHER." That having been said, when I talk about steampunk being a spectrum, and not a binary, I tend to put The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen* comics at #10. It's hard to get too much more steampunk than that, but that's not the only way to go about it.
*Which you could win a copy of in the Steampunk Summer Giveaway!
Question: What drew you to this genre?
Answer: I slid into it sideways, as an old goth with a fondness for Tim Burton.
Question: How do you take your tea?
Answer: Iced, sweet, and usually flavored.
Question: Must have sartorial accessory?
Answer: A well fitting waistcoat and a fluffy skirt. I love corsets, but I have back problems - and I don't wear them nearly so often anymore.
Question: Sartorial leaning: Street Urchin, Tinker, Explorer or Aesthete?
Answer: Depends on my mood. I've done all of those, and others too.
Question: Top hat or bowler hat?
Answer: I have a good wool version of each, actually.
Question: Subgenre you most identify with: Boilerpunk, Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Romance, Mannerspunk, Raygun Gothic or Stitchpunk?
Answer: How about SteamGoth? I like SteamGoth.
Question: If there was one thing that could truly exist from the world of Steampunk what would it be?
Answer: Zombies.
Question: If there was one element in the Steampunk genre you could remove forever what would it be?
Answer: I can think of a number of overused tropes, but I'm as guilty of them as anyone. I'll not cast stones.
Question: Favorite movie or television series with Steampunk elements?
Answer: Oh, I don't know. A few off the top of my head: Dark City, Labyrinth, Sleepy Hollow ... lovely movies, all. TV shows - Firefly, obviously, and Jack of All Trades*, which was wonderful. And video games, God - Bioshock, Silent Hill (some of them, anyway). Batman: Arkham City and Arkham Asylum, both. It's hard to pick just one of anything. I'm sure that the moment I hit "send" on this email, I'll think of fifty different things I'll wish I'd included.
*Awesome, everyone should watch and we'll then have a group sing-a-long with the opening credits!
Question: Preferred mode of transport: celestial, aether, terra firma or aquatic?
Answer: Terra firma. I'm sick to death of flying, and I get a little seasick.
Question: Favorite Queen to have had a diamond jubilee, Victoria or Elizabeth?
Answer: Victoria, all the way.
Question: Victorian or Wild West?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Would you like an automaton butler or ladies maid, considering that it might be the first step in the robotic apocalypse?
Answer: Nah. I'm too much of a control freak.
Question: If The Doctor showed up at your door, where would you go?
Answer: To Waffle House.
*Author Photo Credit: Libby Bulloff
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