A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, by Albert Bierstatd, 1866

I love this picture. I don’t remember how I found it originally…I was searching for images that were old enough to be public domain so I could use them for my mock-ups of my Steampunk stories. Originally I was going to have the show-down at the end happen in the Rockies, but I think they’re going to stay in Europe where most of the action already is.

My ROW80 Goals? Right on, with planned exceptions.

NaNoWriMo is going well. I’m up to 15,000 words, which is officially behind, but I planned it that way. I had a new release last week as well as my daughter’s 7th birthday, so I knew I’d fall behind. I’ll make it up over the next few days.

The release of Cities of Luna: Collection One and Moon Dragons was a whirlwind! Hopefully we can build up steam with each new release. I have a story coming out with every full moon. One Does Not Simply Walk Into Mordor will be out on December 6, and Sheepless in Seattle comes out on January 5.

These stories tell about everyday life for the Loonies, those humans who made the decision to live on Earth’s Moon. There are business people who commute, entrepreneurs who raise chickens and sheep, miners who work on the regolith, and families full of every personality you’d expect to find (and a few you wouldn’t expect) in a civilization made up of conglomeration of Earth cultures.

This is one SciFi series you can share with your mother, and she’ll like it.

Here’s the links for the stories:

Cities of Luna: Collection One on Amazon: amzn.com/B00P6ITCS2

Moon Dragons on Amazon: amzn.com/B00P02PJ04

Cities of Luna: Collection One on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/490807

Moon Dragons on  Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/490810

Cities of Luna: Collection One on B&N: Coming Soon

Moon Dragons on  B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moon-dragons-amybeth-inverness/1120697075?ean=2940046392432

And now, a question…

Steampunk runs the gamut from plausibly scientific to wildly paranormal. My stories (Victoria Pontifex) are fun, but although I stretch the science a bit with an insane genetic scientist a’la Doctor Frankenstein, I keep the stories moderately plausible. We don’t have mermaids that are half fish, we have humans who have been modified to have gills. There are giant, intelligent bugs, and at least one kraken of indeterminate sentience.

And of course, there are airships. My characters frequently travel via dirigibles of various creative designs.

But some Steampunk stories go a step further. They have ships that resemble airplanes, sailing vessels, or even rockets! My stories are Victorian, set around the 1870’s. This is when the Wright brothers were born. So, if I stay close to plausibility, no airplanes.

And now the question I’ve been leading up to.

What kind of airships would you consider to be completely plausible in an 1870’s Steampunk novel? What vehicles would you consider to be crossing the line to total fantasy?

I have a few links to some great images:

Airship FFIII by DS Yoshida

Airship color by AUMAKUA70

Imperial Airship by James Ng Arm

Airships by Min-Nguen (This one’s my favorite, for plausibility)

Airship by KEKSE0719

Airship by vimark

Airship by mrainbowwj