Round Two - The Velo Fellow

This was my second time at the Velo Fellow publick house and as with the first, it was a great night of literary, musical and artistic conversation. I don't think I've ever been in such a group as our local Upstate Steampunk folks, where the conversations are so knowledgeable on so many fronts. I table hopped  a number of times (in between mouthfuls of delicious French Onion Soup)  to chat with co-workers, recent friends, people I've never met and a co-writer, David Windhorst, who I worked with on Edge magazine twenty years ago. I haven't seen David in many years and had no idea that he and his wife, Kat were into steampunk.  She has very good reason to like steampunk, as she formerly owned one of the premiere costume companies in Greenville before moving to Califronia to work on costumes in the movie business. The conversations from Josh Smith, fire eater, cleaver juggler, electro-mechnic inventor and his highly entertaining girlfriend, Kristen, diesel mechanic and great story teller to Braxton of the steampunk macabre duo Valentine Wolfe, and his plans for a trek to Connecticut to score the ultimate bass, Charlotte who spoke about Victorian literature and steampunk, and Rachel who spoke about fantasy, science fiction and graphic novel art.  How many conversations can bring up Edgar Allen Poe,  the movie, The Crow, Tesla, navy steamships, Emily Austin, Bruce Sterling, fairy tales, comic book art, Ellen Datlow, dwarfs walking on beds of glass - all in one evening? Talk about fodder for fiction - I must call a gathering at the Velo anytime I encounter the white page syndrome!
In fact, I only called this gathering two days before on the Upstate Steampunk facebook page after Ben, musician, artist (of IFB fame) and I decided to get together. He was working during the last meeting so missed the incredible experience. And we had more than 25 people show up! I would hesitate to say that we literally "invaded" the sublime pub with the incredible ambiance and varied menu, but I think we may have inundated them to some degree.
It was fun to see a good number of my co-workers from the head injury program show up, as well.  I'm not quite sure what they all might think.  The experience can be overwhelming when delving into the lively and often tangential conversations of steampunkers and their varied backgrounds, even when we are not all in our steampunk gear. Josh did wear the goggles he won (expertly crafted by Gypsy Teague, herself) at last year's con but the rest of us, having come straight from work were in current day garments.

Steampunk Fissure still seeking art

Submissions for poetry and fiction have closed for the Steampunk Fissure but I'm extending the deadline for art. This special issue will be released at the Upstate Steampunk Con
http://www.upstatesteampunk.com/
on Nov. 19 & 20th.  I'm reading at the moment.  We've had some great subs both in fiction and poetry - a wide variety, however, we could still use some artwork so if you know any steampunk artists out there, send them my way. 

http://www.shadowarcherpress.com/submissionguidelines.htm

A listing of the acceptances so far will be announced soon.   Although I'll still be reading for a couple more weeks.

Gail

The Fevre and Ice

I just recieved my copies of Storms from the Edge, a small poetry chapbook of mine published by Virgogray Press. Michael Casares editor/publisher did a beautiful job making this book and wrote a synopsis which humbles me.
Virgogray announces the release of its newest collection, “Storms at the Edge” by Gail Gray. Gail Gray is the founder of Shadow Archer Press, editor of Fissure Magazine and author of several chapbook collections, and a novel, Shaman Circus. The poetry of Gail Gray can best be described as contemporary cauterized with a mystic edge that lucidly delves into realms of myth and fantasy though anchored to realities through the severe connections, emotions and understandings of a world that mystifies the poet sensitive to the true nature of things. “Storms at the Edge” is a testament to this quality. Bound is a gripping poem layered in spiritual/occult themes and a higher understanding of the elusive meaning behind things. With gracious determination, it readies the reader for subsequent poems in the collection. Vulnerable, the second poem, literally peels away the intensity that Bound created, but elegantly so with a gravity all its own. ”Storms at the Edge” continues with a sense of longing and a frustration for something (or sometime) higher and purer. There is also a sense of delicacy to this book, as in Foreshadow, with phrases like “delighting in the playground of vulnerability” and “Fragile as sea glass.” Drowning at 3:30 AM was one of my favorites. It is fraught with interesting imagery both whimsical and dark. “Wind dismantles / copper tube chimes / a meticulous / manicure of my psyche ‘ as the shadows spooked to the / other side.” This bipolar lapse of tone and context “play cacophony games / with my past-nightmare / pauses” to a stirring conclusion. Gail Gray’s poems are almost mythic in some instances with themes that recall other times beneath society’s veneer. With “Storms at the Edge,” Gail Gray comes a step closer to perfecting that voice.
What was even nicer is that Michael also sent me a copy of his newest poetry chap Dusking.

Michael and I have worked together off and on for a few years and he's a highly respected publisher, poet, radio host and artist form Austin, Texas.  I also published his chapbook,  The Winter King under my small press, Shadow Archer Press. The Winter King was the first epic fantasy poem I published and it's a complex vivid visual mind ride with many many layers, addressing issues of isolation, loss, despair and hope. Steve viner of th UK did an amazing job with the cover art.
This is a brief synopsis I wrote about The Winter King:
The Winter King delineates all the stark grandeur of Norse sagas, with its visually stunning landscapes and images of high fantasy. The underlying themes, layers upon layers, reminiscent of Shelley or Byron, are carried along in this fluid tale peopled with surreal characters, rich with high symbolism. Readers are swept up as tears turn into beads, leading us alongside our hero. Casares reaches far and wide in this circle of references and symbols creating a beautiful yet frightening mosaic of ice and mirrors.
One of the greatest aspects of working  in this business is the amazingly talented prople you meet from all over the world.  When I received Michael's manuscript from The Winter King, I fell in love with the story, as well as the poetry and imagry. We share some of the same philosophical and spiritual ideas but have such different ways of expressing them

In Dusking, Michael approaches some of the same concepts but from a more cerebral aspect.  In many of the poems, Michael looks to cosmokogy, especially the sun, to explore the paths taken in relationships. Once again his imagery is vivid and bold, but in Dusking, we are confronted with aspects of light and heat, stars and sun, both in the heavens and in relationships, as opposed to the cold, trauma and loss we deal with in The Winter King.  I love it when a writer examines the same subjects from various angles - like holding up a crystal and exploring all the various facets to try and figure out the deeper meanings.  In addition Dusking offers a glimpse of Michaels artwork in the miontage, Full of Laughter.
 It was such a wonderful gift to find this gemstone of a chapbook in among mine.