Presenting “A Murder At Midnight”

The amazing Aiden Sinclair is performing on the Queen Mary and Drake & McTrowell is hosting a very special private Jack the Ripper-themed seance in association with San Diego Steampunk. The show starts at midnight on Friday, January 16th. Seating is limited, so don’t delay!

Tickets are no longer on sale for this event.
The event was an amazing success, thank you all for coming!

MurderAtMidnight_Small_Poster

Sure, You Can Buy The Book From Us

If you’re reading this, you already know that we have published a full-color illustrated hardcover of “London, WhereIt All Began,” the first book in our serialized penny-dreadful. It is brought to life through the color illustrations of eight talented illustrators: Martina Cecilia, Tess Fowler, David Izaguirre & Andrea Orenday, Brian Kesinger, Rocky Ormsby-Olivares, Otto Pessanha, and Jeffrey Vaca.

And, yup, our store is open and ready. You could buy “London, Where It All Began” elsewhere, however we will add a dedication! After your purchase, we will send you a friendly email (supplied by PayPal) enquiring as to what you would like for your dedication in the book. Rules of decorum apply, of course. The other reason to buy from our web site is that we will not be charging for the shipping within the forty-eight contiguous United States. If you need the book shipped outside that area, we will use your email to let you know about the additional shipping costs. The link for the “Books” section of our General Store is below.


LWIAB Cover Art

Books at the General Store

Comment Request

Book Release Event

It’s the event we’ve all been waiting for! Well, at least Drake & McTrowell have really been waiting for it and hope you have too. Our first novel, London, Where It All Began will be available as an illustrated hardcover book on Sunday, November 23, 2014.

The book features cover art by
Brian Kesinger, a foreword by Professor Elemental, and illustrations by Martina Cecilia, Tess Fowler, Otto Arantes Pessanha, Jeff Vaca, Rocky Ormsby-Olivares, and Andrea Izaguirre & David Orenda. These talented artists bring Drake & McTrowell’s first adventure to life in full color. And just in time for holiday gift-giving, hint, hint.

Mysterious Galaxy is graciously hosting the book release event at their new location, 5943 Balboa Ave., San Diego, CA 92111. It will be held on Sunday, November 23, 2014 at 4:00 PM. The location will be so new that our signing will happen on their first day at their new location. Let’s help them get their new digs off to a rousing start! For all of you who live in and near San Diego, we’ll see you there!

Mysterious Galaxy 8.5x11 Poster


See You There!

Ice Bucket Challenge

Garrett Sherman over at Dreadfully Punk (no doubt in collusion with Justin Andrew Hoke) issued Drake & McTrowell the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge #icebucketchallenge. We accepted! In addition to donating $100, we also did this...



Silly us!

Comic Con 2014

July has come and gone again which means that we spent four action-packed days with 130,000 of our closest friends at the San Diego Convention Center for Comic Con. Of course, there were oodles of steampunks (that’s an official, technical metric). There were several steampunk panels including “Birth of a Graphic Novel” with the Starburner Galactic Courier Service.

Birth_Graphic_Novel_Panel

Birth of a Graphic Novel Panel


Andrew Fogel led the lively “Is It Steampunk” panel with some well known steampunks you might recognize including Claire Hummel, Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan, and Thomas Willeford.

Von_Fogel_panel

Is It Steampunk?


Not all of Comic Con was steampunk. We attended “Full Time Creativity on a Part Time Schedule.” Gene Turnbow, who does a Herculean job at
Krypton Radio, invited us. This isn’t a very flattering picture of him, but I couldn’t resist the image of him looking like he’s living on caffeine to get all that work done.

Gene_Caffeine

Gene with Caffeine


Speaking of not steampunk, there were some fabulous costumes that caught my eye despite their lack of gears and leather. I probably would have stuck with scouting as a girl if it had been like this.

Ghoul_Scouts

Ghoul Scouts


And did someone say pirate? Yar!

Pirate_Harley_Ivy

Pirate Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn


I have to say that this year was easier on us than recent years. One reason was that our dear friends Jeff and
Lisa had onsite parking, and they shuttled us every day. We bumped into Camden Toy on the street. We met him a couple of months before at Aiden Sinclair’s show in LA.

Camden_Toy

With Camden Toy


We didn’t wear full costumes every single day.

Drake_at_LoS-booth

Going Casual the First Day at the League of S.T.E.A.M. Booth
(That’s Drake trying to escape the clutches of the League of S.T.E.A.M.’s mummy!)


We made time for low-key, relaxing fun like the
League of S.T.E.A.M. meetup.

LoS_Meetup

The League of S.T.E.A.M Meetup


We went to our favorite Comic Con dinner spot,
Café Sevilla, and restored ourselves with loads sangria and paella.

Paella

Attending Comic Con is Hungry Work


Of course, one of the high points is always the Saturday steampunk meetup.

Steampunk_in_the_Shade

Steampunk Meetup
Outside near the back stairs


There were women of action!

Women_of_Action

Steampunk Women of Action


Inevitably,
Bob Mogg debuted his latest creation. It’s a tradition.

Bob_Mogg_Exoskeleton

Bob’s Latest Constructified Confabulation


But we really get together to celebrate the annual
Starburner Galactic Courier Service Awards.

2014 Starburner Awardees

2014 Starburner Galactic Courier Service Awardees


Now, as awesome as all this is, the highlight of the weekend was
Andrew Fogel’s proposal to his girlfriend, Kate Walsh. Can you tell she was gobsmacked?

Von_Fogel_proposes

She Said, “Yes!”


We wish them a lifetime of steampunk shenanigans together.

Lovers_of_Action

Steampunk Shenanigans


Drake & McTrowell’s Fourth Anniversary

I honestly don’t know where the last year has gone! Okay, so I cheated and scanned “Latest News” tagged items from our web site and now I kinda know:


It seems like we all deserved a party for all this hard work. So we had one. We went back to our “traditional” location,
Eclipse Chocolate in South Park. This is our third year celebrating with Eclipse and our second at their new South Park location.

In addition to announcements (more about that in a later post),

So_Much_Chocolate

Drake MC’s the Evening

...there was tasty food.

Jeff_Eating

Yes, Jeff, We See You Demolishing That Cupcake

And there were libations, apparently in conjunction with some kind of sleight of hand by Jonathan Lord Ashleigh.


Sleight_of_Hand

Sleight of Hand and Libations


I performed a spirited reading from Drake’s episode, “
Baby Squirt.”

Really_Exciting_Bit

Wait, This is the Really Exciting Bit!

But, we all know what it’s really all about, getting together with good friends to celebrate our steamy good fortune.


Drake_and_Slate

The Chief Inspector and Miss Sarah Slate


I hope we have as much to celebrate next year on our fifth anniversary. Five years, seriously?


These Are a Few of Our Favorite (Clockwork Alchemy) Things

Clockwork Alchemy has become our favorite convention for a number of reasons. We’d like to take this opportunity to enumerate them.

Organization: this is hands down the best organized convention out there, primarily owing to the skills and attention of
Thena MacArthur and Sharon Cathcart.

Thena_in_Yellow

Thena in Only One of the Magnificent, Many-Hued Ensembles She Wore


Respect: this is somewhat related to the organization, but the fact that the literary events are all organized by authors means that the literary contributions of the authors are respected. One of the events they organized this year was a book release party where the authors all read from their latest books. And for all of you who were there, “Vive la France!”


Book Release

The Book Release Party

Tea: no beverage symbolizes steampunk like tea. Clockwork Alchemy hosts a tea room that is a delightfully sublime venue for resting ones feet while enjoying a refreshing cup’a tea. And it’s all powered by the almighty tea engine.

Tea_Engine

The Tea Engine


This attendee seems to have come prepared.


Too_Much_Tea_Woman

Too Much Tea Woman


Friends: we always make amazing new friends at Clockwork Alchemy. Last year we met the Sikes’. This year they brought along their adorable mini-mes. Dr. Messenger made their costumes.

Sikes_Mini_Me

Belinda Sikes and the Twins

They invited us to participate in their Mad Scientists’ Character Creation Panel. We brought our own lab coats.

You_Say_Mad

You Say “Mad” Like It’s a Bad Thing


Drake played the dead-ish monster.

Im_Not_Dead_Yet

I’m Not Dead Yet


And a marvelous time was had by all the participants.

Mad_Scientist_Panel


See, Not So Mad After All

This year we met Andrew Crockett and his wife.

Steampunk_Hawaiian

I Can Steampunk That


I swear I’m not making up this next part. I came back early from a long business trip right before Clockwork Alchemy. I was talking to my boss just before leaving for San Jose and I commented that my early return was fortunate because my original schedule would not have allowed me to be completely prepared. He cracked that I might have arrived in San Jose to discover that I’d packed nothing but aloha shirts. And then I met Andrew; true story.

Renown: everyone knows us. We were perusing the offerings of the vendors when one of them waved down Drake. One of the owners had had her picture taken with Drake in his
Mall Copper costume during Gaslight Gathering and was proudly displaying it in their booth.

Mall_Copper_Squared

Mall Copper Squared


Drake & McTrowell’s Hot Potato School of Writing is now sufficiently well known that we have lots of volunteers. This year the
Aether Brigade pitched in...hilarity ensued. Special thanks to most excellent newbie Assistant Jen.

HPSoW_with_Aether_Brigade

Hot Potato School of Writing a la Aether Brigade

Telegrams: this is the only con that offers this particularly delightful treat. They have a telegraph office. One has only to send them a text message including the name of the recipient and their location. An extremely energetic page boy delivers a printed telegram with much fanfare and volume.

Pageboy

Telegram for the Judge!

They even deliver to the bar where one might relax and enjoy a libation and a bit of sushi with ones steampunk companions.


The_Aftermath

The Aftermath


Entertainment: I didn’t get any good pictures of the amazing fashion show arranged by Kory Doyle, but the ensembles were smashing. And finally,
Lee Presson and the Nails rocked the rafters of the ballroom with their irrepressible style.

Lee_Presson_Not_Nailed_to_the_Stage


Lee Presson - Not Entirely Nailed to the Stage

We’ve already committed to be there next year! One final note: birthday. Clockwork Alchemy always falls on or near my birthday, so I get to spend my birthday at my favorite steampunk convention with my steamy sweetie and my favorite steampunk friends. What could possibly be better?

Of course, pictures from the Hot Potato School of Writing and the Mad Scientists’ Character Creation Panel are a gift from
Lisa. Check out her website, San Diego Steampunk for steampunk happenings in our home town and the surrounding locale.


Gaslight Gathering 2014

This year Gaslight Gathering was mostly about new costumes for us. Lisa Vaca organized the Gentlemen of Steampunk Fashion Show.

Gentlemens_Fashion_Show


All the Young(ish) Dudes (and the Amazing Lady Amethyst)


Drake rocked the hottest steampunk Internet meme with his Mall Copper uniform.

Dressed_Too_Fancy
Mall_Copper_Back

You’re Dressed Too Fancy (With a Nod to Poplock Holmes)


One of the subtle highlights of the costume was a custom carousel pin Sparky commissioned from
Rae-Wolf Designs.


Carousel_Pin

Carousel Pin


Egged on by
William Swanson’s idea for an amazing sceptre, ...

Cutting_QoH_Parts
QoH_sceptre
QoH_Augmented_Sketch
Knavery_Detector
Hand_of_the_Maker

The Making of the Sceptre

...Sparky went outside her normal costuming zone of comfort and assembled a steampunk Queen of Hearts costume that she debuted at the ball.

Hannah_and_the_QoH

Off With Their Heads, Well Not Her Head, but the Rest of You


Sparky went to a lot of vendors to pull together this costume:


We mixed it up on the dance floor in our new duds.

Dancing


Dancing Machine(s)


And then there was
Professor Elemental leading the conga line because, well, that’s a thing. With a pint in his hand, no less.

Cerveza_Conga

Conga + Cerveza


But it wasn’t all costuming. There was the reproduction
Electriquette that Kim Keeline arranged to have available. This was even more fun than it looks like here!

Electriquette

Whoa!


To our great delight, Madame Askew was there with her crew to officiate yet another epic round of tea dueling. It started off particularly well for Sparky with the success of
Dr. Sparky’s Gluten Free Tea Dueling Biscuits (r. Sparky's Gluten Free Tea Dueling Biscuits">see our post from 5/3/2014). But then there was the grudge match during the finals between Adam Green and Bear. The whole affair was so overwrought that Chief Inspector Drake (undercover as a Western marshal) had to be called in to break it up and force them to settle the matter like gentlemen on the field of tea.

Field_of_Tea

Settle This Like Gentlemen on the Field of Tea


And we did the Martian Edition of the Drake & McTrowell’s Hot Potato School of Writing. Hopefully you didn’t miss us just because the description in the program wasn’t quite correct.

HPSoW_Martian_Edition


Marvin the Martian in His Martian Underoos (They Match!)


Kelly Varner and Karina Montgomery certainly livened up the the “Hot Potato” proceedings with their witty improvisation.


Guest_Authors

Our Guest Authors


We certainly hope that all our steamy friends had just as much fun!


Proclaiming Duel at Dusk 2014 a Success!

Duel at Dusk exceeded all our expectations! We had more than a hundred attendees and eight vendors at the Team Touché Fencing Center.


So_Many_Chairs

Good Thing We Had So Many Chairs
(Thanks to both the Lapidary Society for providing the chairs and Grady for all his help lugging them)


RaeWolfDesigns

May I Sell You Something Steamy?
(Vendors included Wyng’d Lyon, Hootie’s Perch, Indigo Lane Designs, Gears and Roebuck, Perpetual Motion Creations & Cameron Theatrical Design, The Elegant Harlot, and Rae Wolf Designs)


We had fierce competitors.


Lucius_McMonocle

Lucius McMonocle
(Played by Ed Pogue)


Rupert_Pennyfarthing

Rupert Pennyfarthing
( Played by Bryan Bishé )

Stanley_Cephalopod

Stanley Cephalopod
(Played by Ashok Pathi)

Victor_Victrola

Victor Victrola
(Played by Sergey Riezaiev)


Everyone got swag.

Swag_Bag_Contents

Swag Bag Contents + a Trophy

The fencing was very exciting!

Cat_Like_Reflexes

Cat Like Reflexes

This_Isnt_Epee_and_Thats_Not_Target

This Isn’t Epee and That’s Not Target

Also_Not_Ballet

It’s Also Not Ballet, but It’s Just As Spectacular


Of course, Drake was our intrepid MC.

Intrepid_MC

Intrepid MC
(Played by David Drake a.k.a. Chief Inspector Erasmus Drake)


He did an excellent job of explaining fencing.


This_Way_to_the_Fencing

This Way to the Fencing


And making it clear what is and is not a regulation weapon.


No_Thats_Not_a_Regulation_Weapon

Clearly Not an FIE-Approved Weapon
(FIE is the international fencing association)


And Sparky made too much food, as usual.


So_Much_Food

So Much Food

The Starburner Galactic Courier Service’s Strato Sculpin was a huge hit!


Jeb_and_Barbara


Jeb and Barbara Enjoying the Strato Sculpin

You_Steer_it_WIth_That_Thingamajig

You Steer it With That Thingamajig
(Getting Some Direction from Kim Hutsell a.k.a. Lithobius Quick)

Strato_Sculpin_Art

Strato Sculpin “Nose” Art

Gear_Hands

Gear Hands!


At the end of the evening, Rupert Pennyfarthing took 1st, Victor Victrola took 2nd, and Lucius McMonocle took 3rd.


And_The_Winner_Is

And the Winner Is...!

Justin Hoke won the Trifecta Trophy for having the ticket that predicted the outcome.

Justin_Wins_the_Trifecta_Trophy

Trifecta!


So, he had to have his picture taken with the two makers of the trophy.

Justin_and_William

Justin and William Swanson

Kim_and_Justin

Kim Hutsell and Justin


Although this has been a light-hearted romp through the evening’s festivities, a lot of people committed a lot of their time and energy to making the evening such a success including the Starburner Galactic Courier Service, the fencers, the vendors, and the volunteers.

Way_to_Go_Team

Way to Go Team!



Dr. Sparky's Gluten Free Tea Dueling Biscuits

I’m not much given to public boasting, but I’m very proud of my cookie-baking skills and they have served me well. I started baking cookies with Mom when I was old enough to reach the counter by standing on a chair. You’d have to check with her on the precise age, but I’m guessing I was about 6 or 7 which means I’m closing in on 50 years of honing this particular skill. In years past when we lived closer together, we used to get together at the beginning of December and spend a weekend baking Christmas cookies together...all weekend. Thousands of them, no joke. We would bake about 2 dozen different varieties and double batches of each. Over the years we found new recipes, refined old ones, and even developed several of our own. Pistachio lime crescents, anyone?

As Thanksgiving would approach, I would notice people at work getting friendlier. Some would even be so bold as to ask when “cookie weekend” was going to be. Would I be sure to drop by their offices with the tins before I deposited them in the coffee room where the ravening hordes of locusts would descend on them? True story, I had a boss who claimed he put me on an important project even before he knew about my programming skills just because he noticed my cookies and figured that was a good skill set to have on his project. (That project changed my life and career, although that was due to my engineering skills.) I have one friend who refers to me and my mother as “Cookie Lady and Cookie Mom.”

Apologies for the nostalgic stroll down memory lane; I’ll come back to the point. This is the book that started it all for me.

Joy_of_Cooking

The Joy of Cooking - 1953 Edition


My great grandmother gave my mother a copy of this edition for junior high school graduation in 1953 when it was just published. That copy is so beaten up it’s barely recognizable, but it still works. Mom found this copy of the 1953 edition for me in 1998.

The first time I ever tea dueled at
Wild Wild West Con 2013, Madame Askew had gluten free tea dueling biscuits. Sadly, all agreed that they were woefully inadequate to the task, more like hockey pucks than proper biscuits. When we attended Wild Wild West Con this year, there was no gluten free dueling because she was unable to find a suitable weapon. And then she made some rash comment about eternal tea dueling glory for the person who could deliver this elusive weapon (or something to that effect, I swear). Challenge accepted!

Over the course of a month, I baked and tested 4 different versions with 4 additional sub-versions. And you know I kept detailed experimental notes. Drake and I tested some. Thanks to the
San Diego Tea Duelists for their tests and reviews. This week, just two days before the start of Gaslight Gathering, I arrived at version 4.0.

Tea_Dueling_Biscuits

Dr. Sparky’s Gluten Free Tea Dueling Biscuits - Version 4.0


Yesterday, during day 1 of Gaslight Gathering, I presented a tin of 18 biscuits to Madame Askew and she tested them during Tea Dueling 101. And they worked! To show her appreciation for this accomplishment, she presented me with the coveted
Tucson Steampunk Society Tea Dueling Badge.

Tucson_Tea_Dueling_Badge

Tea Dueling Badge of Honor


So, what about the book that started it all? I started from the Butter Thins recipe and successively altered it using the skills I learned from Mom to achieve just the right structure and texture. Oh, did I mention that they’re also tasty? So, here’s the recipe you’ve been waiting for.

Dr. Sparky's Gluten Free Tea Dueling Biscuits

Cream together

  • .5 c. unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • .5 cup sugar

Beat in
  • 2 egg yolks
  • .5 tsp. vanilla

Beat in (there’s no gluten, so you don’t have to worry about them getting tough)
  • 1 c. rice flour
  • Pinch of nutmeg (to taste)

Press evenly into a lightly greased, segmented brownie pan. Bake for 12 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove the divider while the cookies are still warm. Makes 18. Store in an airtight container once they cool. They work better when they’re fresh.

About that segmented brownie pan. It ensures that the biscuits are a uniform, proper size for tea dueling, and that all of the biscuits have “edges,” which is also important to stability. This one on
Amazon is very similar to the one I have including it makes the right number. I don’t know where mine was purchased because it was a gift from Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day, Cookie Mom, from the Cookie Lady who’s so very proud to be your daughter.


Wild Wild West Con 2014

What’s hot and cool, dry and steamy? Wild Wild West Con!

Steaming_Up_the_Desert

The Judge Steaming Up the Desert with the Turleys


It’s where we first learned about tea dueling from the
Tucson Steampunk Society. Here’s a posse heading off to a duel. Note the serious determination on their visages.

Tea_Dueling_Posse

Tea Dueling Posse


If you didn’t have the great privilege of witnessing the finals, I’ll clue you in. The Judge beat the
Prussian in the most dramatic, theatrical duel we have ever had the thrill of witnessing! And here’s the winner explaining to his chagrined opponent that it’s all in the wrist.

Tea_Strategy

Winning Tea Strategy


Is it safe to assume that you’re familiar with the dangerous, top-hat wearing, carousel riders meme? Well, there’s a carousel at
Old Tucson Studios. Sadly, it’s currently non-functional, so we were unable to ride. But the gracious staff at the theme park allowed the San Diego Steampunks to have a meet-up in front of it. Extra bonus, Poplock Holmes showed up and performed his new number, “Carousel,” just for us!

Dangerous_Top_Hats

Dangerous Top Hat Wearing Riff-Raff


Of course, Poplock also did a couple of regular performances for all the attendees.

Monster_Hunters


Monster Hunters!


The crew of
Airship Isabella was there. Keep an eye out for some of their illustrations in our forthcoming print book, “London, Where It All Began.”

Momma_Warned_You

Momma Warned You


Because we’re steampunks, we can steam up anything. Bowler + gear + mustache + Dalek = …

Steam_Dalek


…Steam Dalek


One of our favorite panels was given by
David Lee Summers. His fans know that he’s an astronomer in his day job. He gave a really fun panel on the history of the Martian “canals” that was also incredibly informative. Now that’s my idea of a great panel.

Martian_Canals

Martian Canals


The park has a rule that we have to vacate the park before evening events, and then they let us back in right before the event. Since Old Tucson is on the far side of the Tucson Mountains from Tucson, dinner options are limited. Here’s the Texas solution; annex a portion of the parking lot for a barbecue. Does Miss Jocelynne look like she’s up to some kind of shenanigans?

Parking_Lot_of_Texas

Parking Lot of Texas


In closing, I just have to ask, why do two people need so much stuff for a weekend? Seriously, somebody call Mary Poppins and order me a carpet bag or ten!

Traveling_Light_Not

Traveling Light, Not!


If you’ve never been to Wild Wild West Con, you should really make the effort to make it next year. It’s an amazing, immersive experience. We’ll be there.


Steampunk Symposium 2014

We had barely recovered from our Parisian adventure than it was time to pack up the Dr. Sparky-mobile and head north to Long Beach for Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium.

Drake_inspects_Queen_Mary_Engines


Chief Inspector Drake Investigates the Queen Mary’s Engine Room


Relieved of presentation duties, we sampled various entertainments. I’m not sure what the highlight was.

Was it
Aiden Sinclair’s amazing illusions? That’s Aiden there in the middle. He entertained us for hours with his amazing skills.

Aiden_Sinclair

I Feel a Magical Conspiracy Coming On

I like to think of myself as a skeptic, but I was the subject of one of his illusions and neither I nor any of our friends in the audience could figure out how he did it.

Since there were no actual adults present, Drake engaged in a little tentacle-y sock puppetry during the Cthulhu Prayer Breakfast.

Drake_with_tentacles

Sock-re Bleu (and a Little Orange)


And we helped arrest some of the
L.O.S.E.R.s…

Slo_mo_arrest

...In Slow Motion


That
Mellivora Rathbone; she’s nothing but trouble.

Lee Presson was there with The Nails giving his usually swinging concert, but the next day he gave the most inspired, energetic Poe reading I’ve ever heard.

Presson

Who Knew He Had This Skill?


Dyno Staats was there and up to his usual shenanigans. As you can see, he was very concerned about our pushing the buttons on his contraptions.

Science


Science!


Okay, I’m pretty sure it had to be the off-the-hook party in the Suite de Vacas.

Suite_de_Vacas_party


It’s Not What it Looks Like


What you can’t hear is the loud music that Drake’s “dancing” to and you can’t see the crush of people at the party. I swear. Really. Lisa Vaca took this picture and she’ll swear to it, won’t you, dear?

I really have to come up with an acronym that means “Thank Lisa,
yet again, for the awesome pics.” Nope, it just doesn’t roll off the tongue.

Well, it was a fantastic time. Going back to the day job was really, really tough. Need sleep...


L'aventure Parisienne de Drake et McTrowell

Set the way back machine to almost two years ago. Drake and I had been to London recently, so I took the opportunity to assemble a Google map of locations that appeared in our first book, “London, Where It All Began.”

Well, we had the good fortune to be in Paris over New Year’s, so I’ve assembled a new one, “
L'aventure Parisienne de Drake et McTrowell.” On their way to and from the Bavarian Airship Regatta, Drake & McTrowell had time for some unplanned adventures in Paris. This map highlights locations of these unplanned adventures and illustrates them with pictures we took along the way.

Now here is the trick to enjoying the map. Click on one of the links, and …wait… until the picture shows up. Google takes its time to download all of the images in the map pushpin descriptions. It loads all the images at once, so that’s the only waiting you’ll have to do.

L'aventure Parisienne screen shot
Click on the map image to get the Google Map

Bon aventure!


Announcing the Upcoming “Duel at Dusk” Event

Duel at Dusk is over! Thanks to all that volunteered, all the vendors, and all that attended.

What would happen if you had the excitement of the finals of a sporting event, fencing no less, combined with a steampunk parlor event? Well, that’s easy to answer! You would have “Duel at Dusk,” a nice Sunday evening show (March 16th) with Chief Inspector Erasmus Drake as the Master of Ceremonies, comestibles by Dr. Sparky McTrowell, steampunk and fencing vendors, awards and prizes.

Tickets are now on sale through the Drake & McTrowell General Store. Click here!


Duel at Dusk Poster v4 50
Click Here to Get the Poster (in PDF)

Also, as a special treat, we will be displaying (for the first time to the public) the Starburner Galactic Courier Service’s Strato Sculpin!

strato-sculpin

Here are the details:
See the Thrilling Finals of a Contemporary Foil Match Utilizing Electrified Scoring Apparatus! Cheer on Your Selected Champion! Wear Your Best Fineries and Join Us! There will also be:
• Refreshments Provided • Steampunk Vendors • A Fencing Booth • The Strato Sculpin! • And Much, Much More...

Intrigued by Steampunk? Never seen anything like it before? Eager to see the latest Retro-victorian Fashion? Now is your chance!!

5 P.M. to 8 P.M. on Sunday the 16th of March, 2014

Location: Team Touché Fencing Center
11468 Sorrento Valley Rd. Suite A-1
San Diego, California 92121

On-line tickets may be purchased for $12 (only available until March 15, 2014). Having a PayPal account is not necessary to purchase on-line tickets. Price of admission at the door on the day of the event will be $15, cash only.


Steamcon 2013

One of our New Year’s resolutions here at Drake & McTrowell is to return to getting our posts out in a timely fashion. It seems we’ve been running a little behind in the last few months. What better way to get back on track than to get out our bloop on Steamcon V (which was actually two months ago)?

Although the theme was “Around the World,” I detected a note of
Bavarian Airship Regatta. There were Russians. We still miss the brave Ivan Krasnayarubashka.

Russkiye Steampunki

Russkiye Steampunki


I thought I spotted our villainess in the crowd.

Ishild is That You

Ishild, Is That You?


Of course, we had to have McTrowell saving Drake from certain death at the hands of the pirate queen.


Saving Drake in the BarvAirshipRegatta

Saving Drake in the Bavarian Airship Regatta


Of course, it all had a happening ending.


Smooching in the Clouds

Smooching in the Clouds


In other news, Baron Von Fogel of the
League of S.T.E.A.M. was there. Is it just us, or is everyone dying for them to start Season Three?

D+McT and Von Fogel

Baron Von Fogel


The masquerade had many treats to offer. I particularly liked this one.

Masqueradeness

Masqueradeness


But I think these two were king and queen of the steam geek prom.

We Rule

We Rule

And you know the comic-reading, Comic-Con-going, steampunk adventuress in me just could not resist these three.

DCU Steampunk Chicks Rule

DCU Steampunk Chicks

Final note of happy news: apparently there’s going to be a Steamcon VI! There was some question about this at the end of Steamcon V, but I found their website as I was preparing this bloop. Nobody tell Drake that I’m going to volunteer us to do “Drake & McTrowell’s Hot Potato School of Writing. ©”


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