Monday Book Recommendation: Lady Mechanika

Keeping with the steampunk theme, I bring to you Lady Mechanika!

Lady Mechanika is a creator-owned comic book series by Joe Benitez, inspired by the steampunk genre. “Steampunk” is all about re-imagining history, usually combining the elegance of the Victorian Era with more advanced science fiction technology.
The tabloids dubbed her “Lady Mechanika“, the sole survivor of a mad scientist’s horrific experiments which left her with mechanical limbs. Having no memory of her captivity or her former life, Mechanika eventually built a new life for herself as a private detective, using her unique abilities to solve cases the police couldn’t or wouldn’t handle. But she never stopped searching for the answers to her own past.
Set in turn of the century England, a time when magic and superstition clashed with new scientific discoveries and inventions, Lady Mechanika is about a young woman’s search for her own identity as she solves other mysteries involving science and the supernatural.

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I know it’s not strictly a book but it does have book in it right? Comic book. Any steampunk fans out there?

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Being a villain is easy

Brain Power
Let’s assume we do, in fact, use only 10% of our brain. If you could unlock the remaining 90%, what would you do with it?

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We look at the heroes smashing bad guys on the big screen, the Norse god, the playboy philanthropists kitted out in metallic armour, the black spider or the giant S on the chest of a red and blue costume – heroes. They have a moral compass. They have a conscience. They make decisions with the intention of saving everyone so no one has to suffer.

However imagine the loved blonde god of thunder dropping into the middle of a mall, grabbing the largest television set in the store, an X-Box One with a handful of games and swooping out of there with some new toys for his recently  (and forcibly) acquired home. What moral compass would he work off except one pointing towards self? What conscience would he need when anyone in his way is merely an obstacle towards what he wants? Who would he need to save but himself? Being a villain would make life so much easier.

JHB Writers – JaNoWriMo? JaNoMo?

 

This is a public declaration that by the end of January, I will have written 20 000 words.

~ Nthato Morakabi

A brave quote from a brave man, who once attempted a 50 000 word feat and achieved half, though talking to him you would have understood that time was neither friend nor foe to this aspiring author. He however, continued onward with his dream of publishing his writing and growing as a writer, which spurred his rather bold (and foolishly impulsive) public declaration. 20 000 words for the JanoWriMo January Writing Month (not official NaNo) which was started by a forum member on the Jozi Writers forum. See links below for info.

“Heroes don’t exist. And if they did, I wouldn’t be one of them.”

― Brodi Ashton, Everneath

Graphic Short Stories

If there is ever one thing I seek to capture in my writing, one thing that I strive towards with each letter, word and punctuation , it would be to evoke imagery within the imagination of my readers, that sufficient detail would be given in each story, in each piece of writing, to recreate in their minds the world that I am seeing. This is the reason I invest time and effort in researching people, places, events and the like and widening my vocabulary with an extensive use of both dictionary and thesaurus. However, even in these endeavours,  the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words always comes into play once I’m done writing; this is the reason why I include with every post, an image related to the piece of writing.

Now these images I use ( usually siphoned off sites like deviantart -with reference to the artist and thank you of course ), do not truly capture the image in my head but they come close enough to it and so I do. My idea, however, and one that has been darting in and out of my thought processes for a very long time, is to personally draw the images out myself and use them in my posts. So now instead of finding images that closely resemble what I want, I’ll be able to put to paper exactly what I want.

Only issue? I suck at colour and colour shades. I’ve been working at it for years now and I’m still as “NOOB” at it as a four year old who just figured out how pencils work. So all you’ll be seeing for the next foreseeable future, should I put my pencil to paper, is black and white interpretations and never the full colour experience. Not that I’m not working on the colour thing, I won’t give up on learning and growing but for now, creating images like  the one above look to be far off.

So then what’s the purpose of this post? I have already alluded to it but not fully and this is tying in with the title of the post; Graphic Short Stories. The word “graphic” in this context is not in the sense of gruesome and visceral as horror stories tend to be but rather in the sense of artwork; like graphic novels. As we speak I have a short story I am writing (in my head) and am thinking of telling it with an accompaniment of personally drawn images. Like my own little comic book or picture story. I think it would be a nice change from the usual.

So when can you expect to see this? I am not sure. As soon as I can? I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep but I also don’t want you, dear reader, to wait in anticipation for something and I disappoint you by continually moving the dates back in order to give myself more time. Maybe I’ll add sketches as I go? I guess time will tell.

Is there anything in particular that you want to do on your blog that steps outside of your norm? Breaking away from the usual for a breath of fresh air? Are there any stories I’ve written on this blog (or that you would like me to write…or that you have written) that you would want to see actualized into drawings? Let me know and I will see if I can make a plan for you.