eSteampunk Vol. 01 No. 02 Read online

  Want to know what happens next? Check out eSteampunk’s next issue or follow Mark Fenger’s blog: http://www.brassbolts.blogspot.com/.

  Inspiration for “Up From the Depths”

  Jonathan Hunt

  I have always loved the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. His tales of insidious cosmic horrors have inspired me as an artist and writer since I first discovered his work years ago. The challenge with Lovecraft is to effectively illustrate his stories without crossing the line between terrifying and silly. Generally, I have found it best to not be too literal when visualizing Lovecraft’s words. Although obviously referencing the Cthulhu mythos, “Up From the Depths” is not a scene from any particular story, but my attempt to create the atmosphere of dread and awe that suffuses Lovecraft’s stories. The line work for this piece was drawn out in graphite on cheap printer paper and then scanned. The painting was completed in Photoshop.

  About the Cover Artist

  Jonathan Hunt | illustrator • author • designer • educator

  Hunt works in both traditional and digital media for book jackets, storyboards, concept art, music videos, collectible card games, role playing manuals, and magazines. He is the author and/or illustrator of eleven picture books for children.

  Some of Hunt’s clients include Naissance Studio, Rattle the Cage Productions, Llewellyn Publications, Alderac Entertainment Group, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Houghton Mifflin, Cricket Magazine, Dragon Magazine, and Caviar/Los Angeles. He also publishes posters, prints, comics & art books through red•eye studio.

  Hunt teaches Illustration at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and Adobe Photoshop online for the University of California-San Diego Extension.

  He participates in numerous art exhibitions each year in addition to curating a highly successful pinup gallery show.

  Jonathan Hunt’s work can be seen online at:

  http://huntillustration.carbonmade.com/

  http://huntillustration.com/

  http://huntillustration.blogspot.com/

  Contributors

  D. L. Mackenzie began writing steampunk in 2000 as an experiment in mimicking the larger-than-life characters, improbable adventures, and grandiloquent style of the old science fiction masters such as Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. From 2001-2003, he published a web serial called The Secret Journals of Phineas J. Magnetron, a gentle parody of those breathless tales of yesteryear. Now, Mackenzie has published the first four ebook volumes of a projected twelve-volume series of retro-futuristic, neo-Victorian tales known as The Magnetron Chronicles. The first volume of the series, The Last Adventure of Dr. Yngve Holagum, can be found for free on Amazon. “The Smiljan Breach” is a stand-alone prequel to that series, written exclusively for eSteampunk. For more information you can visit Mackenzie’s Blogspot.

  Rigel Ordinario is a college student and gay Pastafarian in the predominantly Catholic Philippines. By day, he is an English major who dreams of becoming a teacher; by night, he is a writer who doubles as a Pokemon trainer. Rigel regularly participates in National Novel Writing Month and is currently working on a modern day epic on his blog. His first collection of poems is available on Smashwords.

  Matt Betts is a former radio personality whose fiction and poetry appears in numerous publications, including Kaleidotrope, Astropoetica, A Thousand Faces and the Triangulation: Taking Flight Anthology. He blogs at www.mattbetts.com, Twitters as @captplothole, and does interviews and other stuff for Shock Totem Publications. His book of speculative poetry, See No Evil, Say No Evil, can be found at www.happybotgardener.com.

  Mandy Alyss Brown is a work-at-home mother in Central Texas. She earned her BA in English with a Professional Writing Emphasis at Texas State University where she spent three years as the Writing Center’s to-go gal. She plans to earn her MFA in Fiction, but that will have to wait until her kids go to school. For now she gets to read, write, and manage eSteampunk during the baby’s naps.

  Brent Nichols is a writer and technical trainer based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is the author of the Gears of a Mad God series, two-fisted tales of steampunk adventure with a Lovecraft twist. Look for it wherever fine ebooks are sold, or visit Brent online.

  Angel Zapata believes all words have the power to float on their own, but they rise so much higher when properly strung together. His fiction and poetry can be read at Every Day Poets, Bewildering Stories, MicroHorror, The Bradburyesque Quarterly, Devilfish Review, Mused, Microw, Haunted Waters Press, and Thrillers, Killers ‘n’ Chillers. An audio presentation of his story, “Nothing Simple About Simon,” was recently produced by Flash Pulp. Visit him at his blog.

  Mark Fenger is a Canadian Army veteran who also has ten years of experience in the TV and Film industries, working on over a dozen animated series such as Transformers: Beast Machines, Heavy Gear, and Hot Wheels. He writes the popular steampunk blog www.brassbolts.blogspot.com. Mark is currently working on his third novel, In Machina Umbra.

  George Walker’s stories have appeared in Bibliotheca Fantastica, Steampunk Tales #3, Gears and Levers I, and elsewhere. The steampunk adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ illegitimate daughter began with “The Case of the River Monkey Taxidermist” in Comets and Criminals #2. Links to more of his stories are available online.

  Brandon Bachman is an avid reader, occasional writer, and part-time radio DJ from Minnesota. He is an undergraduate psychology major with a minor in applied and professional writing. He is currently Editorial Intern at eFiction Magazine, where he looks forward to continuing his career in editing.

  eSteampunk’s

  Story of the Month

  We ask our readers to vote for their favorite piece at the end of every issue. The piece with the most votes will win eSteampunk’s Story of the Month Award and be published again at a later date.

  Click here to vote.

  We’re interested in what you think of the magazine, so please go to our site and let us know what you think. Positive, negative, or neutral—let us know. We want your feedback to continue to improve.

  Thank you for reading!