What if development had taken a different path during the steam era in England?
This is fodder for some of author/librarian/costumer Halli Lilburn’s popular young adult books that feature the world of steampunk, something Wikipedia describes as a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and esthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.
“Steampunk was a world I thought I invented,” says Lilburn, who favours writing about the implications of alternate dimensions. “When I was going through my dimensions, I thought there needs to be a world where there is no electricity, everything is powered by steam.”
Lilburn did some research and was immediately attracted to her discovery of this very different steampunk culture that was already online and in movies.
Calling the period very romantic, the author was excited to include the “glamourous” Victorian-style culture in her writing and consider possible development alternatives.
“Think if you were a chimney sweep and you had a clockwork automaton who did it for you? That could be one of the inventions,” she says, wondering how the world would have progressed differently. “At the time science was really leaping forward and Queen Victoria favoured science. Think if that would have progressed in a different direction, it could have been airships and laser cannons.”
Lilburn became a published author at 40, after she became comfortable with who she is.
“I was one of those people who had an imagination that went a little bit too far and was always told I had to rein it in, that I was too bizarre,” laughs Lilbur who, while enjoying the Shakespeare she learned in school, had a lot of fantasies about dragons and unicorns – a lot of fighting monsters travelling through crazy magic.
“I remember giving my teacher one of my stories outside of class and she said ‘this is not my style, I don’t know how to get into this.”
Lilburn describes high school years as a really dark time for a lot of people and explains her therapy was writing poetry and art in an attempt to reach out to people to get their attention with what she was doing.
As an adult, she began writing what she thought readers would accept.
“I thought I had to, then I kind of realized it was boring and I knew how I could make myself happy where other people couldn’t, and I started writing the craziest stuff I could,” she laughs. “I think I wanted something for my kids that was amazing and they would like and they do… even my horror stuff.”
Lilburn says she does not include murder in any of her stories, she is definitely a fan of monsters and ghosts.
“I firmly believe in haunting, the supernatural,” she says. “I think I would prefer fiction to reality; when people try to get you to believe in real ghosts, it’s not as compelling as what’s in people’s imagination.”
Her audience is primarily teenagers, a time, she says, when people want to discover their passion and the path forward.
“I think the reason I am so involved in this is because I didn’t find it fast enough; I was told not to (discover) and there wasn’t room to experiment.”
Lilburn started to write her first novel the day her children, now teenagers, were all in school, giving her six hours a day to herself.
A school librarian, she writes during recess and is a fervent advocate for literacy and in writing that appeals to young readers.
Lilburn, who teaches art journaling, multi-media collage and creative writing classes, and lives in Lethbridge, Alta. with her husband and three kids, will be one of the presenters at this year’s Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival, which takes place from May 19 to 20 at the Prestige Harbourfront Resort and Okanagan College.
Her workshop will be “What the punk?” an exploration of steampunk history, its origin and how to apply it to every genre of writing.
Other presenters for this year’s event, one of British Columbia’s largest writers’ festivals, include: Gail Anderson-Dargatz, author of the new best seller Spawning Grounds; Lorelei Fiset, social marketing specialist; international award-winning writer of popular young adult fiction Jacqueline Guest; Blu and Kelly Hopkins – acoustic musicians and songwriters; Theresa Kishkan – one of B.C.’s most respected and well-known authors; Myrna Kostash – author of non fiction, essayist, contributor to diverse magazines; George Opacic – director of the federation of BC Writers specializing in the business aspects of writing; Anna Comfort O’Keeffe – managing editor for Douglas & McIntyre; Cea Sunrise Person – author of North of Normal, specializing in memoir; Patrick Taylor – author of six best-selling Irish country books; John Vaillant – non-fiction author and Sheri-D Wilson – performance poet, author and filmmaker.
“Once again the calibre and variety of presenters this year is exceptional,” said Kay Johnston, festival chair. “This speaks well for the reputation that the festival has earned during its 14 years with both attendees and presenters.”
Registration is scheduled to open Feb. 28 at www.wordonthelakewritersfestival.com.
