Let's Get Steamy: A Celebration of All Things Steampunk!

Hey everyone! As you can see, there's been a few changes around here this month! The blog will be a bit well...Steamier...than usual this month...As in...Steampunk! Yay! February is finally here! And with it comes:

Starting today, and going for the WHOLE month of February, I am hosting "Let's Get Steamy" celebrating the amazing, fantastical, quirky, and oftentimes hilarious world of Steampunk! I've got interviews with some of the greats(in my opinion) like Gail Carriger, Meljean Brook, Cherie Priest, and so many more! I'm also branching away from my norm a little. Instead of just reviewing books or interviewing authors, I am celebrating EVERY aspect of the Steampunk Genre. There will still be book reviews and author interviews of course, but I'm also throwing in posts about the movies, music, fashion, jewelery....everything that could even possibly be thought of as Steampunk, I will be featuring! *throws confetti* Don't worry, those of you who aren't steampunk fans, I will still be posting several reviews of the non-punk variety, as well as participating in a few blog tours...you will get your same Unabridged Andra back in a month...but for now...

 I know that Steampunk isn't a very mainstream genre. It's kind of one of the types of books that you've never heard of until someone introduces you, and then either you hate it or you love it. Well my lovely followers, I''m hoping that I can be that "intro" person who you curse years later while you're buried under a TBR pile of hundreds of Steamy-punky-awesomeness. For those of you who don't know what Steampunk is, I will have lots of info and guest posts to give you a clue about what you'll be in for if you pick up a Steampunk novel. And as for those of you who already love yourself some clockwork, automatons, and airships, well...maybe I can find something for you as well...*cough* AWESOME GIVEAWAYS *cough* :)

I suppose, for the steampunk virgins out there, that I should stop right now and explain a few things. If you stick around the blog this month you will get tons and tons of info about what puts the Steam in those Punks...I'm going to be posting a full history of Steampunk tomorrow, but I will give you a little Steampunk 101 lesson right now so you newbies are not all in the dark.

Steampunk 101

Steampunk: A sub-genre of Science Fiction, loosely based on ideas and science that originated in Victorian England. This means that technology such as dirigibles (airships) aetherguns(ray guns that shoot heated air) automatons (people/animal robots made of brass, steel, etc)(see automatonic spider to the right) and other things that we have now proved to be either impossible or improbable are widely accepted as if they actually work in real life. It's kind of like Steampunk authors decide to ignore  modern science and say, "But what if it did work" and then just went from there.

Time Periods: There are three major time-periods in which most Steampunk novels or movies take place. The first, and most common, is Victorian England. Steampunk has it's roots in the Victorian age with Jeter's Infernal Devices and H.G. Well's The Time Machine. Because it originated there, a lot of modern Steampunk classics also take place in England or during the Victorain Era. I have read a ton of these books and I just love the combination of fascinating inventions, pretty dresses, and of course...ettiqutte...but we will get to that later :) The next most common time period is the American West. These books usually occur during the "cowboys and indians" phase of American history, only with awesome robots and crazy inventions thrown in. I myself haven't read many western Steampunks yet, but I'm hoping to get some for you by the end of the month! The third setting is the Future. Typically in theses, there has been some kind of break down from modern technology (we used up all the oil, we can't use electricity, etc) and have to revert to Victorian or other ancient technologies to survive. I haven't read ANY of these, but I have heard of a few good ones...I'll have to feature them later :)

Why I love it-

It's Original and Bizarre: To be honest. I think one of the reasons that I love Steampunk is that it's kind of weird...and I like that. From my men to my books, you've gotta be kinda quirky to keep my interest for long. You won't see too many "contemporary" peices on my blog because...well...who wants to read about a normal life that is just as boring as yours? I want robots, corsets, vampires, ridiculous corsetted vampire-robots...and with Steampunk, that's what you get. Well...not nessicarily the last one...but you get a mixture of all of the different genres like Regency Romance, Paranormal, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, you name it, Steampunk usually has it.  You have to suspend your beliefs a little bit. I'm used to this, as the majority of the books I read are paranormal, science-fiction, or fantasy.

The Clothing: I LOVE Victorian clothing. Corsets, stockings, petticoats, Oh! My! Despite being some of the most painful inventions known in the history of women's fashion, there is something that just screams romance when you look at the outfits of the Victorians...Steampunk takes those elements and totally amps up the sex appeal, making fun and flirty outfits that totally rock and can be personalized in cool "steampunky" ways like adding clockwork or keys like the corset to the left. I maintain that nothing is more fun to wear than a sexayyy corset and skirts, or a super tight leather outfit of an airship pirate.

~Giveaways~

Okay, so I told you before that there will be giveaways. This is the truth. So far I have at least 2-4 giveaways lined up every week..That's right EVERY WEEK! Usually the giveaway is a book in a Steampunk series that I love. But occasionally it is jewelry or clothing of the Steampunk nature! Also, in order to attract more people to the event, I will be giving away A HUGE prize at the end. The Grand Prize is a culmination of basically every single thing I am giving away this month. It will contain 4-8 Books, 2-4 Movies, and a huge assortment of Steampunk jewelry and fashion! Doesn't that sound exciting! The perfect thing for any Steampunk lover or for the newbie to get started on their way! I'm going to release the contents of the Prize along the way, so you won't know all of what you're getting even at the end...I'm tricksy that way...but I will give you a sneak peek at what will definitely be part of the Grand Prize!

The First THREE books in the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger! 

The Movie Suckerpunch starring Emily Browning and Vanessa Hudgens

A Clockwork Hairpin from Ester at Once Upon A Bustle

A Custom Made Hat also from Ester

And that's just the beginning! There are TONS more in the Grand Prize package and I will keep updating this page each time I reveal a new prize! Sound like something you'd like to win? Well...Duh...but how exactly do you win? Well, dear reader...I will tell you :) COMMENT! That's it! I want people talking about this stuff! I want to know what you think about the reviews and interviews. What turns you on about Steampunk, what turns you off. Everything! Every post (guest posts, features, interviews, reviews, etc) that has the Let's Get Steamy button on it is fair game. (hint hint...this post has the LGS button on it...) For every time you comment, you gain an entry into the Grand Prize! At the end of the event I will use a randomizer to generate a number and the comment corresponding to that number wins!  (This means legitimate comments. Things like "Cool" or "Good Post" do not qualify. If you say something that makes me think you obviously didn't read the post, I wont count it. I hate to say this, but it is abused every time I have a giveaway. )

There are a few ways to gain extra entries to the grand prize giveaway! These will also come in handy, as they will give you multiple entries into the "individual" giveaways that happen during the month as well!

To get 5 extra entries, post one of the two buttons on my sidebar (or create your own) on your blog and post a link in the comments here! (if you don't know what they are...I will post them below...

OR: To get an extra entry every day, you could tweet this message:
RT PLZ Let's Get Steamy! Check out Unabridged Andra's for a celebration of all things #Steampunk! http://unabridgedandralyn.blogs RT PLZ

If you tweet that or something like it and leave the link in the comments below, I will count it towards the grand prize! Yay! Sound good to you? Good! Have a great day you guys. And don't forget to Get Steamy all this month! It is the month of LURVE after all and I love me some Steampunk!