Not only has Katie MacAlister written what sounds like the worst Steampunk novel ever -- romance/chick-lit with a Steampunk veneer -- she has also stolen a photograph by Tarilyn Quinn of rather more genuine Steampunk author G.D. Falksen to use as the basis for her hero in a YouTube promotional video.
The video is here, at least for the moment:
I can't believe Penguin is going to be all that thrilled about being party to theft, so it may not be up long. Compare with the photo here.
Even aside from the whole copyright-what-copyright? angle, listening to the breathless narration makes me choke with laughter:
A whirlwind romance that just may cause their airship to combust and ignite in a passion that will forever change the world as she knows it
'Cause, y'know, the Hindenburg disaster is exactly what you want to think about in a moment of passion.
Judging from the promo, this might actually be worse than SteamyPunk, though I'm not willing to sacrifice either time or money enough to find out for myself.
(And a note to Ms. MacAlister: when I think of "igniting passion" and "incredible
gadgetry," a punked-up wristwatch is not the first thing that comes to
mind.)
(1/30/10 Edited to add: The video has now been pulled; no surprise. A screencap is at left; click to enlarge. A copy of the video has been posted with a record of the multiple thefts of artistic property -- background, watches, etc. -- here. The author blames it all on the video production company, MyNextDemo, which is supposedly a professional producer. One has to wonder how many other images they've stolen for their other videos. You can see MacAlister's failure to apologize or accept any responsibility in the comments here.)


Recent Comments