About the Chimney
This is not an advice blog, or a commercial blog. It may be somewhat of a personal blog, in the sense that I will address issues of personal interest. But I want other people to be interested, too. If I wanted a personal journal, I would keep a diary.
As a writer, I have an enormous spectrum of interests, so just because you don’t see me talking about something on the Chimney, don’t assume it isn’t welcome here.
That said, topics I am likely to address often (and in no particular order):
Lingusitics
Anime
Manga
Conlanging
Con-worlding/world-building
Fantasy fiction
Poetry
Science Fiction
Writing
YA Fiction
Any combination or sub-genre of the above
Whatever the hell I feel like
Chimneys
Punks
Chimney-punk
The occasional book review
But please feel free to suggest anything else you might be interested in.
Atsiko's Chimney 
Nicole Grotepas
July 26, 2010 at 11:27 PM
What is Chimney-punk? It sounds awesome.
atsiko
July 27, 2010 at 4:07 AM
“Chimney-punk” was a faux-genre I invented to use in a series of stories as a send-off to a lot of the newer sub-genres today, which often raise their heads only to be decapitated by larger and more well-known genres from the past. New Weird died off pretty fast, and we’ve already got ourselves “post-cyberpunk”. Most new sub-genres are either specific subets of older, larger genres–cyberpunk as part of near-future science fiction–or else some form of cross-over, like steampunk.
I wrote a rough description of chimney-punk for reference in the story:
“Chimney-punk, is a micro-genre of speculative fiction, dealing with combinations of magic and science in modern or near-future urban environments. It explores the effects of class distinctions, digitization, and industrialization, with moderate environmentalist leanings. Urban warfare and unrest are common tropes, along with the interaction of the human psyche and it’s environment. It borrows from steam-punk and cyber-punk, and tends towards dark, dystopian grittiness.”
It’s intended to sound a bit ridiculous, though I based most of the ideas in it on elements of my own stories at the time of its creation.
Sarah Weaver
September 15, 2013 at 2:00 PM
I guess I should ask. Is trying to find a good juxtaposition of any one science fiction genre and the punk element still considered a bit odd?
Also the decapitation of punk genre’s is truer than you might think. *cough post retro-futurism *cough So I love the idea of Chimney-punk.
atsiko
September 15, 2013 at 2:48 PM
I mean, you’re an author. You should do whatever you want and who cares if someone thinks it’s odd.
But, yeah, I’d imagine that many people do still consider it a bit odd.
I’m glad you like the idea, since it was probably pretty old when I first posted that comment three years ago. However, being caught in the constant swirl of genre discussion–“What genre is this?” “Here’s this new genre I created/am seeing” “Is [blank] *really* dystopian?” “What genre is hot with agents and publishers right now?”–I think the idea is still somewhat relevant. Lots of people wish they could be the kick-off for some new genre, or that they could surf the wave of current popularity. So I still appreciate the idea of Chimney-punk as a faux fad like that many that pop up every other month. But it’s not just a parody, because I do love me some punk, cyber, steam, or otherwise.
Sorry for the rant.