I'm K. Tempest Bradford and I'm a speculative fiction writer.

I'm also a podcaster, a vlogger, and a blogger. I read and review short fiction, I write about writing, and I love analyzing TV, movies, and other media.

I'm foremost a fiction writer, and I want to devote more time to writing and to activities that inform or are informed by my writing.

I support myself and my writing with freelance work as a reviewer, media critic, technology journalist, and teacher. Freelancing allows me some freedom, but I want to concentrate more on writing fiction so I can complete the project I'm working on now and get the next one done by the end of 2017.

That's why I'm on Patreon: to ask folks to support my writing. And, in the process, get early access to it.

What Am I Supporting If I Become Your Patron?

I'm currently writing the second draft of a steampunk novel set in Ancient Egypt. It was inspired by my love of a particular period in ancient history and my desire to create steampunk that doesn't suck.

For a long time, I had the same opinion of steampunk as Nisi Shawl. On a panel at World Fantasy a few years ago, she declared that "Steampunk sucks!" because of how often modern authors and artists who engaged with it co-signed colonialism and reveled in Victoriana and the glories of the British Empire instead of questioning, challenging, or dismantling these aspects. These were the concerns that kept me from engaging with the genre as well, both as a writer and as a reader. But after taking part in many discussions and reading many blog posts by Nisi and Diana Pho and Jaymee Goh on how steampunk should be and could be a genre where writers explore the intersection between people of color and industrial technology, I decided to meld my love of Ancient Egypt with steampunk and see what popped out.

Because, beyond the gears and gadgets, steampunk is supposed to be about revolution: social, technological, and cultural revolution. Thus, it doesn't belong to a particular time or place.

The culture I'm building for this novel is meant to challenge ideas about the role of women in Ancient Egypt held by most people with casual knowledge of the dynastic era. I'm also building a culture that rejects the gender binary and takes as a given people who aren't cisgender have a place, labels, societal roles, acceptance.

From the beginning, my novel shows Egyptian women in administrative and leadership roles and sets the foundation for my idea of how the ancient culture worked. Women are engineers, military strategists, and scholars. Queens rule equally with kings, not as the Power Behind The Throne. People of every gender have specified roles in society, but without severe imbalances of power that seems to be the hallmark of cultures built on patriarchal ideas.

Patreon backers will get access to various bits of the novel depending on the tier. Some tiers get you the occasional excerpt, others weekly chapter drafts, others access to behind the scenes material such as character sketches, background stories, or deleted scenes. I'll also post about my research (there is always a funny story to be told about researching Egypt. Think aliens. Lots and lots of aliens), weekly Q&As, and blog about the books I'm reading for inspiration. Check out the reward tiers on the right sidebar for all the details.

How Do I Know If I'll Even Like Your Fiction?

You can read some of my published short stories for free online or you can buy the fabulous anthologies they're published in. I also put one of my background stories/DVD extras from the world of this novel on my blog for folks to read. Or, if you support me for just $1 a month you'll get access to all the patron-only posts, which include some excerpts from the novel and some other fiction I've written. If you really don't like any of it, you don't have to keep supporting me.

You Mentioned Another Project…

Yes, once the draft of the steampunk novel is done, I switch to the first draft of a YA novel I'm writing that's my take on the cancer kid trend in YA. It's about a girl slowly turning into a dragon who meets and falls in love with a nice werewolf boy. More details on that to come.

What Are Your Goals?

My basic goal is to have more time to write. However, my big goals revolve around saving the money to go on research trips. I wrote a long post about that, if you want full details. My first two goals will give me time for research and writing, the goals beyond that will allow me to write without having to worry about work beyond teaching.

Okay, I'll Do It!

You will? HOORAY! You're the best and I thank you.

__________________________________________________________________________ Header/Video Art Credit: Tjaša Pfajfar <-- check out her stuff, she's awesome.