We had the good fortune of connecting with Erasmus & Sparky Drake & McTrowell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erasmus & Sparky, what do you want people to remember about you?
Steampunk was originally a literary movement in the 1970s. As it morphed into its own fandom in the 1990s, complete with art, music, costuming, making, and all manner of shenanigans, it became very participatory. But some of the literary aspects didn’t come along for the rollercoaster ride. We wanted to bring that participatory spirit to the literary aspects of steampunk as we began writing our own novels. We wanted literary engagement to be fun! We changed readings of our novels to Theatre of the Historically Improbable™, where audience members act out the scenes with sock puppets and props. We wanted to engage the audience and show them that everyone can be creative, if they’re open to the experience. We created our improvisational, audience participation, writing game show, Hot Potato School of Writing™. Above all else, we wanted to be #EverHilarious. We’ve learned not to take ourselves too seriously; we leave all pretense behind when we’re in front of the crowd. All of this is critical because our business is very F2F, so we strive to have people like us before they like Drake & McTrowell as a brand.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We’ve been writing steampunk novels since 2010. It started as a bet from a friend that led to an online serialized story. At the time, we didn’t realize we were writing novels. By cosplaying our protagonists, we established a brand identity that’s been internationally recognized as unique in the steampunk community. From there it morphed into an entertainment business and lifestyle.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We know it’s not steampunk, but we absolutely love LA’s rich Art Deco history. As members of the Art Deco Society of LA, we’ve visited the Oviatt and the Biltmore. We make the trip to Catalina Island annually for the Avalon Ball at the Catalina Casino to make a sartorial weekend of it. And the Roosevelt Hotel is the place to be if you’re in town for the Labyrinth Masquerade Ball.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Sparky’s love of science fiction and belief that little girls could grow up to be great scientists is all down to her 4th grade teacher, Harriett Dodder, who read “A Wrinkle in Time” to the class. Drake became an engineer because of the encouragement of his best friends in high school, Steven and Chris, who showed him that he could choose to be technical and creative.

Website: https://drakeandmctrowell.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063544653835

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drakemctrowell5177

Other: Bluesky: drakeandmctrowell.bsky.social

Image Credits
Jerry Abuan
Dan Davis

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