Saying “Goodbye” Is Never Easy

When I think of exceptional endings, there are a few that spring to mind… Captain Jean-Luc Picard dealing out a new hand to his officers. “Sam Beckett never went home.” The final scene in Black Adder Goes Forth. Saying goodbye is always hard, and I Continue Reading

Tales from the Archives: A 2016 Christmas Special

A Very Happy Christmas from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has many forgotten stories in its Archives. Stories of madcap adventures in all corners of the Empire, dark doings in hidden places, and mysterious devices and artifacts that the everyday Continue Reading

Book Cover Shoot – an author report

Our journalist, Pip Ballantine takes over the blog today, to share the experience of a book cover photoshoot made possible by our readers and listeners.  So after our hugely successful Kickstarter campaign to fund The Ghost Rebellion, we were excited to be ordering up our Continue Reading

Tally Ho! A New Year with the Ministry

Well last year was a gallop for us here at the Ministry. We launched book four from our journalists, Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine, The Diamond Conspiracy. We picked up best steampunk from the RT Convention in Dallas for Dawn’s Early Light. We started and Continue Reading

Happy Birthday, Verena Vorstaz!

Oh I say! Today, the Ministry celebrates a very special birthday! Verena Vorstaz (also known as V for Cosplay) surprised our journalists with a series of photographs and moving picture clips of an uncanny Eliza D Braun cosplay. Verena is a talented cosplayer, runway model, Continue Reading

Two new ebook Short Stories

We have two new ebooks available for you this month, from Katarina Bordet and Michael Ventrella. One takes in the grandeur of the Austrian Empire…the other let’s loose a Mummy in Barnsley! The Mummy of Barnsley by Michael Ventrella Northern England, 1894 Agent Ernest Throckmorton Continue Reading

Steampunk Book Trailer The Diamond Conspiracy: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel

After an extremely cold night in Virginia’s capital city and weeks of production, Imagine That! Studios and Ace Books present the official book trailer for The Diamond Conspiracy, the fourth volume in The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series from Ace Books, written by Pip Ballantine & Continue Reading

Remembering the Fallen, Welcoming Others Home

Our brothers and sisters of investigating the strange and unusual, the Office of the Supernatural and Metaphysical, are celebrating Veteran’s Day today in the Americas, and we tip our bowlers and bonnets to them all. Today, across the Empire, we pay different honours. We remember Continue Reading

Report on S4: Steampunk Saturday at Shaharazade’s in Shepherdstown

Back on September 13th, the Ministry had the joy of hosting a steampunk tea at Shaharazade’s Restaurant & Tea Room in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Our journalists Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris were joined by Tiffany Trent, author of the Unnaturalists, and one of the authors Continue Reading

Happy Birthday, Nikola Tesla!

Our favourite mad science consultant for the Ministry, Nikola Tesla, celebrates a birthday today. We came across this picture in the Archives, circa 1894-95, where we see Nikola on his travels across America, enjoying a relaxing afternoon on the beach.   Wait. Hold on a Continue Reading

The Secret of the Diamond Conspiracy is out: 31-3-2015

We have managed to declassify information on the fourth Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences books. We have a publication date which is the 31st of March 2015…and we even have information on the contents of the book. Your support with pre-orders of said book makes a Continue Reading

Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice Award

  The winners were announced, and the Ministry was absolutely chuffed to find out that the Janus Affair has won the fiction category! It was an honour to be in company of such people as John C White, Ben Hamby, and Major Jack Union. Other Continue Reading

For Your Consideration: The Janus Affair for SPC’s 2013 Readers’ Choice Awards

Our journalists get quite tickled when the steampunk community gives the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences a nod. They still take a great deal of pride in both the 2011 Airship Award and their 2012 Parsec wins. This year, the Ministry is in the spotlight on The Continue Reading

Once More Unto the Breach: The Goodreads 2012 Choice Awards

Esteemed agents, faithful readers, and those of you who have cheered for our honours and awards, Miss Braun and I come to you once more as we did a year ago from this time. We are thrilled to announce that, yes, there are times where Continue Reading

A Steampunk Book Trailer from Imagine That! / Baldgroove / Brute Force Studios

Currently on TeeMorris.com, our journalist is busy revealing a behind-the-scenes look at his project within a project. As many of you know, our intrepid journalist collaborated with Baldgroove studios in the previous year to produce a right bit of fun — the Phoenix Rising book Continue Reading

What Is Steampunk? A Definitive Answer from the Ministry

Agents of the Ministry, as you may have discerned from the chatter within the Aether, there has been spirited discussion bandying about on what exactly constitutes steampunk. We have our own definition, of course, but even that has been brought into question. Perhaps it is Continue Reading

Submitted for #SteamTuesday: The Steampunk Chronicle’s 2012 Reader’s Choice Awards

This week — April 5, 2012 — is the last day supporters of the Ministry can vote for the SPC 2012 Reader’s Choice Awards. This honour, courtesy of The Steampunk Chronicle, is an opportunity for supporters of Steampunk to vote for outstanding talent in media, Continue Reading

Tales from the Archives (and friends) Chosen for Honours

COMMUNIQUE FROM THE MINISTRY: The Archives just received word from the Director that The Steampunk Chronicle has announced their 2012 Readers Choice Awards. This is your opportunity to vote for outstanding talent in the steampunk community and we are pleased as punch to be featured Continue Reading

New Steampunk for #SteamTuesday

Happy #SteamTuesday, friends from the æthertweets! We at the Ministry are quite excited about what we bring to you all today. Following a quite successful Tales from the Archives (Volume the First), our intrepid journalist Tee Morris has been hard at work finishing up development Continue Reading

The Kaiser Calls: A Look at Phoenix Rising’s German Cover

Good Heavens! As if it is not enough that our illustrious publishers at Harper Voyager have decided to offer our award-winning adventure at a mere pittance of 99¢ for your reading pleasure (and for a limited time) but our dear friend and ally from Europe, Continue Reading

Submitted for Steam Tuesday: Steampunk in Goodreads’ 2011 Choice Awards

Faithful readers, an update from the Ministry’s wireless! As you have been notified from our intrepid journalists on their Twitter, Facebook, and podcast ætherfeeds, Goodreads — a jolly nice salon where purveyours of fine literature gather to discuss what is recent off the printing press and which favourite classics Continue Reading

An Appeal from the Ministry: The 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards

Esteemed agents and faithful readers, Miss Braun and I come to you upon bended knee…which, if you are working your way across a large room — I assure you — is neither a simple nor comfortable feat. Perhaps you have heard our intrepid journalists, Pip Continue Reading

Concerning Airships and Awards…

When our journalists set out to write their first novel together, they were optimistic Phoenix Rising would perform well.  What they did not expect is for their book, just six months after its release, to win the 2011 Airship Award for Best Steampunk Literature of Continue Reading

Our Intrepid Journalists Head to New York….TODAY!

Today, our journalists enter a brave, new world. For any Ministry agents and agents-in-training present at the Colonies’ extravaganza New York Comic Con, our intrepid journalists Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris will be arriving today, and once off the train they will not even have time Continue Reading

Tales from the Archives — Eleven

The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences has many forgotten stories in its Archives. Stories of madcap adventures in all corners of the Empire, dark doings in hidden places, and mysterious devices and artifacts that the everyday citizen should never become aware of for fear it would Continue Reading

The 99-Penny Dreadfuls Promo

Gentle readers hosting æthercasts within and beyond the Empire, we at the Archives are appealing to you to to consider our humble promo for placement in your production. We are doing what we can to spread the word of the Ministry’s movement into the digital press arena. Continue Reading

A New Avenue for the Ministry: The 99-Penny Dreadful

Gentle readers, there are amazing things afoot in the Archives, and Miss Braun and I are teeming with excitement at the possibilities of this new ætherweb movement — the digital press. Of course, the released case files of the Archives are already available in a Continue Reading

An All-Around Amazing Week for the Ministry!

Yes, yes, yes — we at the Ministry do apologise for the silence. We know that many of you are anxious to hear more Tales from the Archives, and rest assured, we are working to bring more lost stories from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. Continue Reading

A note of thanks from the Archives…

This morning, Miss Braun and I present a short note of appreciation to you, the dedicated bibliophiles, who not only invested the time in our modest adventure across Her Majesty’s realm but also spared the additional moment to share your thoughts on various platforms. The Continue Reading

BALTICON 45: Book Launch the Second!

Gentle Readers, if you missed our intrepid journalists at the Steampunk World’s Fair, consider yourself most fortunate as they were incapacitated with a touch of consumption. (I did warn Mr. Morris to stay clear of a giant rat, but he insisted his child wanted to Continue Reading

The end result of hard work and vivid imagination…

Oh how clever our Ministry scribes are! With their portable kinetorama device, authors Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris shared (in a most candid fashion) their unboxing of the first four copies of Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel. We know there will be Continue Reading

Our Sincerest Thanks!

As Miss Braun has said here, we are most excited about the pending release of our memoirs. (I say, the counter to the right seems to be moving faster and faster, day by day.) As we wait, with the release of our kinetoscope and the Continue Reading

Steampunk Book Trailer — The Official “Phoenix Rising” Teaser

Gentle readers and true believers in the fantastic and unknown, we at the Ministry have completed the official book trailer for Phoenix Rising, the first volume in The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series from Harper Voyager. These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners Continue Reading