They are funky and very true to Kevin’s love of all things that fly. Me, I like flying, but sometimes – on a funky Friday – you GOTTA DANCE!

Go on! DANCE!

Ok so more Duck hunt picks… Sadly – here is another union of Duck and Machine. I got an imaged mailed to me Mike Baker – who’s truck hit this mallard, I think. He called it duck meets truck. Um, DARK, brother, really DARK. this is a children’s book…. Well, YEAH. I know yesterday’s post showed a roughed up Steamduck…. Fine…. NO REALLY, you’re right. (sigh). Duck Meets Truck:

If you want better pictures – YOU send ‘em! Right… I need a palate cleanser – MORE DANCING!  (cue Jon Cryer and the Duckie Dance from Pretty in Pink)

NO? that doesn’t clear away the dead mallard?

OK – Dirty Ducky Dancing

Happy Friday Ya’ll – Join us for more ducks tomorrow. AND! be sure to follow Steamduck on Facebook!

Today’s Duck Hunt picture comes from Paul Nettles Photography, Thanks, Paul, for sending a picture! Speaking of a basket of baby ducks… here is you moment of uber-cute Zen.

Steamduck gets stuck in the mud, too. Like I said in yesterday’s post – Kevin and I rough up Steamduck pretty good from time to time. Like this:

Yeah – we rung his bell real good.

WHERE ARE YOUR DUCK PICTURES?! Bring them on!!! Post the at Steamduck’s Facebook page… TOMORROW – we dance!!!

Pam Bush says – “We can all fly, even if we really aren’t engineered for it. A-buzz-buzz.” Pam is a big fan of the BEE – which flies – even when it shouldn’t be able, too.

She sends this ducky catch and release DUCK PHOTO and gives us our THEME of the DAY: Ducks in the Grass. Pam is an engineer (read: smart cookie, this one) and she once won an award with her agency for designing artificial turf, or something really odd like that.

Now, she sent in this picture, and I picked it, and it has nothing to do with those pictures that were taken of us at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this year. Not one bit. (Kicking the dirt aimlessly.)

Isn’t it nice we’re having weather?

Oh, right. Ducks…

So – The story goes with Steamduck like this: Our plucky duck meets a goose, and realized that – like the goose – he really OUGHT to be flying as well as swimming. Steamduck goes back to visit the Otter – the tinker who built him, and asks the old dude to help him fly. With me? So they start dreaming up flying contraptions. All manner of crazy stuff. You’ll see when the book comes out October 10. BUT until then – SNEAK PEEK!

There’s yer trouble…

This brings me to one of my favorite sketches from the new book. Kevin and I joked and laughed about this particular picture:

Emilie: Geez, Kevin. That’s some tool Otter’s got here.

Kevin: (LAUGHING) I know. I think it’s hilarious that he thinks he’s gonna use the giant wrench on that itty bitty duck.

Emilie: I can hear him now, “Fly, dang it! or I’m smackin’ you with the wrench!”

Kevin: It’d launch that sucker. Fer sure.

(AND SCENE!) – Steamduck I promise, won’t be smacked with the  wrench. He’s a well engineered duck, and Kevin is ALL ABOUT how that duck works, and doesn’t work. We do laugh about roughing up Steamduck from time to time, but Kev can practically draw that feathered bad boy with his eyes closed at this point. Hundreds of different angels for that duck. As a funny aside – I suggested to Kevin that he draw Steamduck with a Sousaphone (What? Sometimes life necessitates a musical Steampunk waterfowl. Oh, like it never happened to YOU?!). Kevin quickly explained to me that ducks don’t have lips. Good point, brother.

Back to the matter at hand: Duck in the grass:

Canard debout sur ses palmes, hors de l’eau
Duck walking on grass, 2 feet away, out of the water…

Duck MADE of grass:

No not a FLOCK of ducks in the grass – A GRASS FLOCKED duck

Grass Whistling Ducks:

(Imagine THIS video here: http://youtu.be/_rO7iZezs-0)

SO – SEND MORE DUCK PICTURES!!!!  Tomorrow – the GREAT DUCKMATO!

Be sure to friend Steamduck on Facebook!

St.John Murphy Alexander and Steamduck – old pals.

Welcome to September 11th. Today’s Duck du jour pictures will be all about our ducks in uniform. Now, my favorite guy in uniform is St.John Murphy Alexander – who already is a great pal to Steamduck – so of course he’s welcome here…

Let’s start with a classic – the Insignia of the Ruptured Duck:

Insignia of the Marine Bomber Squadron the Ruptured Ducks (VBM 614) Flying the PBJ-1 aircraft through the end of WWII.

If you haven’t been – I recommend the Museum of Naval Air Flight in Pensacola – AWESOME military aviation stuff, including TONS of nose art and patches. Totally free – go!

OK so what else? Well – this just in: the world traveling Geo-Duck. (not to be confused with the sea delicasy Geoduck)

GeoDuckie and his visitor, the English Duck, having a chat about patriotism with George Mason. – Washington, DC.

This little guy – so cute – is the mascot of George Brett, who is really into geocaching. What is Geocaching? It’s like a GPS guided treasure hunt where once hunts down the Geocach location… just to see what’s there. It’s cool; I’ve done it once or twice. Find out more about geocaching here. Thanks, George, for sharing the collection of Geo Duckie pictures! Awesome!

So -we want MORE ducks. Be sure to keep those images coming!

Have you clicked on the LAUNCH DAY party page? Be sure to show your support with ONE CLICK! The Duck will RISE! October 10. 2012 http://www.facebook.com/events/330967696985630/

Become a fan of the one and ONLY – Steamduck.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steamduck/108061409309296 — with William Kevin Petty.

Here’s our first contribution! From a fan of the Duck Sharron Parker:

Noble steed and draco-duck from Shannon Parker

Click on over to LIKE Steamduck on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter @CoalCitySteam – WHY? because we are going to be giving some stuff away – and we are going to have GREAT duckies up to and through the launch of Steamduck Learns to FLY!

(get funky with me now) WE WANT THE DUCK! GOTTA HAVE THAT DUCK! WE WANT THE DUCK!… (bopping away with a quack and waddle!)

Now – a sneak peak of Steamduck in the NEW BOOK – he’s with his buddy GOOSE.

GOOSE! oh wait…. wrong goose.

Oh, HOLD on… Just an old Navy buddy there…. Take me to Duck or lose me forever….

“Honk!” said a goose as he shook his wings loose, and then it repeated twice more.
“Honk Honk?” he inquired with a voice that was tired, “Hey, why don’t you take off and soar?”
Ducky made a sad “Quack!” for the choice he did lack. “I’m sorry but I cannot fly.”
“That’s quite a shame. Go home and explain to the inventor that you want to try.”

Thanks for joining us! Come back tomorrow for PATRIOT DUCKS!

Got it? Oh, good. Happy to sign it for you next time I see you. AND NOW — you are ready for:

Please follow THE DUCK on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steamduck/108061409309296

I know. Kevin does FANTASTIC work. So charming.  He really sold me on that ice cream parlor font. Before I get all into what’s coming next, I want to take a second and thank ALL the folks – and especially the kids – who have made HME such a success. Now, before the media swarm…. Here’s today’s announcement press release:

Press release June 27^th 2012

Author Emilie P. Bush and illustrator William Kevin Petty are proud to announce the release date of the follow up to their bestselling children’s book Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story.  On October 10, 2012, the waddling hero of HME – Steamduck – returns with another adventure in Steamduck Learns to Fly! 

 In this new tale, the plucky mechanical duck discovers that REAL birds do more than swim. He turns to his old friend and maker – the Otter – to learn a few things about flying. They try and fail with propeller contraptions, hot air balloons and more. Despite all the mishaps, the pair eventually defy gravity and take to the sky.

“With the success of Her Majesty’s Explorer, we thought long and hard about where we wanted to go with our darling characters. Steamduck has quite a following, and we wanted to make sure he was true to his heroic nature. Kevin is a pilot, and a huge fan of flight history, so we went with those ideas for our second Steamduck story,” says Emilie P. Bush.  “So, as he tries and fails with many different types of flight, he never gives up, and he never stops learning.”

Fans wanting to keep up with details and sneak peek images from Steamduck Learns to Fly! can follow the project on Facebook – as Steamduck has his own fan page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steamduck/108061409309296

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Kids love to be read to.  It’s the best thing you can do to connect with a kid – share a book.