Spectacular Guests at WWWC12
Grab Your Goggles and your Raygun — Steampunk's Best are Wild West-Bound!
Saddle up partners! The Wild Wild West Steampunk convention is riding into town with an all-star lineup of spectacular guests.
We’ve gathered the best and brightest Steampunk experts, performers, and artisans from across the country for this unforgettable weekend.
Gail Carriger
Gail Carriger writes books that are hugs, mostly comedies of manners mixed with steampunk, urban fantasy, and sci-fi (plus cozy queer joy as G. L. Carriger). These include the Parasol Protectorate, Custard Protocol, Tinkered Stars, and San Andreas Shifter series for adults, and the Finishing School and Tinkered Starsong series for young adults. Also nonfiction: The Heroine’s Journey. She is published in many languages, has over a million books in print, over a dozen New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, and starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, and Romantic Times.
Her first book, Soulless, made Audible’s Best list, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book, an IndieBound Notable, and a Locus Recommended Read. She has received the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Prix Julia Verlanger, the Elbakin Award, the Steampunk Chronicle‘s Reader’s Choice Award, and a Starburner Award. She was once an archaeologist and is fond of shoes, cephalopods, and tea. Get early access, specials, and exclusives via her website gailcarriger.com
Noah Lemelson
Noah Lemelson is a sci-fi, fantasy, and “insert-modifier-here”-punk fiction writer and writing instructor based in Los Angeles. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the California Institute of the Arts in 2019. He is the author of two dieselpunk novels, The Sightless City (2021) and its sequel The Lioness and The Rat Queen (2023), both published by Tiny Fox Press, as well as numerous short stories published in online magazines such as Space Squid, Allegory, and The Los Suelos Anthology.
J.W. Kinsey
Josh W. Kinsey is a meticulous artisan who weaves together the intrinsic nature of manic beavers with the distilled hopes and dreams of orphaned kittens, twisting their variegated manifestations upon his engine lathe. Delicate metallic fantasies that taste sweet upon the tongue are bored and reamed upon his drill press, incised with traceries of angst with razored chisels and planes. Arcane symbols and geometries that are a delight to the nose are illustrated with his compass and pantograph.
Repurposed elements are expressly forbidden in Kinsey’s spiffy mechanical concoctions, as is hot glue, upcycling, shoddy craftsmanship, negative musings, and broccoli. Rather, Kinsey combines ornately whittled exotic woods with foundry cast mechanical elements smooshed into delightful expressions of splendiferous sparkliness.
J.W. Kinsey’s pieces are wondrous fabrications celebrating the joys of craftsmanship from bygone imaginings. Spelunking the bottomless depths of the colloquial “What is it?” and the always nefarious “What’s the F’n point?”, Kinsey’s sculptures capture the viewer’s attention, briefly.
J.W. has been designing and fabricating various large and small commissions for residential and commercial clientele, as well as Hollywood, for the past twenty-five years. His work is published in several prestigious art books, and won several unique awards. He has designed and built several installations across the country, and his pieces sell internationally. J.W.’s work has been stylistically consistent since the mid 1990’s, inspiration primarily deriving from a Vintage Industrial motif. J.W. resides with his wife Katelyn in Silverton, OR.
Most importantly, he can ride a unicycle.
Tony Ballard-Smoot
Tony is a modern day Renaissance man, a veritable Jack of all trades. His skills encompass a wide range from the athletic to the artistic, combining such activities as swordplay, martial arts, and archery with modeling, costuming, and theatre, both on stage and on screen.
Tony works diligently to promote authenticity and being true to one’s self in all avenues of life. He encourages others to embrace their “inner geek” whether it be in Dungeons and Dragons, alternative relationships, or costuming. Tony is an avid traveler, tea specialist & gamer and is always on the search for new friends, experiences, and adventures.
Wheeler Stone (aka Doc Stone)
Wheeler Stone is the owner-operator and principal Artist of Doc Stone Studios in Winchester, VA. He has been a leather artist and Metal worker for over 25 years and is recognized for his designs worldwide. Type Steampunk into any search engine and you will see one of his completely original designs in just a few pictures. As the Makers Maker, Wheeler throws his heart and soul into his Art and shares his techniques and knowledge freely. Wheeler’s workshops reflect his propensity for fun and shenanigans while also leaving his audience with valuable take home information to further their own projects. Wheeler recently designed the set for Maryland Ensemble Theater’s production of “1984” and has years of set design and production in his resume’. As a Film actor Wheeler has acted recently in Lioness starring Zoe Saldana, House of Cards, 3 separate roles in AHC’s American Titans, Reality TV show Suddenly Royal, Movie credits include: Good Will hunting, the Crucible, the Firm and many more. Art, theater, and encouraging people find their personal maker, are the tools of Wheeler’s trade. His theatrical and comedic approach to his workshops have made him a hit with festival attendees across the country.
Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter
Madame Askew and the Grand Arbiter are partners in tea and time travel! Together they spread their signature brand of whimsy and kindness as presenters, entertainers, and emcees.
Whether hosting compliment dueling or delving into the depths of their teacups looking for answers about life, the universe, and fashion, these two cheeky chums travel across Steampunklandia sharing their tea and tomfoolery!
Calamity Dawn
WWWC12 is excited to welcome @calamity_dawn to our illustrious event!
Calamity Dawn brings masterfully built beverages from her home bar in Ohio, where she hones her craft as a premier bartender. Renowned for her taste in gin, herbal liquors, and Malort, Calamity is a charming and welcoming host for evening parties. She shares her knowledge of distillation, history, classic cocktails, and beverage science in an approachable, fun way that livens up classy, black-tie affairs and raucous celebrations alike.
Steampunk Xena
Inger Talbot, better known within the greater Steampunk community as Steampunk Xena, is a fire performer and enigmatic personality. A staple of the steampunk community since 2012, having discovered her intense passion for cosplay and retro-futurism while at Balticon in Baltimore Maryland. Beginning with her first persona/outfit in 2014 at the Steampunk Unlimited event in Strasburg Pennsylvania. She unveiled “General Security” a modernized take on a vampire hunter, sporting iconic eye fashion aka sunglasses and inspired by military attire, she was dubbed that moniker due to the eccentric arsenal the character wielded. She first premiered her Steampunk Xena persona in 2016 at the now defunct Steampunk Worlds Fair, and has been expanding upon it updating the pieces to keep it fresh. In 2016 she also discovered a new joy and passion through fire art, spinning, eating, and breathing fire etc. Her next step was to join the Pyrophoric Fire Troupe, eventually branching outwards by creating her own troupe, the SteamFire Femmes. She has proudly performed at venues along the east coast garnering awe and applause. And after recently moving to Michigan has brought her own brand of fire and steampunk shenanigans to the Midwest, with expansions to the West Coast and Central areas of the United States on the horizon.
Brian and Sheila Fadrosh
Well known in the Northeast Steampunk scene, Brian and Sheila Fadrosh are the dynamic steampunk cosplay duo behind the YouTube channel Building Steam. This award winning couple are self-taught cosplay creators and love to talk about building practical cosplay skills and cosplay inclusivity.
Brian is the award winning master Foamsmith behind BF Designs and loves creating large armor builds, the more elaborate the better! He was awarded first place at the Baltimore Comic Con for his Dungeons and Dragons Lord of Blades build in 2021.
Sheila is a fabric artist, known for her attention to detail, individual style and elaborately beaded and hand crafted costumes. Under the name Lady De L’Etoile she also teaches fun dance classes at events that get even the most confirmed wallflower out on the dance floor.
Brian and Sheila are two of the four producers of Key City Steampunk Convention – which is going into its 2nd year under their ownership. Both are heavily involved with the Pennsylvania Steampunk Facebook group of which Brian is lead administrator. Brian and Sheila love steampunk not just for its aesthetic but for the sense of community it provides.
John Strangeway
Please welcome back a friend of the con, John Strangeway!
John F. Strangeway is a cosplayer, chainmail artist, and convention personality who hails from the Atlanta, Georgia area. Perhaps most well known as the Steampunk Boba Fett, Strangeway has a historied background in cosplay culture, beginning with his humble New Jersey origin story.
Going as far back as ten years old painting his older brother’s Warhammer Blood Angels squad while listening to Rush, Strangeway can’t remember a time when he wasn’t interested in sci-fi and fantasy. From his wide range of fandoms came a Star Wars and Steampunk crossover that would inspire music, fan films, and eventually even get his image officially licensed by Star Wars, thanks to artist Brian Kesinger. Since its 2009 debut at Dragon Con, the Steampunk Boba Fett has redefined both fandoms and gone down in infamy as one of the most widely recognized Steampunk cosplay images.
A.S.G.A.R.D. and Lady Wheelsworth
A.S.G.A.R.D. and Lady Wheelsworth are a dynamic duo, and fully immersive character experience. A quirky automaton invented in 1864, A.S.G.A.R.D. is rediscovered in a junk yard by Lady Wheelsworth, the sassy, headstrong owner of Wheelsworth Mechanics.
As she repairs the broken robot, her history is slowly revealed along with hilarious quirks and an insatiable sense of curiosity.
Join their adventures as they wonder the world to help A.S.G.A.R.D. learn all about life in the human world.
LarpLikeRae
LarpLikeRae is a Southern Arizona based cosplayer who works with prop building, sewing, editing and film making. After finding their passion for cosplaying and bringing characters to life, LarpLikeRae has created over 200 cosplays and counting within only 7 years. Taking character development to an exciting level, they began to cosplay more as side characters or outfits that are beyond the series itself. Not stopping here, LarpLikeRae continues to create versions of characters that are unique and never seen before! Competing and winning in several competitions, and even getting to judge alongside others, Rae has a strong understanding of cosplay construction, diversity, equity and inclusion. Outside of cosplaying, LarpLikeRae is known for their tattoo work and occasionally will combine the two together. Creating tattoo sessions while in cosplay, getting a full in character experience with each craft. Please welcome LarpLikeRae and feel free to say hello!