Wastelands II, Age of Iron - reviewed

I've spent the last two days at Wastelands II convention and what an enjoyable weekend it was. Interesting panels and a chance to catch up with local writers, editors and publishers with a common interests. The theme was Steampunk - not an area I've had much to do with until recently but it's growing on me. The idea of a fantastical world where steam powers everything and glamorous vaguely Victorian dress reigns supreme is appealing. If you watched the Sally Lockhart series on television recently you would have seen a similar version - high heeled buttoned boots and corseted ankle length dresses with low cut bodices for the women and rakish stovepipe hats and waistcoats lifting the original less than exciting Victorian style men's clothing to something eye-catching. Con-goers were encouraged to dress to the theme and there were a number of stunning costumes much to the bewilderment of other guests at the hotel.

It's hard to pick a best panel. They were all good value but the stand outs for me were guest of honour Nick Stathopoulos's presentations. Such a talented artist and an entertaining speaker who had us enthralled whether he was explaining just why and how the Titanic went down or how he went about creating artwork ranging from portraits for a socialite or the Archibald Prize to book cover art.

Another highlight was the Coffee Klatch with Alisa Krasnostein. It's not often you get the chance to sit down and chat informally with an editor - and the coffee and cakes were yummy too.

And now - after all that fun - it's back to work. What a pity.

Wastelands II, Age of Iron

Hey, I'm on a panel (How to run a small Con) at Wastelands II, Age of Iron, along with Sarah Parker, John Parker and Satima Flavell. Come along and hear what we have to say about the actual running of a con.

Wastelands II, Age of Iron is on 18-19 October at the Good Earth Hotel, Adelaide Terrace, Perth. The programme is up here .

Wastelands II, Age of Iron

From the organisers:

Wastelands II, Age of Iron is a two day convention focusing on the
futures of yesterday, and the glories of tomorrows that never were.
There will be two streams over two days, including workshops, panels,
and presentations. Discounts for people dressed in theme.

Wastelands is on the Saturday, October 18,
and Friday the 19th 2008 at the Good Earth Hotel in Perth, WA.

We need YOU to help us make this convention great! Here's the current programme:
http://cheshire.iinet.net.au/WL2/Wasteland2Prog.html

We want YOU to be on those panels! Do you see something you like?
Do you see something you feel confident you can speak on to a few close friends?
Do you see something you want to research and then discuss?
Please click on the links and let us know!
We're looking for people to talk on a wide range of topics.
If you have an idea you think would be of interest, please email Chesh on cheshirenoir at g mail dot com

If you want to help out, but don't know what you can do, then please email Calli on callisto at g mail dot com

Age of Iron is coming fast, and it's going to be great!