Amazing Weekend at The Brass Screw Confederacy

What an incredible idea. Take the entire Victorian town of Port Townsend, Washington and turn it into a Steampunk haven. The place is so awesome. Almost everything in the downtown area is of Victorian nature. The buildings are old and authentic, the art is awesome, (they have a huge cog statue in the middle of a park.) and the people are wonderfully eclectic. They have several steampunk stores, even the thrift stores advertise their steampunk goods. But none of it is Victorian stuffy at all. There is plenty of punk in their steampunk. They have a volunteer run Food Not Bombs coffee house called The Boiler Room, tons of book stores, unique antique shops, and awesome places to eat and drink.

The Brass Screw Confederacy is not exactly a con but more of a complete invasion of steampunk goodness in many of the buildings. The museum, the VFW, the rental halls, everything had something going on of the genre. They even had tin plate photographers and roving musicians dressed in appropriate garb on the streets. Port Townsend is to Steampunk what Port Royal was to pirates. Complete immersion with something awesome happening around every corner.

The crowds were awesome and we had a great time vending. Even the restaurants were fun. We had dinner at the already steampunk flavored, Cellar Door which is in the basement of a huge Victorian building and another at Sirens, an upstairs gastro-pub overlooking the ocean.

We stayed at two different places. The Manresa Castle, an old haunted place where priests once roamed the halls (we got one of the three haunted rooms) and The Belmont, a five room hotel smack in the middle of the action with bare brick wall and twenty foot ceilings.

In addition to vending, they had several things going on in the evening with bands, bars, after parties, and on Saturday night we attended the Hootenany, which took place in a real World War 2 barracks building. They had burlesque, bands, more bars and even an absinthe room. We partook in all of them and it was glorious. Jody Ellen performed as well as the Nathaniel Johnstone band and my favorite steampunk band, Marquis of Vaudeville from Texas.

Sunday we took the morning to properly explore the shops. The World's End is a steampunk/pirate shop that was too cool. Highly recommend you check that out if you get the chance to visit. We had the honor of vending across from Otherworlds, which is a steampunk/fantasy horror brick and mortar store in Edmunds Washington who now carry all the current single issues of our Dreadfuls!

Liz and I can't say how excited we are to get back their next year. It was such a great experience!

Our table in the vending room

The passionate Marquis of Vaudeville

The haunted Manresa Castle. It's said that a woman jumped out of the top floor window above the door. 

Lizzie with our table assignment

This is what happens when you sit at a table all day. 

In the absinthe room at the Hootenany.

Just one of the awesome buildings. 

Quick shot inside the steampunk store, The World's End. 

The Brass Screw Confederacy

Photo by: Nyk Fury

This weekend Liz and I will be at The Brass Screw Confederacy in Port Townsend, WA. This is a really neat "Con" that is more of a gathering/transformation of the entire city into a steampunk/Victorian/Alternate History haven for the weekend. There will be bands, vendors, burlesque, meet ups, peep shows, and after parties galore. Yes, I totally said peep shows. We will be there selling Dreadfuls, Steampunk novels, patches, posters and more as featured vendors and we are really excited. Check them out here. http://brass-screw.org/

To add to the awesomeness, we will be staying at the uber- beautiful and haunted Manresa Castle. So we hope to see all our local friends. The event starts on Friday afternoon and goes until Sunday.

All Kinds of Good Things

There is so much awesomeness going on right now, I thought I'd share. Lizzie and I are doing tons of stuff so here we go!

The Gig Harbor Beer Fest
While this isn't work related, we are fiends for getting out and exploring everything we can. We've always wanted to go to the local beer fest and this year we are so there! Food and massive amounts of local brews. We can't ask for much more. Looking forward to trying some weird suds. Here's the link for the people in the area. http://gigharborbeerfestival.com/

Emerald Downs
It's well known that we like to get all snazzy and go to the horse races. This year will be no different. We're heading to derby day this weekend where we will bet and have several Mint Juleps. Go Danzig Moon!!

The Brass Screw Confederacy
It's not a con, it's a massive gathering of awesome steampunk-ness that will take over the Victorian town of Port Townsend WA in less than a month. They have burlesque, music, vendors, peep shows... yes, I said peep shows, and after hours parties for this very special event. We will be there as featured sponsors selling and signing Dreadfuls, books, posters and more! So if you're planning on coming (you totally should if you're in the Pacific Northwest) come say hi and get a drink with us when the vendor hall closes. Check it out, this is a very different steampunk event.
The Brass Screw Confederacy

Dragon Con
Lizzie and I are professional guests of the mighty Dragon Con this year. Personally, I've been dying to get back to Atlanta to see so many friends and this is such an honor to be invited to the con. I think we'll be doing panels so I'll let you know more on that when the schedule comes out. Till then, Lizzie is already working on some really fun Cosplay for the weekend. I'll give you some hints: GoT, Planet Terror, maybe Big Hero 6?
DRAGON CON

Here's the crew from my last D*C

IFCon
What can I say, this year we are so humbled by all the awesome cons we get to attend. IFCon is a first year all around blockbuster con happening in Victoria BC. Lizzie and I will not only have an entire booth there, but we will be doing panels and will be the celebrity guest judges at the adult costume contest. We are so excited to get back to Canada. Victoria is such an amazing city. If you've never been, you need to look into going. Imagine a European city with killer nightlife, shockingly awesome architecture and sweet British style pubs.
Check them out here

Cosplay Cruises
Speaking of the masterminds behind IFCon, they are doing something really amazing in less than a year. Cosplay and themed cruises!! They already have a Cosplay Cruise and a Power Ranger Cruise planned but they want your help. They need input on what you would like to see for future cruises. This is a simple, super quick survey (no signup required at all). Help them out and tell what you would like to see. They would be very appreciative for your input and I will give you a hug.
Take the super fast survey

Steamposium
Last year's Steamposium was an absolute blast. We got to meet some of the cast from Firefly, Steam Powered Giraffe, Steampunk Boba Fett, and Kato and the Steam Girls... It was awesome. This year we will be back, slinging Dreadfuls and hanging out with some fabulous people at Seattle's newest steampunk convention.
Check out their site here