I realized when I got home I didn’t take as nearly as many photos as I should have, but these will give you a bit of an idea of the variety of sights and general fun that was going on at the convention.

Steampunkers

Steampunk pocket watches

A pint-sized Dr. Who and Dalek

Skull jugs

Goblin ghourds

If you haven’t attended a Con before I would definitely urge you to give one a try. I was surprised at how much fun I had. Many thanks to the organizers for an overall great job, and specifically for keeping a well-stocked green room.

The two hobbit movies have been given official release dates. An Unexpected Journey debuts December 14, 2012, and There And Back Again on December 13, 2013. Now I just have to be patient!
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b244607_wait_hobbit_films_are_going_be_called.html

Top five things I’ve learned at the Balticon fantasy and science fiction convention this weekend:

1. There are gourd societies that focus on the art potential of dried gourds. Photos to come.
2. There is a natural, barefoot movement among many Con goers which seems very free-spirited and casual…until you see a guy going in to use the restroom. I’d be packing flip-flops for that.
3. If you don’t own a black t-shirt with some kind of witty sci-fi saying printed on it you’re probably not here.
4. Corsets are in. So are kilts.
5. You can visit the various suites and parties and quite probably make it the whole weekend on the food and drink you find there…if you can survive on Sunny-D, M&Ms, mini-bagels, and veggie trays. I couldn’t, but I did discover mini M&Ms in my travels. Who knew?

I participated on my second panel today, this one discussing the influences of the greats in the field. Actually, a lot of names came up that we don’t automatically think of when we discuss fantasy and sci fi. The panel included Michael Swanwick, John Anealio, Myke Cole, TJ Perkins, and yours truly. In addition to Tolkien and Kipling (yes, I’m mentioning them both again), I put in a plug for Barbara Tuchmann. No, she wasn’t a fantasist, but she was an exceptional writer and had the ability to sketch out a character (in her case, an actual person in history) in just a couple of sentences. I love her style.

We spent a little time debating the two central schools in fantasy of either carrying in Tolkien’s tradition or rebelling against it. I count myself among the former, while names like China Mieville and George RR Martin were held up as examples of writers rejecting Tolkien’s heritage. We all agreed there was no right answer to this. I’m a firm believer in variety. Some days I want to challenge myself with a daunting tome on ancient Greece and the next I’ll get lost in the antics of Sherman’s Lagoon http://www.slagoon.com/ (a comic strip for those not familiar with it).

Oh, so about the scary, pregnant clown. I saw one. She had painted her face white with a large, red mouth filled with jagged teeth. Unsettling to say the least. I suspect/hope this is from some graphic novel or computer game, but perhaps it’s just her thing. There are a lot of costumes on display here, some of them quite disturbing in the amount of blood and gore they depict. Then there are others that are truly magnificent. I’m walking around as button-down shirt guy feeling a bit like Brad Majors in Rocky Horror 🙂

I did my first panel this morning with writers Elizabeth Moon, James Knapp, Stephanie Burke, Gail Z. Martin, and agent Joshua Bilmes on series and how to end a book while setting it up for the next one. Had a lot of fun. Managed to generate a little heat when I expressed my annoyance with all things prequel. Not everyone agrees. I would much rather go forward with a series or a world than go back and delve into why things are they way they are. I haven’t really found that formula compelling in fiction, at least in the material I’ve read and seen. The second batch of Star Wars movies leap to mind. I never, ever wanted or needed to know Darth Vader was a little brat or a whiny teenager. He was the perfect two-dimensional villain the way he was presented. Less is more and all that.

After the panel, I wandered the dealers’ room and took a bunch of photos, but forgot the cord that connects to my laptop so I won’t be able to post until I get home. Some cool stuff though. Lots of steampunk attire here as well as leather works. Fair amount of lace items and pewter figurines as well. There’s a gaming component and even homemade movies. The world premiere of Ninjas versus Vampires debuted last night. Not sure what it was about though 🙂