Chicago Steampunk Expo Schedule and a Super Secret Announcement! 💖⚙️📚

🎁 Open for one of the coolest collaboration announcements!

Hello! I wanted to share some fantastic news before I travel to the Nebula Awards Conference for professional development and visiting friends next week. A few days after I return, I’ll be off to the Chicago Steampunk Expo. I’m excited that I get to spend so much time in one of my favorite cities!

May has been a blur of spending my days revising, drafting, and sorting out a tech issue with my computer so that I can start uploading my panels to YouTube. I think the heating issue has been sorted. I’m hoping to test this out soon! Between all the writing tasks, I’ve been finalizing outfits for upcoming conventions and helping my youngest with his White Rabbit cosplay for the Chicago Steampunk Expo. It’ll be his first time attending and he is SO EXCITED! (He’s been asking for years to come, too.)

When I’ve needed to step outside my desk, I’ve (slowly) started planting a few flowers, including some of my favorites, hydrangeas! Usually, I’ve had to live vicariously through my characters’ gardens because life (and allergies) tend to get in the way of gardening. I’m trying to do a few small things this year, though, just because it makes me happy. (Where’s Beast when I need him?)

Before I leave town, I have my finalized schedule for the Chicago Steampunk and a REALLY COOL announcement to share (it’s unlike anything I’ve done before! 👀)

So excited for the Alice in Wonderland theme at this year’s Chicago Steampunk Expo!

Chicago Steampunk Expo June 12th-14th Schedule

The 1893 Exposition’s Adventures in Wonderland

I can’t wait to be back at the Expo this year! Gail Carriger and Leanna Renee Hieber are both returning (I love their work), and as always, I’m so excited for the masquerade! There’s also going to be gaming, a themed LARP, panels, Nerf dueling, tea, and all kinds of workshops.

Here’s where and when you can find me at the Expo:

My table will be in The Midway Market (formerly Artist Alley & Printers’ Row) in Slate. This is where I’ll have my books, stickers, and other fun bookish goodies.

• Friday: 4 pm - 8 pm

• Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

• Sunday: 10 am - 4 pm

Panels

• Illuminating the Impossible: Tesla, Innovation, and the Wonders of the 1893 Exposition Friday at 6 pm in Mahogany 1

• The Cabinet of Curious Dreams: The Victorian Uncanny, Wonderland Logic, and Gaslamp Fantasy Saturday at 4 pm in Mahogany 3

• Off With Their Heads: Monstrous Women of Wonderland and the Victorian Imagination (13+) Sunday at 1 pm (room TBA)

For more info about the Chicago Steampunk Expo, visit their website here.

SUPER SECRET ANNOUNCMENT! 🎉

I’ve been sitting on this for a few months, and now I can FINALLY talk about it (at least a little bit, because it’s early days.) The organizer for TeslaCon, Eric Larson, has asked me to write a steampunk Gothic tie-in novel for his new convention. It’s going to be alt history with lots of my favorite folklore and Gothic tropes. The best part is the characters in this novel will be brought to life by actors at the convention! I cannot wait to see my characters walking around at the con!! It’s going to be so much fun.

I’m so honored that I was asked to work on this project. Researching for this has been such a joy! I don’t have dates yet, but when the time comes, I’ll share more.

You can read more about this convention, along with some changes coming to TelsaCon, in Eric’s post here. (See the second point to read about what he’s asked me to work on.)

I’m already dreaming about what I’m going to wear to the Gothic steampunk con 💖

2026 Convention Schedule

Here is the full list of my upcoming conventions. Booked in Des Moines is a brand new romance book event coming in September. I’ll have more details next month about this event run by the owner of Shelf Love DSM. If you have the opportunity and it is feasible (and safe) for you to travel, I’d love to see you at any and all of these events!

• The Nebula Awards Conference June 3rd-7th (this one is for writers of all types of speculative fiction)

• Booked in Des Moines September 26th (more information coming soon!)

• Chicago Steampunk Expo The 1893 Exposition’s Adventures in Wonderland June 12th-14th

• Fables and Flames: Romantasy Gala November 6th-8th

• TeslaCon 16: Oz November 12th-15th

Happy reading!

Kelsey

Monsters, mad science, and recklessly brave women collide in an unforgettable trip to the 1893 World’s Fair.

An unconventional beauty, a tormented beast, and the ether that binds their fate…