Posts Tagged ‘ conventions ’

Walking Shadows nominated for a 2012 Chronos Award!

This week I learned that Walking Shadows was nominated for a Chronos Award in the Best Long Fiction category. I’m obviously chuffed to bits, especially as the nominations are sent in by members of Melbourne’s Continuum convention.  Thank you Continuum People!

The Chronos Awards, according to the award site, “recognise excellence in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by Victorians”. It’s particularly nice to be included in the short list for an award for Victorian creators at a Melbourne convention – and with a book that is set so firmly in my chosen home town.

I’m also very proud to be sharing nomination in that category with great writers like Jason Nahrung, Paul Collins and Felicity Dowker and fabulous editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene for their Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror collection. Whatever the results of the award, it’s fabulous to be in such excellent company, in this and the other categories as well.

The Chronos Awards are very handsome too: sort of steampunky. (Here is a photo of Kirstyn McDermott’s 2011 award for Madigan Mine, which is another terrific book.)

Whether or not you’re going to Continuum or intend to vote in the Chronos Awards, have a look at the nominations and sample some of the great work being done by Victorian-based writers, artists, editors and bloggers, including:

If you’re a member of the convention, you can vote in the Chronos Awards before 20 May 2013. If you’re not a member of the convention, you can join up! I’ll be on several panels, including a short version of my Writing Sex and Intimacy workshop (strictly for the over 18s). And if you can’t get to the con but would like to vote, you can get a voting membership for $5.

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, smartphone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2013
04/17
CATEGORY
conventions
Walking Shadows
writing
1 comment

Genrecon: Help! My brain is full!

Well, it’s Saturday afternoon at Genrecon, and my brain is way too full. I need to jump up and down a bit, like packing flour into a container, to let the contents settle and make room for more.  Instead, I’m taking some time out to sit quietly, drink a hot beverage and update my blog. Outside I can see cloudy skies and a gusty wind having its salacious way with the fronds of a palm tree. Ah, Parramatta, you sexy beast, you.

Genrecon is a conference for writers of genre fiction, and Rydges Hotel in Parramatta is full of writers of romance, crime, fantasy, SF and horror (and a lot of other genres besides). It’s also full of editors, publishers (both large and small press) and agents.

So far I’ve attended panels on Writing Effective Fight Scenes conducted by writer and martial artist Simon Higgins, how to make a living as a writer in an era of the dwindling advance, and ways of approaching Villains, Monsters and Cads in your writing. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to panels on The Future of Agenting and The Three Stages of The Writers’s Career.I’ll also be participating in a debate about how approaching plot outlines – I’ll be speaking for the Plotters against the Pantsers (‘flying by the seat of your pants’).

Things I’ve learned so far?

  • Historically, the deadliest ninjas were girls.
  • Adrenalin gives short bursts of power, but there’s a cost for it.
  • Even big, tough men can cry if they are unexpectedly punched in the face.
  • Anyone who is in writing to get rich is both hilarious and deluded. (Or JK Rowling.)
  • Almost all writers get income from something other than their writing. If they’re lucky, they get it through public speaking and workshops.
  • When creating villains, it’s a great idea to take something traditional and then approach it from a different perspective.
  • While the villain is the hero of his/her own story, the gothic anti-hero knows that they are the villain of their own story, and must overcome his/her own flaws.
  • (I think BBC Sherlock is may be a gothic antihero in this sense.)
  • Traditionally, female villains are either thwarted in love or trying to make their son Emporer. Surely there are other motivations out there.
  • Kim Wilkins feels there are not enough Vikings in literature. I find myself suddenly agreeing with her.

Other things I’ve gained, outside the panels, is that it’s wonderful to spend time swapping war stories and successes with fellow writers; that it’s encouraging and even necessary for your own motivation to hear people say they like what you do and to tell others how much you like their work too.

Writers generally work in such isolation that it’s a huge relief to talk to others about their writing habits, approaches that work (or not) for them, to see that others struggle, and others succeed, so you know you’re not alone and that success is possible.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from an industry conference for writers, but so far I’m finding it intensely stimulating, challenging, inspirational and reassuring. The Queensland Writers Centre has done a great job of organising guests, panels, workshops and an opportunity for writers to talk to agents. Bless them all!

(As an aside, I had the best street conversation ever on my walk to the venue today: some kids asked me if I’d seen a goat. Yes. A goat. Yes, I did ask twice, to check they meant ‘goat’ and not ‘coat’. Having ascertained that indeed, a goat was what they meant, I confessed that I had not seen one, but if I should, where should I direct the beast? “To the school” they said, pointing. As both a writer and as a human being, I was very disappointed not to see the goat between the school and the conference venue. I sincerely hope the horror, crime or thriller writers in attendance were not responsible for its disappearance. If the romance writers were involved, I definitely don’t want to know.)

2012
11/03
CATEGORY
conventions
Events
writers
writing
3 comments

2012 Chronos Awards: For Your Consideration

The Devil's Mixtape

The Devil's Mixtape: Eligible for Best Long Fiction and Best Artwork

Nominations for the 2012 Chronos Awards are open until 18 March, so if you read or saw some terrific specfic, horror or fantasy in 2011 by a Victorian, you should consider sending in a nomination.

If you’re not familiar with the Chronos Awards, they were introduced to celebrate “excellence in Victorian SF, Fantasy and Horror”. It’s a great opportunity for the Victorian fan community to recognise the talent in its midst. A work needs four nominations to make it onto the ballot, so obviously the more people who are involved in the nominatino process, as well as the voting, the more representative the awards are.

A list of works eligible for nomination is under construction, but I thought I would highlight a few works on this blog as well. Where I’ve reviewed the item, I’m linking to my review of the work.

Professional Categories:

Best Long Fiction (including collected works)
Best Short Fiction
  • Steve Cameron: So Sad, The Lighthouse Keeper published in Anywhere But Earth
  • Lucy Sussex: Thief of Lives published in Thief of Lives
Best Artwork
  • Audrey Fox: cover for The Devil’s Mixtape.
  • A Golem Story by Lally Katz, Michael Kantor [theatre] (reviewed on Mortal Words)

Fan Categories:

Best Fan Publication in any Medium
  • Bad Film Diaries (podcast), by Grant Watson.
  • Galactic Suburbia (podcast), by Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce.
  • The Writer and the Critic (podcast), hosted by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
  • PaleoCinema (podcast) hosted by Terry Frost
  • Boxcutters (podcast), episode 269 “Making SciFi TV for Adults”, by Josh Kinal, John Richards, et al.
  • Dark Matter, fanzine edited by Nalini Haynes.
  • Ethel the Aardvark (MSFC club magazine).
Best Fan Written Work
  • Your Heart Is A Weapon the Size of Your Fist by Mary Borsellino, Hunger Games essay examining love as a political act published in The Girl Who Was on Fire. (Reviewed on Mortal Words)
  • Reviews by various folks in fanzines and blogs, including reviews by Steven Cameron, Nalini Haynes, Chuck McKenzie, George Ivanoff and even mine from this blog. You guys probaby know more about the reviewers you follow and like than me, but don’t forget they’re eligible in this category.

Special Award for works not eligible in existing categories:

Best Achievement
  • Computer animated book trailer for Gamers’ Challenge by George Ivanoff, created by Henry Gibbens.

This list is a very limited idea of the bodhy of work that’s eligible for nomination. If you’ve been impressed by a Victorian’s work in 2011, please take a moment to contact the Continuum 8 awards committee to send them your nominations.

Narrelle M Harris is a Melbourne-based writer. Find out more about her books, iPhone apps, public speaking and other activities at www.narrellemharris.com.

2012
02/27
CATEGORY
writing
5 comments

SheKilda Thoughts

The SheKilda Women Crime Writers’ Convention is over. Most of us hope it will not be ten years until the next one, though perhaps the convenors may need a longer break. Lindy Cameron, perhaps unwisely, suggested she might be ready to do it all again in five years. We’re still waiting to see if she ends up stabbed to death multiple stiletto heels, Murder on the Orient Express-style, by the aghast committee.

The attendees are not aghast at the prospect. In fact, we’re rather keen to do it all again next year, no waiting! As I wrote in my previous post, I certainly found the conference rewarding, inspiring and heaps of fun. I also learned a few things and had a few insights.

In the Chills and Thrills: The Why of Crime panel, writers spoke about why that began to write crime and why they chose the kinds of stories they wrote about. Talking about ‘chills and thrills’ in this context, I realised that, for me, chills referred to the fear experienced when our characters (or we ourselves) become powerless, unable to protect ourselves or our loved ones from harm. Being at the mercy of things we cannot control or evade, especially if those things are unjust and unforgiving, is very chilling. The thrills then come in finding the courage, strength and determination to stand up to the fear. Personally or in our characters, taking on the threat (and hopefully beating it!) definitely provides a sense of thrilling energy to me.

The Bending the Rules panel on crime that crosses with other genres, like SF, fantasy and horror, offered a few other interesting ideas. Mariane Delacourt (who also writes as Marianne de Pierres) pointed out that a crime story provides a natural narrative drive for any genre. I felt that the nature of a crime story, which gives the character an excuse for poking into different levels of society and explores transgression from society’s norms, gives a writer a great framework for exploring alien or fantastical societies, their ethics and their social layers.

That panel also veered off onto a discussion on the role of sex and violence in stories and what might be ‘too much’. Generally, the panellists felt that as long as the scenes served to explore or extend the story, you wrote what you needed to write. I mentioned my issue of the porn-to-plot ratio too. I’m no prude, but I prefer more plot than porn. If the porn is also plot, it counts as plot, I guess. It was an entertaining discussion, anyway.

Finally, Meg Vann’s Just the Facts, Ma’am panel on researching crime novels was a terrific session, providing ideas for the different kinds of crime books and how each type needs different kinds of research. A police procedural needs different types of information and detail than a whodunnit. One insight Vann gave was that for stories involving investigative technology, writers really need to be absolutely on top of all the current developments and then predicting where those will be five years ahead.

Another broad lesson learned was how every writer has a different process. Some plot out a story in very detailed story boards long before they start writing. Others totally wing it from the start. Some research for months before they start writing, others write a first draft and then decide what needs more detail. In the end, it seems there is no ‘right way’ to write – only the way that is right for each individual author.

Of course, this is just a little taste of what I gleaned from the conference. Thank you again to the organisers, volunteers and guests who made it such a memorable and energising experience.

2011
10/10
CATEGORY
writing
2 comments

Saturday at SheKilda

It’s been a decade in the making, but Sisters in Crime has brought its second SheKilda crime convention to the good – and slightly nefarious – people of Melbourne. For two and a half days, women and men (but mostly women) are gathering at Rydges hotel in Carlton to discuss, disect and plot crime and crime writing.

On this Sunday morning, I am multi-tasking at a panel on Sidekicks and Duos, on the role of partners and helpers in crime fiction. Later today I’ll be exploring Crime Travel and something called Just the Facts, Ma’am. I can’t recall what that one’s about, so it’ll be fun to find out. That’s aside from all the other fascinating, concurrent panels I can’t attend without the assistance of Hermoine’s time turner.

Friday night’s cocktail part has already thrown me together with fabulous, smart, talented, wise and funny women who are generous with their time and advice. So clearly the convention has started as it means to continue.

Saturday morning’s plenary session introduced us to SheKilda’s three overseas guests. (SheKilda features a lot of guests – over 70 Australian writers!) Margie Orford (South Africa), Vanda Symon (New Zealand) and Shamini Flint (Singapore) all have different approaches that spring very much from the places they call home and widened my view of the world in a single one-hour session. Flint is also so charming and hilarious I’ve broken my No New Books embargo to pick up the first of her Inspector Singh series.

Actually, I’ve broken my No New Book embargo for six books so far, inspired by the women I’m meeting and hearing. I have had to construct a psychological time bubble around these books so that they have, in my head, been purchased before the new book embargo began. I have a lot of time bubbles of that nature, as witnessed by the still-growing pile of books in my book stash. (See, I still read paperbacks, even though I love my e-reader.)

I have bought The Trojan Dog by Dorothy Johnston, a crime novel set in Canberra. Dorothy spoke on a panel exploring how the panelists came to crime writing in the first place. I also bought Scarlet Stiletto: The Second Cut, a collection of previous winners of the Scarlet Stiletto awards. These are the crime writers of tomorrow and I want to see who to look out for. Karen Healey’s The Shattering was always on my list, after the marvellous Guardian of the Dead, and seeing her on a YA Crime panel reminded me to grab it quick.

Arabella Candellabra was co-written by a couple of terrific Sisters In Crime, Mandy Wrangles and Kylie Fox, and published by Lindy Cameron’s Clandestine Press, so how could I say no? Finally, after being on a panel with Tara Moss, and being utterly charmed by her intelligence, wit, thoughtfulness and general loveliness – and then learning her new book has vampires in it – naturally, I’ve picked up The Blood Countess.

This blog wasn’t supposed to be ‘What I bought at SheKilda’, but perhaps it best shows how inspired I am by this event. There are so many more books I am adding to my Kindle wish list because these writers all have a unique voice and a textured story to tell. I hear that they go through the same challenges, crises of confidence, oxygen-giving breakthroughs and joy of defeating the tyranny of the blank page that I do.

These shared experiences, leading to such different stories, remind me that persistance, imagination and hard work will see writers through some difficult times. They remind me, too, the important of mentoring and share your own experiences with others. No-one can write your book for you, but they can shine a light on the process. You can see that others have survived those trials of doubt, of stealing time from your other responsibilities and of the inevitable rejection slips.

So, my sisters (and brothers) in crime at SheKilda and in the writing world in general: thank you all for your blogs, your panels, your corridor conversations and your books.

I am looking forward to my Sunday. If you have time, you can slip on over to Rydges and get tickets to individual sessions too. Look up the program at www.shekilda.com.au

* *

The conference is over. Read some of my thoughts on the overall experience.

2011
10/09
CATEGORY
writing
3 comments

Review: Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Robert Shearman

Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical by Robert ShearmanMany people met Robert Shearman at Aussiecon 4 in September, and we bandied about words like ‘funny’ and ‘adorable’ and ‘wicked’. Well, I bandied them at any rate. And Rob Shearman is all those things. He is also sharp, smart and extraordinarily gifted.

I picked up Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical because I like Rob Shearman, I liked his Dr Who episode, ‘Dalek’, and the strangely dark story Road Kill that was published by Twelfth Planet Press. I had just appeared on an Aussiecon panel with him about SF and Theatre, too. I wanted to find out more about his work. John Richards (of Boxcutters) had read the collection of short stories and said that they were bleak. Rob insisted that they were funny.

I’ve read the whole collection now. It turns out that John and Rob are both correct.

Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical is a collection of short stories about love. Not about happy-clappy, soppy, head-over-heels love – but about what love is, and isn’t. It’s about what love does to us, and how it hurts us, and how we are afraid of it. Ultimately, it’s also about love’s potential, and how it can be sublime as well as all those other things.

Some of the stories are indeed very funny. The opening tale, Love Among the Lobelias, explores what happens when the Devil launches his writing career. His attempts to explore his softer side have unintended consequences and it seems that there are people in the world more evil than the Prince of Darkness. 14.2 is another darkly funny tale and a warning about attempts to measure or quantify love.

There are very dark, bleak and bitter stories too. There are tragedies and horror stories. Be of Good Cheer, about a woman who suffers physical pain when other people are happy, and so the man who loves her keeps himself miserable for her sake, reminded me so strongly of people that I know that I found it devastating.

Among the tales of bleakness and darkness, there are gentle, sweet stories too, like Love in a Time of Sharing, and forgiving stories, like Luxembourg.

Towards the end, Not About Love becomes surreally metatextual. It’s a story about this collection of stories, where the dark subjects within are criticised by Shearman’s own family. It’s like he’s answering the critics already about what he thinks of love, and his own apparent cynicism on the subject. This leads into One Last Love Song, which is as uneasy and complicated as all the rest, but is also a statement about the transcedence of love without being in the slightest bit mawkish or sentimental.

Robert Shearman very much deserves the awards he has been gathering for Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical – which include a British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. He won in the same category for the Shirley Jackson Awards. His love stories are not always easy reading. Even the funny ones are full of humanity being fragile, cruel or selfish. But there is also kindness and, yes, love.

Love is complex and sometimes twisted, and it’s a joy (and a heartbreak) to read a collection of stories about love which manages to be both knowing and forgiving of all humanity’s flaws.

You can read more about Robert Shearman, or just head on over to Big Finish or Amazon.co.uk to buy a copy. Do it now while the Australian dollar is in good health against the pound! (I can’t find an Australian online bookseller that has it in stock!)

2010
10/07
CATEGORY
Aussiecon 4
Reviews
3 comments

GaryView: Aussiecon 4 report

Gary and LissaGary (@garyHooper44) and Lissa (@lissawilson83) caught up on Twitter just after the convention… (the feed has been tidied up here to make it easier to read.)

Lissa:  Hey there @garyHooper44 – where have you been for the last five days?

Gary:  Hi. I was at a science fiction convention.

Lissa:   Really? What did you do there?

Gary:  Went to panels mainly, to listen to people talk about SF and vampires and stuff. There was a strange one: zombies vs vampires.

Lissa: Who won?

Gary:  I think it was a draw.

Lissa:   I’ve heard those things have costumes and stuff. Is that right?

Gary:  Some. Jewellery and things mainly. Someone actually thought I was in costume. Saw my teeth and asked where I got them done.

Lissa:  What did you say?

Gary:  I couldn’t think of anything so I just said they were real, I was a vampire, but I wasn’t planning on biting anyone.

Lissa:  God. What happened? Did they panic?

Gary:  Nope. He laughed and said he’d already met six time travellers and a troll. I *think* he was joking.

Lissa:  Bet it’s the first time he’d met a real vampire, and he didn’t even know it. So you had a good time?

Gary:  It was interesting. One person gave me a new vampire book too, for free! The steampunk stuff was great too.

Lissa:  I’ve read about steampunk. That would be just your thing – making new tech out of old tech.

Gary:  I could use stuff from the sixties – I still remember how a lot of that stuff works. But it’s too recent to be steampunk.

Lissa:  You could invent post-steampunk. Pyschedlia-punk?

Gary:  Except you need a better brain than I’ve got to imagine what to do with it. Still, it all looked really neat.

This is when @Dragonsally spotted the exchange and joined in, resulting in this discussion with Lissa:

Dragonsally: I saw the troll! he had long grey hair and a beard. He looked pretty friendly actually.

Dragonsally: I’d be into pychia what ever you called it punk! I just found a photo of me at the con. well, half of me.

Lissa: Oh, I thought the guy meant like an internet troll. Maybe he meant a real one! LOL. Did you see Gary at the convention?

Dragonsally: NO! I would have looked for him if I’d known he was skulking around

Lissa:  I just saw your tweet about the photo. Was it fun?

Dragonsally: You bet. I have the con bug now. I know what I’d do if I won tatts – I’d go to all the cons around the world

Lissa: He kept it pretty quiet, eh?

Dragonsally: Yeah, he did, the sneaky thing

Lissa: Maybe I’ll come to the next one with you both then.

Dragonsally: that would be so cool. They really are fun. You meet the coolest people – all book lovers like us, a big happy tribe.

Lissa: Sounds like my kind of place!

Dragonsally: you would have LOVED the Dealers Room. If I’d had lots of money and a truck, I could have filled the truck with books

Lissa:   I have so many in my Book Cave already! (I’m like a dragon, I keep my books in my room and sleep with them at night!)

Dragonsally: yes, my favorite books are in the bedroom. I’m rapidly running out of room because the list keeps growing

Meanwhile, over in the conversation between @Dragonsally and @GaryHooper44:

Dragonsally: which was your favorite panel Gary?

Gary:  I liked seeing the interviews with the SF writers. Kim Stanley Robinson’s books are really interesting.

Dragonsally: I’m not certain I’ve read any of his yet. I bought a gazillion books home to read though.

Gary:  The Mars books are really interesting. All about terraforming and people living a really long time without being undead.

Dragonsally: that rings a bell. Maybe I have read some.

And then back to the conversation between @LissaWilson83 and @GaryHooper44:

Lissa: Maybe for Halloween we can get together and I’ll help you think of a psychodelia-punk costume.

Gary:  Um. Thanks but. After last Halloween I don’t think I’ll be going to any more of your Halloween parties.

Lissa: It wasn’t *my* idea for you to roll yourself in glitter and come as a Cullen! You were shedding silver sparkles ALL NIGHT!

Gary:  Took days to wash it all out of my hair. It was horrible.

Lissa:  We can probably do a costume that does not involve glitter this year.

Gary:  Well. Maybe. But there were all those people I didn’t know. Maybe we can just watch some horror movies together.

Lissa:  You didn’t party much before you were a vampire either, did you? Okay. We’ll have a private Halloween party. :)

Gary:  Yeah. That’d be good.

Gary:  Can we still make a costume though?

Lissa:  LOL. If you want. You find the valves and stuff, I’ll find some fabric.

Gary:  Cool! Maybe I can wear it to the next convention.

*For newcomers, the GaryView is a review of books/films/TV/entertainment carried out as a conversation between Lissa Wilson (librarian) and Gary Hooper (vampire) , characters from my book ‘The Opposite of Life’. Visit my website for more information.

2010
09/12
CATEGORY
Aussiecon 4
Gary and Lissa
The Opposite of Life
vampires
2 comments

Pleasantly brain dead

After all my boasting that I was probably the only person at Aussiecon 4 who was in better health at the end of the festivities than at the start, on Tuesday the adrenalin stopped pumping and I felt exhausted all day. But it was a nice kind of brain-dead tired, ya know?

I had an excellent time, and Monday was a hoot. I’m a raging extrovert (as those who’ve met me will attest) and I like to talk! So being on panels is a thing of joy rather than fear for me. Even when I haven’t had time to prepare properly. Hell, making it up as I go along is kind of what I do for a living, right?

One of the things I found most stimulating and delightful about the panels I attended and appeared on was the capacity for the panellists, and the audience, to shift from having fun to having insights. The panel on “25 Things I Learned from SF” began as pointing out all the silly tropes that appear in such fiction to concluding that readers of SF are sometimes better prepared for the changes in the real world than people who, for example, had not already spent 20 years reading about the possible social, ethical and moral repercussions of cloning.

Even stranger, the deliberately schlocky “Vampire VS Zombie Smackdown”, ripe with comedic potential, turned at one point to a brief discussion of depression and the fear of loss of self, and concluded in a very adult compromise that vampires may be more stylish, and zombies may win the actual war, but they are both really cool monsters. I was also thrilled to be on a panel with George RR Martin, who created one of my favourite tv series of the 80s, Beauty and the Beast, and that I got a chance to tell him so.

I met some wonderful people over those five days. I had fun, I hugged Rob Shearman, I spoke to writers and publishers, I got some great advice and some excellent tips, I hugged Rob Shearman again, I bought books, I spent some quality time with Sally, I got the blues and Terry hugged me better, and people I either didn’t know well or didn’t know at all came to tell me they liked my book, which also made me feel better.

My book stash includes Peter M Ball‘s Bleed (sequel to his amazing book Horn), books by Alison Croggan, Rob Shearman, Marianne De Pierres, Heather Brewer, Karen Chance and Sean McMullen, and an anthology edited by Gillian Pollack.

Among my favourite things this convention? Getting to know Tansy Rayner Roberts a little better; hugging Robert Shearman who is a delightfully naughty and funny man; getting writers I like to sign their books for me; snagging Kim Stanley Robinson to sign The Years of Rice and Salt; Kirstyn McDermott giving The Opposite of Life a shout-out on her panel “Has Hollywood Sucked the Vampire Dry”; spending hours with Sally, who is excellent company; and seeing the look on John Richard’s face when people squeed at him OMG YOU’RE JOHN RICHARDS FROM BOXCUTTERS!! and seeing that same look on Josh Kinal’s face when they were both there to interview Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell on a panel for their show. (Check out iTunes or boxcutters.net for this brilliant podcast about all things TV).  I swear, the two of them were almost glancing behind them to see the *other* John Richards and Josh Kinal, who were surely the ones that people meant.

Actually, Peter M Ball articulated the evident truth that Australian writers (and podcast presenters, obviously) are always surprised when people come up to say they like their work. American writers seem to go “Well, thank you kindly. Why, yes, I’d be happy to sign your book. How do I spell your name?”. Approach an Australian author with “I really liked your book” and they tend to look slightly startled and say “Really? Are you sure?” and look around to see if you actually meant *them*.

Aussiecon 4 was inspiring, validating, educational and most of all fun. I feel a little like I’ve been run over by an extremely friendly stampede of widely read wildebeests. Not a bad way to go, all things considered.

These huge events, run from conception to final ceremony by volunteers in the SF community, will always have challenges. The committee by now are exhausted – actually, they were probably exhausted about two months before the con – and some of them may have checked into Rest Homes for the Bewildered for a little while. I want to thank them all for their hard work, especially as it is unpaid work that has been going on, for some of them, for several years. No con is ever flawless, but I had a pretty perfect time, and anything I regret is down to my feeling too under the weather to attend all the items I had on my “must see” list.  I had a fun, convivial time among like minded folks. And that, my friends, is always something to be treasured.

2010
09/08
CATEGORY
Aussiecon 4
5 comments

Aussiecon 4 – Day Five

Tomorrow is Day 5, and the last day of the Worldcon. The nasty bug that had been lingering for the first few days now seems to be fading at last, leaving me wishing I had a time machine to do over the first few days again – so many panels and readings and speeches I missed! But I had a great time loitering in the dealers room and spoke to a lot of wise, wonderful, funny, thoughtful, kind people, so actually I can’t complain.

I attended a panel called “Has Hollywood sucked the life out of vampires” which was good fun, and the lovely Kirstyn McDermott gave a shout out for The Opposite of Life, which endeared her to me immensely. :) I was on the next two panels – on in which we discussed how horrific real life can someetimes be, and how that related to horror writing; and then I mediated a panel on the Fifth Season of Dr Who, which mainly meant I hogged the microphone, though occasionally allowed the marvellous panelists George, Rani and Kathryn get a word in edgeways…

Josh and John from Boxcutters interviewed Rob Shearman and Paul Cornell, so there was a table full of charming and funny guys, and it was all recorded for an upcoming episode of Boxcutters, so if you missed it there’s hope for you yet. (Check out Boxcutters on iTunes!)

After dinner, I stayed with some friends to watch the Hugo Awards. Nice to see so much talent being recognised for their efforts, and now I plan to actually read some of the nominees as well as winners…

Tomorrow I have a full day. At 10am I will be on a panel on “The 25 Things I Learned from SF”. Given I haven’t had time to prepare, I’m hoping to think of at least three things.

At 11am I’ll be doing a reading. I plan to read a different part of The Opposite of Life, so if you want to come along but already have the book, at least I’ll be reading out a different bit for a chance. That’ll be followed by a signing session (and many thanks to the Aussiecon program team for putting me in this bit of the program!)

My final panel of the con will be at 2pm, when I will be leading the vampires team in the Zombies vs Vampires smackdown. I don’t know if there’ll be any reasoned debate, but there may be a melee, so that’ll be worth the price of entry, surely.

2010
09/06
CATEGORY
Aussiecon 4
Leave a comment

Aussiecon 4

Today is Day Four of Aussiecon 4, the Australian Worldcon. I started with a nasty cold and while still a bit ill, I’m actually getting a little better each day. Surely this means that, against tradition, I should be in perfect health by Day 5, instead of a total wreck like everyone else.

I’ve done a few panels so far – I had a marvellous time with Bob Kuhn, Alison Croggan and Rob Shearman on a panel about Science Fiction and the Theatre, in which we more or less concluded that the two genres were made for each other and it’s a shame there isn’t more of it. And that there is probably more of it than anyone thinks, it’s just that no-one calls it SF cos they don’t want to frighten off the audience. Ben Ellis, Lally Katz and Robert Reid, Melbourne playwrights who incorporate a lot of SF concepts in their work, got a mention too, as did actor/director Scott Gooding, who was in the audience.

I also went onto a Friday panel on 10 minutes notice discussing whether or not there is an ‘Australian voice’ in SF, and if so, what is it?

Today I’ll be talking about the reason for writing horror when real life surely offers up enough horrors all by itself. It’ll be interesting to see what everyone has to say about it. I’m also doing a Dr Who panel straight afterwards, because my interests are nothing if not eclectic.

On Monday I will be participating in the zombie vs vampire smackdown, which should be fun. I’ll also be doing a reading from The Opposite of Life if you’d care to come along. I’m going to find a passage I haven’t read before, so even if you’ve already read the book, perhaps it will have entertainment value for you.

Either way, if you’re at the con and would like to say hello, please come up and introduce yourself. When not on panels, or attending panels, I’m often in the dealer’s room at the Doc Rat/Pink Iguana table next to Dymocks.

2010
09/05
CATEGORY
Aussiecon 4
writing
Leave a comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 868 other followers