April 2009 Archives

Cons and Colds

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Contact (Swancon) was the best con ever! People were so friendly and enthusiastic. The committee were helpful, organised and their cheerfulness was infectious. My fellow guests were insightful and fun. And my minders (who I called minions), Sandra and Wing, were fabulous - both a delight to hang out with and ready to spring into action if I needed them.

Unfortunately Paul and I brought home Richard Morgan's cold. (Okay, there were other people there with colds that we could have caught it from, but we're blaming Richard.) So Paul hasn't downloaded any pics and I haven't been up to writing blog posts. Hopefully I'll be able to put something up here soon.

In the meantime I'll be concentrating on getting better so I can get stuck into finishing The Ambassador's Mission. I didn't manage to get the first draft done before Swancon because of a very different flu that was going around, but I only have about eight or so chapters left to write. (I guess I should be grateful that, what with all the travelling I've been doing, I've only had two bouts of cold/flu so far this year.)

There's another convention coming up soon: Conjecture in Adelaide. And then another event coming up in the second half of the year... but the international flights and hotels aren't booked yet so I'll have to save that announcement for another time.

Perth Bookstore Tour

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Today I was taken around to sign stock and meet booksellers in Perth by Todd, one of the local accounts manager. First stop Dymocks Garden City:

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Where Justin brought out a nice big stack of books for me to sign while he and I talked writing and good characters. Then a trip into the city followed, to Borders.

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Where Stefen Super SF Seller recommended some good books while I signed mine. Next up was Dymocks Perth:

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Where the lovely Tyne posed for a photo with me. And then we scooted off to Planet Bookshop in Mount Lawley, which is an amazing shop with a vast range and (my favourite) couches or cafe seats so you can sit and relax.

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Where I got a shot of Paul, my partner, and the very friendly and insightful Todd. Here we signed more stock...


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And Robin and I had a fascinating chat about fantasy publishing in Australia. After a lovely lunch with another Robin (this time an accounts manager) we headed back to the city to White Dwarf Books. 

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Where I hung out, laughed and had a really fun time with Peter the Wonder Goth, Sha, Tanya and Tim. We dragged ourselves away to our final destination:

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Fantastic Planet and a cuppa and Tim Tam thanks to the lovely Elaine. 



Discussing Contact (Swancon) on ABC Radio National

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The interview was a lot of fun, shifted from conventions to writing, and seemed to be over in a flash. Here it is...

Writing Sex and Dystopia in Speculative Fiction

The Book Show

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Tomorrow (Monday 6th April) I'm going to be on talking live in the studio on ABC National's The Book Show. Along with Richard Morgan, we'll be discussing Contact, the convention I mentioned in the last post. Tune in at 10 am, or drop by the site later to listen to the podcast.

Making Contact in Perth

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Next week I head west to Contact, Perth's annual convention. This time not just in the role of paticipant, audience member, panellist and author, but as the National Guest. Which means I'll be working extra hard to be entertaining, inspiring and fun.

The first event will be a talk at the City of Stirling's Osborne Library, alongside the International Guest Richard Morgan. It's at 9 Royal Street, Tuart Hill, starting at 11:30am. The flier is here.

I may also be doing some bookshop visits to sign stock before the con - I'll post details when they come in.

At the convention my schedule is:

Thursday

7:30 pm - Opening Ceremony

Friday

3:00 pm - Book Signing

7:30 pm - launch of The Priestess and the Slave

9:30 pm - Panel: Religion in fantasy

Saturday

8:00-9:00 pm - Masquerade Judging

9:30 pm - Panel: So why the hell do you want to be a writer anyway?

Sunday

12:00 pm - Guest of Honour Speech

3:00 pm - Panel: What's hot in fantasy?

4:00 pm - Book Signing

Monday

11:00 am - Panel: Sexuality in speculative fiction

12:00 pm - Panel: Writing Fantasy, Tips & Techniques

4:00 pm - Closing Ceremony

 

Hope to see some of you there!

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About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from April 2009 listed from newest to oldest.

March 2009 is the previous archive.

May 2009 is the next archive.

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