Headed to the UK!

Just a few more days and I'll be off to visit London and Dublin. For the first part of my trip, I had planned to attend Gollancz Fest, but that got shifted to October of this year so I've had to make some small adjustments to my schedule.

The Good News: I get to see more of London with my family.
The Bad News: I get to see less fans before WorldCon.

Maybe not so bad, though, because it's likely most fans that showed up to Gollancz Fest would have been there to see other folks (me being a debut author and all)...but you never know.

I'm doubly fortunate, though, in that some other local authors reached out and invited me to the Super Relaxed Fantasy Club (SRFC), which meets in London once a month to network, hang out, and read a portion of their work to the assembled crowd. This coming event will be a mighty big one, too, since it will be held just a few short days before WorldCon, so there will be folks from all over the world attending (myself included). I expect it will be a great opportunity to make new acquaintances and establish some friendships in the writing community which (I hope) will last a long, long time.

Anyhow, I'll post more details about my time in London as they happen (follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Justin_T_Call), and I'll write a separate post about everything that happens at WorldCon Dublin (August 14-19). In the interim, though, I thought y'all might like to know my formal schedule for the convention – by which I mean the places that you are guaranteed to see me (either because I'm signing books or because I'm on a panel). I'll be participating in four panels at WorldCon, plus a private signing at the Gollancz table in the dealers room and a more public signing with some other amazing authors (Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, etc). Full details are below, but this won't include all the other panels that I'll be joining as an attendee (I'll do a second post with all of *those* details in a few days).

Autographs: Friday at 16:00
Format: Autographing

16 Aug 2019, Friday 16:00 - 16:30, Gollancz Table

Book signing for Master of Sorrows at the Gollacz stand (exact location TBD).

Not beyond Tolkien
Format: Panel
16 Aug 2019, Friday 22:00 - 22:50, Wicklow Hall 2B (CCD)

There has been much discussion of how elements of Tolkien’s work have become staples in fantasy and how certain tropes are Tolkienesque, but what about the things Tolkien did that have become rare or unusual? ‘Tolkienesque’ has become shorthand for general high fantasy, but the panel will discuss the aspects of his work that did not spread widely beyond him.

Justin Call, Ms Sultana Raza, Dr Nick Hubble (Brunel University London) (M), Amal El-Mohtar

Autographs: Saturday at 11:00
Format: Autographing
17 Aug 2019, Saturday 11:00 - 11:50, Level 4 Foyer (CCD)

Joe Abercrombie, Justin Call, S.A. Chakraborty, Scott Lynch, James Smythe, Cadwell Turnbull

There be dragons! Crafting maps for fantasy worlds
Format: Panel
17 Aug 2019, Saturday 13:00 - 13:50, Wicklow Hall 2B (CCD)

From Middle Earth to Earthsea, Westeros to Orisha, maps can bring fantasy lands to life. But how do authors go about designing these fantasy worlds, and how do they then communicate those designs to mapmakers? The panel will discuss the craft of fantasy mapmaking and the challenges of bringing imagined worlds to life.

Dr Bob (M), Robert V. S. Redick (Talos, Gollancz, Penguin Random House), Justin Call, J.S. Meresmaa

Wands at the ready! Magical world building in SFF
Format: Panel
18 Aug 2019, Sunday 13:00 - 13:50, Wicklow Hall-1 (CCD)

When worldbuilding with magic, is it enough to add magic to our existing social structures, or does some magic alter the way the world works. There are soft magic systems with few rules and hard magic systems with lots of rules, does this affect the ways magic shapes the narrative? Arthur C Clarke said: "Magic is just science we don't understand yet." At what point does magic become science?

Christopher Husberg (M), Zen Cho, Diane Duane (The Owl Springs Partnership), Justin Call

Evoking theme through boardgame mechanics
Format: Panel
19 Aug 2019, Monday 12:00 - 12:50, Wicklow Room-2 (CCD)

In boardgames, theme can be evoked in many ways – through artwork, story, sometimes even through boardgame soundtracks – but how can theme be evoked through mechanics? In this panel we’ll discuss some examples of this being done well today, and what should be considered when exploring this element of design.

Robin David (M), Justin Call, Helena Nash, Rachel Scanlon (Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford)