Climbing Yggdrasil – Nine Worlds Event

(Note from Gav – this is a long one, and link-heavy, but it goes to show just how much can be packed into one weekend at an event!)

One of the pleasures of being a fan of sci-fi, fantasy and horror is that there are plenty of events throughout the year where we can get together to celebrate out mutual interests. Being a gamer, in the UK there are the wargames shows like Salute, Partizan, Hammerhead and the Derby World Wargames, as well as the UK Games Expo and other tabletop gaming gatherings. We can go to ComiCons and other ‘gate’ events where fans meet their favourite stars from TV and film. Events such as Eastercon, Edge-Lit, Fantasycon, Novacon, Bristolcon and other things ending in -con are celebrations of genre literature.

It’s probably because many facets of being a genre fan come together in one place at Nine Worlds Geekfest that it remains my favourite event of the year – coupled with the great people, modern and inclusive outlook and attention to accessibility and diversity. Add so many great attractions, workshops and panels that the most common complaint is that there’s too much to do and you have an unmissable weekend.

Though there were as many things to do this year as previously, across a huge variety of ‘tracks’ we spent most of this year socialising, due to having an active and frequently loud nineteen-month old in tow. Though there were dozens of panels we would have liked to have attended, the reality was that we had to pick just a couple of things each that we didn’t want to miss.

Andy Poulastides as a Ghostbuster, just one of the many great cosplayers in attendance at Nine Worlds.

Writerists Unite!

It’s sometimes mentioned that up-and-coming and aspiring writers should attend events because that’s often where they might see an editor or agent. That is certainly a possibility, but I would say the best thing about going to genre events is that you will definitely spend some time with other writers, some of whom will be in a similar stage of their writing career and others who have had vastly different experiences. Leaving aside advice, panels and networking for a moment (but only for a moment) swapping writing stories, discussing process and simply spending time with other people who have even a small inkling of what’s going on in your head is inspiring and reassuring.

Just thinking about the number of cool people I spent time with over the three-and-a-bit days seems slightly surreal after the event. Some I’ve spoken to before, others I met for the first time. Fellow Black Library author Guy Haley provided constant curmudgeonly, goblinesque entertainment and a willing ear for much of the weekend. Sometimes it was just a passing hello and catch-up, as with Liesl Schwarz, Anne Lyle, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jen Williams and Danie Ware. I spent quite a bit of time talking to Den Patrick about the Dark Heresy RPG he ran on the Saturday. There were plenty of new acquaintances too, like Johnny Nexus who kindly gave me an ARC (advanced review copy) of his forthcoming genre humour book If Pigs Could Fly, and Dave Moore of Abaddon Books proved to be a dab hand at Sammy-wrangling for which we are very grateful.

I haven’t just run through this list for the sake of name-dropping (not entirely…) but to illustrate that attending events puts you in contact with people. Aside from a few I met via Games Workshop or the Black Library, these are folks that I know now only because of events like Nine Worlds. I can understand why someone like Lee Harris of Tor.com can say that he usually spends all of a convention in the bar just catching up with people.

Making Friends

Saturday night was a blast, the busiest part of the weekend that didn’t involve a toddler. First up, to celebrate the forthcoming release of the Gamer Over anthology there was a tiny flash mob in the bar consisting of me, fellow contributors James Wallis and Jim Swallow, and the editor Jonathan Green. Being the only one whose name does not start with a ‘J’ was awkward but we got past that… In truth I’ve known all three of them for many years now, on and off, and it was great fun catching up with them again (and telling James that I backed the new Paranoia RPG Kickstarter on the basis of his name being attached!).

Later that evening was the first time the David Gemmel Awards for Fantasy were held at Nine Worlds. Congratulations to all of the winners, although I was unable to attend the ceremony due to bath and bedtime. Sammy’s, not mine, I hope you understand. Directly following the trophy-giving was the launch of the Legends II anthology from Newcon Press. Editor/ Publisher Ian Whates and I first met at an Angry Robot signing in Sheffield, and again at the Andromeda One event a couple of years ago, at which he asked if I would like to contribute a story. Living proof (albeit anecdotal) that attending events can and does lead to work! Ian is a lovely chap and it was great to meet with the other contributors in attendance. Judging by the speed with which the limited edition hardbacks went on the night, don’t hang about ordering if you want one of the signed editions.

And everyone was nice enough to sign my copy too.

Things I learnt at the signing:
Edward Cox is a serial hugger.
John Gwynne has lovely handwriting.
Gavin G. Smith looks disturbingly like Azrael from Dogma but with a beard.
Free wine is almost compulsory at a launch.

And everyone was nice enough to sign my copy too.

The night culminated in games of Exploding Kittens (the most-backed Kickstarter in history) with Kez’s sister Joe, Richard Williams, David Tallerman and Jonathan Green. (Joe won both games, for those keeping track of my many gaming defeats.)

It can be intimidating at your first event (and second, and third, and seventh…) especially as many of us lack social confidence, spend most of our times inside our own heads and may feel shy talking to authors that we’ve been reading and reading about. Looking from the outside there seems to be groups and cliques, by agent, publisher, experience and genre. Once you get in the thick of it, all of that fades away. I can honestly say that when I have actually spoken to other writers I have never felt anything other than welcomed. Look out for ice-breaker type events, often on the evening before the con proper starts. It’s worth getting there early and just hanging out, meeting people before they’re wrapped up in what panel they are on or attending, the activity of the con itself often adding a time pressure with people coming and going. Nine Worlds has specific Newbie Meet-ups wonderfully chaperoned by Emma Newman (who is open about her own social anxieties) and Pete Newman, along with others. Huge thanks to Emma also for staying a bit longer to sign Kez’s copies of her marvellous Split Worlds Trilogy.

Whatever else happens, remember that everyone is there to celebrate what they love. You are not being judged. These are ‘our people’ as Kez and I are fond of saying.

Always Learning

As well as the general ambience of being around other writer-types, it’s important to use events to expand your thinking – about writing process, themes, craft and the murkier aspect of the publishing industry. Nine Worlds’ different tracks meant there were panels and workshops under the headings of fan fiction, creative writing and All The Books, all of which had useful content. For me (as in previous years) it was the Skeptics and Academia tracks that held the greatest attraction, being that most of my inspiration comes from history and real life.

In the end the only panel I was able to attend was this one:

Rebellion, Outsiders and Group Dynamics: three talks on outsiders and relations to authority

Across these three talks, the speakers explore various ideas of difference and how those differences colour our perceptions of groups outside our own. The first will look at representations of physical and mental disability in the Vorkosigan series and how the series’ protagonist defies the standard template of science-fiction heroes. The second talk will focus on the seminal Judge Dredd story America, and look at gendered attitudes towards and forms of rebellion and interaction with the overwhelmingly white and male authorities of 2000AD. Finally, the series will conclude with a discussion of relationship between “self” and “other” in Battlestar Galactica.

Speakers: Ria Cheyne, Kelly Kanayama, Ro Smith

I missed the start of Ria Chayne’s talk but she did a great job of explaining about not only wider disability issues, both in individual and social terms, but also the Vorkosigan series which I had not heard of. The talk was good on two counts – firstly I want to read Ria’s full paper on the subject, and secondly I need to add a Vorkosigan book to my ‘to-read’ pile.

I found Kelly Kanayama a little less inspiring, I’m afraid, through a combination of a less structured presentation style and a less convincing development of her thesis. The full paper might address these issues, of course. I felt that while her underlying point about two white men writing and drawing about a Hispanic woman’s death was sound, she failed to account for the possibility that much of the bias in the story ‘America’ may have been deliberate, on account of the heavy satire present in Judge Dredd that she acknowledges at the start of the presentation. Even so, it was good to be reminded that as a western, white male writer I shouldn’t ignore how I treat characters and storylines associated with different genders and ethnicities.

Last up was Ro Smith who gave a very confident, polished presentation starting with Hegel’s Master/ Slave Dialectic (which I must admit got a little bit too philosophical for me to understand after a few reflections of ‘self’ and ‘self-consciousness’!) and into representations of that dialectic in the remake of Battlestar Galactica. This was very good, very accessible and well-observed. I want to explore this further as this theme is at the heart of a character I am developing for a new original fantasy series – I zoned out at a couple of points wondering how all of this will play into the narrative.

On a more business-related vector I took part in one of the ‘Monsterclass’ workshops. This was for Marketing, helmed by the very able Jared Shurin (of Pornokitsch, Jurassic London and other interests) and Paul Wiseall (co-founder of Fantasy Faction). We authors don’t often talk about the grubbier side of publishing, like trying to get people to buy and read your books, but there are usually very useful workshops and panels dealing with agents, marketing, editorial process and all that. In this case, Jared and Paul were able to combine theory and practical advice, cramming a lot of stuff into a 60 minute slot. Most of us don’t have a big publisher and their marketing department pushing our wares, and with ebooks, social media and self-publishing constantly on the rise it’s more important than ever that authors understand the importance and disciplines of self-marketing. Rightly or wrongly, most agents and editors today will have to take into account the author’s own marketing punch and ability before signing on the dotted line.

But marketing needn’t be a drag. Reminding people every now and then that you have a book out is not evil. As a reader I want to know when my favourite authors have something new for me.

By the way, have I mentioned the (non-limited) hardback of Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan and ebook is now available to pre-order?

Feed the brain and the rest will follow!

Nothing is Perfect

Nine Worlds is brilliant, but it is not perfect. There is a lot going on and it is possible to be struck by ‘choice paralysis’ by everything on offer. Keeping track of where and when everything is can be boggling at times. I highly recommend using the online schedule planner if you are going, just because the track listings in the programme are quite dense.

The venue is nice but, as last year, the staffing levels are inadequate for an event of this size and queues at the bar and poor service throughout breakfast was remarked on by a lot of people. Also, Heathrow really isn’t as accessible as a lot of people think. The organisers are London-based but it would be nice if the event moved to a more Midlands location, possibly a proper convention destination in Birmingham.

Lastly, there seemed to be quite a bit of information that was conveyed online such as alternative lunch provisions (which apparently were stopped by the hotel because nobody used them on the Friday, which I can only assume was because people didn’t realise they were on offer) as well as circulating the (cheaper) convention food menu and reminding folks they qualified for a discount on their drinks. Also signage was better than previous years but still not quite to the required level, particularly when a one-way system was instigated on one of the stairways.

Did these things spoil the occasion? Not at all, but they were definitely irritations in an otherwise highly enjoyable weekend. The good news is that the organisers are very open to feedback. Even the venue might change! If you went, don’t forget to return the feedback survey.

The Haul

Of course another reason to go to these kinds of events is to spend a bit of money on Shiny Things. The retail experience was much curtailed this year, unfortunately, for reasons undisclosed as far as I know. This is a shame because the dealers’ room at last year’s Nine Worlds event was pretty good, while this year was reduced to a permanent stand for Forbidden Planet and Genki Gear, but for a pop-up market for a few hours on the Sunday for smaller traders, of which there were less than a dozen.

Undeterred, we managed to grab quite a load of books, both free from our gift bags and from the book stand. Faced with the immense choice on display, I plumped for a couple of books by my co-signees from the Legends II event (I’ll pick up a John Gwynne book soon!) while Kez has been steadily trying to read books by authors she has met.

My next big event will be Fantasycon, where I’ll be talking on a panel (more details later – I was also able to meet the schedule organiser Richard Webb at Nine Worlds). Before that I will be at a couple of Angry Robot invasions of Forbidden Planet in Birmingham and London, so stay tuned for news and dates.

Attend events. It’s the LAW!

Take the plunge, you’ll find that you’re one of a massive, happy genre family. If you ever see me at an event some day, be sure to come and say hi. We’re already planning our Nine Worlds trip for next year.

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