Author Out in the Wild
Convention season is coming to an end, and I’m hoping it will go out with a bang at the fan-arranged Convention Secundus next Sunday. Before I get to that though, I will be attending Novacon on the Saturday.
Next weekend sees the 45th year of Novacon, a “single stream fannish SF con with a literary bent”, attended by guests of honour Anne and Stan Nicholls. Arranged by Birmingham Science Fiction Group, Novacon has been held in my local city of Nottingham for the past six years, but this will be the first year I’ve been able to attend. I’ve been asked to appear on a lunchtime panel discussing “There is very little decent SF being written nowadays” along with Janet Edwards, Bryony Pearce and Chris Nuttall.
When I’m not on or watching a panel, you will probably find me in the bar, catching up with friends and industry colleagues.
Assuming I make it out of the bar in one piece, on the Sunday I will be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at Convention Secundus, also held in Nottingham. There have been a lot of changes at Black Library this year, and efforts have been clearly focussed on publishing some great fiction, which has unfortunately meant there was no time for an official Black Library event.
You will also be able to meet Deliverance Lost’s cover illustrator Neil Roberts
I hope they re-instate the Black Library events in the future, but if not, maybe Convention Secundus can take its place. Arranged by avid fans the two-day event includes seminars, a writers room (to read and critique your writing), and the obligatory bar for informal social interfacing (or conversation as I believe normal people call it). I’ll be discussing the Horus Heresy under the guise of the assertion, “It is the opinion of this convention that Horus was the best choice for Warmaster” with Christian Dunn and Laurie Goulding – a silly statement when we all know Sanguinius would have been the best choice. I’m also intending to spend some time in the writers room to chat with anyone who has any questions about the writing process. No doubt I will also be in the bar some of the time…So there we have it, my last authorly outings of the year. Come and say hi if you’re attending either of these events.
To help me with my preparation for the Novacon panel, what ‘decent’ science fiction from 2015 would you recommend to a friend? I’m looking for really up-to-date, genre-defining, Best in Show stuff that maybe folks might not have heard about before.
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