What I'm Doing at FantasyCon 2016

This weekend I head for the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough for the annual British celebration of SF/F/horror literature, FantasyCon. FantasyCon was the first con I ever attended, some time in the late 1990s, and I still hold it in fond regard.


On this occasion I am travelling alone, since Hubby is not joining me. He claims to want a quiet weekend at home. I think he's looking forward to a weekend of being able to play games, make models, watch the documentaries he likes in peace. That's OK with me as long as he remembers to feed the cats.


Anyway, I shall be at the day job Friday morning, and then boarding a train to the wilds of Yorkshire mid-afternoon. Somewhere I have to change trains. I think it might be York. There's not a lot of time between the two so I hope the first train doesn't run late. I am supposed to get to Scarborough about 5:30pm. In plenty of time for the disco - hurrah!


In any case, I do have things to do for this particular convention. I am giving a reading at 3pm on Saturday. The organisers have organised author readings in half-hour slots, with two authors per slot. I rather like this idea. It means you're less likely to have no one turn up to your reading, since there's a good chance there'll be someone there to watch the other author as well. My reading partner is Priya Sharma. I have not met her before, but looking forward to doing so on Saturday.


Then at 8pm I've got a panel called 'Paint It Black', which is all about why horror permeates so many other genres. My fellow panellists are Simon Bestwick, Jo Thomas, Timothy Jarvis and Phil Sloman, who is moderating. With the exception of Simon, who I've met in person, everyone else I only know from the internet so I am looking forward to meeting some new people.


Other than that, I shall be visiting a few panels and spending a lot of time in the bar, where I hope to be able to meet up with the people I only ever get to talk to at Cons. Although I might be tempted by the FantasyCon karaoke.


So if you're there, come and say hello. If you tell me you've bought a copy of any of my books at any point, I might even buy you a drink.

Monthly Round-up: August 2014

We're over halfway through August already.  Where is this year going?  This means it's time for another report on what I've been up to writing-wise over the last month.

COMING SOON

I now have release dates for both the forthcoming Shara Summers novels.  DEATH SCENE is to be released on 22 September, and DEAD COOL on 25 November.  Though both books are e-book only, they will be available for pre-order through the MuseItUp website.

PROMOTIONAL NEWS

I've made a couple of guest appearances online since the last update. Details below:

13 August - I appeared on Kat Holmes' blog as part of her Summer Bash, talking about cultural displacement.
20 August - I was on Anne Stenhouse's blog with Five Fascinating Facts.  Well, I hope they were fascinating...

Con-wise, I went to the fabulous Geekfest, and had a fine old time.  Next up, FantasyCon in York, which will also be the last Con in my calendar.  At least for this year.  I'm already lining up my Con schedule for next year.

WORK IN PROGRESS

I have made a start on what I will hope be the final rewrite of the new horror novel, which is entitled THE WHISPERING DEATH.  I've worked out what I need to do with this, and feel happy with the way the rewrite is going so far.

September is looking like a horrendously busy month, with a lot of personal and day-job related stuff going on.  But with the release of DEATH SCENE on the horizon, there'll be plenty of writing-related stuff going on as well.  Catch you next month!

What Am I Doing At Geekfest?

It's nearly time for the Nineworlds Geekfest con! Last year was the first time this London-based convention - celebrating all things geeky - ran, and it was a fabulous event. This year sees it a bit more streamlined, but with just as packed a schedule, and I have no doubt it will be just as much fun.

Saturday I and other members of the T Party writers' group will be running an ideas-generating workshop entitled 'How to Beat Writers' Block'. This will be a series of exercises designed to trigger story ideas. Don't really want to say much about it at this stage (spoilers!) but we hope it will inspire people to go away and start writing something. In order for this to work we've limited it to 30 people so if you are attending the Con and fancy it, turn up early - it's on at 3:15 pm in the County A room.

After that I hope I get a chance to catch some panels before I am appearing on one myself - the intriguingly-entitled 'Noir - the Dirty Streets of Fiction' panel at 6:15 pm in County C&D. The only description we've been given of this is a quote from Raymond Chandler: "it seemed like a nice neighbourhood to have bad habits in". I've been thinking about this since I was asked to do the panel and I'm really looking forward to it. With noir finding its way into so many other genres, I think I can find a lot to say on this subject - assuming I don't get tongue-tied from the impressive line-up of Serious Writers on this panel (which include John Connolly, Will Hill, Daniel Polansky and Francis Knight).

I am also quite impressed with the Con's online schedule app, which not only allows each Con-goer to highlight individual sessions to create their own personal programme, but allows participants to see all of their activities all at once (here's mine).

There's also going to be a table for independent authors and small presses in the dealer room, so I shall take along a pile of SOUL SCREAMS to (hopefully) sell.

If you're at Geekfest do come and say hello - it's going to be a Con to remember.

Con Season

Galt House, Louisville, KY

It's April. That means con season is in full swing. This year, I'm planning to attend ConGlomeration, Fandom Fest, Night Risers, and Imaginarium. This isn't the complete list. Depending on my publisher, I may add a few more.

This year will be different for me now that I have a print book to sell. Before, I would have promo materials available: postcards, pens, magnets, business cards, even free CDs with PDFs of my short stories. I participated on panels or did readings whenever possible. This year, at ConGlomeration, I'm on two panels: "Thrill of the Kill" and "Beyond the Grave." I'm also doing an official book launch for The Ripper's Daughter, and doing a reading with fellow authors.

Why attend a con? From a writer's perspective, it's a way to meet fellow authors, engage with readers, and get your brand out there. My publisher encourages authors to participate on panels, and to help work toward building a readership, not just with our particular books, but books by our fellow authors. A win-win situation for everyone.

Time to fill up the gas tank, set the GPS, and get ready to hit the highways.