The UK election results have dominated the news for the last week, with the resounding failure to give any one party the mandate to govern and the potential dawn of a new era of consensual politics. With the ink on the coalition agreement still wet, we all wait to see whether the politicians, media and the…
I Should Be Writing…
Many Happy Returns – TWF
There is always a degree of uncertainty before an organised event. Will people come? Will the sun shine? Are there enough chairs? These are questions that disturb the sleep of any organiser and the truth is that you never know until the day. Well, the Write Fantastic needn’t have worried. Well, except for the sun,…
The Write Fantastic is Five
Here at Shevdon Manor, we were delighted to receive an invitation to participate in the fifth birthday bash for none other than The Write Fantastic. This is scheduled for Saturday 8th May at St Hilda’s College, Oxford For those of you out of the loop, The Write Fantastic formed as a group of fantasy fiction…
Odyssey 2010
The equinox has come and gone and spring is definitely upon us. You can tell this by the snow outside. Spring means Easter, though, and that means Eastercon, which is being held at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel near Heathrow this year. Odyssey 2010 is probably the largest and most comprehensive con in the UK and…
Genre and Taxonomy
I’ve been thinking about genre lately. It came up as a panel topic at PCon and there was a lively discussion about what constituted genre and how that affected books. Cheryl Morgan came up with an erudite and academic-sounding definition. I wish I’d written it down. One of the conclusions of the panel was that…
Phoenix Convention VII
With my first Phoenix Convention over, I returned to a pile of things to do and a busy week ensued. It wasn’t until the weekend that I was able to think back and realise what a great time we had. PCon certainly isn’t the largest convention I’ve been to, nor is it the grandest venue,…
To Dublin for P-Con 7
This weekend I will be in sunny Dublin for the Phoenix Convention, from Friday evening through until Sunday afternoon I’m really looking forward to the event and all that’s planned. I have three panels scheduled over the weekend, see below for details. Saturday 11:00 : What Makes a Good Story along with Ian McDonald, Paedar Ó…