Eastercon is coming
It’s almost here… It’s almost here… a break from work, a few beers, and late night chats with people who won’t judge you (to your face, at least) because you actually once kind of enjoyed the early works of L Ron (though we’ll snigger at you when you go to the loo - but that’s okay, you’ll never know).
So I’m on four panels this time:
LS40 The Hovercraft of Disbelief Royal Friday 14:00
The Hovercraft of Disbelief - what flaws in a work can you accept without spoiling the story, and what ruins an otherwise excellent book? With Paul Cornell, Kari, Kellie Takenaka, Tom Womack & me (moderating)
OW31 Flash fiction with the Friday Flash Fictioneers George Saturday 15:00
The FFF guys encourage folk to come along and write a short, short story. Simple and fun - bring a pen and paper. With Gareth Jones, Gareth L Powell, Shaun Green, Paul Raven, Neil Beynon & me. The best way to look at this is that at least GLP knows what he’s talking about!
S25 Politics in Young Adult Fiction Tetworth Sunday 13:00
Politics in Young Adult Fiction - what are the differences when writing about politics in YA fiction? What can and can’t you assume about the knowledge of your audience? What extra challenges does it present? With China Miéville, Ruth O’Reilly, Cory Doctorow & me (moderating)!
BS9 Reader knows best? Commonwealth Sunday 17:00
Reader knows best? – Our panel discuss reading the SF of 1958 in contemporary times. How well does it work for the reader? What allowances do you have to make for the 50 years which have passed? How do our reactions differ from those of the time? With China Miéville, Nic Clarke, Peter Harrow & me!
I’ve never moderated a panel at a con before or even been referred to as moderate, so I’m looking forward to that, but China and Cory on my second panel? I may have to bring some sort of heavy plant machinery to ensure that the universe can get a word in edgeways…
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come to my panels, offer moral support, cheer wildly at any mention of my name and at the end of my speaking bits (don’t scream while I’m speaking though, it just gets embarassing after a few seconds), laugh uproariously at my hardly more than one third-baked jokes and then buy me copious beers at the end of it all.
See you in sunny Heathrow!
Best. Panel title. EVAR.
Why are there so bloody many Blake’s 7 items on the bill this year? Nostalgia’s weird - the brain’s equivalent of your sphincter pining for the first dump of the day, maybe? *shrugs*
Why are there so bloody many Blake’s 7 items on the bill this year?
Because the core of the Orbital committee is the Redemption committee, which started life as primarily a B7 con. I do think putting on a “why is Blake’s 7 still so popular?” panel in a 600-capacity room is being a mite optimistic.
Oh, there’s not that many Blakes 7 programme items, and the one Niall refers to above is actually in a 100-person room now. Just focus on all the lovely lovely literary items there are for your enjoyment
[…] description shamelessly lifted from Martin. I’m not sure what to expect, other than a fairly empty room - the schedue may change but at […]