Ten minutes

Writing this at Gatwick Airport with ten minutes of free wifi left, which is apt because ten minutes was, I reckon, the average amount of time I manage to spend in conversation with any one person on any one (of a million) important, personal, silly subjects at WFC in Brighton. Some conventions are relaxed affairs. […]

Ready to launch

There’s two and a bit weeks to go before this year’s World Fantasy Convention down in lovely Brighton. I’m not doing terribly much at it, so you’ll mostly find me in the bar, but what will be happening at the con is the launch of a couple of anthologies which I’ve mentioned before here on account of […]

Monthly : March

Reading long Dark Eden by Chris Beckett (Corvus) In SF they tell you that one of the great cliches is the Adam-and-Eve-on-a-new-planet story. You just don’t do it. Ever. Chris Beckett has, however, done exactly that, and Dark Eden is a simple, beautiful triumph of a book. His Adam and Eve are several generations dead, and […]

Chilled con

That was what they dubbed this year’s Eastercon, on account of the freezing temperatures and residual snow and ice in Bradford. There was nothing the organisers could have done about the weather, or about the fact that the main bar area was right next to the hotel doors which invited in an icy blast every […]

The annual Eastercon show of hands

And all of a sudden, Easter is just around the corner. Which means the annual beer and gab fest that is Eastercon. I say this every year but if you’re interested in SF and Fantasy Eastercon is a great way to spend a weekend. If you’re a reader of SF and Fantasy books, it’s a […]

Lighting the neon

It’s the last night of our stay in Toronto and we’ve elected to stay in the Gladstone Hotel, a former-flophouse, now-boutique hotel in the hipstery, artsy West Queen West district whose rooms are individually designed by artists. Ours is pink and baby blue. It has a pewter ceiling and a giant purple mirror, stencilled ferns […]

Canada countdown 2

The latter part of our trip to Toronto involves camping out at the World Fantasy Convention for a few days. This will be my fourth WFC. My first was Minneapolis in 2002, and I’ve managed back every three or four years since then, calling in at Austin and San Jose on the way (next years, […]

Canada countdown

This time next week we’ll be on holiday in Toronto. As it’s effectively our summer holiday, it’s long over due, so understandably we’re both more than ready for the break. The bidey-in spent some time in Toronto back in the day and is looking forward to going back, but for me it’s a whole new […]

Silvergold bright and edgechill

My favourite season has always been autumn. On a bright September or October morning, I love the balance between sun warmth and air chill, an excuse to pull on a jumper and enjoy the caress of wool. And I love the clarity of the light, not slow and honeyed like a summer morning, but gimlet […]

The Fcon Cometh

All of a sudden it’s Fantasycon time. I’m looking forward as always to flying down to Rio Brighton (which will be nowhere near as sunny as Rio, or even as Brighton was this time last year, ah well). I have one piece of official involvement this year. If anyone fancies popping along to hear some […]