I spent the past long weekend at Continuum X -- this year's Australian national speculative fiction convention, where fans and writers and authors gather together to chat about science fiction, fantasy, horror and other related topics. It was held at Melbourne's Intercontinental Hotel at Rialto, a fairly classy venue as these things go. About the … Continue reading A few convention highlights – Continuum X
On Saturday I attended the inaugural Conflux Writers Day -- a day of short talks and workshops on various aspects of writing, held in Canberra. Organised by the Conflux team, headed up by Australian SF author Nicole Murphy, the Conflux Writers Day was also the prelude to the annual Aurealis Awards, which are Australia's premier … Continue reading Harnessing creativity at Conflux Writers Day
It's always exciting to attend book launches, especially when the author is a member of one's writing group and an all-round nice guy. So it was with a spring in my step that I trekked north to the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy yesterday evening to attend the launch of Andrew Macrae's debut novel, Trucksong, … Continue reading Trucksong launch party
So, last weekend was the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, UK. My second, following the San Diego WFC in 2011. Once again, I had an excellent time, my activities largely divided between the official program and socialising, er, networking, in the bar. New friends were made and insights obtained... All very satisfying and definitely inspirational. … Continue reading World Fantasy Convention 2013 – a wrapup
In many ways I suppose this could be a good weekend for reading. But that's not what I'm supposed to be doing... I'm at a writers retreat. I'm supposed to be writing. I'm here in a house with eight fellow word wranglers. There are laptops everywhere. The floor is strewn with cables. Wine is being mulled... … Continue reading On a writing (not reading) retreat
One more, short (okay it's not so short) post coming out of Conflux... which would hardly have been a writers convention without discussions surrounding the latest publishing trends. The centrepiece of this was the so-called "Smackdown -- Small press versus mainstream publishers". In this panel, Russell B Farr of indie Ticonderoga Publishing, literary agent and publishing … Continue reading Hanging out and talking about publishing
The recent Conflux Science Fiction convention in Canberra was the first conference I've attended where formal pitching sessions were available to authors. It's probably not surprising therefore that the art of pitching was the subject of much general conversation. I attended a panel about pitching on the second day of the con, featuring panellists Tara Wynn, … Continue reading On novel pitching: an insight and an epiphany
I recently attended the Australian National Science Fiction Convention -- Conflux 9 -- a fabulous four days of hanging out with other writers, industry professionals and speculative fiction fans. The convention offered many valuable panel discussions and workshops (among other things); I attended a worldbuilding session with Glenda Larke, an Australian epic fantasy author whose … Continue reading More on building fantastical worlds
They say one of the keys to being successful at any creative endeavour is perseverance. Discipline comes in handy too. Yeah yeah, there are also talent and self-belief, but they're very hard to control... There is another secret ingredient I've come to value very highly over the years -- and that's friends. More specifically, friends … Continue reading The secret ingredient to productivity
Last weekend I attended the Continuum 8 convention, which this year was the Australian national science fiction (and fantasy and horror) convention, held in Melbourne. It's an event where writers and fans of the speculative fiction genre come together and pow-wow. We're not a large community, so our natcon is always a fabulous opportunity to catch … Continue reading Donning my resolved-and-determined hat (at Continuum)
E V Gregory 