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nine worlds: some thoughts

23/8/2013

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I'm back at my desk after a month spent mostly away from it, catching up with friends and family. It's been a great thing to take some time off for travelling, thinking and reading, and I hope to post more about this in due course. But meanwhile, from the 9th to the 11th of August I found the time to stop off at Nine Worlds Geekfest. Although it's a bit late to write a full report on the event, and others have done a better job of that than me, I thought I'd share a few of my impressions of what turned out to be a fantastic, inclusive and inspiring celebration of all things science fiction.
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I have to confess that I hadn't attended a science fiction convention before and didn't even really understand what one was. I was asked to speak at Nine Worlds back in March and agreed, without knowing much about what it would involve. The whole event took place in two hotels at London Heathrow, and when I arrived the entrance was already surrounded by people in various costumes, some armed, including a life-sized alien - as well as a crowd of confused Thai air hostesses.

Consulting my programme, I found that the convention was really several different conventions, because it was organised into tracks on diverse topics, from Game of Thrones to Steampunk to Film. The experienced convention attendees, I noticed, even had neat little lists planned out in advance with all the events they wanted to attend across all the different tracks. I arrived early, so decided to investigate some of these other tracks, and was so glad I had. Among other things, I heard serious academic discussions of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, saw a game of Muggle Quidditch, and met the alien mentioned above. I also stopped off at the vendors' hall to sign every copy of my books. What struck me most about the event was the atmosphere between events, though, when attendees crossed and encountered each other as they roamed the corridors of the hotel. The striking thing was how inclusive and kind-spirited it was. I began to conclude that there must be something that links science fiction fandom with being a decent, kind and intelligent person. I don't know what it is, but maybe it needs to be distilled for the rest of the world's benefit...

On the Saturday evening, I was on a panel called Teenage Kicks: Writing for Young Adult Audiences with Laure Eve, Liz de Jager, Tom Pollock and Cory Doctorow (a good match for me, since strictly speaking I'm not really a science-fiction writer). The four of them are not only very interesting writers but fantastic people who I really enjoyed meeting and will, I hope, see again at some future point. We had a particularly good debate about the darker themes in young adult writing and how far young people need to be protected from these, or not, and then moved on to discussing what young adult writing actually is, as a genre - something on which we all thought slightly differently. I also read from Voices in the Dark at a New Voices Slam Session, expertly hosted by Paul Cornell - and again, for me, the best thing about this was meeting seven new and inspiring authors and getting a window into the worlds of their books. I know I went back to my room that evening feeling inspired and challenged to go back to my own writing with fresh perspectives, the best thing to take away from meeting other writers and readers. In fact, what I particularly enjoyed about the event was the focus on bringing people together to talk about passions - books or films or games or art - without any divisions or formality: it was easy to talk to readers, other writers, booksellers and publishers, and several people approached me directly to talk about my books, something that doesn't always happen.

On a personal note, this event was an important one to me because it is actually the first publicity I have done in several years. After the rather intense media attention surrounding The Eyes of a King, I took the decision to avoid all publicity for a while in order to focus on the writing itself. That while became several years while I studied at university, got engaged, pursued other part-time jobs. Overall, I'd turned into a bit of a hermit. It was only this year, with the step to become a full-time writer, that I decided to change that. I am so glad I did. Nine Worlds was a thoroughly positive experience, and I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming or inspiring return.
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nine worlds convention

8/8/2013

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Hello, and sorry for the absence... I've been spending some time visiting family and friends in Italy, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland; it's been a great though very busy three weeks, which I'll post more about in due course. Today, I'm just online for a quick update about my schedule for Nine Worlds Convention this weekend. Tomorrow I will be back in the UK, just in time for the start of this fantastic event, a multi-genre convention which is taking place at London Heathrow from tomorrow to Sunday. If you get a chance, do come along to one of the events - it would be great to see you there.

The first event I'll be involved in is a panel discussion with Cory Doctorow, Liz de Jager, Amanda Rutter and Tom Pollock, all very interesting people who I'm looking forward to meeting:

Teenage Kicks: Writing for Young Adult Audiences
8:30pm-9:45pm, George I Room
Authors and editors of young adult fiction discuss writing for teenagers: how is it different from adult fiction? What are the current trends? Most importantly, how long can the panellists go without mentioning Twilight? Catherine Banner, Cory Doctorow, Liz de Jager, Tom Pollock & Amanda Rutter.

The second event I'll be taking part in is a slam session with eight other authors - each of us have chosen a five-minute section of our latest work to read, so I'll be reading part of Voices in the Dark:

New Voices Slam Session: Saturday Edition
10:15pm-11:30pm, Lobby Room
Your chance to listen to short readings from nine more of science fiction and fantasy’s most promising new authors. Bring your drinks, bring your friends, contrast and compare these authors to Friday’s authors, but not too loudly. Catherine Banner, Zen Cho, Paul Cornell, Laure Eve, Benedict Jacka, Francis Knight, Snorri Krisjansson, Den Patrick, Tom Pollock & Tade Thompson.

This is the first year that Nine Worlds is taking place, and it looks like it will be a fantastic event: inclusive and varied and full of interesting people. None of the attendees are being paid to take part, but what's even more remarkable is that the convention has been entirely organised by volunteers. All this is so that the money raised can be donated to English PEN, an organisation which I already support and which is certainly a very worthwhile recipient. Come along and say hello if you get a chance; it would be great to meet you.
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