So, a little while ago, I was part of the Worlds Beyond on PhoenixFM 92.5FM, sponsored by Octocon, and I ramble quite a lot about all sorts of things writing and fandom. It’s an hourlong show, hosted by the wonderful Janet O’Sullivan and I’m there from about the 30min mark. You’ll also hear Janet and John Vaughan discussing the Golden Blasters.
You can listen here in all its glorious rambliness*.
*rambliness just applies to me, naturally. Everyone else is very to the point and fascinating. 😀
Octocon is coming (11th to the 13th October), in the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin. This year they have a very cool app to keep everyone up to date on what’s on where and who will be there.
These are my panels but I’ll be around both days. Makes sure to say hello if you’re there. And if you aren’t there, you really should be!
John Madden, Peadar Ó GuilÃn (m), Ruth Frances Long
Picking good books for kids.
Ruth Frances Long (m), Leann Hamilton, Maura McHugh, Alan Nolan
True Irish Myths, Legends, and Fairy-tales
Ruth Frances Long (m), Dr. Noirin Curran, Gerry McEvoy, Robert McGregor, Lynda Rucker
On Twitter… everyone can hear you scream
Ruth Frances Long (m), Deirdre Thronton, Paul Shortt, Joanne Stanley, Danielle Lavigne, Susan Griffith
#TheRiseOfFemaleFandom
Ruth Frances Long, Catherine Sharp (m), Deirdre Thronton, Paul Shortt
Is the growth in YA books here to stay, or is it a bubble?
This weekend is Octocon weekend! The full timetable is here. And general details here. Liz Williams is GOH and a host of wonderful guests including C.E. Murphy, Celine Kiernan, OisÃn McGann, Michael Carroll and me!
This is what I’ll be up to: (busy busy busy)
Saturday
11am Room 101 – putting away all those SFFH tropes
1pm – Realistic Relationships in SFF – What makes for a realistic relationship, and does a different world change what is realistic in a relationship?
3pm – LGBTQ in YA – What is the impact of having LGBTQ characters in Young Adult Books? What are the possible
pitfalls?
4pm – Reading – I’ll be reading from The Treachery of Beautiful Things (and maybe more)
6pm – What does the term strong female character actually mean? – We use the term all the time, but there seems to be a lot of disagreement as to what is and is not a “Strong Female Character”
Sunday 14th
(phew! A lie in)
Noon – Why so violent? – Why do so many stories resort to violence? Surely we can all just get along
1pm – Roots of Irish fantasy – Irish Myths and Legends go back thousands of years, and have been changed by interaction
with the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church has been changed by the Irish people and our myths (I accidentally talked my way into this. Be warned, I have been doing research!)
5pm – Is there space for religion in Science Fiction? – Some see science as being about facts and figures, and believe that science fiction shouldn’t include relgion. We hope to explore these ideas.
I always have an awesome time at Octocon. (And collapse in a heap afterwards). But don’t forget that there is also the Friday night welcome drinks and the Dead Dog party on Monday!
Copies of The Treachery of Beautiful Things, Soul Fire, The Scroll Thief and Songs of the Wolf will be available in the Dealers room.
Come and say hello if you’re there. And come to the reading so I’m not talking to an empty room! Pleeeeeeease!
As part of the run up to Octocon, the National Irish Science Fiction Convention held (funnily enough) in October, my story CARRYING KEPTARA is currently available as part of their free showcase anthology, along with stories by Peadar Ó GuilÃn, Brian J. Showers and Derek Gunn.
It’s available in ePub, Kindle and PDF formats.
Plus they are running a short story competition.
What are you waiting for? RUN!
(Yes, I’m late. Why does this surprise you?)
Well, it’s been quite a year. Let’s see if I can sum it up… er…
In January The Wolf’s Mate came out as an ebook, the novella tracking the further adventures of Jeren and Shan from The Wolf’s Sister sporting a gorgeous cover from Natalie Winters.
In February I finished the first draft of The Wolf’s Destiny.
March brought the Pheonix Convention or Pcon which is always awesome fun.
April and the awesome news that May Queen had sold to Dial Books for Young Readers. OMG the stress and excitement. Then there was a blurr of contracts, rewrites, and a variety of things I’d never imagined.
In May Soul Fire came out in print. I was so busy I almost missed it. Poor neglected book. Paranormal Romance with sexy sidhe should never be neglected. If you missed it, you might like to go and look now. It also has a magnificent cover. I’ll wait.
Spent most of the summer writing Graffiti Angel and editing The Wolf’s Destiny. In July I went to the RNA conference in Greenwich which was incredibly fun! And just a bit glam!
Sad news reached me in August that my wonderful super-agent Colleen Lindsay was giving up agenting but luck was with me and the equally fantastic Suzie Townsend won the wrestling took me on and things have been going swimmingly since then. And I can still have random chats with Colleen about Dr. Who and mad cats whenever! 🙂
September… I think I lost September somewhere. Checked down the back of the sofa but no joy.
October means Octocon. George R. R. Martin was Guest of Honour. Met so many wonderful people! <3 to you all. I was also a Geek of the Week. At the end of October we went to Ashford Castle for a Harry Potter night. It was awesome!
November was Wexworlds which was a winter wonderland edition as all the snow in the world decided to fall on Wexford that weekend. We met, among others, Eoin Colfer which made my son’s decade (a feat as he’s not quite a decade old)! It also brought rewrites on May Queen which are now all done.
December brought Songs of the Wolf to print, The Wolf’s Sister and The Wolf’s Mate collected together for the first time with another lovely Natalie Winters cover. My first and latest Samhain novella together. Pretty! And a freakin’ unbelievable amount of snow! I mostly hibernated. This also meant I got the second round of edits on May Queen finished early (Yay me!) and sent them back.
So what next? Well, we’ll have to see what 2011 brings. I’m off to Rome for a libraryland conference this week – will be sure to bring back photos. Many many photos. And tonnes of inspiration. I’ve started working on Forest King, the sequel to May Queen, and a number of other things (of course). Looking forward to the Pen dinner in February and PCon in March – anywhere writers gather really. RNA conference is in Caerleon this summer and as plans stand I’m definitely going. It’s only a ferry ride away. Ok, a ferry ride and a drive/train, but close enough. And this is the year we will knock May Queen into its final shape.
It’s shaping up to be an exciting year. Can’t wait.
While at Octocon I was interviewed by Sarah from Geek Girl on the Street. That went up online today so now you can check it all out and see how little sense I actually made after a weekend of insanity. Geek Girl on the Street
I’m going to be at Octocon this weekend, Ireland’s Science Fiction Convention, where we’ll be up to all kinds of shenanigans. And I’ll be on a couple of panels
Saturday 12pm Urban Fantasy vs. Paranormal Romance
Sunday 1pm Where’s My Money Honey?! ( New Funding Models) – Err… Yes, me and money. Anyway…
And I’ll be helping out (and hopefully eating some of the sweets) at Claire Hennessy’s Writing YA workshop on Sunday afternoon along with Sarah Rees Brennan. (If they haven’t polished them all off before I get in there.)
Oh and I almost forgot E_W_H himself will be on a panel on Sunday at 2pm – Managing The Writers in Your Life. Yeessss…
All this and George R. R. Martin as guest of honour, C.E. Murphy, Maura McHugh, Derek Gunn, Fabulous Lorraine, Michael Carroll, Peadar Ó GuilÃn and many more.(So many in fact I can’t link to them all! I have to make biscuits for a cake sale. No really. :S )
If you’re around Dublin this weekend, come and play! We don’t bite. Much.
Well, it may have taken a day and a half to recover, but you had Excerpt Monday yesterday to entertain yourselves…
I had an absolute ball at Octocon. So did the kids, but more on that later. Everyone was very welcoming and there was a fantastic atmosphere all weekend. With the tensions earlier that week resolved I think everyone attending was determined to enjoy themselves to the fullest. So here is a brief summary, with (because it’s me)Â pictures*.
This was the first con where I was actually participating. I ended up participating more than I expected (which was not a bad thing) and so did my family. The kids were in heaven between some spectacular facepainting, stickers for the badges, a games room, the Top Monster competition and lego. Many thanks to Nichola, Cat and others for welcoming the terrible twosome and entertaining them. Even if they did keep trying to steal your biscuits. Continue reading Octocon 09 and book launch
As many of you know, Octocon is on this weekend (10th-11th October 2009) and I will be there, launching The Scroll Thief at 5.30pm on Saturday. I have some advance copies of the book and will be signing them for your delight and entertainment. I may even read (so if nothing else you can get a quick 40 winks).
I also believe I’m on a couple of panels:
Saturday, 1pm – Unnecessary Romance: Our hero has just saved the world! Now to save the girl. Shoehorning romance into action stories.
and
Sunday, 11 am – Bechdel in SF – Bechdel’s Law: 1. Does it have at least two women in it, 2. Who [at some point] talk to each other, 3. About something besides a man. Our panelists discuss the merits of this law in SF.
Still have to formulate some more thoughts on these (besides “omgomgbooklaunchomg”)
If you’re going to be around, come and join in. If you’re going to be around at about 5.30om PLEASE come and join in. 😉