A Scary New Experience?

Dalek (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do you feel about new experiences? Scared? Excited? Curious? Eager? All or none of these?

On Saturday, less than a week away, I’ll be attending a convention for the first time. And not simply attending, but participating; signing books, answering questions and taking part in a live forum with other authors, LindaAcaster and J S Collyer. All new stuff for me.

Fantasticon, organised and run by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing, is a great event that takes place in Hull on 16^th August. A country boy at heart, I rarely visit the city of my birth, but this Saturday I’ll drive the 25 miles with eager anticipation. There is much going on:

Gamer? Elite Encounters’ Dave Hughes will be on hand. And there’ll be RPG and retro gaming. Oculus Rift mean anything to you? I’m in ignorance, at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll discover all about this on the day.

Dr Who fan? – John Leven and Simon Fisher-Becker will be giving a chat and answering questions. And there’ll be a Dalek (make sure you bring your sofa to hide behind!)

SciFi your thing? - New novels associated with the Elite game will be available, with writers there to sign them, and an audiobook exclusive with Christopher Jarvis.

Fantasy fan? Chat with alternative history/paranormal author Linda Acaster, who’ll be there with her books. J S Collyer will join the fantasy discussion and I’ll be there to chat and sign my own books in the A Seared Sky series – we’re launching book 2, Partings, at the convention, too.

There’ll be Cosplay, so plenty of fun outfits on display. Independent films, author and actor signings, music, R2D2 from Star Wars along with a speeder bike, a green screen for some super photo effects, comic books, and free soft drinks and biscuits and a raffle with some very unusual prizes.

What more could you want?

Now, of course, lots of you won’t make it to Hull. But there’ll be a Twitter #tag session during the evening, just search for #SciFiHour from 21:00 BST and you can join in. Also, there’ll be information and opportunities to interact on the Facebook site and various blogs after the event.

I’ll try to keep you all up to date with happenings before and after the day so you can enjoy some of the benefits of this fantastic day.

For those who can make it; see you there!

Related articles

• A Fantastic Convention: FantastiCon.
• FantastiCon in #Hull - 14 Days and Counting
• Doctor Who: 5 Reasons Why Daleks Still Matter

Writing: 3000 Words in Two Sessions

The first session, before breakfast in bed with Valerie, took me to a little over 1800 words and again moved the story on apace. After the usual morning jobs, we saw the weather forecast for tomorrow and decided our walk would be more pleasant today. And, pleasant it was, though we trod the ground we have covered on many previous weekends.
After lunch, inside, as it was too windy to sit in the garden today, I set to on a second writing session and turned out another 1200 plus words. So, today, the epic fantasy has taken me through a desert, along a track in a rain forest, and into the streets of a city lying on the shores of a lake beneath a smoking volcano. I've been in the company of slave traders, questionable high priests and heroic warriors. Such is the daily life of the writer of fantasy; and it's great fun.
Of course, England (the football team, that is) were playing Switzerland in a qualifying match. The draw was a better result than they deserved, to be honest and I'm pleased I sat through only the second half.
Dr Who entertained us with further adventures and left us cliff hanging until the series resumes in Autumn. Neat trick from the producers, that.
Now, since I've uploaded, edited and 'fixed' the photographs I took in the garden and on our walk, dealt with a multitude of emails and spent enough hours pounding keys and staring at a screen, I think it's time for the rest of that bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon I opened last night, don't you?

Writing: 1800 Words Anew

Inside the medieval church at Wharram Percy 

Strange sort of day, but this morning's session brought me 1800 new words and a couple of new twists to the tale, which is all good. I've made allusions to a new part of the created world, which will shortly feature strongly in the story, so I had to develop and name a new character. Fortunately, my data base of character names came to the rescue and I was able to progress without too much of an interruption in the creative flow. I'm feeling excited by what I did the morning; always a good sign.
Later, following breakfast, the garden called. I'm at the start of a fairly major project and it requires a good deal of preparation, so I've reduced the bulk of an old bust that I thought had died. In fact, the very centre of the plant was still very much alive, once I stripped away all the dead wood, so I've left it in place. Still room in the spot to transplant another bush from the front garde. So, that was a success.
Needed a good long rest after that, so watched an old Miss Marple on one of the channels that repeats such things. A walk after tea and then the obligatory Dr Who with the family.
Now, once I'm done here, I shall go and read more of The Gathering Storm; it's a real tome and I'd like to get it finished this weekend.

Writing: 1300 Words Added.

Another relatively early start, after a great evening at my brother's house for wine, music and talk on many matters. Produced 1300 words of Ch22 and brought part of the action to a climactic moment, with plenty of threat and room for danger for a main character.
It's been a mostly domestic day; following breakfast in bed after the writing, I visited the local recycling depot and disposed of bottles and card there. Visited my brother again, to borrow his pressure washer. Washed the car, for the first time this year; well, the first time for about 6 months, if the truth be told. Lots of mud to remove and some odd spots now revealed that are in need of paint if the body isn't going to rust.
Emptied the larger of our two compost bins and spread the rich soil on the flower borders. Used the pressure washer to remove the layer of green lichen that has made the paving slabs dangerous in the wet: winter had left them with this film of green that turns into a slime when the rain falls, so i had to clean them. Half of that job done; the other half will have to wait until tomorrow.
It's Easter and it's Saturday, so that means it's Dr Who in UK. A must see TV programme.
After a busy day, physically, I think I've earned some relaxation time, so that's me finished for now. See what the morning brings.

Today's picture is of a gap in a dry stone wall. If it seems familiar, that's because I used it in combination with some other pics for the cover of my novel, Breaking Faith.