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has been a very enjoyable few months with all sorts of pleasant
activities. Here are just some of the events. |
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Unicon
2001 was a weekend convention at York University
in August. It ran side by side with a Filk (folk-singing) con
with guests from the UK and abroad. Guests of Honour at Unicon
were Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, as well as my husband Stan
Nicholls and myself. Diane is the author of many Star Trek novelisations
and original novels, as well as fun fantasies like Support your
Local Wizard while Peter has written fantasies like The Firebird
and The Dragon Lord in addition to his many novelisations for
Star Trek and other series. They were telling us of projects
they'd like to bring to conclusions such as a TV series about
the Roman Games. Their site is at www.ibmpcug.co.uk/~owls/homeward.html.
Stan, of course, is the author of twenty novels including the
internationally-selling Orcs series. The con put us guests up
in a fabulous flat in Rowntree Wharf, a revamped building which
used to be a chocolate warehouse. It looked out over a beautiful
canal with ducks enjoying themselves in the sunshine. Unicon
was a small, intimate convention that was great fun and we were
flattered to be asked. Our thanks go to Sparks and KIM Campbell,
amongst others. You didn't have to be at a university to go,
so you might like to add Unicon to your list of cons you'd like
to attend. |
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Paris
in October was fantastic. We were invited over by Stan's French
publishers Bragelonne (www.bragelonne.fr ) for five days. We
stayed in a lovely Art Nouveau hotel near the Arc de Triomphe.
We were met at the Garde du Nord by the inimitable Alain Névant,
and that evening there was a champagne reception in the cellars
of Arkham (www.arkham-paris.com) , a shop selling all sorts
of genre books and memorabilia. Of course there were plenty
of French guests (who all seemed to speak amazingly good English)
and amongst the Anglophone guests who'd been brought in were
Ted Raimi, who played Joxer in Xena, and American comics artist
Steve Rude. Between interviews for Stan, there were mass signings
for Bragelonne authors including Louise Cooper at a two-day
Collectors' Rendez-vous at the Salle Wagram sponsored by Arkham.
We were treated royally and taken out for lots of meals, and
we got some time to go sightseeing too - although the Eiffel
Tower was on strike! One sour note was that as it was so close
to the events of September 11th, there were lots of young men
running around in soldiers' uniforms and carrying sub-machine-guns.
We didn't see any trouble at all, though, I'm pleased to say.
Stan's first Orcs book in French is doing very well and we're
invited back again to the next Collectors' Rendez-vous, hoorah! |
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Sci-fi-london
is a new genre film festival which was held at the end of January'beginning
of February 2002. It kicked off with the Douglas Adams Memorial
Debate. Speakers were Andy Sawyer (chair, lecturer in SF at
Liverpool University), Doug Naylor (Red Dwarf writer), Brian
Johnson (SFX man on Alien, Aliens and Star Wars: Attack of the
Clones), Jim Sparrow (a writer on Star Trek),
Kim Newman (author and critic with a natty line in waistcoats)
and myself. After that came a whole weekend of films and events.
Films were shown at the ICA on The Mall and at the Curzon and
Metro Cinemas. There were all-nighters with drinks and breakfast
for those who enjoy seeing one film after another; a talkaoke
table, and a competition for the best short film. xxxxx won.
Screenings ranged from classics like Soylent Green to the premiere
of Ken Russell's new pic, The Fall of the Louse of Usher. For
more you can visit www.sci-fi-london.com . Sci-fi-london was
such a success that its organisers, Louis and Lesley Savy, are
considering taking it to other venues abroad, and they'll be
staging the second sci-fi-london next year! |
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Picocon
This is the annual con of the SF group at Imperial College,
London, and it was held on Saturday 9th February this year.
It's a great one-day event, with weird games and activities,
panels, film screenings and plenty of pleasant people to chat
to. The Guests of Honour this year were China Miéville,
Geoff Ryman, Stan Nicholls and me. China's talk was thought-provoking
and Geoff's was outstanding, so much so that the audience were
happy to let it run for around an hour and a half. Then there
was a joint panel with the four of us, and the organisers kindly
took us out for a meal afterwards. Picocon has been running
in various ways for 25 years, and it was interesting to see
posters from early cons with Terry Pratchett featuring not as
the main guest but as an additional one! Our thanks to the organisers
who did such sterling work. Picocon's well worth going to so
you might consider it for next year. |
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The
Arthur C. Clarke Award
I've really enjoyed going to this for the past few years. Held
at the British Science Museum in London, the next one is on
May 18th. It's interesting to meet all the writers, editors
and publicists who attend. Candidates on the shortlist for 2002
are (in alphabetical order) Jon Courtenay Grimwood with Pashazade,
Peter Hamilton with Fallen Dragon, Gwyneth Jones with Bold as
Love, Paul McAuley with The Secret of Life, Justina Robson with
Mappa Mundi and Connie Willis with Passage. The prize is for
the best novel in English whose first British edition has been
published in the last year. I'm hoping that Justina will win
with the excellent Mappa Mundi but we'll see. |
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