So I have now returned to reality, nearly a week after Dublin Worldcon. And it was… an experience. The last worldcon I went to was Interaction in Glasgow 2005. I was 21 and I only went because it was in my home city. I remember going to panels with Anne McCaffrey and Terry Pratchett; buying a fire lizard; asking about dice with more than 6 faces; watching a comedy Star Wars play. Ah, sweet summer child. 🙂 Dublin had, according to the rumours, about 7000 people in attendance

Things have been quiet on here this year as I am mainly working on the first draft of my novel. I’m about 30,000 words in and it’s a beast of burden: so different to writing short stories, so much planning and pushing through the mediocre draft and constantly changing world-building. I’m enjoying the world-building more than I thought and although my original concept was more dystopian but Earth-based, it may evolve into its own secondary world at this rate. What I’m struggli

Belated news, but have you heard? Fox Spirit’s Asian Monsters (editor Margret Helgadottir) has been nominated for best anthology in this year’s British Fantasy Awards!  This is very exciting because firstly, I have a story in it, and secondly, I will be going to my first British Fantasy con this year in Peterborough! Fox Spirit has also been nominated for best independent press (which they won in 2015) and I will be cheering on Neil Williamson in the best collection category.

Some of the Manchester Spec Fic group at the con This time last weekend I was at my first Eastercon, Mancunicon. It wasn’t my first SFF con, I’ve been to Worldcon (Interaction in Glasgow, 2005) and World Fantasy con (Brighton, 2013) but this is the first con I’ve really “got”. (I’m not counting comic cons like MCM and other general SFF entertainment cons like SFX weekender as these are a completely different kettle of fish). Why is that? Let’s dissect. In Interaction (Glasgow