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Friday: hied myself up to Northampton, accompanied by an item from the shop for a customer. We considered what would happen if the customer wasn't in, and wondered whether we could leave the item with the neighbours. Then we looked at it: a 5 foot long gnarled ash staff with two antlered prongs at the end. Perhaps not. So I rang up and made a proper appointment, for which I was late - someone having thoughtfuly dumped an oil slick on the motorway sliproad. It took 4 hours to get from Gloucester to Northampton, and an hour and a half to get back, put it that way.
On arriving at the hotel, I discovered Ian Watson, Jon Courtney Grimwood and a host of other people, and then it was off to dinner at a local Chinese buffet. After that, we went to a Gothic pub across town and of course it rained (Williams here having ignored the English climate and chosen to wear a velvet coat). I was such a diva over my hair ("It's ruined! RUINED! I can't appear in public for the next 3 days") that Ian Watson has expressed his intention of only having bald guests at Newcon in future.
Drink was taken on the Friday night.
Saturday: IW, briefly possessed by the spirit of HG Wells, conducted the opening ceremony, which was held in the spectacular confines of N'hamton's Guild Hall - a really stunning piece of Victorian Arts and Crafts Gothic architecture. Then various panels took place, and various other writers showed up, including Gwyneth Jones and Sarah Singleton - great to catch up with both of them, and congrats to both on being shortlisted for one of the UK's main YA awards. During lunch, JCG and I were disconcerted to find that we have managed to produce SF/noir/fantasy crossover novels, each featuring a Chinese detective, both out in the same month. Neither of us have discussed this before and JCG hasn't read any of my Singapore 3 short fiction, so it must be a meme. I'm looking forward to reading his 9TAIL FOX, however - it looks like a great read.
Northampton has a town jester - a former actor who somehow managed to persuade the town council that what they really, really needed was a jester in residence. Normally I cringe at this kind of thing, but he managed to be highly entertaining.
In the p.m. I was interviewed by Cardinal Cox, who did a great job, and then went to a panel on Viking life, which was most interesting. That evening, we ate at the local Indian and Gwyneth expressed her ambition to become a hedgehog breeder. Then back to the ceilidh, and after this JCG and I walked back to the hotel through an average Saturday night in a small English town - vomit on the streets, belligerent confrontations and punch-ups (that was just the girls) and the emergency services on stand-by. That night, someone overdosed in the hotel and tried to kick down a door, and a fight broke out in a wedding party. As I say, an average Saturday night.
Sunday: more panels, though I must apologise for the lack of enthusiasm displayed for the 'Just A Minute' thing - we thought we'd be really crap at it. So when the moderator didn't show up, we bailed to the Bed Of Nails display - kudos for all who took part, especially to the jester for having a concrete slab broken across his abdomen. Also kudos to fantasy writer Steve Cockayne for the puppet display: he grew up in a puppet theatre and now makes marionettes of all his characters. His parents apparently ran a puppet show based on Journey into Space in the 50s, with a marionette Martian monster.
And finally back to Gloucester and my long-suffering family, and then home to Glastonbury. I enjoyed this convention more than I've enjoyed a con for years - it was well organised, well timed, in a great setting and with some lovely people. Thank you.
On arriving at the hotel, I discovered Ian Watson, Jon Courtney Grimwood and a host of other people, and then it was off to dinner at a local Chinese buffet. After that, we went to a Gothic pub across town and of course it rained (Williams here having ignored the English climate and chosen to wear a velvet coat). I was such a diva over my hair ("It's ruined! RUINED! I can't appear in public for the next 3 days") that Ian Watson has expressed his intention of only having bald guests at Newcon in future.
Drink was taken on the Friday night.
Saturday: IW, briefly possessed by the spirit of HG Wells, conducted the opening ceremony, which was held in the spectacular confines of N'hamton's Guild Hall - a really stunning piece of Victorian Arts and Crafts Gothic architecture. Then various panels took place, and various other writers showed up, including Gwyneth Jones and Sarah Singleton - great to catch up with both of them, and congrats to both on being shortlisted for one of the UK's main YA awards. During lunch, JCG and I were disconcerted to find that we have managed to produce SF/noir/fantasy crossover novels, each featuring a Chinese detective, both out in the same month. Neither of us have discussed this before and JCG hasn't read any of my Singapore 3 short fiction, so it must be a meme. I'm looking forward to reading his 9TAIL FOX, however - it looks like a great read.
Northampton has a town jester - a former actor who somehow managed to persuade the town council that what they really, really needed was a jester in residence. Normally I cringe at this kind of thing, but he managed to be highly entertaining.
In the p.m. I was interviewed by Cardinal Cox, who did a great job, and then went to a panel on Viking life, which was most interesting. That evening, we ate at the local Indian and Gwyneth expressed her ambition to become a hedgehog breeder. Then back to the ceilidh, and after this JCG and I walked back to the hotel through an average Saturday night in a small English town - vomit on the streets, belligerent confrontations and punch-ups (that was just the girls) and the emergency services on stand-by. That night, someone overdosed in the hotel and tried to kick down a door, and a fight broke out in a wedding party. As I say, an average Saturday night.
Sunday: more panels, though I must apologise for the lack of enthusiasm displayed for the 'Just A Minute' thing - we thought we'd be really crap at it. So when the moderator didn't show up, we bailed to the Bed Of Nails display - kudos for all who took part, especially to the jester for having a concrete slab broken across his abdomen. Also kudos to fantasy writer Steve Cockayne for the puppet display: he grew up in a puppet theatre and now makes marionettes of all his characters. His parents apparently ran a puppet show based on Journey into Space in the 50s, with a marionette Martian monster.
And finally back to Gloucester and my long-suffering family, and then home to Glastonbury. I enjoyed this convention more than I've enjoyed a con for years - it was well organised, well timed, in a great setting and with some lovely people. Thank you.
