London and running around

[lizwilliams]

The BBC very kindly sent a taxi to collect me at 7.30 this morning. Arrived at the Taunton studios well before time and was installed in the usual boot cupboard with headphones and a mike. Gareth was in Bristol and I'm not sure where John Humphries was...anyway, I have grown used to regarding the physical presence of presenters as a luxury where the Beeb are concerned: it's usually a countrywide thing.

I thought Gareth was extremely cogent. I could have done with slightly more penetrating questions, but not to worry: we seem to have acquitted ourselves reasonably well. After the interview I was abruptly cut off and put back in the taxi for the station, reaching London well within time for the signing. A big thank you to Forbidden Planet for hosting, and also for your lovely sandwiches. Great to see caskared and Simon!

Also good to make it down to Picocon, Imperial College's one day convention. I caught the discussion on SF and politics between Farah, Charlie S and Ken McLeod - very interesting, and has given me some food for thought. And it was just nice to have a bit of time to chat to people. Note to the Sid fans: I may never play the violin again, but medics tell me that the scar tissue will eventually fade (in preparation for the signing, I varnished my nails, but then ruined the effect with an unwise cat pat: Sid has laid the back of my hand bloodily open, requiring elastoplast. He seemed very smug about this).

And I have seen a fish fight, which I gather is an integral part of Picocon, whether or not it actually happens. As we were watching this, a young student came up to me and asked what was taking place.

"It's a fish fight," I said.
"But what," he frowned, like Roland Barthes, "Do you actually mean?"

Alas, it is exactly what it sounds like.

After all this I had a quick, quiet dinner in an Italian place in S Kensington, before catching the train home - delayed, due to a fight in the buffet car, but we all got free tea.

Comments

[yvonneh.livejournal.com]

It was good to see you, albeit briefly. The conference was excellent: Charlie Stross, Ken McLeod and Farah were all in fine form and they made a lot of good points about the current state of SF writing and the differences between the approaches here and in North America. I missed the fish fight, but the turkey auction was hilarious. It's the sort of thing that should be mandatory for every novice SF writer.

Oh - sorry about the lacerations Sid Vicious left on your hand - I thought you were being really brave about major injuries. Do you think he has something against violinists?

Yvonne.

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

a young student came up to me and asked what was taking place.
"It's a fish fight," I said.
"But what," he frowned, like Roland Barthes, "Do you actually mean?"
Alas, it is exactly what it sounds like.
I thought the funniest thing about that was the way you apologised to him for it once you'd explained... [giggle]

Was of course v good to see you. Did notice your hand but said nothing as assumed it was just a scratch-I see now that it's a bit more than that! Gosh, that cat... [grin]

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

"It's a fish fight," I said.
"But what," he frowned, like Roland Barthes, "Do you actually mean?"

It's like horse colors.

"That's a bay."
"But what *color* is it?"

Sounds as if you had a very interesting day. ;-)

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I found your item on the Listen again page, and listened to it at a civilised hour. (It's still there, though I don't know how long for).

The interviewer was clearly tring not to be patronising (if not entirely succeeding): Gareth appeared to be thinking about the answers to the questions, which doesn't translate well to radio; and I thought you came over very well, given, as you say, the limited scope of the questions.

[cleopand.livejournal.com]

We were highly amused by the fact that you sounded wounded when he suggested that you might NOT be a geek.....