noise and sparks

It’s almost Easter, so it’s almost Eastercon! The BSFA’s annual convention has moved to Glasgow, and I’ll be making my programme debut this year. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m doing my first ever book signing, when La Femme launches at the Newcon Press / PS Publishing party on the Friday.

That’s not all. I’ll be crossing another first off my list this year, when I appear on two of Eastercon’s convention panels. One of these is right before the signing on the Friday evening. So, if you fancy two hours of back-to-back Booth – and an encore on Sunday – come along, hear me waffle, and I’ll scribble all over your books. Any books, really. Magazines too. Notebooks. Toaster Ovens. Small potted palms. Treasure Maps to hoards of Mexican gold…

Here’s what I’ll be up to:

Friday 18th April

5pm – Panel: Writers Groups (Castle 1)
Tony Ballantyne, Tina Anghelatos, Ruth E.J. Booth, Elaine Gallagher, Jacey Bedford
I’ll be joining these lovely folks, sharing tales of the myriad Writing Groups we’ve joined, what we’ve found helpful and not so helpful, and constructive ways to crit stories.

6pm – Newcon Press & PS Publishing Launch (Barra / Jura)
‘The Honey Trap‘ appears in the La Femme and Noir anthologies alongside stories from Adam Roberts, Storm Constantine, and a bunch of other top names whose company I’m honoured to be in. Ian Watson will be signing his new anthology, Trades Description Act flouter The Uncollected Ian Watson. Plus superlative scribe of shorts Neil Williamson will launch his debut novel The Moon King at the same party. So those’ll be well worth heading along for.

Sunday 20th April

6pm – Panel: Good Practice in Editing and Reviewing (Barra / Jura)
Jack Deighton (Interzone), Marcus Gipps (Gollancz), Ruth E.J. Booth, Michelle Drew (Genre Fiction Rocks), Gillian Redfearn (Gollancz)
Looking at the line-up, this should be a really interesting look at reviewing and editing. I’ll be providing an alternative perspective on this – from my dayjob in academic publishing, as well as as a music journalist and former editor.

You can find the rest of the programme on the Satellite 4 website. If you don’t catch me at any of these, doubtless I’ll be around the bar at some point. Hope to see you there!