Post-FantasyCon

Hi All,

Yes I know I promised you a report pre-FantasyCon but what can I say...apart from sorry, of course...

Well FantasyCon was fantastic, as usual. I was over there with three of my very good friends volunteering and despite having to run for the raffle and so on we all had a great time. I didn't catch much by way of panels but I was involved in a couple throughout the weekend. I also really enjoyed the session on taboo- a fave topic of mine, as anyone who has ever read anything I've written will probably testify. Also thoroughly enjoyed readings from Ramsey and Chaz. I really enjoy their stuff as well as their styles of reading, so that was a good double-act for me.

Much of the weekend (as one would expect) was spent in the bar, catching up with various old acquantances and meeting afew new people along the way. I love the way that people mingle at a FantasyCon and you feel you can just chat to anyone you like. Still reovering from two exceptionally late nights really, although I suspect two twelve-hour working days this week have also played a hand in my tiredness.

Current situation for Alt.Fiction at the minute is that planning is simply going to have to wait until the end of October, with both the Festival of Words and also the Hallowe'en tour to concentrate on. However I thought the following two events in October may be of interest...


Thursday 11th October
Classic Dr Who Evening

A night combining classic Dr Who episodes with featured readings from author Paul Magrs.

Metro Cinema, University of Derby, Kedleston Road
FREE
7:00pm
Booking- 01332 340170


Sunday 14th October
Writers Networking Evening

A chance for local writers to get to know one another, as well as a local publishing panel featuring Mark Netwon (Solaris), Adrian Buckner (Poetry Nottingham), Sean Woodward (Dragonheart Press) and yours truly. You'll also get to see Atonement for £2.50 at 8:30pm!

Metro Cinema
FREE, places limited
6pm-8pm
Booking- 01332 340170


Until we meet again...

Alex

Alt.Fiction latest

Hi All,

Just thought I'd pop in to let you know I hadn't forgotten my blog here...

Things have been rather fraught with Derby's impending Festival of Words, so for the time being at least, Alt.Fiction will be taking a seat on the back burner. For those of you thinking that the Festival of Words isn't for you, we will be hosting a Classic Dr Who night featuring readings from Paul Magrs as well as a Writers Networking event in which the publishing panel will include a representative from Black Library.

However matters of Alt.Fiction are still very much in my mind and I find myself plotting away every now and then, considering what workshops and panels we could run, what author pairings would work and so on. Hopefully at least a few of those daydreams will be coming to fruition.

I'll be sending out another round of author invites in the near future- I won't be naming names until things are sewn up but I think it'll be great to get some more of our local writers on board to go alongside some of the talent we've already confirmed. The Festival will still be taking up a lot of time, so much of that I expect will be done from home. Don't let anyone tell you that people work in the arts for the great hours...

I'm still plotting away on various different things in my 'free' time, and will keep you posted on some of that in the near future.

So very much a post to let you know I'm still breathing- expect something more extensive before the FantasyCon weekend, 21st-23rd September.

Thanks a lot

Alex