I’m still recovering from a splendid few days at the annual British Science Fiction Convention, held at Easter and generically named Eastercons. 2016 was the turn of Manchester, England to host 1200 sci-fi and fantasy fans, and a fine job the organising team did.

For four days the hours between 10 am and falling-over-with-exhaustion-time were filled with opportunities to attend organised sessions, panels, crit groups or to chill in the bar, to network or to attend (or give) readings and more.

It’s impossible to attend every panel and participatory session, so first comes the painful attempt to identify what is slightly less unmissable than a conflicting event. Then you get involved in a compelling discussion in the bar and miss the preferred session. C’est la vie.

I learned a lot; I had my inspiration piqued; I met some fascinating people; I had a great time.

HIGHEST AMONGST THE HIGHLIGHTS

Of course, one has to be the launch of “Existence is Elsewhen“, a superb anthology (check out the reviews) which includes my own story “Homo Sapiens Inferior”.

Special thanks to publishers Peter and Alison Buck, and a big “Hi” to all the other Elsewhen authors I met and dined and drank with. 

The Manchester Speculative Fiction writing group ran a session, including a critical review of part of my WIP novel “Faces of Janus“. I was impressed by the authority of their assessments, the relevance of their suggested tweaks and, most of all, by the way they all liked it. 😉

Thanks to Craig, Katya, Len and Luke for your input and encouragement. 

From the specific to the general… I spent hours in discussion with so many authors, aspiring and published, that gave me hope for the future of the genre. I made new friends, I made new followers and I found new people to follow.

RESULT? Let’s just say I’ll be back next year…

Innominate “The Con with No Name” 14th to 17th April 2017

The Hilton Metropole, NEC, Birmingham

See you there, perhaps?