Continuum 11: Under Southern Skies
Jun. 11th, 2015 06:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenBelated convention report for Continuum 11, which took place over the Queen's Birthday weekend. Possibly not as detailed as reports I have done previously. We shall see.
Friday 5th June 2015
5:30 PM World-building panel was good, though nothing much I hadn't heard before.
6:30 PM Positive Portrayals of Mental Health was good, with some interesting examples. "Positive" portrayals didn't mean that mental illness was considered good, but non-demonizing portrayals of characters with mental health problems, really. Mad Max was mentioned, and Big Bang Theory, and Iron Man, and a lot of other things I can't remember. Rebecca mentioned synaesthesia and Ultraviolet of course, but most of the discussion focused on Aspergers/Autism, Bipolar, and PTSD.
("This Alien Shore" was a novel I suggested, where the protagonist has MPD and... SPOILERS)
7:30 PM Opening Ceremony. As ever, Continuum's opening ceremony was blessedly short.
8:00 PM The "Fanfic 101" panel (which I was on) was opposite The Great Debate, so it was no surprise that only one person turned up. Lauren dashed off to consult Steph, and "the official policy is that if there are more panellists than audience, the panel can be cancelled" so we cancelled it. I stayed in the room, because my ball of rainbow Tulip yarn had gotten tangled during the World-Building panel, and I'd been trying to untangle it ever since. And I didn't want to go into another room half-way through.
Spent the rest of the evening untangling yarn.
What was I using the yarn for, you ask? I was luceting. As if you needed to ask...
Secret of sleeping in too-warm hotel: (a) set the hotel room temperature to 18 *and* the mode to "cool", and (b) wear a t-shirt top rather than full PJ top.
Saturday 6th June 2015
Costume for the day: Dragon Lady
Hair unbound, black scale headdress, black scale glove, talon-armour finger, white pants, black velvet skirt over it, grey socks, steampunk sandals, black blouse, silver necklace. The original plan had been grey skivvy + plain black vest, but it was very wise to wear the black cotton blouse, because it was quite warm in the hotel. I had spent the entire week before the con working on the headdress; it is a mix of crochet and scale-maille. No I don't have any pictures.
10AM Computer Geeks and Computer Fail in Visual Media
Panel I suggested, and panel I was also on.
This went well, thanks to Alis and her laptop with its clips all arranged nicely. We had a lot to talk about, though the audience appeared to be savvy enough to groan in the right places too.
When I got out, I bumped into George Ivanoff, and had a nice little chat, so I changed my mind about what I was going to see next and went to his reading instead.
11AM Reading - Tansy Raynor Roberts and George Ivanoff.
Tansy read us the first chapter of her new novel, a genderswapped Three Musketeers in Space.
George read us the opening of his short story he'd sold to an X-Files anthology.
So really they were both reading us fanfic!
George's reading was half funny because he was trying valiantly to do all the voices, which meant American accents. It had a very good feel of first-season X-Files, really cast my mind back.
12 NOON GoH Speech Rebecca J Anderson
This was better than I expected; it rambled a bit at the start, but ended on a very strong note, about hope. She was talking about why she likes MG and YA novels, and then got to a bit where she was quoting a critic who said disparagingly that children's stories always have to end with hope - the implication being that that is unrealistic, and immature, because the Real World is not nice. And Rebecca went on to challenge this view that grimdark is (a) more realistic and (b) more mature. That is is not more mature because all that it leads to is suicide. (She put it better than that). And quoted Puddleglum. And the bible (more than once). And The Princess Bride. And talked about her father's terminal illness (Parkinsons) (where she almost cried) and the hope that her father has (in Christ). (Followed immediately by a disclaimer, as one needs to do in these circles).
It was great. I hope people remember it.
2PM Unrealistic Dystopic Futures
I came there just as it was being moved to a bigger room, which was lucky for me because it meant I could get a good seat.
Discussion covered things like:
1. What makes a good dystopia - which overlaps in some ways with simply good world-building. That, yes, it can help to go camping in the rain - at which there was a lot of banter prompted by one of the panelists telling a tale about how she can't cope without a hair-dryer, which then prompted a running joke about hairdryers and camping.
2. The different kinds of dystopias that have been written in different decades (e.g. post-nuclear war, climate change, and "pandemics are always popular").
3. That dystopias reflect - and need to reflect - the times they are written in, because (a) dystopias are usually cautionary tales about some current trend, and (b) the author needs to feel passionate about the issues that the dystopia is based on, and you aren't going to feel passionate about something that is too far removed from present concerns, that is distant and implausible.
4. That dystopias and utopias can have the same flaw: to make one single thing destroy the whole world, or save it; or that one small area is treated as if it is the whole world. To which someone pointed out that in the context of a story with a limited number of protagonists, you can't cover the whole world... to which the counter-argument was that you should still mention what is going on elsewhere. (Though it occurs to me right now that another way of dealing with this which is often employed is that the protagonists have no way of knowing what is going on elsewhere)
One of the best things was a remark by one panelist that she liked dystopias because they (usually) have hope in the end (harking back to the GoH speech) because the protagonists are trying to change things for the better; even if they don't succeed, at last they tried, and there is even hope in that.
3PM Villains And Anti-Heroes
A panel I was on.
This was in a very small room - like, two rows of chairs - and people kept on poking their heads in after we'd started, sometimes coming in, and sometimes not.
This seemed to go well, though I was afraid I was going to say too much or that it was going to be all stilted, with me as moderator asking questions of the other panelists in turn. But we did get a good discussion going, audience included. I do think all the discussion we had via email beforehand helped, because (a) we clarified some things and (b) the panelists were more confident about speaking because we knew we had plenty to say (though as moderator I kept looking at my watch, feeling as if the time was dragging and we would run out of things to say well before the end of the panel).
I was told I was dressed very appropriately for the panel (I think the finishing touch was my finger-claw-armour, which I tapped noisily on the table). I did my evil laugh, and Jason asked me to do it again (grin).
Another good thing about the panel was that we didn't all agree on everything, which does make for good discussion. Not that we were antagonistic or anything like that, but it brought a diversity of viewpoints, which made things more interesting.
4PM Weedy Sea Dragon
This was in the same room as the previous item, so I just moved from the table to the audience.
This was a fun panel. They decided to do something a bit different to previous panels of a similar nature, such that, rather than saying "oh, here are some cool weird creatures", they had made up a list of categories/questions, and challenged each other to pick the best Australian critter that fit. These categories were things like "best fantasy steed", "most likely to survive the apocalypse", "most likely to *cause* the apocalypse", "best candidate for size change" (to which multiple panelists chose the Peacock Spider), "best prehistoric fauna to bring back", "best adaptation to Australian conditions" (I'm not sure if I'm more impressed by the water-holding frog, or the thorny devil, whose crinkly skin uses capillary action to bring water to its mouth, so all it has to do is stand in a puddle and lick the side of its face...).
8PM Costume parade.
Rebecca and I arrived at the convention area about ten to eight; the disco people were still setting up, so we sat and talked, and at eight we wondered if we were in the wrong place, because nobody was there, so Rebecca went upstairs and about 30 seconds later came down again with a whole bunch of people in tow. So then the population increased and the noise increased as everyone was chatting to everyone else (plus music). Then Tansy was very organized in actually pinning down Liz and asking her what was expected of the judges and what the prize or prizes were, and Liz went off and found out and brought back the prizes (one gift certificate, and one copy of Companion Piece).
So then the costume parade, which as ever with Continuum, was about as low-key and non-organized as any costume parade could be and still be a costume parade; that is, contestants gathered themselves at one end of the room, walked onto the dance floor (an actual floor which had been added to the room for the purpose of dancing on it) struck a pose, possibly said what they were, and walked off. The most impressive was Death of Rats, which deservedly won first prize. I think it was probably more difficult to assign second prize, because there were other costumes of similar excellence the next tier down, such as an elegant lady all in black lace (who was from something I didn't know what it was, but people recognised it), and the Bushranger of the Apocalypse (all Victorian lace, with pistols and a snake over her shoulder, who was the one who got second prize), and another Victorian lady (who made a joke I didn't get), and another bandit-of-the-apocalypse (skull mask and Mexican bandito costume), and an impressive costume with swords and pistols and dangerous-looking bottles of glowing substances... which I'm not sure what she was supposed to be. And others.
Sunday 7th June 2015
Costume of the day: the Doctor's Giddy Aunt, which consisted of green velour tracksuit pants and green velour tracksuit jacket with a purple t-shirt (instead of the planned blue velvet top, because it was too hot). Hair in plaits with hair-chains braided in, and lots of butterflies on top of my head. And sonic screwdriver in pocket.
10AM Adults in Kids SF
Went very well; I was doubly pleased because it was one of the panels I suggested, and they touched on the very things I wanted them to touch on. Plus more - they were clever and had put slips of paper on all the chairs asking people to write down books that they thought they would enjoy as much as an adult as a kid. I want the list of books that people suggested; hopefully someone will post it.
11AM The Many Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes
That was fun. The panellists were waxing nostalgic. Also not always agreeing with each other, which was good too.
Sooooooo many different different versions of Holmes.
After the panel I went straight to the dealers room and bought Ellie Marley's "Mycroft & Watts" trilogy, and dashed back to get her to sign them (she'd been on the panel).
12 NOON Tansy Raynor Roberts GoH Speech
This was good too. though in a different way to RJA's speech.
Basically about not allowing women writers to be forgotten.
Also amusing when she quoted people she put on invisible crowns.
So one could sum up the two GoH speeches together as: Hope for the future, and do not forget those who have gone before.
3PM Australian Dystopias
Surprisingly little discussion of Mad Max.
5PM Spec Fic My Child Introduced Me To
A lot of recommendations for picture books, actually.
At the very end, when the audience was asked, I told about nieces giving me Death Note.
6PM Cranky Ladies of History
A fun and well-filled panel, with all the background stuff.
9PM SF QI
Very glad that I dragged myself to this. I haven't laughed this much in a long time. George Ivanoff was an excellent host, and the panellists were witty and silly in turns. It was a huge amount of fun.
Monday 8th June 2015
Steampunk costume today: black pants with black velvet skirt over them, Steampunk sandals, black blouse, black pocket-vest with useful things dangling from it (e.g. fold-up scissors), Steampunk top-hat, feather fan.
10AM Media Tie Ins
With George Ivanoff, because I wanted to find out more about how he'd gotten into the X-Files anthology.
They kind of concluded that getting to write media tie-ins wasn't that different from normal publishing, in that it's often a combination of luck, persistence, and knowing the right people at the right time. The things that were possibly different were being able to write fast, to direction, within strict boundaries. Deadlines simply do not slide; you miss the deadline, you're out.
There were some amusing stories about interactions with editors.
11AM Writing Workshop
My last panel.
Three people signed up, about eight people turned up, trickling in one at a time.
I think we did okay, I hope so, anyway.
2PM YA Around The World
Rebecca was the sole "panellist" but there was also a moderator-ish person asking questions (from a list) and also contributing from the Aussie side while Rebecca talked about Canadian YA. There were also contributions from the audience. There are now more books on my to-read list.
3PM Closing ceremony
Which poor Liz had to basically do by herself because all the rest of the committee were elsewhere.
Amanda eventually came in to give a slide-show for next year's Continuum (12) which has - as often happens - guests that I have never heard of. I'm not sure, but I think they're both Australian residents this time, and not related despite having the same last name: Queenie Chan and Kylie Chan. The first is an illustrator/cartoonist and the second is an author, and they actually worked together once. I like the look of Queenie's work, definitely want to check it out.
Then I hung around saying goodbye to people, and hugging people, as one does.
Collected Recs
Various book/movie/comic recs from over the weekend.
"Digger" by Ursula Vernon http://diggercomic.com (I started reading it this week, and it is great)
"Among Others" by Jo Walton
"Megamind"
"Bridge to Terabithia"
"Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left" by Robin Klein (out of print, maybe I can find it in a library)
Elle Marley's "Mycroft & Watts" trilogy (bought, as I said above)
"The Scorpion Rules" by Erin Bow (coming soon)
"The Lifespan of Starlight"
"The Last Girl" by Michael Adams (the description sounded interesting in the panel, but when I checked on Amazon, turns out it was darker than I'd thought, so I'll pass on this one, I think)
Friday 5th June 2015
5:30 PM World-building panel was good, though nothing much I hadn't heard before.
6:30 PM Positive Portrayals of Mental Health was good, with some interesting examples. "Positive" portrayals didn't mean that mental illness was considered good, but non-demonizing portrayals of characters with mental health problems, really. Mad Max was mentioned, and Big Bang Theory, and Iron Man, and a lot of other things I can't remember. Rebecca mentioned synaesthesia and Ultraviolet of course, but most of the discussion focused on Aspergers/Autism, Bipolar, and PTSD.
("This Alien Shore" was a novel I suggested, where the protagonist has MPD and... SPOILERS)
7:30 PM Opening Ceremony. As ever, Continuum's opening ceremony was blessedly short.
8:00 PM The "Fanfic 101" panel (which I was on) was opposite The Great Debate, so it was no surprise that only one person turned up. Lauren dashed off to consult Steph, and "the official policy is that if there are more panellists than audience, the panel can be cancelled" so we cancelled it. I stayed in the room, because my ball of rainbow Tulip yarn had gotten tangled during the World-Building panel, and I'd been trying to untangle it ever since. And I didn't want to go into another room half-way through.
Spent the rest of the evening untangling yarn.
What was I using the yarn for, you ask? I was luceting. As if you needed to ask...
Secret of sleeping in too-warm hotel: (a) set the hotel room temperature to 18 *and* the mode to "cool", and (b) wear a t-shirt top rather than full PJ top.
Saturday 6th June 2015
Costume for the day: Dragon Lady
Hair unbound, black scale headdress, black scale glove, talon-armour finger, white pants, black velvet skirt over it, grey socks, steampunk sandals, black blouse, silver necklace. The original plan had been grey skivvy + plain black vest, but it was very wise to wear the black cotton blouse, because it was quite warm in the hotel. I had spent the entire week before the con working on the headdress; it is a mix of crochet and scale-maille. No I don't have any pictures.
10AM Computer Geeks and Computer Fail in Visual Media
Panel I suggested, and panel I was also on.
This went well, thanks to Alis and her laptop with its clips all arranged nicely. We had a lot to talk about, though the audience appeared to be savvy enough to groan in the right places too.
When I got out, I bumped into George Ivanoff, and had a nice little chat, so I changed my mind about what I was going to see next and went to his reading instead.
11AM Reading - Tansy Raynor Roberts and George Ivanoff.
Tansy read us the first chapter of her new novel, a genderswapped Three Musketeers in Space.
George read us the opening of his short story he'd sold to an X-Files anthology.
So really they were both reading us fanfic!
George's reading was half funny because he was trying valiantly to do all the voices, which meant American accents. It had a very good feel of first-season X-Files, really cast my mind back.
12 NOON GoH Speech Rebecca J Anderson
This was better than I expected; it rambled a bit at the start, but ended on a very strong note, about hope. She was talking about why she likes MG and YA novels, and then got to a bit where she was quoting a critic who said disparagingly that children's stories always have to end with hope - the implication being that that is unrealistic, and immature, because the Real World is not nice. And Rebecca went on to challenge this view that grimdark is (a) more realistic and (b) more mature. That is is not more mature because all that it leads to is suicide. (She put it better than that). And quoted Puddleglum. And the bible (more than once). And The Princess Bride. And talked about her father's terminal illness (Parkinsons) (where she almost cried) and the hope that her father has (in Christ). (Followed immediately by a disclaimer, as one needs to do in these circles).
It was great. I hope people remember it.
2PM Unrealistic Dystopic Futures
I came there just as it was being moved to a bigger room, which was lucky for me because it meant I could get a good seat.
Discussion covered things like:
1. What makes a good dystopia - which overlaps in some ways with simply good world-building. That, yes, it can help to go camping in the rain - at which there was a lot of banter prompted by one of the panelists telling a tale about how she can't cope without a hair-dryer, which then prompted a running joke about hairdryers and camping.
2. The different kinds of dystopias that have been written in different decades (e.g. post-nuclear war, climate change, and "pandemics are always popular").
3. That dystopias reflect - and need to reflect - the times they are written in, because (a) dystopias are usually cautionary tales about some current trend, and (b) the author needs to feel passionate about the issues that the dystopia is based on, and you aren't going to feel passionate about something that is too far removed from present concerns, that is distant and implausible.
4. That dystopias and utopias can have the same flaw: to make one single thing destroy the whole world, or save it; or that one small area is treated as if it is the whole world. To which someone pointed out that in the context of a story with a limited number of protagonists, you can't cover the whole world... to which the counter-argument was that you should still mention what is going on elsewhere. (Though it occurs to me right now that another way of dealing with this which is often employed is that the protagonists have no way of knowing what is going on elsewhere)
One of the best things was a remark by one panelist that she liked dystopias because they (usually) have hope in the end (harking back to the GoH speech) because the protagonists are trying to change things for the better; even if they don't succeed, at last they tried, and there is even hope in that.
3PM Villains And Anti-Heroes
A panel I was on.
This was in a very small room - like, two rows of chairs - and people kept on poking their heads in after we'd started, sometimes coming in, and sometimes not.
This seemed to go well, though I was afraid I was going to say too much or that it was going to be all stilted, with me as moderator asking questions of the other panelists in turn. But we did get a good discussion going, audience included. I do think all the discussion we had via email beforehand helped, because (a) we clarified some things and (b) the panelists were more confident about speaking because we knew we had plenty to say (though as moderator I kept looking at my watch, feeling as if the time was dragging and we would run out of things to say well before the end of the panel).
I was told I was dressed very appropriately for the panel (I think the finishing touch was my finger-claw-armour, which I tapped noisily on the table). I did my evil laugh, and Jason asked me to do it again (grin).
Another good thing about the panel was that we didn't all agree on everything, which does make for good discussion. Not that we were antagonistic or anything like that, but it brought a diversity of viewpoints, which made things more interesting.
4PM Weedy Sea Dragon
This was in the same room as the previous item, so I just moved from the table to the audience.
This was a fun panel. They decided to do something a bit different to previous panels of a similar nature, such that, rather than saying "oh, here are some cool weird creatures", they had made up a list of categories/questions, and challenged each other to pick the best Australian critter that fit. These categories were things like "best fantasy steed", "most likely to survive the apocalypse", "most likely to *cause* the apocalypse", "best candidate for size change" (to which multiple panelists chose the Peacock Spider), "best prehistoric fauna to bring back", "best adaptation to Australian conditions" (I'm not sure if I'm more impressed by the water-holding frog, or the thorny devil, whose crinkly skin uses capillary action to bring water to its mouth, so all it has to do is stand in a puddle and lick the side of its face...).
8PM Costume parade.
Rebecca and I arrived at the convention area about ten to eight; the disco people were still setting up, so we sat and talked, and at eight we wondered if we were in the wrong place, because nobody was there, so Rebecca went upstairs and about 30 seconds later came down again with a whole bunch of people in tow. So then the population increased and the noise increased as everyone was chatting to everyone else (plus music). Then Tansy was very organized in actually pinning down Liz and asking her what was expected of the judges and what the prize or prizes were, and Liz went off and found out and brought back the prizes (one gift certificate, and one copy of Companion Piece).
So then the costume parade, which as ever with Continuum, was about as low-key and non-organized as any costume parade could be and still be a costume parade; that is, contestants gathered themselves at one end of the room, walked onto the dance floor (an actual floor which had been added to the room for the purpose of dancing on it) struck a pose, possibly said what they were, and walked off. The most impressive was Death of Rats, which deservedly won first prize. I think it was probably more difficult to assign second prize, because there were other costumes of similar excellence the next tier down, such as an elegant lady all in black lace (who was from something I didn't know what it was, but people recognised it), and the Bushranger of the Apocalypse (all Victorian lace, with pistols and a snake over her shoulder, who was the one who got second prize), and another Victorian lady (who made a joke I didn't get), and another bandit-of-the-apocalypse (skull mask and Mexican bandito costume), and an impressive costume with swords and pistols and dangerous-looking bottles of glowing substances... which I'm not sure what she was supposed to be. And others.
Sunday 7th June 2015
Costume of the day: the Doctor's Giddy Aunt, which consisted of green velour tracksuit pants and green velour tracksuit jacket with a purple t-shirt (instead of the planned blue velvet top, because it was too hot). Hair in plaits with hair-chains braided in, and lots of butterflies on top of my head. And sonic screwdriver in pocket.
10AM Adults in Kids SF
Went very well; I was doubly pleased because it was one of the panels I suggested, and they touched on the very things I wanted them to touch on. Plus more - they were clever and had put slips of paper on all the chairs asking people to write down books that they thought they would enjoy as much as an adult as a kid. I want the list of books that people suggested; hopefully someone will post it.
11AM The Many Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes
That was fun. The panellists were waxing nostalgic. Also not always agreeing with each other, which was good too.
Sooooooo many different different versions of Holmes.
After the panel I went straight to the dealers room and bought Ellie Marley's "Mycroft & Watts" trilogy, and dashed back to get her to sign them (she'd been on the panel).
12 NOON Tansy Raynor Roberts GoH Speech
This was good too. though in a different way to RJA's speech.
Basically about not allowing women writers to be forgotten.
Also amusing when she quoted people she put on invisible crowns.
So one could sum up the two GoH speeches together as: Hope for the future, and do not forget those who have gone before.
3PM Australian Dystopias
Surprisingly little discussion of Mad Max.
5PM Spec Fic My Child Introduced Me To
A lot of recommendations for picture books, actually.
At the very end, when the audience was asked, I told about nieces giving me Death Note.
6PM Cranky Ladies of History
A fun and well-filled panel, with all the background stuff.
9PM SF QI
Very glad that I dragged myself to this. I haven't laughed this much in a long time. George Ivanoff was an excellent host, and the panellists were witty and silly in turns. It was a huge amount of fun.
Monday 8th June 2015
Steampunk costume today: black pants with black velvet skirt over them, Steampunk sandals, black blouse, black pocket-vest with useful things dangling from it (e.g. fold-up scissors), Steampunk top-hat, feather fan.
10AM Media Tie Ins
With George Ivanoff, because I wanted to find out more about how he'd gotten into the X-Files anthology.
They kind of concluded that getting to write media tie-ins wasn't that different from normal publishing, in that it's often a combination of luck, persistence, and knowing the right people at the right time. The things that were possibly different were being able to write fast, to direction, within strict boundaries. Deadlines simply do not slide; you miss the deadline, you're out.
There were some amusing stories about interactions with editors.
11AM Writing Workshop
My last panel.
Three people signed up, about eight people turned up, trickling in one at a time.
I think we did okay, I hope so, anyway.
2PM YA Around The World
Rebecca was the sole "panellist" but there was also a moderator-ish person asking questions (from a list) and also contributing from the Aussie side while Rebecca talked about Canadian YA. There were also contributions from the audience. There are now more books on my to-read list.
3PM Closing ceremony
Which poor Liz had to basically do by herself because all the rest of the committee were elsewhere.
Amanda eventually came in to give a slide-show for next year's Continuum (12) which has - as often happens - guests that I have never heard of. I'm not sure, but I think they're both Australian residents this time, and not related despite having the same last name: Queenie Chan and Kylie Chan. The first is an illustrator/cartoonist and the second is an author, and they actually worked together once. I like the look of Queenie's work, definitely want to check it out.
Then I hung around saying goodbye to people, and hugging people, as one does.
Collected Recs
Various book/movie/comic recs from over the weekend.
"Digger" by Ursula Vernon http://diggercomic.com (I started reading it this week, and it is great)
"Among Others" by Jo Walton
"Megamind"
"Bridge to Terabithia"
"Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left" by Robin Klein (out of print, maybe I can find it in a library)
Elle Marley's "Mycroft & Watts" trilogy (bought, as I said above)
"The Scorpion Rules" by Erin Bow (coming soon)
"The Lifespan of Starlight"
"The Last Girl" by Michael Adams (the description sounded interesting in the panel, but when I checked on Amazon, turns out it was darker than I'd thought, so I'll pass on this one, I think)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 09:44 am (UTC)I loved "Among others" and have seen "Bridge to Terabithia". The rest I will note down - thanks!
no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 10:12 am (UTC)I can't stand books that don't end with at least hope.
that, and the fact that they are usually a lot more inventive.
The spec-fic ones are, yes. I'm not sure that the purely romance ones are, but then I've never read those.
The rest I will note down - thanks!
8-)
Of course they were recced for different reasons, on different panels, so they don't all fall into the same category.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 09:46 pm (UTC)Me neither!
Mind you, there are a few bleaker YA books around, but most are good. I'm enjoying Catherine Fisher's ones ATM.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 04:07 pm (UTC)The others, I'm going to have to go and look up.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-12 02:02 am (UTC)"Among Others" is a lovely love letter to the SF of my youth, but I found the story grating (will expound if you are interested)
If you can expound without spoilers, yes I am interested.
"Bridge to Terabitha" should come with warnings, but I find myself wanting to read it again
Yes, I do gather that boxes of tissues are required, which makes me a little wary.
I would not pick it as her best work, but it was at least cheerful!
Then I won't worry if I can't find it. Okay.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-13 01:26 am (UTC)The rest of committee were rounding people up, making sure I had everything I needed to go, confirming Amanda was en route, setting up the raffle prizes and tickets, speaking to hotel staff and generally doing everything necessary to ensure a smooth closing ceremony followed by even smoother bump-out. The only glitch was that Amanda had technical problems that slowed her down.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-13 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-06-11 05:14 pm (UTC)I'm afraid that I couldn't help laughing at your yarn problem.
Tansy read us the first chapter of her new novel, a genderswapped Three Musketeers in Space.
That sounds as if it should be tremendous fun.
no subject
Date: 2015-06-12 02:15 am (UTC)I wish it had occurred to me to ask someone to take photos of me wearing them.
I'm afraid that I couldn't help laughing at your yarn problem.
The yarn problem was compounded by the ball rolling off the table and getting more tangled than it had been to start with. So I went up to my room, and after I'd untangled it, I wound the whole ball around a piece of cardboard so that it wouldn't be able to roll anywhere. (sigh) This kind of thing doesn't happen with centre-pull balls, but for some reason, crochet yarn is never wound in centre-pull balls. (sigh)
no subject
Date: 2015-06-12 01:02 am (UTC)Glad you have discovered Digger! I haven't finished reading it, but
no subject
Date: 2015-06-12 02:26 am (UTC)You mean I hadn't mentioned it beforehand? How remiss of me.
Possibly because I didn't want to let people know that she was staying with me before the con, since that would feel like boasting. Though it wasn't; she was staying as a friend, and we had a lovely low-key introvert time, sitting around reading and talking. She stayed with
I keep buying her books and passing all of them on to my younger sisters.
You will like the one coming out in September: "A Pocket Full of Murder". While Kirkus reviews called it "Victorian" it's actually Depression-era - with magic. Very Diana Wynne Jones like, IMHO. But with a bit more depth.
Glad you have discovered Digger! I haven't finished reading it, but kalquessa turned me on to it a few years back, and it's very odd and at the same time exactly the sort of thing I love best.
I am still on holiday, and I spent the last few days reading Digger, and I finished it last night. Very late last night. 8-)
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Date: 2015-06-13 09:02 pm (UTC)I need to buck up and order the last couple of books in the fairy series, too; just because they were published in the UK doesn't mean I shouldn't have them. :)
I should go back and read Digger again; I don't think I ever finished, for whatever reason.