So I attended Continuum 15 in fine old Melbourne Town last weekend. For three days I watched, listened, pitched, panelled, talked, laughed, admired, caught up with old friends, made new ones, met a huge number of very lovely people, and drank way too much wine.
I went with a certain agenda – to pitch my manuscript, to make the acquaintance of a couple of people I wanted to meet, to appear on a panel, and to have a grand time. I came away from the Con having pitched multiple times (with corresponding invitations to submit), with a manuscript assessment spot on in excellent feedback, and having met an amazing number of people, all of whom were wonderful. And I definitely had a grand time.
Here’s a few pics, including from the panel I was on, “Fictional Librarians and Archivists” with the wonderful Sean McMullen and Gillian Polack, both writers I admire very much, so I had a great time on the panel with them.
One of the first panels I attended – “We do this job so you can write about it” – featuring the ever awesome Aiki Flinthart, Sophie Yorkson, Kat Clay and Justin Bennett:
Guests of Honour for the convention were Kate Elliot and Ken Liu, who were both wonderful and engaging speakers. Here’s Kate’s session on narrative structure and working with audience expectations:
What Con would be complete without wine? What about wine in a tin? Yes, we had it. Yes, it is bizarre. And totally classy, I swear. I had about three sips from the can, then had to pour it into a glass, just to feel somewhat normal.
I attended Aiki Flinthart‘s amazing workshop on ‘Writing Fight Scenes for Female Characters’. She presented an huge amount of information, all exceptionally well researched, ranging from the psychological to the physical aspects of fight scenes. I’d recommend it for anyone who ever has the chance to attend.
And lastly, a couple more pics of the panel I was on – Fictional Librarians and Archivists. Because if you’ve glanced at the landing page of this site, you’ll know that’s what I do when I’m not writing: work in information management, records, archives and libraries.
Right, that about covers it. A bunch of us also agreed that WorldCon next year in New Zealand was an absolute must, so looks like there’ll be some travelling in 2020…