The Spiders – noise and sparks

September Shenanigans: Event Horizon, Fantasycon, Thirty Years of Rain and more.

I’ve got a bit of news. Well, quite a lot of news, actually. Earlier this year, I put in an application to the University of Glasgow’s MLitt programme in Fantasy — and to my immense delight, they accepted me. So I’m currently condensing my life into a dozen boxes, as I’ll be moving myself and them up to Glasgow this weekend. It’s both terrifying and utterly exciting (and I’m not just talking about the ability to buy a tonne of books and call it work), but I can’t wait to be living in such a vibrant, creative community of writers and artists. The hard work begins here.

September is looking to be a busy month already, with book launches, events, and two new things coming out. While I’m taking a breather from boxing up, I thought you might like to know what’s coming up in the next few weeks…

5th September: Event Horizon XI (Edinburgh)
Next Monday, join me, Bram E. Gieben, Harry Giles, Elaine Gallagher, The Spiders, and Russell Jones for stories, slam poetry and some stonking performances that’ll knock your SFing socks off. We’ll be at the Blind Poet in Edinburgh from 7pm. For more details, check out the facebook event page here, or last week’s blog.

23rd September: Shoreline of Infinity 5 is out! (Everywhere!)
The next issue, featuring my latest Noise and Sparks column, hits the shelves! Pick it up from Transreal Fiction or Deadhead Comics in Edinburgh, or order direct from www.shorelineofinfinity.com.

Additionally…

23rd – 25th September: Fantasycon-by-the-Sea (Scarborough)
This year’s Fantasycon ships up in sunny Scarborough for a weekend of fun, frolics and the world famous Fantasycon ~~Disco~~ Karaoke, the Karaoke is the best. Kev McVeigh, Martin Petto and I have just finished judging for the Non-Fiction Award of the British Fantasy Awards, which will be announced that weekend. I’ve also been booked for a panel, so more on that when it’s been officially announced. For now, I can say I’ll be at the NewCon Press & Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle Book Launch on Saturday (24th) at 3pm, where we’ll be signing copies of the GSFWC‘s 30th anniversary anthology, Thirty Years of Rain. If you’re about, why not join us?

30th September: Thirty Years of Rain – Glasgow launch (Glasgow, funnily enough)
Naturally, it wouldn’t be right to have a Glaswegian book without a Glasgow launch. Come join me and even more GSFWC authors at Waterstones (Sauchiehall Street) for free booze, readings — and, of course, we’ll be on hand to sign any 30th anniversary anthologies you may have just bought that evening. The event kicks off at 7pm, so do join us then.

If you’re not able to make either of the two launch dates for Thirty Years of Rain, you’ll be able to order it online nearer the time, and I’ll post details of that when I have them. In the meantime, if you’re wanting your new story fix, don’t forget Fox Pockets: The Evil Genius Guide (feat. ‘Dame Ammonia Dastardly-Truste’s Evil Genius College for Ladies Class of 2014: Graduation Speech [Transcript]’) is out now in paperback, with e-book to follow soon.

I think that’s it — until Glasgow!

Event Horizon XI

More news — I’ll be reading in Edinburgh on 5th September as part of Shoreline of Infinity‘s free Event Horizon night.

Event Horizon has a steadily growing reputation for nights of cracking variety under the SF banner — Ken MacLeod, Jane Yolen, Andrew J. Wilson, and Pippa Goldschmidt have all appeared in the past — so it’s well worth popping along.

Event Horizon XI will be no different. There’s multi-talented headliner Bram E. Giegen (aka Texture) — who I’m really looking forward to seeing for the first time — the excellent Harry Giles, and powerful performance poet Elaine Gallagher. Meanwhile, The Spiders will be spinning us some cracking tunes — and there’s a special bonus movie to close — all abely hosted by MC Russell Jones. It’s rare you’ll get so much from a free night out. So if you’re in the Edinburgh area, come join us at the Blind Poet Bar (West Nicolson Street) on 5th September for 7:30pm. We’ll make it worth your while.

Before I go, Elaine Gallagher has also set up a Patreon page to fund her upcoming MLitt in Creative Writing. It’s worth noting Elaine is not only a gifted poet, but one of the co-editors of the upcoming GSFWC 30th anniversary anthology Thirty Years of Rain (see last week’s post), and contributes short story ‘5am Saint’ to the contents. Please take a moment to check out her work at this link here – and if you like what you read, why not consider funding her?