Shadows of the Apt

Firstly, apologies for leaving a whole load of posts pending that should have been approved. Let me know if there were any I missed. Thank you to everyone for all the congratulations.

I have also just finished recording a guest slot for Paul Cornell's The Cornell Collective podcast which I imagine will be up soon.

Now, onto the main business: I am in Scarborough next weekend (23–25 September 2016) for the last con of the season, Fantasycon, so fish and chips all round.

I am perpetrating the following authorisms over the course of the convention:

Friday 23^rd — 10–10.30 Reading, alongside Andrew Hook. I will probably read something from Spoils of War or The Private Life of Elder Things, not decided yet.

Saturday 24^th 12 noon — Book launch for The Private Life of Elder Things from Alchemy Press. This is the Lovecraftish anthology split between Keris McDonald (writer of horror and erotica) and Adam Gauntlett (award winning RPG writer). Possibly there will also be readings here.

Saturday 24^th 1pm — Book launch for, inter alia, This Twisted Earth, in which I have a story 'The Electric Eye of the Silver God' (or possibly The Silver Eye of the Electric God, either works and I don't have it to hand to check). Also readings.

Saturday 24^th 7pm — I'm not on the shortlist but the Gemmell Awards are at FCon this year, and this is when. Particularly interested in the Morningstar list for new authors, which has a cracking shortlist this year — Stephen Aryan (Battlemage), Seth Dickinson (The Traitor — which is The Traitor Baru Cormorant, I think, outside the UK?), Francesca Haig (The Fire Sermon), Lucy Hounsom (Starborn), Peter Newman (The Vagrant) and Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes). It's a marvellous and diverse list and I'll definitely be along to see how things fall out.

Sunday 25^th 10am — "Say My Name" panel on genre, what is it, do we need it, and why am I always on the graveyard shift on a Sunday morning. All these questions and more will be answered with sufficient caffeine.

Sunday 25^th 3.30pm — The British Fantasy Awards! The shortlists are up here, and my own Guns of the Dawn is a nominee for the Holdstock award for best fantasy. It is a formidable field, though, and I don't remotely fancy my chances. The lists overall are excellent (again) this year, with lots of deserving names, old and new, being put forwards.