Tuesday, June 13, 2006

I'm baack!

What a weekend! I'm back at work and I'm exhausted. Doesn't feel like I had a long weekend at all; dashing from one panel to the next, getting books signed, chatting to people, all that driving...

The food at the Medieval Feast was delicious; so much so that I'm going to hunt down some of recipes, especially the Hyppocras - that was mmm....

Most of the panels were interesting and informative, but some, like the Choose your Monster, were highjacked by existentialist assholes who discussed 'the monster inside' instead. I don't give a rats bladder if authors are 'expressing their inner demons', that's not what the panel was supposed to be about. The interview with Arthur C. Clarke was equally disappointing: he sounded exactly like he was, old and a bit vague. The best part of that interview was his reply to getting ideas. "I just lie down until they go away."

And if I hear the word 'trope' again, I think I'll have to hurt someone.

I picked up a lot of Australian fiction, in novels, anthologies and magazines, so I'm going to be spending a lot of time reading them - when I'm not watching the anime I also bought.

The international guests were great: Steve Jackson, Joan D. Vinge, Ellen Datlow, Jim Frankel, Jonathon Hardy... I saw 'em all. The Australian guests were equally erudite, Sean Williams, Dan Abnet, Trudi Canavan, Kate Forsyth, Valerie Parv, Lucy Sussex, Queenie Chan, Sean McMullen, Jackie French, Marianne de Pierres...

I'm going to post what happened in some of the panels in later posts. But for now, I need a nap...

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