Tag Archives: continuum

Continuum Program

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With only a week to go I am starting to get very excited about Natcon! As usual, the organisers have done an incredible job and the program looks amazing.

For those interested, my schedule looks like this:

Daikaiju Go Heavenly!

From Friday 17:00 until Friday 18:00 (60 Minutes)
Dirk Flinthart, David McDonald, Cat Sparks

What if the gods were daikaiju? Could Buddha beat Jesus, could Loki outwit Allah? Is anyone strong enough to defeat Thor and his mighty Hammer? Jade Emperor, Kali, Ganesh. Which deity will reign supreme, or will king of the daikaiju Godzilla crush them all?

Venues: Argyle Room, Lincoln Room

Continuum 101

From Friday 20:30 until Friday 21:00 (30 Minutes)
Hespa , David McDonald, Sarah Lee Parker

Everything you wanted to know about fan conventions and con-going – an ideal starting point for anyone relatively new to conventions. Learn the secrets from those who have been around long enough to know better.

Venues: Pelham Room

New Faiths For New Worlds

From Saturday 10:00 until Saturday 11:00 (60 Minutes)
Alan Baxter, Jenny Blackford, Russell Blackford, David McDonald

Love it or hate it, religion plays a huge role in our society. When creating a new society from scratch, what part will religion play? How do you create a convincing set of beliefs, and what are the pitfalls you need to avoid?

Venues: Lincoln Room

Fans And Faith

From Saturday 11:00 until Saturday 12:00 (60 Minutes)
Avril Hannah-Jones, David McDonald, Ian Mond, Alexandra Pierce

Religion often frowns upon science fiction and fantasy, and fandom can be quite critical of religion. So how do our panellists reconcile their passion for SF/F/H and their faith?

Venues: Faraday Room

Winter Is Coming

From Saturday 14:00 until Saturday 15:00 (60 Minutes)
Kelly Link, David McDonald, Ben McKenzie, Mick Mihalic, Jules Wilkinson

As the second season of the TV adaptation draws to a close, join us for a discussion of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series in all its forms.

Venues: Argyle Room

Readings – Fablecroft Hour

From Saturday 15:00 until Saturday 16:00 (60 Minutes)
Including: Joanne Anderton, Steve Cameron, Dirk Flinthart, David McDonald

Venues: Faraday Room

We Want Your Brainz

From Sunday 11:00 until Sunday 12:00 (60 Minutes)
Peter M. Ball, Stephen Dedman, Felicity Dowker, Kelly Link, David McDonald

Zombies have taken over in the last 5 years or so and have gone mainstream, but their lore is still being written. How have they changed since the 1970s and what does the explosion of them now say about our present psyche? Could it be a pandemic as recent writers have postulated? And will they ever become sparkly?

Venues: Pelham Room

The Newbie’s Guide To Writing

From Sunday 15:00 until Sunday 16:00 (60 Minutes)
Steve Cameron, David McDonald, Travis McKenzie, Amanda Pillar, Jane Routley

New to writing? Not sure what to expect? Our panellists discuss critiquing, dealing with rejection, and everything else they wish they’d known when they’d started.

Venues: Pelham Room

Not only am I thrilled with the panels I am, but with the people I get to do them with! And, my first ever reading – how nerve wracking!

Hope to see you there. 🙂

Ditmar Shortlist Announced

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I awoke this morning to see that the Ditmar shortlist had been released:

Best Novel
* The Shattered City (Creature Court 2), Tansy Rayner Roberts (HarperCollins)
* Burn Bright, Marianne de Pierres (Random House Australia)
* Mistification, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)
* The Courier’s New Bicycle, Kim Westwood (HarperCollins)
* Debris (The Veiled Worlds 1), Jo Anderton (Angry Robot Books)

Best Novella or Novelette
* “The Sleeping and the Dead”, Cat Sparks, in Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
* “Above”, Stephanie Campisi, in Above/Below (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt”, Paul Haines, in The Last Days of Kali Yuga (Brimstone Press)
* “And the Dead Shall Outnumber the Living”, Deborah Biancotti, in Ishtar (Gilgamesh Press)
* “Julia Agrippina’s Secret Family Bestiary”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Love and Romanpunk (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “Below”, Ben Peek, in Above/Below (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Short Story
* “Breaking the Ice”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Cosmos 37
* “Alchemy”, Lucy Sussex, in Thief of Lives (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “The Last Gig of Jimmy Rucker”, Martin Livings and Talie Helene, in More Scary Kisses (Ticonderoga Publications)
* “All You Can Do Is Breathe”, Kaaron Warren, in Blood and Other Cravings (Tor)
* “Bad Power”, Deborah Biancotti, in Bad Power (Twelfth Planet Press)
* “The Patrician”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in Love and Romanpunk (Twelfth Planet Press)

Best Collected Work
* The Last Days of Kali Yuga by Paul Haines, edited by Angela Challis (Brimstone Press)
* Nightsiders by Sue Isle, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Bad Power by Deborah Biancotti, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
* Ishtar, edited by Amanda Pillar and K. V. Taylor (Gilgamesh Press)

Best Artwork
* “Finishing School”, Kathleen Jennings, in Steampunk!: An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (Candlewick Press)
* Cover art, Kathleen Jennings, for The Freedom Maze (Small Beer Press)

Best Fan Writer
* Tansy Rayner Roberts, for body of work including reviews in Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus! and Not If You Were The Last Short Story On Earth
* Alexandra Pierce, for body of work including reviews in Australian Speculative Fiction in Focus!, Not If You Were The Last Short Story On Earth, and Randomly Yours, Alex
* Robin Pen, for “The Ballad of the Unrequited Ditmar”
* Sean Wright, for body of work including “Authors and Social Media” series in Adventures of a Bookonaut
* Bruce Gillespie, for body of work including “The Golden Age of Fanzines is Now”, and SF Commentary 81 & 82

Best Fan Artist
* Rebecca Ing, for work in Scape
* Lisa Rye, for “Steampunk Portal” series
* Dick Jenssen, for body of work including work in IRS, Steam Engine Time, SF Commentary and Scratchpad
* Kathleen Jennings, for work in Errantry (tanaudel.wordpress.com) including “The Dalek Game”
* Rhianna Williams, for work in Nullas Anxietas Convention Programme Book

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium
* SF Commentary, edited by Bruce Gillespie
* The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
* The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
* Galactic Chat, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Sean Wright
* Galactic Suburbia, Alisa Krasnostein, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Alex Pierce

Best New Talent
* Steve Cameron
* Alan Baxter
* Joanne Anderton

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review
* Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene, for “2010: The Year in Review”, in The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2010 (Ticonderoga Publications)
* Damien Broderick and Van Ikin, for editing Warriors of the Tao: The Best of Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature (Borgo Press)
* David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely for “Reviewing New Who” series, in A Conversational Life
* Alexandra Pierce and Tehani Wessely, for reviews of Vorkosigan Saga, in Randomly Yours, Alex
* Russell Blackford, for “Currently reading: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke”, in Metamagician and the Hellfire Club

Not only is wonderful to see so many friends have been nominated (many of whom who have featured in Wednesday Writers as well!), but obviously I am thrilled and honoured to get mention for the New Who conversations I have been part of. Thanks to Tansy and Tehani for making me look good!

I am busy preparing for my Sydney trip (yay!) and the start of winter cricket (yes, winter cricket) so I will have to come back with further thoughts. But, my initial impression is that this is a very strong list and shows how vibrant the Aussie scene is right now.

Voting and further details can be found here.

Ditmar Awards – Nominations Open

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As well as the Chronos Awards, this years Continuum will host the Ditmar Awards and nominations are now open.

You can find a comprehensive list of eligible works here, and I would encourage those of you eligible to nominate to take some time to read through the list and nominate those you find deserving.

I do have some works eligible (see below), however there are lots of other wonderful pieces there. The important thing is that you nominate the works that spoke to you, and give their creators the recognition they deserve.

Novella

“Catspaw” by David McDonald in Tales of the Shadowmen Vol 8: Agents Provocateurs (Black Coat Press).

Short Stories

“Just Like Cuckoo” by Brendan Duffy and David McDonald in The ePocalypse: emails at the end, edited by Jessy Marie Roberts (Pill Hill Press).

“Venus Transiens” by David McDonald in Horror, Humor and Heroes 3 – New Faces of Science Fiction, edited by Jim Bernheimer (EJB Networking).

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review

David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely for the “Reviewing New Who” series.

Chronos Awards – Nominations Open

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I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to this year’s Natcon, Craftonomicon! Last year’s Continuum was simply amazing, and from everything I have heard and seen so far, this one will be even better.

As part of the lead up to the con, nominations for the Chronos Awards are now open. From John Samuel’s blog:

We are now halfway through the nominations period for the Chronos Awards. Nominations close on 18 March 2012.
 
Please remember that to make the ballot works require 4 nominations in the professional categories, and 2 nominations in the other categories.  Please refer to the Chronos Award rules for more information.
 
At present a relatively small number of works have passed these thresholds, and most categories do not have more than one eligible work.

You can find a comprehensive list of eligible works here, and I would encourage those of you eligible to nominate to take some time to read through the list and nominate those you find deserving.

I do have some short stories eligible (see below), however there are lots of other wonderful pieces there. The important thing is that you nominate the works that spoke to you, and give their creators the recognition they deserve.

Short Stories

“Catspaw” by David McDonald in Tales of the Shadowmen Vol 8: Agents Provocateurs (Black Coat Press).

“Just Like Cuckoo” by Brendan Duffy and David McDonald in The ePocalypse: emails at the end, edited by Jessy Marie Roberts (Pill Hill Press).

“Venus Transiens” by David McDonald in Horror, Humor and Heroes 3 – New Faces of Science Fiction, edited by Jim Bernheimer (EJB Networking).

 

Continuum 7 – The End

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After a lovely dinner with the SuperNOVA crew, I lingered for the C8 launch and discovered that the Guests of Honour were rather exciting, Kelly Link and Alison Goodman, with the Fan GoH being Sue Ann Barber. So, that gives us all something to look forward to!

After that I went and sat in:

In the style of…
Just what would The Matrix look like in the style of a Jane Austen novel? Or Lord of the Rings as a sitcom? High-speed, high-silliness, competitive improvisation.
Danny Oz, Steve Cameron, Alice Clarke, Terry Frost, David Innes, Peter Marz, Heath Miller

I thought I was going to damage myself laughing at one point, it was absolutely hilarious. Improv, when done well, is one of my favourite things and this was done well. My particular favourite was X Men in the style of Iron Chef, with a cook off between Magneto and Cyclops.

After that, a few of us took Cat Valente to a local pub for some drinks, and then a few of us spent some time in one of the committee member’s room discussing a interesting range of subjects, all the way from purity rings to Hey Hey It’s Saturday.

The next day I was getting extremely nervous as I was moderating a panel for the first time, and it wasn’t any ordinary panel.

Goodbye Sarah Jane
For a whole generation of Doctor Who fans, she defined what a Companion should be. Join us as we share our favourite moments, discuss what made Sarah Jane Smith so memorable and say goodbye to the incomparable Elisabeth Sladen.
David McDonald, Ben McKenzie, Danny Oz, Candice Schilder

This was something I didn’t want to get wrong, because I knew not only was it important to me, but to a lot of others. In the end though, my nerves were misplaced as an excellent team on the panel made it a breeze to moderate, and it turned out to be a lovely time of celebrating a life well lived, with tears and laughter and lots of audience participation.

I then took a long, leisurely lunch with my friends from SuperNOVA and enjoyed being able to relax in the knowledge that it was all over as far as places I HAD to be from here on in.

After the closing ceremony, the last lingering remnants retired to the bar for drinks and I did head out to the dead dog party, but I was so exhausted I was happy to get home and to bed pretty early.

All in all it was an amazing couple of days and the organisers should be very proud of themselves. The GoHs were excellent, very accessible and with lots of useful and fascinating things to say. It was probably more fan than writer orientated than Swancon was, but I still picked a lot of things that will improve my writing and made some useful contacts.  Most importantly, though, I got to spend time with old friends and meet a whole heap of new ones.

Oh, and I have decided I have to go to Conflux now, I can’t wait any longer than that for my Con fix!

Continuum 7 – My Con…wait for it…”con”tinues

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Yes, terrible joke, but I am suffering from sleep deprivation. Yesterday was a lot of fun, I managed to get to some panels and FINALLY a masquerade.

First up I went to:

How to Sex Your Vampire

Are female vampires inevitably more monstrous than their male counterparts? Do male vampires represent anxieties about homosexuality? Come and explore how ideologies of gender and sexuality have shaped the depiction of Western literature’s most popular fantasy monster.

Jason Nahrung, Narrelle Harris, Peter Marz

I went more because I knew one of the panellists than from any real interest in the subject, but it turned into a very wide ranging discussion and it was definitely worthwhile.

I was very keen to catch the next one:

Fantasy Wildlife – Beyond the Basics Workshop

What do you use – or create – when you’re sick of dragons and unicorns? An audience participation workshop hosted by our esteemed Guests of Honour.

Dave Freer, Catherynne M. Valente

It wasn’t quite what I expected, but it was fascinating to see the different approaches between the two writers, with David Freer preferring a “rational” approach to fantastic creatures (How could a winged horse fly and still obey the laws of aerodynamics?) while Cat seemed more happy to not have to explain everything.

In some ways it was a sci fi vs fantasy approach, but the consensus seemed to be that whichever approach you picked didn’t matter so much, just that you be consistent and above all do it well.

After that, I had made the mistake of offering whatever assistance was required by the organisers, so I spent the dinner break helping set up for the “Maskobalo”. The guy who did the design had done an amazing job, there was a TARDIS, the DJ console was a TARDIS console, there was a wardrobe filled with coats leading to a lamppost and a Mad Hatter’s tea party. All I did was the heavy lifting at his beck and call.

The ball was fun, but I don’t dance so it wasn’t really my scene. I did get literally dragged onto the dance floor by one young lady, and forced to dance for a little bit…the first time in years. Was terrifying.

When that was over, the London Worldcon bid invited everyone to their room for drinks, but after a few noise warnings from the hotel most of us headed to the bar. I had the unique experience of having my biceps squeezed (and told I was as hot as China Meiville, whatever that means haha) and a drink spilt on me by an Aurealis winner, and a fascinating disucssion about philosophy (Kant in particular) with a Canberrite.

It was rather late (or should I say early) when I got home, so Is truggled to be back in time for my morning panel. It ended up going rather well, Steve Cameron did a great job of organising it (even had a powerpoint presentation) and Bruce Gillespie knows his stuff. It turns out Steve and I know a lot of people in common so we had a good chat.

After an excellent lunch with the SuperNOVA crew, I went to:

Money, Money, Money

Is it possible to make a living out of writing?

Is it always about the money? Is there a balance between money and creativity?

Jack Dann, Narrelle Harris, George Ivanoff, Meg Mundell, Steve Rossiter

I am certainly  not writing to make money (haha), but I wanted to attend at least one panel with Jack Dann. I am glad I went, it was informative, entertaining and I walked a way with a heap of knowledge that is actually relevant to what I am wanting to do.

So, now I am going to chill for a while, and mingle and drink coffee!

Continuum 7 – My con so far

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Just a quick update of how Continuum is going so far. I am doing this from a dilapidated net kiosk, so you will have to forgive me if it isn’t a work of art, and for any spelling errors with names.

Last night didn’t get off the the best of starts. With my panel starting at 7pm I had planned on arriving about 6pm so I could meet my fellow panelists. Due to some unforeseen circumstances and horrendous traffic, I walked in 6:55pm! Fortunately, it was all very casual, and when really well. Danny and Hespa were in fine form and it really just flowed. We had about 25 there I think, though I am not sure how many were only first time goers!

After that, I watched Jack Dann and Richard Harland compete to see who was the craziest at the launch of “Liberator”, which made for a very entertaining time. I think Richard won after he managed to get a surprising amount of his body into a small wastepaper basket.

Then it was time for the Chronos Awards. I had planned on tweeting it award by award, but Alex (of Galactic Suburbia fame) gave a demonstration of how its done, beating me to the punch each time…even when she won her awards and had to get up the front and back! I soon admitted defeat (plus I realised that getting people’s twandles right is a required part of the process).

The winners were:

Best Long Fiction: Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Pan MacMillan Australia)
Best Short Fiction: “Her Gallant Needs”, Paul Haines (Sprawl,Twelfth Planet Press)
Best Artwork: Australis Imaginarium cover, Shaun Tan (FableCroft Publishing)
Best Fan Writer: Alexandra Pierce
Best Fan Written Work: “Review: The Secret Feminist Cabal by Helen Merrick”, Alexandra Pierce
Best Fan Artwork: Continuum 6 Props, Rachel Holkner
Best Fan Publication: Live Boxcutters Doctor Who at AussieCon IV, Josh Kinal and John Richards
Best Achievement: Programming: AussieCon IV, Sue Ann Barber and Grant Watson

All very deserving winners, and great to see the strong SuperNOVA representation.

There was a chance to admire Rachel Holkner’s sterling work on the Conquilt (who can’t be praised enough!), and we then had the presentation of the A. Betram Chandler award. If you hadn’t been at Swancon, the run down of Paul Collin’s illustrious career would have been most informative.

Speaking of Paul Collins, there was then the launch of his latest book, with Sean McMullen.

As I had an airport dropoff early the next morning, I decided it was time to call it a night.

This morning, we had another Con101 panel. There was only a few people compared to the Friday one, but it was still enjoyable.

I got into Cat Valente’s GoH speech just as she started reading her piece, “13 Ways of Looking at Space Time”. I wasn’t familiar with it, and I have to say it blew me away as I have never heard anything like it. I am still processing it so, to be honest, I can’t even say whether I actually liked it or not because it was just so different than anything I have come across. Really brilliant.

She came across as interesting and entertaining during the Q and A session afterwards, and I am now determined to check out some of her writing.

By that point I was starving, so together with some of the SuperNOVA crew I went and grabbed some lunch across the road.

So far I am having a brilliant time, made some new friends and caught with some old ones.

And…that’s it for now 🙂 I will try and update again tomorrow, and hopefully be able to rave about the panels I am heading to this afternoon.

Continuum 7 is coming!

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Time for a very overdue update. I do have excuses this time around, honest. I have been rather busy with work, and more importantly, writing. At the moment I have five stories out in the wild (including entries in the AHWA Short Story and Flash competition) and I am busily working towards deadlines for two more.

I have also been fortunate to do a fair bit of travelling of late, I have been to Perth and Sydney, and I started writing this at Adelaide airport.

Perth was amazing. I had gone over ostensibly to attend Swancon, but to be perfectly honest I had expected something small and that I would spend most of my time with my friends from the BWB. Instead I experienced a truly great convention, for which the organisers deserve a huge amount credit. I do have a comprehensive report half written, so despite the fact it is hardly topical anymore I will finish it, if only for my sake.

Swancon gave me a taste for further panels, so I am happy to report that I am appearing on three different ones at the upcoming Continuum 7, which is Melbourne spec fic’s pride and joy. It starts this Friday, and runs through to Monday.

Even if you don’t get to see me, I would encourage you to go…it looks like it will be a great event!

Friday in the Sun room

19:00 Continuum 101

Everything you wanted to know about fan conventions and con-going – an ideal starting point for anyone relatively new to conventions. Learn the secrets from those who have been around long enough to know better (now with special guest first-time con-goer!).

Danny Oz, Hespa, David McDonald

Saturday in the Sun room

11:30 Continuum 101

Everything you wanted to know about fan conventions and con-going – an ideal starting point for anyone relatively new to conventions. Learn the secrets from those who have been around long enough to knowbetter (now with special guest first-timecon-goer!).

Danny Oz, Hespa, David McDonald

Sunday in the Earth room

11:00 Adapting Philip K. Dick – From Paper To Celluloid

Although Philip K. Dick never saw his work translated into film, since his death he has become one of the most sought after sources for Hollywood to mine. And there’s much more on the way. What worked, what didn’t and why?

Steve Cameron, Bruce Gillespie, David McDonald

Monday in the Sun room

12: 00 Goodbye Sarah Jane

For a whole generation of Doctor Who fans, she defined what a Companion should be. Join us as we share our favourite moments, discuss what made Sarah Jane Smith so memorable and say goodbye to the incomparable Elisabeth Sladen.

David McDonald, Ben McKenzie, Ian Mond, Danny Oz, Candice Schilder

I am really excited to be involved, it is always a privilege to get these sort of opportunities.

My other exciting news is in the following post!