Eastercon 2013 Schedule

Eastercon 2013, or Eight Squared as its embarrassing, sherry-tippling gran likes to call it in front of its mates, looks set to be by far my busiest 'Con yet - and not only in terms of official writerly stuff, either, since with the deadline for Prince Thief coincidentally on the Sunday and a file crash recently robbing me of three days' work, there's a fair chance I'll either be working or clawing at the walls in grubby, sleep deprived terror throughout every free moment of the weekend.

That said, I shall endeavor to maintain a stern and sober (well, soberish) facade for my public appearances, because they look set to be lots of fun.  I get to talk at people about a whole host of my favourite subjects, from comics to movies to comics again, and - assuming that someone has the good sense to bar the doors from the outside - they can't even run away.  Then on the Sunday, when I'm at my most hungover and spiritually bankrupt, I'll be doing my best to wax intelligent upon the subject of older female characters in Fantasy and why, let's face it, there aren't any.

(Except in Prince Thief and the second volume of Endangered Weapon B that I'm currently writing, obviously.)

Okay, here we go then.  Copied and pasted from the official e-mail?  You bet your pantaloons!  You did read that bit about the Prince Thief deadline, right?

Friday	4pm	Main	"Superheroes on Films"
Faster than a speeding bullet, superheroes have escaped from comics to films and found a whole new audience! How have they changed in moving to Hollywood – is there a formula, when is it worth breaking, and what should be done next? CE Murphy moderates Jacey Bedford, Susan Booth and David Tallerman.
Friday	7pm	Conservatory	"Genre Get-Together: Fantasy"
Meet authors and get books signed!
Friday	9pm	Boardroom	"Graphic Novel Selections"
It’s easy to miss good comics these days, with so much going past. Our panel recommend some personal favourites from all areas of the medium. With Stephen Aryan, CE Murphy, Alys Sterling and David Tallerman.
Sunday	10am	Main	"Maiden, Mother, Who? Older Women in Genre Fiction"
There are plenty of kick-ass young heroines these days, but their mentors are nearly always male. Where are the older women in genre fiction, and why aren’t they written about, or put on TV, more? Fran Dowd moderates Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Ian Sales, David Tallerman and Freda Warrington.

Sign in the Moonlight Out, and Other Short Story News

Considering that I'm working hell for leather (whatever the hell hell for leather means) on getting Prince Thief wrapped for its end of March deadline and Endangered Weapon B ready for July, I'm a bit surprised by how much short story stuff I seem to have going on right now.

Because even freaky ghoul kids need hobbies.

For a start, there's The Sign in the Moonlight just up at Nightmare magazine; you can read or listen to it for free here, and personally I'd go for the audio version, since in John Rubinstein they seem to have actually found an early twentieth century mountaineer to narrate this weird tale of  Tibetan adventuring amongst the Edwardian rich.  Or you can buy the full issue here for a measly $2.99, roughly the price of three quarters of a bagel in Jimmy's New York Bagelorama, and also get stories by Jeff VanderMeer, Molly Tanzer and Livia Llewellyn, along with plenty of non-fiction goodies.  Speaking of which, there's also an interview with me regarding Sign here.

Cthulhu PI.

On top of that, I've had a couple of new sales.  My main reason for submitting to new outfit 01 Publishing's inaugural anthology Whispers From the Abyss was that gorgeous cover on the right.  But having dug a little further, I think these guys are going to be seriously worth watching; they're putting out some stunning-looking books.  Anyway, my blackly comic take on Lovercraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, ridiculously titled My Friend Fishfinger, by Daisy Aged 7 - and once, long ago, my first story to appear in print, back in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #30 - should be appearing behind that lovely bit of artwork sometime soon.

Last, there's First Date, another older tale and beyond doubt the kinkiest thing I've written, so much so that I was starting to think that no publisher was ever going to embrace it's take on a near future where digital smoke and mirrors can make any sexual fantasy come to life.  So special extra thank you's to editor D F McCourt at AE - The Canadian Science Fiction Review for giving it a chance; I can't wait to see what people make of this one!