My FantasyCon 2024

It’s about half six on Sunday afternoon. The last panel ended almost three hours ago. I’ve had a nap and finally have some time to write about my experience of FantasyCon 2024.

Location

This year we’re in Chester, at The Queen At Chester, the original railway hotel. It’s directly across from the train station and has been here for over 150 years. I’m staying in the extension added in the last couple of decades, originally a bank’s office building. There is a mish-mash of themes. The rooms are named after kings. I’m in the William III room. There’s a bloody great big picture of William and Mary over the bed! There are Roman inspired artifacts on one of the corridors and a courtyard garden. I should have taken some photos of that, but I might do that tomorrow and insert them after.

The room is comfortable enough, and looks lovely on first sight, but get up close and you can see the rust in the bathroom and the mould around the windows where precipitation hasn’t been wiped down on the inside. It’s a bit manky.

The food is good, but really expensive. Drinks are exorbitant, it cost almost £5 for a Bottle Green Elderflower sparkling presse last night. It was £18 for a sandwich, chips, and a pint of coke today. I feel like they’re taking advantage of us.

I went for a walk on Friday morning, around the city walls.

Panels

I wanted to go to so many different panels, but I’d have to split myself into three or four to do that. This was my schedule:

Friday

3 – 4 p.m. It’s not just writing that goes into making a book

Moderated by David Thomas Moore

Panellists: Katie Bruce, George Sandison, Jenni Coutts, Amanda Rutter

This panel covered all the other stuff that goes into producing a book – editing, cover art, organisation. There are people for everything, and building and maintaining good relationships is important for authors.

4 – 5 p.m. Planning a series: What to watch for

Moderated by Allen Stroud

Panellists: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jen Williams, Shona Kinsella, Rob J Hayes

This panel discussed the process of writing a series and the importance of balancing the individual story arc of each novel in the series and the overall story arc of the series.

5 – 6 p.m. Fantasy Readings

Rob J Hayes, Richard Sparks, Liz Cain, and, Annabel Campbell gave us readings from their current or soon to be released works.

6 – 7 p.m. Where is all the cosy fantasy?

Moderated by Gwen Frazer.

Panellists: Laura Bennett, David Green, Amanda Rutter, Kit Mallory

This panel discusses what cosy fantasy is and what are the tropes of the sub-genre.

8 – 11.30 p.m. Karaoke! I did not sing, but I had a good time watching other people sing and get drunk. There were some good singers, and some terrible ones, and we all sang along.

Saturday

I was exhausted when I got up on Saturday morning.

9 – 10 p.m. Mixing science and magic in fantasy

Moderator: Ian Green

Panellists: Liz Cain, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Helen Glynn Jones, Alice Jones

This panel talked about what science fantasy is, and how we write it.

11 a.m. – 12 noon Cosy and epic fantasy readings

Calah Singleton, David Green, MH Ayinde, and Sarah Rees Brennan

Calah Singletton and David Green read from the manuscripts they have out on submission, while MH Ayinde and Sarah Rees Brennan read from their new or soon to be published books.

Nap!

2 – 3 p.m. Expressing Queerness through writing

Moderator: El McInerney

Panellists: Mike Brooks, Sian O’Hara, Nicholas Pullen. James Bennet was supposed to be there, but I can’t remember if he was.

This panel was about Queerness in our writing and how we express it. I have known Sian since my first FantasyCon in 2021, and I met Nick on Friday out int he courtyard and we had a good chat about some really random subjects.

3 – 4 p.m. Diversity in publishing: breaking through barriers

Moderator: Sarah Elliott

Panellists: Ioanna Papadopoulou, M.H. Ayinde, S. Naomi Scott, Nick Wells

Exactly what it says on the tin, the panel talked about diversity in publishing, the barriers to authors who aren’t cishet, white, middle-class, university educated people.

5 – 6 p.m. The rise and rise of the disaster mage

Moderator: Zena Wilde

Panellists: Annabel Campbell, Jonathan Oliver, Justin Lee Anderson, Alice Jones

This was an entertaining look at ‘the disaster mage’.

6 – 8.30 p.m. Banquet. It was quite pleasant, I was full at the end. I had a couple of glasses of wine. Blame El McInerney!

8.30 – 9.30 p.m. BFS Awards

9.30 p.m – 12.30 a.m. Bar Con! After the awards, I went to the bar and got a non-alcoholic drink. I didn’t win anything in the raffle. It got too loud in the bar so I went to the lounge. About 11p.m. I considered going up to bed, but I decided to walk in the garden first, and ended up chatting with a few people for an hour or so, before finally going to my room at 12.20 a.m.

It was a very late night.

Sunday

10 – 11 a.m. Let’s talk found family

Moderator: Charlotte Bond

Panellists: Annabel Campbell, Ioanna Papadopoulou, David Green, Allen Stroud

11 a.m. – noon Beating the Neurodivergent stereotypes

Moderator: Sarah Rees Brennan

Panellists: David Green, Ben Unsworth, Dan Hanly, Ruth EJ Booth

Interesting conversation from a group of ND authors. I asked a question about what happens when big publishers decide there’s a market for our work.

I also got Silas Bischoff to sign my copy of his book, A Crow Named Torment. That’s his luxuriant hair in the photographs. He’s a weird but fun German author. Highly recommend him. I will be reviewing his book at a later date.

12 noon – 1 p.m. So you’ve found yourself in a world ruled by a dragon

Moderator: Charlotte Bond

Panellists: Eliza Chan, Mark Stay, Saskia Slottje, Helen Thwaite

This was fun, a sort of rpg about negotiating with dragons. Everyone dies. We got sweets. I laughed so hard. I reviewed a book by Mark Stay, and Helen was on my table at the banquet last night. I’ve ordered Saskia Slottje’s book. I will be reviewing it at a later date.

1 – 2 p.m. Self-publishing and how to do it

Moderator: Jen Foster

Panellists: Heather G Harris, Liz Cain, AK Faulkner, Rob J Hayes

Rob Hayes and AK were interesting and fun, but the others got a bit too ‘money focused’ for me. I left half way through. I write for fun, if I make money, that’s a happy bonus. Also, I was exhausted.

Nap!

3 – 4 p.m. The Adventurer’s Survival Guide: Overlooked items every fantasy character would need.

Moderator: Carl Bayley

Panellists: Calah Singleton, Richard Sparks, Sarah Brooks, Tej Turner

This was an entertaining way to end the weekend. I got to ask the last question: despite maps being ubiquitous in fantasy, no one had mentioned the very basic map and compass as essential tools. I was sat with Sian and a couple of people who I’ve met this weekend, but now I’m struggling to remember their names (I’ve slept) and we were being the naughty kids at the back of the class, making our own jokes.

An author brought me an arc at the end, W.P. Wiles. The book is The Last Blade Priest, from Angry Robot. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Books I’ve bought

I’ve only bought two books this year. Luna Press Publishing and Broken Binding weren’t here this year. Angry Robot didn’t have a table either but they had a couple of representatives floating around although I didn’t see any of them.

Books I’ve been given or found around the place

Items in my FantasyCon bag

There were stickers and bookmarks too.

I’ve had a good weekend, but I’m exhausted. I’m going home tomorrow. I need to eat something and come back to my room to pack. The ‘vibes’ have been different this year. This is the best FantasyCon I’ve attended. I think it’s partly because I’m feeling more confident and I’ve tried to socialise a bit, and partly the location. The organisers have done a brilliant job and the Red Cloaks worked really hard.

I’m really looking forward to next year! Brighton 2025!

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