Tag Archives: Writing

Despatches from World Fantasy Conference 2025: Day 3 – Saturday 1st November 2025

I woke up feeling off so I had a steady morning and made my appearance at the con hotel in time for my second panel – Queer in Fantasy at noon. It was supposed to be streamed but staffing changes prevented it. Sian took another picture of me. I’m pointing at the book on the table, it’s I Want That Twink Obliterated from Bona Books. I was expressing my excitement.

Chris McCartney, Katie Bruce, and Christopher Caldwell were also on the panel, which was moderated by Burdock Broughton, who writes as April Steenburgh. I was beginning to feel unwell so I didn’t have much helpful to add. I mainly listened to everyone else and asked for a list of the books they’d all recommended. People have said that I made good comments but I have my doubts. I was overwhelmed and had brain fog for most of it.

After this panel I went to the quieter area and did some embroidery. I also made a quick visit to the dealer’s room to buy a book from AK Faulkner, Blind Man’s Wolf, and then planned to head to the ‘Creative Lives’ panel, but I got into the room and the bright lights were too painful, so I sat in the dark corridor, ate my sandwich and read Blind Man’s Wolf.

I attending the only reading I’ve been to this con, by Stephen Cox and AK Faulkner. Stephen Cox read from his Sapphic Victorian murder mystery, The Crooked Medium’s Guide to Murder, while AK read from Jack of Thorns and Blind Man’s Wolf.

After that I attended the ‘The Role of Reviewers’ panel in the same room. As a reviewer I was interested in how others saw their role, and also I didn’t need to more from the sofa I’d taken up residence on. Then I moved on to the Academic Hour, and listened to early career researchers talk about their research. The talk about Romanian folklore in fantasy was particularly interesting.

At six in the evening my throat started to feel scratchy, and I coughed my way through the ‘Editing and Editors’ panel. Luckily I was at the back and out of the way so I don’t think I bothered anyone. It was interesting, but by this point I was not able to take a lot in. I learnt that editors generally want the best for the writers and there is tension when they work for publishers because they have to balance the demands of publishing as an industry with the needs of the writers they work with.

At 7 p.m. it was the charity raffle. This is a Fantasycon tradition and stalwart Red Cloaks Babs and Marleen came through once again. They announced the ‘big prizes’ and were drawing the smaller prizes afterwards. I didn’t win anything.

Finally, at 7.30p.m. I made it up to the main room for the British Fantasy Awards. The awards were streamed although there were some technical difficulties.

The Aldiss Award – The Dance of Shadows, by Rogba Payne

This is a new award, organised in partnership with the BFS, BSFA, and UKIE to recognise excellence in World Building in Speculative Fiction, whether in books or games. It was presented by Brian Aldiss’ son, Tim.

The BFS awards were compared by Joanne Harris after Tim and Allen finished talking. I’m going to share the results, which are now available on the BFS website.

Best Anthology – Bury Your Gays – An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, Sofia Ajram, Ghoulish Books

Presented by Joanne Harris, and collected on their behalf by same.

Best Artist – Kelly Chong

Presented by Vincent Chong, five time winner of the award and Guest of Honour, who also read out Kelly Chong’s acceptance speech.

Best Audio – Breaking the Glass Slipper

Presented by BFS Secretary David Green, and collected by Lucy and Charlotte. Megan is in Italy.

Best Collection – Elephants in Bloom by Cecile Cristofari – Newcon Press

I judged this one so I already knew the winner. It was actually the first award to be presented after the Aldiss Award, but I’m working through a pre-printed list. The award was presented by Anne Landmann and collected by the author.

Best Fantasy Novel (The Robert Holdstock Award) – Masquerade, by O.O. Sangoyomi – Forge Books/Solaris

This award was presented by the venerable Suniti Namjoshi, a Guest of Honour at the Convention. It was collected by someone I vaguely recognise but I don’t know their name.

Best Horror Novel (The August Derleth Award) – My Darling Dreadful Thing, by Johanna van Veen – Poisoned Pen Press

This award was presented by Lee Murrey and accepted by the author.

Best Independent Press – Flame Tree Press

Award presented by BFS Deputy Chair (and my friend) Sian O’Hara. Award accepted by the ever delightful and eloquent Nick Wells.

Best Magazine/Periodical – ParSec

Presented by BFS Chair and excellent author, who’s new book I will be reviewing 6th December, Shona Kinsella. Award collected by editor, Ian Whates.

Best Newcomer – Frances White – Voyage of the Damned – Penguin Michael Joseph

Award presented by Taika Bellamy and collected by the author. I reviewed Voyage of the Damned and enjoyed it, but after listening to the Christophers at the Queer in Fantasy panel I’m wondering about the validity of m/m romance written by women. Who is the target audience?

Best non-Fiction – Queer as Folklore: The Hidden Queer History of Myths and Monsters – Sacha Coward – originally Unbound, now Manchester University Press

This award was presented by the formidable Farah Mendelsohn, and accepted by a stunned Sacha Coward, who swore quite a bit.

Best Novella – The Last To Drown, by Lorraine Wilson – Luna Press Publishing

I’m not entirely certain who presented this one, but it was collected by the author.

Best Short Story – Loneliness Universe, by Eugenia Triantafyllou – Uncanny Magazine

This was presented by Ian Whates and collected by a representative.

BFS Art Competition

  1. Sophie Jonas Will – Snicket and the Fireflies
  2. Madelina Gaubelonga – The Long Wait
  3. Carlie AF – Lonely Spire

The announcement was made by Jenni Coutts and the artists will have their work printed in the Autumn 2026 issue of Horizons, the BFS periodical.

BFS Short Story Competition

  1. Mull, by J.W. Anderson
  2. The Sphinx, by Marian Gordon
  3. Iterate, by Nathaniel Spain

The announcement was made by Stephen Poore and the winners will have their stories published in BFS Horizons.

The Karl E Wagner Award – Rosemary Pardoe

This award is presented for outstanding contributions to the genre, and this year’s winner was a founder member of the BFS. Shona Kinsella made the announcement.

Legends of Fantasycon – Marlene and Babs the Red Cloaks.

This award is presented to people who make Fantasycon what it is – a joyous celebration of Fantasy. The award was announced by Karen Fishwick and eventually accepted by Babs and Marlene after they’d got a pint at the bar.

After the awards I had a drink with a group of friends and headed back to my hotel because I felt unwell.

Despatches from World Fantasy Con 2025: day 2 Friday 31st October 2025

Today I was on my first panel, The Way We’re Wired, about neurodivergence in fantasy.  The moderator was David Green, and the other two panellists were Janet Forbes from World Anvil and indie writer Roxan Burley.

I was supported by a few people I know, and my friend Sian, deputy chair of the BFS, took a picture for me to commemorate my first panel.

Before this panel, I attended another panel, Mapping in Fantasy. The moderator was Adrian M Gibson and the panellists were Alicia Wanstall-Burke, James Logan, and Joy Sanchez-Taylor.

Joy Sanchez-Taylor is an academic from CUNY, James Logan is trad published, and Alicia Wanstall-Burke is indie published.

I have James Logan’s book The Silverblood Promise and I’ve bought all three of Alicia’s books based on the description of the maps. I really want one of Joy Sanchez-Taylor’s books, but academic books are expensive.

I made extensive notes on the conversation, so this is a bit of a summary.

The panel discussed their relationships to maps, expressing childhood memories of travelling with paper maps and learning to read them. For Alicia, maps also help her to write as they allow her to visualise a space and the way it effects the story. They discussed how the choices made on the presentation of a map can tell the reader something about the world. Joy Sanchez-Taylor especially emphasized the way reorientating the world can express and explore new ways of thinking.

The panel went on to discuss whether or not a fantasy needs a map. James Logan expressed that although he has maps of his world they aren’t included in his books because he likes to keep things malleable, so that he can move cities around if he needs to, giving him more options for the future. Alicia Wanstall-Burke brought up the question of who owns the map? A map might be a symbol of power or it might be a tool to navigate a territory and be subject to change as the land changes. James Logan, from his perspective as an editor in a major publishing house, expressed that it can be expensive to commission an artist and a cartographer, so changing the map for the next book in a series is not going to happen. Joy Sanchez-Taylor mentioned the importance of maps for visual learners and discussed the pressure on authors to have a defined map, but that they can have known and unknown areas so that the story world can expand.

Next, the discussion moved on to how the layout of the world affects the story. Alicia Wanstall-Burke discussed how the world can provide barriers to technology, information, and culture, and when cultures separated by the physical barriers meet, there can be conflict, and that can drive the story. James Logan likes to keep the world fresh for himself and for readers, so he sets each story in a different city, providing a sense of scale. They went on to discuss the way maps change perspective and the commissioning process.

I also attended the ‘Here be Dragons in Fantasy Fiction’ panel, (moderator: Charlotte Bond; panellists: Aliette de Bodard, Michael R Miller, Andrew Knighton). It was fun listening to other people who love dragons as much as I do, and I’ve got two of Aliette de Bodard’s books in my Amazon basket now, because Dragons and their murder husbands…

I attended Stewart Hotston’s book launch, and got myself a signed copy of Project Hanuman.

In the evening I attended the Disability in SFF panel, moderated by Annie Summerlee, with panellists Lizzie Alderdice, Susie Williamson, Katie Bruce and Kit Whitfield. I know Katie Bruce and Kit Whitfield and wanted to support them, as well as being interested in what they had to say. The panel was streamed and is on the member’s area of the WFC 2025 website if you didn’t get to see it.

After that, I attended the Flame Tree book launch. We got a lovely speech from Lee Murrey, a hilarious one from Ramsey Campbell,  and an amazing reading from Anna Smith Spark.  I treated myself to a stack of books from Flame Tree yesterday, but I was tempted buy more today.

After the launch I spent several hours chatting and drinking with friends and new acquaintances, until we got chucked out of the con bar and went down to the hotel bar, until I left at 1 a.m. We’ve overwhelmed the hotel slightly, I don’t think they realised how much SFFH people like to drink.

World Fantasy Con 2025: Day 1

I have registered,  I have my goodie bag, and I have been to the dealers room.

https://worldfantasy2025.co.uk/

I wasn’t planning to buy anything today, but I gave in and spent lots of pennies visiting the FlameTree Press table, the Wizard’s Tower table, and the Portal Bookshop table, as well as a couple of indie author tables

I have pretty much spent half my book budget and may need to reduce it further to get a suitcase to take them home in.

I’ve treated myself to three notebooks from FlameTree, some teas from the Bird & Blend shop, and a pocket watch from a jewellery maker.

I definitely need a waistcoat now.

I’m having a break in hotel room. I’ll go back to the con about half four for the 5pm workshop I’ve signed up for. Until then I’m resting amd writing.

August 2025 update and news

August was a busy month, with four blog tours and going to Autscape at the beginning of the month for work. I also needed to finish a crochet project for an exhibition at TT88 on 30th August, and a short story that I needed to finish and submit to Humber SFF by today.

I’ve also been reading books for the BFS Awards. I’m a judge for the Best Collection award. My fellow judges and I decided to have a deadline of 1st September, so I’ve been fitting them in around my tours. I also needed to read a book for a tour tomorrow.

The last week of August was very successful. I completed the crochet project, finished reading three books, and the short story.

I have other news, quite big news.

I work for an organisation that supports autistic adults, and have done for 5 years, but I’ve been involved with an arts organisation for several years as well. First the gallery, Turntable, hosted my Neurodivergent History project, and then my friend started Lucy’s Art Club, and it’s gone from there. I’m now a Director of a new organisation, Purple Peacock CIC, helping disadvantaged creatives in our region. At the end of the year I’m giving up my salaried job to take on self-employed work, both independently and with Purple Peacock CIC. I want to focus on my writing and creative work. I told my employer two weeks ago and it has been a weight lifted.

I feel like I’m able to access the creative part of me that was gradually locked up by my job taking all my focus.

I’ve also made contact with the editor at Spondylux Press about doing some proof reading and editing work for them. If you’re ND and want to find a publisher, I recommend Spondylux, I met the editor at Autscape and I will be reviewing two of the books I bought at a later date. Nema (the editor) is lovely.

In addition, I am going to build on the editing I’ve done with my current employer, for a couple of projects. I’ve edited short stories for authors and an anthology of art, poetry, memoir and short stories by Autistic authors. I have decided that I’m open for business self-employed as an editor and proof reader. See here for details.

Some of my projects with Purple Peacock CIC will be managing a reference library of poetry books we inherited, running a writing café, presenting writing and editing workshops for Lucy’s Art Club, and eventually, in several years, starting a small press for local disadvantaged authors.

I plan to finish the first draft and the second draft/blog version of my Maria and the space dragons – investigation no.1 novella before the end of October.

There’s a novel I’m working on that’s only a few chapters in on the first draft. I’m planning to use up all of my annual leave in December, so I’ll have a whole, free month to write! Ahhh, it’ll be blissful!

I’ve got loads of crochet projects to do too, but they’re personal projects. However, if you want a monster crocheting, let me know and I’ll cost it for you.

Maria and the space-dragons – chapter 15, part 1

Sorry it’s taken so long for me to update the story, but I’ve been struggling with my brain weasels for months and I have been struggling to write. I’m back now! I’ve almost finished writing the first draft of this novella and I’ve started writing a novel and a short story. I’ve had some work accepted by a local LGBTQIA+ zine, and I’ve submitted a short story to a competition. I will try to update with part two in the next few days.

Chapter 15 – Maria and Sahrai meet the local sentient aliens

“Now then, McClintock, been a while. Not going up top this time ‘round?”

The man, Joshua Dalton, accosted Maria and Sahrai as the track towards the crossroads, several days after their adventures in the flyer. He stood in the road, blocking their path.

“Dalton.” Sahrai nodded sharply at the man and ushered Maria around the man.

Dalton joined them, uninvited, walking beside Sahrai, grinning at thev discomfort of his companions.

“Who’s your friend, McClintock? She’s new.”

Continue reading “Maria and the space-dragons – chapter 15, part 1”

Promo Post: Unique Minds, Ed. by Rosemarie Cawkwell

Yes, that’s me. I edited an anthology of work by Autistic people for my employer, Faraway, and now it’s ready for sale. We received funding through the Amazon Literary Partnership, and worked with Matthew’s Hub over in Hull to run creative writing groups.

Here are the details:Link:

https://amzn.eu/d/1OYN9Wr

ISBN: 9781914313073

Blurb: This anthology contains stories, poems and art by neurodivergent creatives and explores the diversity of the human mind and how art is made even more beautiful by the inclusion of voices often left unheard. The power of Autism is not one of ‘blacks and whites’, but a full spectrum of experiences that you may have yet to encounter.

The book is available as a paperback, it is currently available for pre-order with 20th July being publication day.

I have a sci-fi story in there. There are poems and art. There is a piece of memoir and several fantasy stories. I got to read a wide variety of work to as part of my editing process, and the choices were difficult to make. I decided any work by Faraway members would go in automatically, to encourage them to keep writing their stories and poetry, and creating their art.

Plus, they’re really enjoyable works.

There were one or two stories that I had to do a lot of editing on, mainly spelling and grammar. Autistic people can have idiosyncratic approaches to words and sentence structure, and I’ve tried to keep those idiosyncrasies where they make sense. Sometimes I’ve had to correct a systematic misunderstanding of sentence structure that detracts from the work but otherwise not changed anything.

I have a lot of respect for professional editors!

We’re planning to send copies to contributors and sell some copies from our office, so people in the area can buy a copy direct from Faraway. The funds raised will be used to support our work supporting Autistic adults. I’m hoping we make enough for me to restart our creative writing group.

Review: An Introduction to Fantasy, by Matthew Sangster

Format: 469 pages, Paperback
Published: September 7, 2023 by Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781009429948 

Providing an engaging and accessible introduction to the Fantasy genre in literature, media and culture, this incisive volume explores why Fantasy matters in the context of its unique affordances, its disparate pasts and its extraordinary current flourishing. It pays especial attention to Fantasy’s engagements with histories and traditions, its manifestations across media and its dynamic communities.

Matthew Sangster covers works ancient and modern; well-known and obscure; and ranging in scale from brief poems and stories to sprawling transmedia franchises. Chapters explore the roles Fantasy plays in negotiating the beliefs we live by; the iterative processes through which fantasies build, develop and question; the root traditions that inform and underpin modern Fantasy; how Fantasy interrogates the preconceptions of realism and Enlightenment totalisations; the practices, politics and aesthetics of world-building; and the importance of Fantasy communities for maintaining the field as a diverse and ever-changing commons.

Literary awards:

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award for Myth and Fantasy Studies (2024)

My Review

I’ve been working my way through this book since last October, around blog tours, getting slightly too obsessed with YouTube , and a lot of crochet. I finished the last 40 pages this evening and now I need to tell you all about it. Matthew Sangster is a product of Glasgow University’s Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, and the access to many fantasy novels and academic works show in the text. Sangster mentions works by some of the most well-known in fantasy, such as Le Guin and Tolkein, and some more unexpected authors, especially those from earlier centuries. He draws out six important points about fantasy, over the chapters of this books and they form his core arguments:

  • Fantasy arises from figurative language
  • Iteration is a defining technique – new stories build on old in new ways
  • Contemporary fantasy builds on some of the oldest forms
  • Fantasy exists in conversation with realism
  • Worldbuilding is both the prevailing metaphor of modern fantasy and used to develop plots and characters
  • Fantasy is a form practised in community rather than one by unique geniuses.

I had to read the ‘Envoi’ chapter to get that. Sangster helpfully lists these points for the reader. It certainly helps with the summary. He does try to be accessible throughout the book, and uses a lot of examples to make his points, referencing very well-known authors, TTRPG series, video games, and film franchises in the process. It was heavy going at times, but that might be my lack of formal education in Literature at University Level. My M.A. is in Creative Writing, not Literature, after all.

Sangster raises some good points, especially about the tendency of ‘literary’ culture to consider ‘genre’ fiction as lesser, as the mode of storytelling is not ‘realistic’ and therefore can’t possibly impact readers. Fantasy, Sangster argues, explores the real world using the fantastical as a foil, a universalising storytelling mode that draws on cultural language. Fantasy can tell stories in ways that resonate with people far more effectively than straight up realism. It digs down into the root, builds on older foundations and finds new ways to explore ancient concerns.

I certainly find fantasy a useful vehicle for understanding the world, particularly in the work of Terry Pratchett. Fantasy communities, whether specific fandoms, organisations for writers, or online groups (such as the BFS Discord – Join the BFS, and come to our Discord, we have quiz nights and shadow daddies!), work in dialogue with the stories and their creators. New worlds spin off from the original, and people have a shared language to communicate with, across time and culture (see: Vimes’ Boots Theory of Economics).

I found Sangster’s work thoughtful and interesting, although it is very much an academic text so possibly not something a casual reader might go for. Useful for those interested in SFFH in an academic setting e.g., if you’re doing your M.A. in Fantasy and Sci-Fi literature or as a basis for a Doctorate in the field. Yes, those do exist, and yes, they’re a bit serious. (Again, see Glasgow University).

Review: UESI, by Karl Drinkwater

Format: 136 pages, Paperback
Published: February 8, 2025 by Organic Apocalypse
ISBN: 9781911278436 

Humans designed artificial intelligences, but the AIs no longer need us. They are gods, and can create – or even recreate – themselves.

The two most advanced AIs in the universe need to rescue a friend from the clutches of their powerful enemies. Their method is to create millions of restricted, cut-down versions of themselves, to fulfil specific tasks such as generating ideas. The offshoots can be deleted once they’ve fulfilled their role.

No one gives a second’s thought to software. It’s just a tool.

Now it’s time to see inside the process.

Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

Continue reading “Review: UESI, by Karl Drinkwater”

Maria and the space-dragons investigate: Chapter 14

Right, I’m back with another instalment of the adventures of Maria and her star-dragon friends. It’s a short one this month.

Continue reading “Maria and the space-dragons investigate: Chapter 14”

Maria and the space-dragons investigate #1 March 2025 instalment

I’ve finally had a chance to type up some of the progress I’ve made on the Maria and Lah-Shah story I’ve been sharing with you for the last year (?). I have written more, but I’ve only just typed this next 2500 words up. I had two writing sessions this week, and I’ve got another this afternoon, so you might get an update before much longer. Certainly it won’t be three months this time.

I’m making this one available to all subscribers, rather than just to paid subs, because no one is paying for subs. I might go back through the posts and unlock them all.

I present to you Maria and the space-dragons investigate #1

Chapter 13 – Exploring Aurox by air – Maria

After a week staying with Sahrai, taking prophylactic medicine and observing the local life from the safety of the container house, Maria felt it was time to explore. Outside.

Continue reading “Maria and the space-dragons investigate #1 March 2025 instalment”