FantastiCon was Fantastic - 1

In Hull on Saturday, Fantastic Books Publishing put on the book launch to end all book launches – an SF&F Convention

FBP was launching the hardback and paperback editions of four licensed novels and an anthology of short fiction based in the universe of Elite: Dangerous, a space combat and trading online computer game.

If that reads like a bit of a mouthful, the whole day was a bit of a jaw-dropping mouthful. Never having attended a Con, and knowing nothing about the game, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as can be seen from a selection of photos there was plenty going on, and never a dull moment.

 

...a few of the Cosplayers...

...photo opportunities...



...and a fast-moving Dalek intent on chasing me round the raffle mountain.





There were also the gamers, both old school round a table...

...and 3D immersion via Occulus Rift, which unfortunately I never got to try.

Not that I'd have known what to do. And probably I would have ended up going on the stage suffering from motion sickness.

Add in X-Box consoles, Manga, Anime, and various merchandising stalls, the biggest problem was finding time to eat. This doesn't even touch the stage panels, including Dr Who actors, or the eye-opening amount of books sold, but I'll cover that side tomorrow in FantastiCon was Fantastic - 2.

Everyone was friendly and ultra chatty, and most willing to explain the inner workings of anything in words of one syllable. I had a spectacular time and will definitely be going to another.

Supermoon Monday

I managed to see the supermoon tonight, a day late thanks to the remnants of ex Hurricane Bertha tearing across the UK over the weekend. Not that I would have realised, by eye, that the moon was a waning gibbous 97.9%. It looked bright; it looked beautiful; it looked big. I’m aware that it is a mere 356,994 kms distant, instead of the more normal 400,000+kms causing it to seem up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter.

Did it help fuel Bertha? Debatable. It certainly increased the tides. Supermoons do, and it was a phenomenon understood by our ancestors – those who built the pyramids, those who built Stonehenge. Full moons played a role in ancient belief systems, in water worship, when the guardians of those health-giving Otherworld portals were believed to be able to pass from their own plane to ours. How much more powerful did they become with the onset of a supermoon?

It is this element that plays a pivotal role in the Torc of Moonlight trilogy. It fuels a need to survive in a time that lacks belief. No matter the cost.

FantastiCon in #Hull - 14 Days and Counting

Funny how life can change. One moment I'm attending Hull's FantastiCon as an inquisitive visitor, the next I'm invited to participate on a panel!

On 16th August the Mercure Hull Royal Hotel will be the venue for an SF/F and gaming extravaganza hosted by Fantastic Book Publishing. It's part of its launch for its Elite: Dangerous tie-in novels that seems to have taken on a life of its own and now includes Cosplay, RGP Gaming, Dr Who actors and an I-AM-A-DALEK, independent films, a Star Wars speeder bike complete with a green screen,  R2D2, and...er... me.

I'm on a panel with Stuart Aken and JS Collyer talking about our books. For obvious reasons I shall be concentrating on the Torc of Moonlight trilogy, and this is where I really should have written faster as those taking notice will recall that only books 1 and 2 are available.

And Cosplay? If there are any Roman legionaries attending, do call by the author table. Other than that, what costume to wear for a Celtic water deity? I knew I should have bought that torc when I saw it advertised.

If you're on Facebook, FantastiCon has an Event Page, a link to the Programme, and as can be seen below, a rather eyebrow-raising YouTube trailer. I think I need to raise my game.

York’s Street Entertainers – Present & Past

In York recently, I paused to consider the many street entertainers in the pedestrianised city centre. 

The singers and musicians were very ‘now’, even if the electric jazz close to the striped awnings of market stalls in Parliament Street was wonderfully mellow to the ear. Beneath the shading trees in Saint Sampson’s Square we stopped for refreshment and to listen to alternating guitarists with voices as languorous as the summer heat. Walking along mediaeval Stonegate, teeming with locals and visitors, fleeting strains from an unseen saxophone teased the ear.

With a nod to the Minster, we turned into Low Petergate, an even narrower mediaeval street following the course of the Via Principalis of the Roman fortress beneath its foundations. Here we came face to face with a man dressed in as near as modern motley as it’s possible to get, his concentration on elaborate body movements as he manoeuvred a crystal gravity ball to the fascination of onlookers.

But it was in King’s Square where the true action was taking place. A master of his audience, a fire-eater was rousing the crowd prior to juggling burning brands blindfold.

Market stalls and street food, itinerant entertainers... today, 500 years ago, a millennium past, two millennium even, all that would be different would be the dress of the audience. It makes a historical novelist content.