Pugs and Ukuleles and Doctor Who

Saturday means more Bath Kids Lit Festivals events.

The first today was to see Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve  who were in Bath as part of their #PugsRoadshow tour.

I admit that I am just a little bit older than the target audience for 'Pugs of the Frozen North' but it's a lot of fun.

I haven't yet read the book but I understand that it follows the adventures of friends on a race to the North Pole, in a dog-sled pulled by 66 pugs (in warm woolly jumpers) competing with various other characters (all with splendid names, such as Sir Basil Sprout-Dumpling, and his butler Sideplate)

The event included a musical interlude with added 'Yip's from the audience, the creation and playing of a game  and a quick lesson in how to draw a pug.

I also got a lot of fun from eavesdropping on some of the conversations which various small children were having with their parents... (particularly the small boy behind me, explaining excitedly how Sarah got her Yeti Hands!

And it was very nice to meet Philip again, and to meet Sarah in person after following her blog and having  the occasional exchange on twitter.

Pugs of the Frozen North is the 3rd book these two have created together, and they are all well worth checking out, particularly if you have children!

 Then I had to dash across Bath city centre to get to the 'Writing Doctor Who' panel.

As advertised, the panel was supposed to include A.L. Kennedy, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Mark Gatiss, but it turned out that Gatiss was unavilable, so James Goss (who has written both Doctor Who and Torchwood novels, including Summer Falls) took his place. A L Kennedy has also written a Doctor WHo novel (featuring the 4th Doctor) and Cottrell Boyce wrote the Doctor Who episode 'In the Forest of the Night'

A.L. Kennedy talked about being a lifelong Doctor Who fan, and about a habit of wearing sensible flat shoes due to noticing at an early age that women wearing high heeled shoes tend to tip, or break their heels, and get killed by Daleks or other monsters..

Cottrell Boyce made the point that one of the effects of the show's longevity is that it is now written and produced and run by fans - it's basically its own fanfiction. He also said that when he was asked to write an episode, his immediate response (like everyone's, he says) was to ask whether his children could visit the TARDIS, and to accept when told they could - no questions about fees or deadlines or anything else..

There was a lot of love for Romana, and for City of  Death, and discussions about different Doctors. And of course, as soon as the panel noticed that someone had brought K9 along, the entire panel ground to a halt as K9 came up on stage...

Oh, and when you hear about a movement to have the Doctor Who theme music adapted as the new National Anthem - this is where it started..!

BristolCon

The 4th annual BristolCon took place yesterday, and this was my 3rd year as an attending member. I didn't get into Bristol quite as early as I'd hoped (thank you, projectile-vomiting cat), so missed the 1st panels, but once I was there, I enjoyed myself.

Stephanie Burgis

I attended several panels, ranging from one about toilets (and other bodily functions) in space, to Women in Sensible Armour, to apocalypses and Steampunk.(separately. There wasn't a steampunk-Apocalypse panel, or of there was, I missed it!)

I also went to the launch party for Stephanie Burgis's new book - 'A Reckless Magick', which is the third in her Regency & Magic series. It was good to meet Stephanie and to hear her read a little from the book, and the wine and home-made cookies were excellent, too!

I was lucky enough to sign up in time to attend the kaffeeklatch with Philip Reeve and Moira Young (at which Ben Jeapes was also a guest) and enjoyed the opportunity to hear them discuss their books and writing styles in a smaller, more informal setting.

Next year's BristolCon will be a week later, which I think will put it on 26th October.

(more photos on flickr)

In Which I Go to Bristol

A long time ago, I signed up to attend BristolCon, having enjoyed it last year, and then I mostly forgot about it, and suddenly it was time to go.. The con was on Saturday, in (unsurprisingly) Bristol, which is of course practically on my doorstep.

The day didn't start well. I got distracted, so was still eating toast when the train I had originally thought of left. Then having, as I thought, left enough time to get to the station, I found that Every Single Traffic Light between my house and the station (5 sets) turned red as I approached it, and just for good measure there was the driver going Very Very Slowly and then randomly changing lanes in front of me without indicating. All of which, combined with the unheard-of event of the local train arriving (and leaving) on time, resulted in my missing the next train by a whisker. I saw it at the platform as I turned in to the station car-park, and it pulled out as I parked. So I ended up on the next train, arriving in Bristol shortly after 11. On the plus side, this meant I didn't have to queue to pick up my name badge, but it did mean I missed the Welcome, the first panel, Alex Keller's reading (which I'd wanted to catch) and the start of the second panel.

However, I was able to sneak into the 'Battle of the Books' panel, which featured Bob Neilson, Steve Westcott, Dolly Garland, John Meaney and Paul Cornell, arguing for their best books (and against those picked by the other panellists), and which was moderated with Extreme Prejudice by Cheryl Morgan armed with her zap-gun.  It was highly entertaining, despite some doubts as to the existence of one of the books, and made an excellent (if late) start to my day.

Alex Keller, Harriet Castor, Philip Reeve, MD Lachlan & Alastair Reynolds

I stayed on for the next panel, 'The Genesis Panel', which started out discussing how and why novels become epics, and which featured Alastair Reynolds, Philip Reeve, MD Lachlan, Harriet Castor and Alex Keller, and included commentary about books getting split in two by publishers, and the temptation to become epic-y. Interesting stuff.

It was followed by a short reading from Philip Reeve, which I enjoyed even though it was the second time I'd heard him read the same extract. (and I still want a Samovar Hat)

I then popped out of the Con to go down to Waterstones to meet Angie Sage, who was signing there - I enjoyed meeting her, but couldn't chat for long as she had too many others wanting to buy books and yet them, signed.

When I got back I was fortunate enough to bump into Philip Reeve and Thomas Martin (and others, whose names, I am ashamed to admit,  I did not note) over coffee, and chatted for a while.

Later, I went to the 'Life Cycle of the Author' (AKA 'George RR Martin is not your bitch') panel I enjoyed Wayne Simmons' moderating, which started by asking the audience what questions they would like to hear about, and which included comments about dealing with criticism and rejection,  writing avoidance techniques, and reader entitlement. (Also the revelation from Paul Cornell that he knows people who assume that comics come to a writer with all the pictures done, and the writer simply has to fill in the speech-bubbles... !)

I would have loved to go to Mike Shevdon's panel on Archery, but it clashed with Paul Cornell's Kaffeeklatsch, so I wasn't able to. |The kaffeeklatsch was small, and I think all the better for it, as were were able to have a casual chat, rather than  a mini panel. Much fun. this was followed by the "Dude, where's my jetpack?" panel, and what was and wasn't predicted, and what we all still want..

The final panel was another difficult choice as I would have liked to go to both of the streams! I actually picked the 'storytelling or literature' one, which was included topical conversation about the Booker prize, and when is genre not genre.

After which it was time to wind up the day and go home. It would have been fun to stay and chat in the bar, and try my luck in the quiz, but it was dark, and cold..

The day ended, as it had begun, with transport issues - half the roads in Trowbridge were closed, for the carnival, but very few of them had signs anywhere useful (such as at the start of the road) to tell you - I think we had to do 2 u-turns and 2 detours before finally making it home!

all together, though, a good day. Next year, BristolCon is on 20th October. Put it in your diary.

In Which there Are Authors

I spent most of today in Bath, to attend several more events at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature, which ends tommorrow.

The first event I attended was a conversation with Philip Reeve and Geraldine McCaughrean hosted by a Daily Telegraph reporter, Sameer Rahim. Both authors seemed to be enjoying themselves..

Philip Reeve immediately made me think of the kind of dashing, if slightly rakish english gentleman whom one finds in Golden Age detective novels and adventure stories - I should love to believe that he might have arrived in a vintage Lagonda, or perhaps a bi-plane, pausing en route to solve a murder or recover the secret formula from a fiendish foreign spy. I wonder if I am letting my imagination run away with me?

*Ahem*

Back to the festival. Both authors answering questions about their writing - both agreeing that while they will generally have a clear starting point or 'trailer' for a book at the outset, neither plans the story in great detail - indeed, both commented that thos would be very boring, as you would then be writing, knowing already what the end would be!

Philip Reeve then admitted that he perhaps "ought really to be writing historical novels, but can never be bothered to do all the research" whereas with his 'Mortal Engines' books he can pick the elements he wants from the Victorian era.

Both authors read short extracts from their new books - The Death Defying Pepper Roux and Fevercrumb (both of which I now want to read) before taking questions from the audience.

When asked for advice about becoming a write, McCaughrean's response was "lock yourself in a small room and then eat the key, because, frankly, we don't want the competition"... (followed up with some more ..conventional.. advice about telling the stories you want to tell, and the usefulness of getting feedback, (with reference to writing fanfic, and other online writing)

All in all, a well spent and entertaining hour. Followed by both authors signing, after which I moved on to the next event, which involved Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart.