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FanSciCon 2011
University College Dublin is hosting a new sf/f convention called FanSciCon, which will be taking place all-day on Friday, April 15th. The convention is free to enter, and the poster gives you an idea of the kinds of events that will be taking place. Guests listed are: Robert Curley, Stephen Doweny, Alan Nolan, Barry Keegan, Paddy Lynch, CE Murphy, Micheal Carroll, Deirdre de Barra, Hilary Lawler, Gar Shanley, and me. The event is in aid of Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team, which is a great cause, and members of the Team will be attending (as long as nobody gets lost up a mountain!). It looks like it will be a…
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just the facts ma'am
I’d like to add a few observations based on my last piece of detective work, and other similar projects I’ve tackled regarding re-adjusting the representation of women in creative fields. I’ve often been frustrated at how difficult it is to discover basic information like how many women work in a certain field with any accuracy. Wikipedia, for instance, is very inconsistent with its category listings, and more importantly: Women creators are often not listed in Wikipedia, or their entries are insubstantial. This exacerbates the perceived ‘lack’ of women in a field. If someone can’t Google the information and get a quick answer in the top ten entries then an assumption…
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Script Frenzy 2011
Fancy a challenge for the month of April? The annual Script Frenzy kicks off on the 1st of April (it’s no joke!), and the aim is to write 100 pages of original scripted material during the 30 days of April. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all considered.) Writers can join the web site, find other writers who are striving toward the same goal and thus encourage one other. Script Frenzy is a donation-funded non-profit and doesn’t charge a fee for participation. There are also no valuable prizes awarded or “best” scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages gains the…
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artistic inspiration
My mind is currently full of research and ideas for my next graphic novel project, which I’m writing at the moment. Whenever I do a period piece I soak up as many images from the era as possible. Most of the 1920s was a truly inspiring time – change was in the air, and the young people in particular embraced it. It absolutely was the beginning of what could be termed modern life. I’ve been looking at a lot of the artwork from the 20s, including magazine covers, and I’m entranced. The above image is the February 1921 cover of French Vogue, drawn by Helen Dryden. I love the sense…
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British women in comics
After blogging about the absence of women in the line-up of the Kapow! comic book convention I had a number of lively discussions about it. I also discovered that Mark Millar twittered about this issue back on the 7th of December 2010, when someone else pointed out there were no female guests. His response, over two tweets: You realise this is being put together by 5 women, don’t you? The reason the comic guests are mostly male is because the biggest names in UK comics are male. Who is the big british female pro they’re missing here? I’m amused by ‘the comic guests are mostly male’ bit, when the guests…
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Shadoweyes
During my recent overview of last year’s graphic novel releases for the Salon Futura podcast, I read a great deal of positive buzz about a young adult title called Shadoweyes, written and drawn by Ross Campbell. I decided to order it and give it a read, and I’m certainly glad I did. In many ways Shadoweyes is your prototypical superhero genesis story. Seventeen-year old Scout Montana is an angsty vegan who lives in a city called Dranac at some period in the future. Dranac is pleasingly reminiscent of massive city sprawls depicted in the likes of Metropolis, or 2000AD‘s Mega-City One. Scout and her best friend Kyisha live in a…
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Salon Futura podcast
Thanks to Cheryl Morgan for inviting me to be part of her online magazine, Salon Futura, this month. I participated in a podcast in which we discussed the graphic novels and/or comic book series that were published during 2010, most of which are eligible for the Hugo for Best Graphic Story. This is a relatively new Hugo Award, so this is an excellent initiative by Cheryl to boost the profile of the many fantastic publications that could be nominated. My fellow comic book enthusiasts on the podcast are Cheryl, Joe Gordon of the Forbidden Planet International blog and David Monteith of Geek Syndicate. I’m sure there are some outstanding comics…
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WexWorlds 2010
From the 26th – 28th November I’ll be a guest at WexWorlds, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction Festival in Wexford, Ireland. A .pdf of the programme is available for download, and it looks like it’s going to be a weekend packed with lots of fun events – WexWorlds is primarily focused on young people, but there will be plenty for older people to enjoy as well. It’s ideal for households of adults and children who love science fiction and fantasy literature, television and cinema. I’ll be involved in the following events: Whites Hotel: Saturday 13.00-13.50 Recommendations of the best Sci-Fi and Fantasy books of 2010 I’ll be moderating the…
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not at Bristol, alas
This weekend the Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo is taking place and I can’t attend, alas. Luckily, my compatriots in crime, Rob Curley and Stephen Daly, will be at Bristol, giving away preview issues of Róisín Dubh. Drop by the Atomic Diner stand, say hello to them and claim your copy! As long as the Icelandic Ash Miasma doesn’t change direction of course. It’s like a fickle supervillian who specialises in ruining holidays. “Ha! You are grounded! Fear my engine-clogging abilities! Cry over your unsigned collectible art!” I’m inundated with work at the moment, and tomorrow I have to attend the AGM of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters…
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horrible happenings
I’m in London at the moment, but I’ll be heading to Heathrow for Eastercon later today. Some time after 2pm this afternoon I’m back on “Arts Brew” on the Internet Radio Z103, and I’ll be discussing the forthcoming Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway, among other things. World Horror Convention in Brighton last weekend was tremendous fun, if somewhat exhausting. The samples of the Roisin Dubh comic book arrived just in time for the convention on Friday morning, and it was a real joy to hold the 10-page preview. The panel I moderated about Women in Horror was excellent: our panellists were articulate and the audience asked questions and…
