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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…
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a jaunt in the UK
I’m off to Brighton tomorrow morning to attend the World Horror Convention, which should be fun. I’ll be moderating a panel on Saturday at noon, in the Russell Room, called Femme Fatales: How Can We Get More Women in Horror?, where I’ll be in the distinguished company of Ellen Datlow, Tanith Lee, Allyson Bird, Sarah Pinbourgh and Suzanne McLeod. I suspect there might be some interest in this panel. Rob Curley, my co-conspirator on Róisín Dubh, received copies of our preview issue today. Alas, it’s too late for my early flight tomorrow, however he’s posting copies to me, so I should have them before the weekend, and in plenty of…
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Golden Blasters 2010
The Irish national science fiction convention, Octocon (October 16-17), has issued a call for scripts for its inaugural short script competition. It’s looking for fantasy, science fiction or horror short scripts, less than twenty pages, and in the usual format. The fees for the competition are on a sliding scale depending on when the script is submitted: May 31, 2010Earlybird Deadline €10.00 July 31, 2010Regular Deadline €15.00 August 31, 2010Late Deadline €20.00 It has also issued a call for submissions for fantasy, science fiction and horror short films (under 15 minutes) for its second Short Film Competition. The films that are short-listed will be screened at this year’s convention, and…
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graphic preview
I’ve established a web site for the Róisín Dubh graphic novel I’m working on. I’ve been blogging intermittently about the project for the past couple of months. There’s also a twitter feed and a Facebook fan page, if you like either of those media. Artist Stephen Daly has been working flat-out, lettering and making tweaks to the final cover of our ten-page preview issue. It went to the printers on Tuesday, and I’ll be taking copies of it with me next week to World Horror Convention and then on to Odyssey 2010, so those of you attending the events should be able to get a sneak-peek I’m looking forward to…
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three things
Today will be my last appearance on “Arts Brew”, the Z103 Internet Radio Arts Show, at around 1.30pm. I’ll be wrapping up the women and horror debate, and discussing forthcoming writers workshops in Ireland. I’ve enjoyed being on the show for the last four weeks, and it’s certainly made me think a lot more about doing podcasts in the future. I’d also like to point people to the blog of UK horror magazine, Black Static, where there is a constructive post on the issue of women in horror. It offers information about the female contributors to the magazine, statistics about the books the magazine receives for review and how many…
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p-con schedule
The science fiction convention P-Con is being held in Dublin next week, and the programme of events has been released. Here are the panels I’ll be on: Saturday 10:00 Red RoomIs it time for “Return of the Werewolves”?Nick Harkaway; Brian J. Showers; Laura Anne Gilman; Maura McHugh; R.F.Long 15:00 Blue RoomSocial websites: Bane or boon in the genre fiction world?Cheryl Morgan; Colin Harvey; Colin Smythe; Maura McHugh; Laura Anne Gilman 17:00 Red RoomPictionary Sunday 12:00 Blue RoomKeyboard or pen – Room for both?R.F.Long; Oisín McGann; Maura McHugh 14:00 Blue RoomHas the Internet become indispensable?Cheryl Morgan; Bob Neilson; R.F. Long; Maura McHugh Also, I’ll be chatting on the “Arts Brew” programme…
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podcasts and plans
The podcast of my story, “The Tamga” is now available as issue 178 on Pseudopod, read by the talented Cheyenne Wright. It’s always a thrill to have my work podcast, because it gets it out to such a wide audience. Plus, the Pseudopod team produce excellent recordings. Cheyenne does a great job with the story. He’s not only a talented voice actor, he’s also the colourist for the fabulous web comic Girl Genius, which is one of my personal favourites. My own graphic novel project, Róisín Dubh, is proceeding well. Last week I had a meeting in Dublin with Rob Curley of Atomic Diner and Sub City fame, as well…
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death and taxes
It’s been a strange week. There have been two deaths, and I’ve attended one funeral (neither of the deceased were close to me, so don’t proffer sympathies), and a major row erupted in the Irish sf scene that involved a lot of people I know. My mother had been away on holiday, and she called me on Tuesday evening and asked if I wanted to go see a film. I couldn’t really spare the time. Not only did I have a funeral that was going to take up most of the following day, I was really late on sorting out my taxes. I’d been brooding on the Internet fracas going…
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BFS apologises for forgetting women
It’s worth mentioning that Guy Adams, Chair and Special Publications Editor for the British Fantasy Society (BFS), has issued an unreserved apology over omitting women from its latest collection. I’m sure he will not chastise me for replicating it in full here: Our new book, In Conversation: A Writer’s Perspective, Volume 1: Horror, edited by James Cooper, has come under justifiable flak for its all-male line up of interviewees. When James brought the manuscript to me with a view to our publishing it I know he intended no sexism in his selection of the authors but I feel deeply sorry that I didn’t flag the omission at the time. It…
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Horror wants women to scream, but not talk
This weekend the British Fantasy Society (BFS) is hosting its annual convention, Fantasy Con. Last night while on Facebook I noticed a news item, which constitutes an electronic “flyer”, about the convention. I immediately noticed the cover of a new book the BFS is launching at the convention: a collection of interviews with writers (the first in a trilogy) in which they discuss their genre. It’s called In Conversation: A Writer’s Perspective. Volume One: Horror. It’s edited by James Cooper, and is composed of 16 interviews with horror authors Ramsey Campbell, Tom Piccirilli, Greg F. Gifune, Conrad Williams, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary McMahon, Brian Keene, Stephen Gallagher, Jeffrey Thomas, Peter…
