This year was SciFiNow’s first FantasyCon, held mere metres from Brighton Pier on the hellishly warm and sun-kissed weekend of October 1-2, 2011.
Organised by the prestigious British Fantasy Society and with a long and equally prestigious history all of its own, we were extremely honoured to attend and be able to make our presence felt, meet some of the people who keep us in reading material throughout the year, and even more honoured still to be invited to present an award as part of the closing afternoon’s British Fantasy Awards.
Here’s what you lot thought:
“I enjoyed myself so much that now only liberal amounts of ice-cream and wine are preventing me from rocking, lonely in a corner, muttering ‘Aldiss’, ‘Abercrombie’ and ‘air conditioning’ like an incantation…”
Rhian Bowley’s blog
“I eat too much, drink too much and catch up with people who I don’t see often enough, who I admire and whose friendship is a pleasure to me…”
Simon Kurt Unsworth’s blog
“Last year I struggled to find panels to attend – this year I was full of woe about this panel clashing with that reading, or that guest of honour being put against that book launch…”
Floor To Ceiling Books blog
“I had been hearing about the convention for years through a friend who has been attending for a number of them but was always stuck on the South Coast while the drunken antics, readings, signings, chatter and further drinking took place somewhere up in the dark and unfamiliar North…”
Rob Spalding’s blog
“Bless the Royal Albion Hotel, shambling sprawl of saggy Victoriana in which no self-respecting Steampunker would ever set boot…”
Dani Ware’s blog
“I travelled on the train along the south coast on a scorching Friday morning with a case the size of a small car, wondering quite why I was all set to turn up at a conference on my own….”
SJ Higbee’s blog
“If you have any preconceived ideas about what writers might be like in the flesh, allow me to shatter those illusions for you…”
Dark Central Station
“I went not knowing what to expect or quite how to act. I ended up just being myself…”
Laura Lam’s blog
“For me, the weekend fell into three distinct phases. Phase one was arriving and catching up with lots of old friends from previous cons plus trying to identify online friends and put faces to name badges…”
Anne Lyle’s blog
“Saturday morning we set off early, the morning mist being blasted off the fields by the burgeoning sun…”
Fran Terminiello’s blog
“This year I attended many more readings than I have in the past. By a strange twist of fate, they all took place in the same location. Weirdly, it was a hotel bedroom…”
Pablo Cheesecake’s blog
“FantasyCon rocked. I mean, it ROCKED. I met PEOPLE. Real, live PEOPLE…”
Mhairi Simpson’s blog
More blogs posted when they arrive, if you find one we’ve missed leave a comment and we’ll get it added!
