FantasyCon 2009

FantasyCon 2009 is go! Just returned contract to Britannia Hotel in Nottingham and we're back there for a 4th year in September. The last Con I ran was in 2006 and we had Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker *and* Raymond Feist as guests - not sure we can top that this year, but it's early days!

Web site is still not up and running, so if you want a registration form, you'll have to email me and I'll email one straight back. Don't wait too long - you know you want to come and prices go up at the end of March ...

On Writing ...

Check out Lauri Shaw's website, where she's written up interviews with a few writers (myself included) to find out what we think about the current state of publishing. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it just the headlights of the oncoming train ...

Meanwhile over on authonomy, I've added some more samples of my work. You'll have to look up my profile (Debbie), as I can't post a direct link to it.

HarperCollins editorial review

'...very strong struff, but it’s an immensely powerful hook with which to kick off the book.'

... is what HarperCollins had to say about my psychological thriller novel Hamelin's Child, which was one of the top 5 most popular books on the Authonomy site in August, as voted by other members.

'Hamelin’s Child is well written and very engaging. You paint a clear and harrowing picture of the world of narcotics and its terrible consequences both on individuals and society at large. From the outset the reader sympathises with Mikey, and I was truly intrigued to discover what challenge he would face next - whether his sister Kate would ever be able to bring him back home.'

Great comments! All I need now is a publisher prepared to take a chance on a 'marmite' novel.

FantasyCon 2008

Just got back from this year's FantasyCon in Nottingham. A great weekend with other fantasy, sf & horror writers and fans - plus a smattering of editors, publishers and book-sellers. Talks, drinks, panels, interviews, a demon-themed banquet (yours truly spent an hour inflating helium ballooons and running round decorating tables), drinks, the Raffle (capital R intentional - you have to be there) in which I actually won some prizes for a change, and drinks. Met up with all those people I only see once a year and generally had a fantastic weekend.

News - I'm back in control-freak mode as I've just volunteered to be on next year's committee! After 2 years off, I just couldn't stay away and 2009 will therefore be my 11th convention as a committee member (including at least 3 as organiser/co-organiser). So watch this space as I will be bullying everyone I know to register and/or donate goodies. Trust me - I have no shame ...

Made the top 5 on Authonomy!

Yes, another Authonomy post, but hey - my sex-and-drugs thriller Hamelin's Child was voted as one of the top 5 best books on Authonomy for the first month! I'm thrilled to bits. It doesn't guarantee publication, but it does get me a proper reading and critique by a HarperCollins editor. Getting real live editors of the big publishing houses to read things these days is pretty rare as most of them no longer accept unsolicited submissions. So it's a step in the right direction. The book is now at number 3 in the all-time-favourites list, so go on over and have a read ...

Authonomy got serious!

Oooh - Authonomy's gone and got serious! There's now a ranking system for people and books. My sex-and-drugs thriller is currently at number 5 - which means that if it can stay there until the end of the month, there's a chance it might get read by a real live HarperCollins editor! So if you want to take a look when it's open for public viewing, head on over to Hamelin's Child. Or any of my uploaded novels, for that matter - and don't be shy in registering and recommending my stuff (you don't have to be a writer, just a reader)!

Back from Winchester

Just been to the Winchester Writers' Conference for the first time in 10 years. It was great to catch up with old friends and make some new ones. Made some good contacts, spoke to the lovely Carolyn Caughey (senior editor at Hodder), who I met at my very first writers' conference back in - ooh - 1991 and who changed my life in that she encouraged a whole group of us back then who wrote genre fiction - some of whom are now among my closest friends. Had a great meeting with a literary agent, who liked my submission and wanted to read the rest of it and also got to speak with the editor of Ebury Press' new list. Now I'd been a bit cheeky and sent something to her in advance of the conference - knowing full well that she'd be deluged with submissions afterwards and as I'd hoped, she'd spotted the word "Winchester" in my covering letter and taken my sub out of the mountainous slush pile! That's what I call pro-active, so I just hope she reads it and likes it now.

What else did we do? Succeeded in being in the first 5 of every queue for meals, despite just about every event over-running. Oh and managed to sneak out of the big dinner before the speakers started - not that I didn't want to listen, but the room was so hot and we'd already been sitting there for 2 1/4 hours.

And the best bit was going to the talk by the Authonomy crew and finding that Kate not only recognised me from the site, but had just added my book to her bookshelf. The system works!

So I have a busy few weeks ahead. Contacts to follow up and subs to prepare. Plus I have to make a load of gemstone jewellery for the village fair, help do the admin for the village fair, process 60+ orders for new Telos books, sort out all my daughter's end-of-term trips, concerts & what-have-you and I guess I'd better squeeze work in somewhere too. And the pile of washing since the machine was out of action for a week ... But I'm getting boring now.