Alt.Fiction 2011 - thoughts....

Hi Guys,

Apologies for not blogging sooner after Alt.Fiction - it's continued to be mighty busy, even since the event, but I did want to pop in a quick post with some of the gathered reports from the weekend. The feedback so far has been great, so we're really pleased with year number 5 and our first two day event.

A huge thanks to all the authors, speakers, publishers and volunteers that made it possible - couldn't dream of doing it without you!

Anyway, on to the reports - sure there will be a few more to follow, but enjoy in the mean time! My own reportage will follow shortly...

http://mygoditsraining.co.uk/?p=730
Andrew Reid

http://floor-to-ceiling-books.blogspot.com/2011/06/altfiction-2011.html
Amanda Rutter

http://pyroriffic.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/adventures-in-alt-fictionland/#more-520
Sarah Cawkwell

http://girlycomic.livejournal.com/148332.html
Selina Lock

http://iansales.com/2011/06/27/that-was-the-weekend-alt-fiction/
Ian Sales

http://mechanicalhamster.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/alt-fiction-report/
Gav Thorpe

http://keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/alt-fiction-2011/
Keith Brooke

http://sennydreadful.com/altfiction-2011-cakes-raffles-and-the-shepard
Jennifer Williams

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/532371-greetings-from-sunny-derby.html
SFF Chronicles Forum coverage

http://hagelrat.blogspot.com/2011/06/altfiction-2011-all-wrapped-up-almost.html
Adele Wearing/Un:Bound

http://www.colinfbarnes.com/2011/trad-publishing/alt-fiction-day1
Colin Barnes

http://grahamedwardsonline.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/the-small-but-perfectly-formed-alt-fiction/
Graham Edwards

http://networkedblogs.com/jHUCW
Kate Laity

http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/?p=2545
Adam Christopher

http://markcnewton.com/2011/06/27/alt-fiction-etc/
Mark Charan Newton

http://ileandrayoung.com/2011/06/26/my-first-literary-con/
Ileandra Young

http://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2011/06/27/confessions-of-an-alt-fiction-virgin/
Pablo Cheesecake

http://abaddonbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/pat-kelleher-reading.html
David Moore (Abaddon)

http://will-ellwood.com/2011/06/alt-fiction-2011/
Will Ellwood

http://catherinetjhill.blogspot.com/2011/06/altfiction-sunday-edition.html?spref=tw
Catherine Hill

Alt.Fiction workshops

Hi Guys,

Busy busy this week - just wanted to pop on to confirm the subjects of all the workshops taking part at Alt.Fiction. These are free with your pass, but you'll need to go and collect a free ticket from the QUAD box office, just because numbers are limited.

A whole host of interesting topics here, I'm sure you'll agree, so no doubt these will be really useful and informative!

Thanks a lot

Alex


SATURDAY

10am-11am: Workshop
Rod Rees – The All-Important First Page

11am-12pm: Workshop
Tony Ballantyne – How to Make Your Writing Boring

12pm-1pm: Workshop
Kim Lakin-Smith – Fleshing the Bones – Dark Fantasy and Characterisation

1pm-2pm: LUNCH BREAK

2pm-3pm: Workshop
MD Lachlan – A Novel in an Hour

3pm-4pm: Workshop
Colin Harvey – Creating a Science Fictional Setting

4pm-5pm: Workshop
Graham Joyce – Writing Sharp Dialogue

5pm-6pm: Workshop
Graham McNeill – Writing Battle Scenes

SUNDAY

10am-11am: Workshop
Paul Finch – Prose to Screenplay

11am-12pm: Workshop
Juliet McKenna – Every Word Must Count

12pm-1pm: Workshop
Dan Abnett – Shooty Death Kill in Space 101

1pm-2pm: LUNCH BREAK

2pm-3pm: Workshop
Jonathan L Howard – Getting a Novel Finished

3pm-4pm: Workshop
Paul Kane/Marie O'Regan – Setting and Location in Genre Fiction

Alt.Fiction raffle - the full list...

Hi Guys,

I've hinted in a number of place at some of the great prizes we have available in our raffle at Alt.Fiction, and with tickets at just £1 a strip you can be in with a chance of winning something pretty special for next to nothing.

So I thought I'd put out the full list so far, with the potential of more prizes to be confirmed yet... some awesome signed stuff and limited editions up for grabs!

LOT 1
Signed copy of City of Ruin, signed by Mark Charan Newton
Donated by Tor UK

LOT 2
Signed copy of The Evolutionary Void, signed by Peter F Hamilton
Donated by Tor UK

LOT 3
Signed copy of Wolfsangel, signed by MD Lachlan
Donated by Gollancz

LOT 4
Signed copy of Black Country, signed by Joel Lane
Donated by Nightjar Press

LOT 5
Signed copy of God Killers, signed by Liam Sharp
Donated by Liam Sharp

LOT 6
Signed copy of God Killers, signed by Liam Sharp
Donated by Liam Sharp

LOT 7
Signed copy of God Killers, signed by Liam Sharp
Donated by Liam Sharp

LOT 8
Selection of signed titles by Gav Thorpe
Donated by Gav Thorpe

LOT 9
Signed, limited edition copy of Embedded by Dan Abnett
Donated by Angry Robot

LOT 10
The entire Angry Robot library of 2011
Donated by Angry Robot

LOT 11
Signed copy of Horns by Joe Hill
Donated by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan

LOT 12
Signed copy of Surface Detail by Iain M Banks
Donated by Alt.Fiction

LOT 13
Cory Rowena Daniels' trilogy, King Rolen's Kin, with signed nameplates
Donated by Solaris Books

LOT 14
Signed hardback copy of Embassytown by China Mieville
Donated by Tor UK

LOT 15
Signed hardback copy of Embassytown by China Mieville
Donated by Tor UK

LOT 16
Signed hardback copy of Embassytown by China Mieville
Donated by Tor UK

LOT 17
Signed copy of A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Donated by Headline

LOT 18
Signed, first edition of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Donated by Headline

LOT 19
Set of signed Gollancz titles
Donated by Gollancz

LOT 20
Signed copy of The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, with limited edition t-shirt
Donated by Gollancz

LOT 21
Signed copy of Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris, with limited edition t-shirt
Donated by Gollancz

CLOSING LOTS
Prizes TBC from PS Publishing

So hopefully we'll see you there, and you'll be a winner!

Thanks a lot

Alex

Authors on Alt.Fiction

Hi Guys,

It's the Friday of what has been an extremely busy week, and there's no end to the work in sight just yet - I'll be running a Writers Development Day over at the South Holland Centre in Spalding, and I'm just a few days into a new contract on the Breath of Fresh Air project, so if anything things are still picking up rather than slowing down!

But of course a lot of the focus is on Alt.Fiction, which I'm really excited about this year. And judging from some of the online activity out there, I'm not alone in that - there's a lot of talk about the event going on, so I thought it'd be a good idea to try and gather some of it together here. I've got no doubt I've probably missed a few, and of course these are in no particular order, but do feel free to check out the word on the street :-)

Chris Wooding:
http://www.chriswooding.com/alt-fiction/

Pendragon Press:
http://www.pendragonpress.net/2011/05/18/alt-fiction/

Paul Kane:
http://www.shadow-writer.co.uk/news.html

Adam Christopher:
http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/?p=2413

Alastair Reynolds:
http://www.wikio.com/fine_arts/books/authors/alastair_reynolds

Damien G Walter:
http://damiengwalter.com/2011/06/08/alt-fiction-2011/

Adrian Tchaikovsky:
http://shadowsoftheapt.com/blog/360

That's all from me - back to the business of emails!

Thanks a lot

Alex

Reporting in...

Hi Guys,

First of all, I know it's been far too long since I posted, but things have been c-razy busy. The events side of things have really been picking up, with plenty of things going on for Alt.Fiction as well as a few of my own ventures, and I'm also currently teaching two nights a week.

First thing to report on is last night's event with Iain M Banks - we had a great night at Leicester Phoenix Square, who were tremendously helpful both in the lead in to the event as well as on the night. We had a great crowd over over 100 people, Iain was tremendously entertaining (as always) and the whole thing had a great atmosphere and vibe about it. I arrived bright and early at 4pm, where I caught up unplanned with my old friend and colleague Damien Walter and planned with Adele of Un:Bound. Then it was on to business about 5:30, getting the Alt.Fiction table set up and checking in at Screen 1, which was a great room for the event. Iain arrived about 6pm, and no sooner had I said hello and bought a drink than he was off for a host of interviews with a number of different organisations, so you can expect to see plenty of coverage of the evening locally! Waterstones Market Street were selling our books, and they arrived shortly afterwards to get set up - they did well on the night for sales, which is always nice to see.

Iain's talk began at 7 and covered a wide range of bases, including the old question of how the 'M' in Iain M Banks originated, the roots of the idea for the Culture, favourite authors and reads and a whole host of other questions. There was also a short reading from Surface Detail, featuring a host of semi-unpronouncable names, which made the whole thing great fun.

From there, it was on to the signing session, and Iain was great with the audiences, chatting away and posing for a host of photos while signing away - and yes, the signature does include the M! We managed to wrap up about 9, at which point I had time to stop for a quick drink with Iain, Damien, Graham Joyce (who popped down for the evening) and some of the Leicester Speculators group. Unfortunately I had to slope off relatively early for my train, but overall it was a fantastic night and an event that I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

In other news, I was lucky enough to have two pieces in the Derby Evening Telegraph yesterday - one was a full interview about the success of the writing courses at QUAD, which is at http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Course-Quad-aims-turn-budding-writers-published-authors/article-3622522-detail/article.html, while there was also a piece on the upcoming Eat Your Words event at http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Book-lovers-eat-words-author-event/article-3622552-detail/article.html

Anyway, that's all for now - there's still plenty of marketing to be done!

Thanks a lot

Alex