I travelled up with Andy Remic, which was a joy as always. We talked life, books and writing. Lots of writing. We're friends, but I also enjoy reading his work. He's a great writer with a long, established career, and it's a privilege to spend time in his company and be offered writing advice from him. (Which usually commences with 'Cameron, have you started writing a novel yet?)
A few of the friends I traditionally catch up with weren't able to attend. Work, life, and in one case an offer to watch the World Cup. To be fair, it was an offer to travel to Europe to watch it on TV and I believe beer was involved. But there were others I was able to spend time with. I saw Selina briefly before she had to leave, was able to dine with Jay, which was great as always, and met Neil, Simon and Lucy, with whom Andy and I shared a drink or two.
I met some writerly types for the first time as well. Gav Thorpe, Anna Smith-Spark, Anna Stephens, RJ Barker, Paul Tremblay, Stan Nicholls, Steve McHugh, and Adele Wearing, as well as a few others.
The panels I saw were great, I went to Andy Remic's workshop which could have been longer, and enjoyed the Gemmell Awards.
David Gemmell was a really well known fantasy author in the UK, but I'd never heard of him. Some told me his fame was limited in the US and Australia. I'm looking forward to investigating his writing.
Congratulations to Alex Davis and the team for the organisation. The weekend away inspired me. I came home and signed up for Fantasy Con in October. If you're going, it would be great to see you there. If you're not, why not?
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