My sleeping beauty story

I’m not a romantic… my husband will vouch to that, but please note that this, is going to be a romantic post. It is Valentine’s day this weekend, after all.

I wanted to tell you about the story behind the dedication in my book, Sun: Queens of Earth. Here’s a snapshot of the dedication, and in case you still can’t read it, it says: “For Kenneth, who didn’t try to wake sleeping beauty, instead he joined her in dreaming”.

As Sun was my first book published, I had a real headache trying to figure out if I wanted to put in a dedication, and if so, who it should be for, and what should it say. I originally settled for no dedication, then realised that I was being silly, and that I really needed to dedicate the book to my husband, Kenneth, since he has put up with my creative madness for so so many years (twenty years so far, to be precise).

Once that was settled, I came up with all sorts of dedications; funny, weird, inside-joke ones, lovey-dovey ones, loads! But, it was just a couple of days before the book went into production that I came up with the dedication that you see above, that made it through.

I met Kenneth when I was sixteen. He was seventeen. We went ‘steady’ (as you did when you’re teenagers in the 90s) and dated all through the last six months of his high-school that year. At the end of that year, he gave me his year-book to sign (I still had another year to go), and in it, I wrote a little story.

I told the story of sleeping beauty (me – I love sleeping), waiting for her prince charming to come and break the spell that was placed on her. Three princes arrived, and fought to kiss her. The first had extremely bad breath. His kiss was so vile that he woke her immediately. Jarred awake, she slapped him before falling straight back to sleep.

The second prince was Patrick Teoh. Back story: Patrick Teoh is an ex-Malaysian newscaster who was prolific in the 90s and advertised for Clorets, the breath mint.

Prince Patrick Teoh rocked up to sleeping beauty, confident that his breath was minty-fresh (thanks to Clorets). He placed his lips over sleeping beauty’s, but before they even touched, she snapped awake and slapped him in the face. Before he could even ask why, she shouted, “I hate breath mints!” before falling straight back to sleep. (And yes, I hate breath mints.)

The third prince (Kenneth, of course), somewhat shocked at the reactions the other two got from sleeping beauty, moved cautiously, but surely towards her. He placed a hand gently behind her head and leaned in to kiss her. To everyone’s surprise, he drooped forward as soon as their lips touched, where they lay side-by-side, fast asleep in dreaming, for the rest of their lives, happily ever after.

That was probably my first written piece of fiction that was read by someone other than my friends. Kenneth’s mum read it, lots of his friends did too, and I remember being anxious, but proud of my little story.

So, you can imagine how pleased I was to be able to give sleeping beauty another appearance, now, in my first published novel, to rightly represent the gratitude and love that I have for my husband, partner, best-friend.

Thanks Kenneth. Happy Valentine’s. x

Two of us, dreaming, happily ever after

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Month

Excuse me, First of December. A word, if I may, please. You know you’ve come too soon, right? Yet you’re just on time. How do you do it?

At the eleventh hour of the eleventh month, I sat down, fingers poised over my keyboard, brains searching for news on what’s gone on in the month that has flown by like my friend, Terry the Pterodactyl, I realised that it was a month jam-packed with goody-goodness.

Starting with NaNoWriMo that was for me, more successful than the years before, but still unaccomplished. It taught me that I’m not a disciplined writer, but one who intertwines work with writing, with life. I say this positively as I know what it takes for me to finish writing a book, and I also know that I’m driven to keep writing. At this year’s NaNoWriMo, I celebrate the fact that my first book, that I had started writing at NaNoWriMo two years ago, is published, and is doing well out there in the big bad world. If it doesn’t sound too weird, I would love to say a quick ‘well done’ to Sun. And ‘thank you’ too, for making me a happy author.

November also saw my Goodreads Giveaway campaign for Sun. I had expected a couple of hundred requests for the entire campaign, and was blown away by the final 1,313 requests! I packaged up the signed copies of Sun and had them sent off to Melitta and Pat in Canada, and Debra in America. I’m so excited that they will be reading Sun, and hopefully some of the 600 people who have added it to their ‘to-read’ list will be doing just that too.

Having thought about my books, I turned to an older project of mine – Earth.0. Do you remember it? A transmedia science fiction project, I pulled out Earth.0’s old files and creations that were collaborations with other writers and artists for a bursary application to The Writing Platform. The bursary interested me as it provides a chance for a writer to partner up with a technologist to create new writing projects that doesn’t conform to traditional mediums. It made me think about my research in the areas of ‘experiencing text’ and got me excited about continuing with that work.

Finally, November also saw ‘Parliament Week’ – a week of Outreach by the Parliament, and notably (for us science fiction-ers anyway), the #SciFiParl event, where we got to hear and discuss what parliament in a hundred years would be like. Though visions were mixed, some bleak, others bleaker(!), there was an underlying theme of democratic reach of knowledge and access to vote, connecting every person in the country. This made me think that the powers of the future will not be with the politicians, or those with money, but those who control the data flow.

Something for you to ponder upon as you head to the shops to buy the next gadget for Christmas…while I switch off the laptop and head to my kitchen for coffee and biscuits. This talk of elevenses is making me hungry.

Coffee and breakfast rolls by @kenephatfingers

I’ve been Conned and I love it!

Last weekend saw my initiation into the world of LonCon3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon) held in ExCel, London. It was an amazing experience where ten thousand science fiction fans came together in our various guises as writers, artists, readers, booksellers, cos-players, and many more. Our one similar passion being SFF.

I had no idea what to expect and was quite nervous, thinking of the crazy comic cons in America, but I was pleasantly surprised at how warm and welcoming the WorldCon community was.

THREE-IN-LINE

I arrived on the first day, Thursday, to find a long snaking queue, looping on the first floor where there was the Level 1 boss waiting at the end. After defeating the boss (you just needed to nod politely), we were allowed downstairs to Level 2, where a chat and a toffee later, we reached the minions who guarded the rectangle portal keys that you had to fight them for. Thankfully, if you waved an identity card and said your name, they became bewitched with the impossible combination of the sight and sound of the powerful words that were bestowed upon us during our first breaths. In their trance, they would confirm our bookings, and proceed to present us with the portal key, inscribed by the WorldCon elves, hung on a chain that was weaved with the bluest threads of seas and skies, in a likely land called China.

So, I got my pass, my LonCon3 guides, and I felt lost. There was ExCel, brimming with activity and people, and there was me, with my bad sense of direction and a list of things I wanted to do, but I didn’t know where!

I managed to find Big Green Bookshop‘s stall at the Dealers’ Zone and dropped off my books for sale there, then I went off to get myself orientated. I sat in for a couple of panels and met up with some friends, before heading home to prepare for my two panels the next day.

I got to meet Karrie Fransman at her session on ‘Experimenting With Comics’ and was completely bowled over by her work. It was an inspirational session that got me to dig out my iPad and stylus on the way home to start scribbling and drawing again.

SUN’S DAY OUT

On Friday, I had my assistant (aka husband) with me and we arrived a little earlier to check mosey around. That was when SUN had fun with some of the props.

 

 

Can you spot SUN?

 

 

 

 

We sat in for a panel, then went to the auditorium to catch some of the orchestra rehearsal. They sounded and looked great! However, a fellow audience at the rehearsal stole the show, as he was a telepresence robot, having a stroll around the auditorium. I guess it was just apt, it being a Science Fiction convention and all!

My first panel participation was that evening, on a talk called ‘Cities: Where, Who, Why?’ 

It was a very interesting discussion about literary cities and their places in our stories. How cities are characters themselves.

Fellow panellists (L-R): Michael Underwood (moderator), Zen Cho, Ian McDonald, Francis Knight, me, Candas Jane Dorsey.

I was a little annoyed for not being able to spend time mingling after the panel as I had to run to my next panel discussion, but I was on a high, coming from a brilliant talk and going to another. Thank goodness the rooms were close together.

My second panel discussion was on ‘Comic Book Networking: It’s Not Just The Interwebs’

Many writers, artists, and readers find comic book networks a closed community that seems impenetrable. On this panel, we talked about how all of us had different experiences in getting into comics, and that it isn’t scary, or difficult. In fact, it’s an extremely friendly community!

Fellow panellists (L-R): David Baillie, Lynda Rucker, Maura McHugh (moderator), Meg Frank, me

As it was the end of the day, we grabbed a quick beer to chill before heading back home to recharge over a burger and a large milkshake.

WHERE FANS RULE

Saturday saw me heading to LonCon3 without my trustee assistant. Well, I gave him the day off since I didn’t have any panels to do and was going to spend the day being a fan! I attended ‘Revealing the Real World Through Comics’, where I learnt about how the medium allows for some very difficult but meaningful stories in true life to be told, and to be accepted. Then, there was ‘We Need To Talk About TED’, which interested me since I wrote my MA dissertation just two years ago about TED Talks. There is clearly still a real issue about the commodification of knowledge.

I met up with Mike Carey, who is a true inspiration in my journey in becoming an author. When I grow up, I would love to be even just a little bit like him. If you’ve seen my book, you would’ve noticed his quote on the cover/blurb.

I met many other authors that day, sat in for readings, shared the Green Room with George RR Martin, and laughed and played with the gods of SFF. It was a memorable day for me, the fan, in this precious world of science fiction!

SUN DAY

Nervous as a giggly school girl, with my assistant in tow, we headed to ExCel ready for my first ever signing session! Before that though, I managed to catch half an hour of the panel on ‘Writing and Pitching Comics’.

My first ever signing session was an unforgettable one for me, as I was humbled by the amount of support I got from friends and family, and WorldConners. The hour and a half went by quickly, with chats, photos, and laughter, and more than a few books sold.

    

 

We managed to grab some lunch with friends before my next and final panel for LonCon3, which was on ‘SF/F Across Borders’.

This was a lovely panel to end my LonCon3 experience, as amongst all of us in the room, it was clear why SFF is such a binding genre. Our differences brings us together, and the SFF platform we choose allows us to talk about these differences. Everyone of us on the panel had lived in at least three countries, and are at home now in places that we weren’t originally from. A clear message that stories do resonate across boundaries, cultures, and languages.

Fellow panelists (L-R): me, Glenda Larke, Stephanie Saulter (moderator), Suzanne van Rooyen, Jesús Cañadas.

The conversations flowed even after the panel, and through dinner for some of us, where the Chinese restaurant became shelter for hungry Con-ners. We gobbled down our rice and noodle, missed the Hugo Awards, but caught the best thing to end our experience at LonCon3 with, a reading of a ghost story by Mike Carey.

By the time we got home, the sun was hiding and the Hugo Awards were announced. A long, satisfying day and weekend at LonCon3, leaving us wanting more, and looking forward to next year’s WorldCon.

MUN-DAY

I stayed home on the last day of LonCon3, buried under piles of emails and manuscripts to edit, but I was brimming with energy to write, to create, to tell stories. Thank you LonCon3 for an amazing experience. Let’s hope that LonCon4 won’t take that long to come.

In the meantime…hello Sasquan!

World Science Fiction Convention, LonCon3!

August sees the arrival of the World Science Fiction Convention or WorldCon to London (#LonCon3) for the third time in 72 years, and it’s on track to become the biggest WorldCon outside the USA. I’m proud to say that it’ll be my first WorldCon, of many! It will be running from 14-18 August, so make sure it is in your diaries.

In the past couple of months, I have been receiving news from the LonCon3 team about the draft programme which I will be involved in, and I have been gradually getting more and more excited and nervous! It is going to be amazing to be able to participate on three panels, and have my own autographing session too. Thank goodness my book, Sun: Queens Of Earth, will be published in August, eh?

So, here are the sessions that I’ll be involved in, and if you’re at WorldCon too, do come and say hi! If you’re interested in coming along, membership, day passes and hall passes are still available on the LonCon3 website. *Friends who would like to come and support me during my autographing session on Sunday should consider the hall pass at £15.