So I was at Eastercon last weekend held at The Park Inn, Heathrow and here are some random thoughts about it.
The con was sold out with ~1300 people attending so why did only 11 people sign up to the FREE T-Party writing workshop? Are we that scary? A lot more than 11 people went to the ‘How to get an Agent’ panel, and presumably they’re all writing novels that would benefit from having their opening chapters critiqued. Did no-one look at the Con website which had details of the workshop on the front page?
The 11 people who did sign up had a very good and useful session (except for the one unfortunate no-show who got sick on the morning of the workshop). “Best part of the convention” one person said. Thanks to all the critiquers who gave their time to make it a success, especially our guests (hi Tex!).
The selection at the real ale and cider bar was excellent even if it was a bit pricey – £4 a pint is steep – but there was nowhere near enough seating around the bar.
The arrangement of the Dealers’ room was novel – there wasn’t one. Each dealer had their own small room (or shared one). Didn’t think this worked too well, it eliminated the possibilty of finding something interesting while looking for something else and it meant they couldn’t carry as much stock as usual.
Jim Butcher is a very cool guy
Really excited about the film version of ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ which starts shooting next month using Mike Carey’s screenplay.
Had a productive talk with an independent publisher who are now looking at ‘Shadows’ (the ‘faery serial killers in the New Forest’ contemporary fantasy novel).
Parking around the Park Inn is a complete pain.
Had a long-overdue catch-up with various T-Party folk and other writers I haven’t seen in a while – great to see them.
Must sign up for FantasyCon
martinowton 