The very, very nice folks at Fantastic Queensland who are running next year’s Natcon, Conjure, have decided to take a probably uninsurable risk with membership sales by inviting me to be their editor guest of honor. I am, of course thrilled and delighted with this, but can’t help but hope that you all won’t hold it against them, and will still buy memberships for yourselves, your friends, your family, and in fact anyone you know who might be in Brisbane at the time, or be willing to go to Brisbane just to pitch in and help. I promise to stay out of the way as much as possible, and am confident that Cory, Sean and Kim should make the trip worthwhile. See you there!

I am enormously pleased and more than a little humbled to announce that I have been awarded the Peter McNamara Award. I say awarded, because this doesn’t feel like the kind of thing you win, which tends to sound very competitive. Rather, some fine people like Van Ikin and the folks who run the award decide you are somehow worthy. I am happily mystified as to why, but would like to thank them, and Mac’s family. It’s really rather lovely.