Yesterday was all about the travelling thing. I didn’t sleep well, so was awake early. I finished packing, kissed the family and said farwell (with no little sense of trepidation), and got in a cab. The flights were flights. Surprisingly free wireless access at the Perth airport, a cramped aircraft from Perth to Sydney, a lousy movie with Robin Williams in it (the only kind he does these days), 45 minutes in Sydney airport, and an hour to Canberra. The evening was very nice, though. I was met by Conflux chair Nicole Murphy at the tiny Canberra airport, went to the hotel, dropped my bags in my room, and then hit the bar to see Kaaron, Graham, Simon and Ally. After a drink, we headed out for a nice meal at a local yacht club where I chatted with a lot of friends, old and new. It says something for conventions that I spent time chatting with Perth locals Dave Cake, Ian Nichols, and Dave Luckett – something that doesn’t really happen at home. I almost got to chat with Trudi Canavan – we know each other from Eidolon days – but did get to talk to Trevor and others. After a late night drink, it was off to bed. Of course I’m up too early this morning, but that’s cons. Breakfast soon, then a lunch with the gang. Should be good.
All posts by Jonathan Strahan
Gone
From about 8am on Thursday I’ll be gone. I spend a good chunk of today travelling to Canberra, and then I’m in Canberra till late on Tuesday evening. If you need to contact me, I’ll be sporadically available on email (I’ll try to check it early in the morning and late at night). If it’s super-urgent, I’m at Conflux staying in the Con hotel. But let’s not have super-urgent, if that’s ok? I’ve just survived one case of that on Wednesday morning, and I really would rather not do it again any time soon.
Currently…
…I am :
- suffering from a sore back;
- packing to go away;
- listening to The Weepies (crap name, great music, click on the link to listen);
- watching The West Wing;
- reading Jim Butcher (cos I can!); and
- drinking Laphroig.
Life is complicated, but mostly good. See you in Canberra.
Before the party
This morning Sophie and Jessica have two birthday parties to go to. While Jessica was at unigym, Sophie and I goofed around and took some photos. Here’s one.
Sophie says: “Daddy and me took photos in the morning. From Sophie to Nanny Ellen & Daddy. Love Sophie & Daddy.”
Conflux schedule
I have my schedule for Conflux. I fly into sunny Canberra on Thursday, and will be there till Tuesday. These are the events at the Convention I’ll be on. I will be around the whole weekend, though, so please feel free to come up and say hi. In terms of events, I’m most excited about doing the kaffee klatche (If you edit anthologies or want to, please come along. There are so few places where you can discuss editing anthologies, so this should be interesting. Note: This won’t be about writing for anthologies or how to sell stories to them. It’ll be about the nuts and bolts of anthology work.) and the conversation with Terry. I think it should be a very interesting weekend. See you there!
Friday, September 28
7.00 pm: Opening ceremony (with open mike readings)
9.30pm: Cocktail party
Saturday, September 29
2.00 pm: Panel – Where to start? The must-reads
4.30pm: Mass book signing
7.00 pm: Regency Gothic banquet
Sunday, September 30
10.00 am: Kaffee klatche with Jack Dann (First nine people who sign up)
3.00 pm: Panel – Zen and the art of anthology making
8.00 pm: Masquerade disco
Monday, October 1
11.00 am: GOH Spot: In conversation with Terry Dowling
12noon: (Book launch – Terry Dowling’s Rynemonn)
3.00 pm: Panel – Space opera, did it ever die? (with Kevin J Anderson, Robin Pen, Sean Williams)
4.00 pm, closing ceremony, followed by Dead Dog Party in Cahoots Bar.