The programming folk have released the schedule for Aussiecon4. I believe it’s tentative at this stage,  and unfortunately I’m unable to make a number of the events they’ve proposed for me. I hope some or all of these may be able to be resolved, but at the moment this is my schedule:

• Fri 1200pm: In conversation: Ellen Datlow and Jonathan Strahan;
• Fri 3.00pm: Kaffeeklatsche;
• Sat 10am: How much science should be in YA science fiction?
• Sat 1.00pm: Did the future just arrive?: The e-book and the publishing industry
• Sun 10.00am: Predicting the Hugos: 2011
• Sun 1100am: Signing;
• Sun 12noon:  Jack Vance and the Dying Earth
• Mon 10.00am: How we edit
• Mon 11.00 am: The future of short fiction
• Mon 1.00pm: A house made from stories: Building the anthology

I’m sad that it seems unlikely I’ll be able to make so many of these events, and have my fingers crossed that at least one or two of the Monday events can be resolved.

There was a bandwidth issue with the domain that result in the site being knocked out from about 2am – 9am Perth time. My apologies to anyone trying to get to the blog, or to the podcast.  We’re back and all should be fine now.

It’s getting towards that time. If WorldCon were being held anywhere else in the world I’d be rushing around checking my bags, my passport, my clothes, my carry-on, my schedule etc etc, and getting ready for WorldCon.

Usually I’d be aiming to fly to Oakland some time in the week before the convention so I could have a chunk of time with Charles, before heading to the convention. The last time I did, or will, do that was for Denvention in late July 2008 (see earlier post). We had enormous fun, and I sold three books to Jeremy Lassen over beer on Charles’ back deck.  This time is so different.

Everything seems calm. There are five of us going to WorldCon – Marianne, Jessica, Sophie, my mother (!!), and me. It should be fun, even if a completely different kind of fun.  We’ll do stuff, see friends, and try to balance our social schedules for the five days we’re there. It’s likely to be a bit crazy, but also excellent. I can barely believe, though, that it’s only fourteen days.

Once we get back from Aussiecon I’ll make my final, final decision about Columbus and World Fantasy. Right now I’d say I’m at 10% for going/90% for skipping this year, but anything could happen.  If I don’t go this year, I’ll definitely attend the Reno WorldCon (Charles did ask me to go), and the San Diego World Fantasy next year, so it would be a win of sorts.

Other than that, my apologies for the delays with the podcast. It normally comes out Sunday, but we’ve been delayed by some issues, but hope to have something up shortly.

I’ve been meaning to do this for my own reference for a while. Mark Kelly at Locus Online publishes the annual Locus Recommended Reading Lists each year, and I’m always having to search for them. So, here’s a list:

• 2009 Recommended Reading
• 2008 Recommended Reading
• 2007 Recommended Reading
• 2006 Recommended Reading
• 2005 Recommended Reading
• 2004 Recommended Reading
• 2003 Recommended Reading
• 2002 Recommended Reading
• 2001 Recommended Reading
• 2000 Recommended Reading

You can look at is a Locus Recommends the 1st Decade of the 21st Century.

So I have the office iPad at home for the weekend again, and I find myself still in the like-not-love stage with it. The keyboard is ok, but I find myself not really wanting to type too much with it, and every now and then I come across something in flash, which it won’t play with, which is a nuisance. Still, it is pretty. If I owned the iPad I’d persist, but having the luxury to occasionally pla means I do just that. I may fall in love, but not yet.

In other news, had a nice day yesterday. Got out and socialised a bit, which I needed. Saw Alisa for lunch, then the dinner gang evening. Today is podcasting, column edits, and proposal sort of stuff. I’m behind, but still swinging.