Cold Weather, Horror and Circles in Canberra
June 9-12 saw people from all over Australia (and a few from overseas) converge on our nation's capital for the third annual Conflux convention.
Now this is a mostly sci-fi/fantasy based convention.
I'm not a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan. Never have been. I started reading horror when I was a young lad, and that's where my passion lies. However, I decided to attend this convention for two reasons.
One was that it would give me a chance to take a gander around Canberra, a place I hadn't been since 1989 on a family holiday (and even then my most vivid memories were watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at a very empty theatre, and throwing up one morning while staying at some budet motel).
So I thought it was high-time I checked out the sites of the political hub of Australia.
The second reason was that the first two books of the now defunct 'Dark Suspense' series from Lothian Books (www.lothian.com.au) - Carnies (www.martinlivings.com) and Prismatic (www.tabula-rasa.info/EdwinaGrey) - were to be launched. I thought it a great opportunity to not only meet some of the authors (the three Prismatic authors, David Carroll, Kyla Ward and Evan Paliatseas, as well as the author of The Darkness Within, Jason Nahrung - (www.jasonnahrung.com - whose book is scheduled to be released early next year) but to support local horror.
So, along with my lovely wife (who I had made a promise to spend a lot of time with sightseeing around Canberra), we drove up the Hume (where my latest novel The Mother is set) and, after an exhausting eight-hour drive, got into Canberra around six o'clock at night.
Now, driving to any unfamiliar place can be daunting, but as well as getting in when it was dark, Canberra is made up of a lot of circular roads, so this made arriving at Canberra a not very pleasant experience - we got lost, twice, but eventually made it to the convention hotel (Rydges Lakeside, located on the London Circuit - that's the outer circle, kiddies, not the inner, which can be very confusing and totally frustrating when you find yourself going 'round and 'round on the inner, and trying to get to the outer).
But, we made it to the hotel, already a little mad at out nation's capital.
Now, I'm not going to give a day-by-day, blow-by-blow run-down of my time at Canberra (which sould be renamed Coldberra - boom tish!). Not only would it bore you, the reader, but, quite frankly, I can't be bothered writing all that.
So, I'll just list some of the highlights:
*Visiting the war memorial. The memorial itself - the eternal flame and the walls commemorating the dead - is powerful and beautifully simple. The war museum is fascinating, but exhaustive. You'd need either all day (and even then you'd be buggered and your eyes strained from reading all the information pertaining to the exhibits) or do the museum in two lots. And that's no problem because, incredibly, it's free to look around the museum.
*The joint book launch of Carnies and Prismatic. It was disappointing that certain ex-Lothian people couldn't be there, but it was still a nice time. I got to meet my fellow Lothianites (minus Martin Livings, currently in London), and people I've spoken to via the web, such as Rob Hood (www.roberthood.net whose first words to me were 'You sick bastard'; hehe, thanks Rob, you're words meant a lot to me). It was nice to catch up with Marty Young - president of the Australian Horror Writers Association (www.australianhorror.com), and Bill Congreve, of MirrorDanse Books (www.tabula-rasa.info/MirrorDanse). And to meet Lee Battersby (congratulations!), and Angela Challis and Shane Jiraiya Cummings from Shadowed Realms (www.shadowedrealms.com.au/main.htm). So it was a good mix of horror people - a nice change, I must say, from the sci-fi/fantasy heavy vibe of the convention. My main disappointment - and this is my fault, being a fairly shy person - was that I didn't get to introduce myself to Ellen Datlow, who was kind enough to give her time to be at the launch.
*Hearing from David and Kyla that they saw Carnies and Prismatic at the local Dymocks in Canberra.
*Showing Michelle, on the way home, Lake Mokoan, which plays an important part in The Mother. It was great for me, also, seeing the lake on a clear day. Last time I saw it, it was surrounded by fog, so I got to see the lake in all its glory, which, though not quite as creepy, was still a horrible/wonderful sight.
And that's pretty much it. I didn't spend a lot of time at the convention. And besides, there wasn't the party atmosphere of a World Horror Convetion. True, I did feel a little out of place at a sci-fi/fantasy con, and because a lot of the panels/events happened at the National Museum of Australia, rather than the hotel, you couldn't just head down to the bar and start chatting to a fellow con-attendee.
But it was still worthwhile, and at least I learned one important thing - Canberra's a nice place to visit, but I'd never want to live there.
Now this is a mostly sci-fi/fantasy based convention.
I'm not a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan. Never have been. I started reading horror when I was a young lad, and that's where my passion lies. However, I decided to attend this convention for two reasons.
One was that it would give me a chance to take a gander around Canberra, a place I hadn't been since 1989 on a family holiday (and even then my most vivid memories were watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at a very empty theatre, and throwing up one morning while staying at some budet motel).
So I thought it was high-time I checked out the sites of the political hub of Australia.
The second reason was that the first two books of the now defunct 'Dark Suspense' series from Lothian Books (www.lothian.com.au) - Carnies (www.martinlivings.com) and Prismatic (www.tabula-rasa.info/EdwinaGrey) - were to be launched. I thought it a great opportunity to not only meet some of the authors (the three Prismatic authors, David Carroll, Kyla Ward and Evan Paliatseas, as well as the author of The Darkness Within, Jason Nahrung - (www.jasonnahrung.com - whose book is scheduled to be released early next year) but to support local horror.
So, along with my lovely wife (who I had made a promise to spend a lot of time with sightseeing around Canberra), we drove up the Hume (where my latest novel The Mother is set) and, after an exhausting eight-hour drive, got into Canberra around six o'clock at night.
Now, driving to any unfamiliar place can be daunting, but as well as getting in when it was dark, Canberra is made up of a lot of circular roads, so this made arriving at Canberra a not very pleasant experience - we got lost, twice, but eventually made it to the convention hotel (Rydges Lakeside, located on the London Circuit - that's the outer circle, kiddies, not the inner, which can be very confusing and totally frustrating when you find yourself going 'round and 'round on the inner, and trying to get to the outer).
But, we made it to the hotel, already a little mad at out nation's capital.
Now, I'm not going to give a day-by-day, blow-by-blow run-down of my time at Canberra (which sould be renamed Coldberra - boom tish!). Not only would it bore you, the reader, but, quite frankly, I can't be bothered writing all that.
So, I'll just list some of the highlights:
*Visiting the war memorial. The memorial itself - the eternal flame and the walls commemorating the dead - is powerful and beautifully simple. The war museum is fascinating, but exhaustive. You'd need either all day (and even then you'd be buggered and your eyes strained from reading all the information pertaining to the exhibits) or do the museum in two lots. And that's no problem because, incredibly, it's free to look around the museum.
*The joint book launch of Carnies and Prismatic. It was disappointing that certain ex-Lothian people couldn't be there, but it was still a nice time. I got to meet my fellow Lothianites (minus Martin Livings, currently in London), and people I've spoken to via the web, such as Rob Hood (www.roberthood.net whose first words to me were 'You sick bastard'; hehe, thanks Rob, you're words meant a lot to me). It was nice to catch up with Marty Young - president of the Australian Horror Writers Association (www.australianhorror.com), and Bill Congreve, of MirrorDanse Books (www.tabula-rasa.info/MirrorDanse). And to meet Lee Battersby (congratulations!), and Angela Challis and Shane Jiraiya Cummings from Shadowed Realms (www.shadowedrealms.com.au/main.htm). So it was a good mix of horror people - a nice change, I must say, from the sci-fi/fantasy heavy vibe of the convention. My main disappointment - and this is my fault, being a fairly shy person - was that I didn't get to introduce myself to Ellen Datlow, who was kind enough to give her time to be at the launch.
*Hearing from David and Kyla that they saw Carnies and Prismatic at the local Dymocks in Canberra.
*Showing Michelle, on the way home, Lake Mokoan, which plays an important part in The Mother. It was great for me, also, seeing the lake on a clear day. Last time I saw it, it was surrounded by fog, so I got to see the lake in all its glory, which, though not quite as creepy, was still a horrible/wonderful sight.
And that's pretty much it. I didn't spend a lot of time at the convention. And besides, there wasn't the party atmosphere of a World Horror Convetion. True, I did feel a little out of place at a sci-fi/fantasy con, and because a lot of the panels/events happened at the National Museum of Australia, rather than the hotel, you couldn't just head down to the bar and start chatting to a fellow con-attendee.
But it was still worthwhile, and at least I learned one important thing - Canberra's a nice place to visit, but I'd never want to live there.
posted by BrettMcBean at 4:53 AM
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