I’m delighted to be doing things at Nine Worlds Geekfest!

Backstory: please imagine it’s last October in a dark pub in Brighton. It’s a publisher party connected to the World Fantasy Con so I’m hemmed in by generous-spirited writers and enthusiastic readers. It’s so packed that everyone has to slide like a tile puzzle so that one person can eventually reach the bar/loo.

The brilliant Jared of Pornokitsch asks me if I’d be interested in doing something at Nine Worlds, as he’s one of the book track organisers.

“But I am not prestigious enough,” I wail. Because being around interesting people all weekend is both inspirational and intimidating for me, with the two moods rising and falling like a fox/rabbit population graph.

I can’t recall his exact words me but the gist was ‘WEVS’ because he is my sometime excellent editor, not my therapist.

So I left that event with the intention to publish enough fiction that when Nine Worlds turned up, I would be less embarrassed.

Which led to frantic writing! Surprisingly successful submitting! Most of the stuff on this page!

After I’d sold some stories, I emailed Jared to say I would indeed be glad to humbly put my name forward for participation.

I think he said ‘WEVS ALREADY DONE IT’.

So I’ll be speaking on this:

Food In Fantasy: A panel discussion with Ed Cox, Mark Newton and Gail Carriger
Saturday 1:30-2.45
Room 32

And chairing this:

Love and Sex: an intimate exploration.
With Rebecca Levene, Tiffani Angus, Sarah Lotz, Laurie Penny
Friday 6.45 – 8.00pm
County C&D

Massively looking forward to both. The food panel will be a chance for me to admit I like mead in public, complain about coffee analogues in epic quests and meet awesome people. Love and Sex will take me back to my academic roots in sexuality/queer theory, see if anyone’s writing slash about Brian the Spider from Blakes Seven, and meet awesome people.

I’m also helping with this:

How To Beat Writers’ Block – with the T Party Writers’ Group
Saturday 3.15pm – 4.30pm
County A

The T-Party are an incredibly useful London-based genre writing group who will help your fingers sizzle as you write.

I’m looking forward to it all immensely.

(Rule 34.)