Eastercon!
So what did we learn?
IN BRIEF:
Eastercon has been and gone. Our panel appearance went well, we sold a few1 books, met some lovely folk, had a fun time.
Next stop: Norwich Independent Book & Zine Fair at the Forum on 16th May.
ON WRITING:
The Easter weekend saw our second Con appearance, with both James Kinsley and Ray Adams represented at Iridescence, the 2026 Eastercon.
As ever, the benefits of attending such an event are difficult to quantify. If you were to look at the bottom line then, okay, we didn’t sell that many books, that much is true. Yet a fair number of people picked up cards; I even managed to proactively slip a few into people’s hands. Future readers? Possibly. And those people who did buy books; future repeat customers? Possibly. Future recommenders? Possibly.
Then there’s the networking. Which is an icky way of saying we met some lovely people! Props to some of our fellow dealers - Maeyke and Becky in particular who were our delightful neighbours for four days, and who could reel off our spiel as confidently now as we could theirs. Do check out their Instas - Maeyke is a bookbinder who takes second-hand sci-fi books and rebinds them, creating gorgeous one-off editions of classics; and Becky has a delightful range of beautiful fantasy items from lamps to potions to notebooks to skulls. Props also to Autun Purser who as well as designing beautiful retro travel posters of sci-fi destinations from Arrakis to Rocannon’s World, also kindly gifted us a couple of his more durable boxes he didn’t need to replace the battered cardboard ones we were hauling books in. Also going to give a shout out to artist Wen Berlin, Elsewhen Press, Stairwell Books, David Cartwright… And this was just on our row. The list could go on.
The point being, of course, that fandom is a community. People we met for the first time at Novacon in November welcomed us like old friends; and people we’d never met before were just as warm and welcoming. Even con-goers at HaruhiCon, the Anime convention happening simultaneously in the hotel, were delightful, showing as much enthusiasm for visiting our dealer room and art room as our own punters.
There was a really great atmosphere, underpinned by the Con’s commitment to creating as inclusive and safe an environment as possible. Taking the above photos as one example, in the information provided to all con-goers beforehand, the importance of asking permission before taking pictures was stressed. Be cool, to all people at all times, was essentially the message. Even the toilets had their traditional men/women signs replaced, by agreement with the hotel, with gender neutral signage for the duration of the con; the transgender community both visible and strongly supported.
There were low points, as those who know me might expect. Moments when I not only swore I’d never do another con, but that I’d also quit writing for good. Those moments when yet another punter made a concerted effort not to make eye contact as they glided, uninterested, past the table. But there were highlights too. Getting to do another panel, for one. Talking libraries with Donna Scott, Eleanor Roberts, Bridget Wilkinson and Susie Williamson - the familiar feeling of being out of my depth amongst the knowledge and expertise of my co-panellists but nevertheless being welcomed.
Possibly my favourite moment was getting to spend 45 minutes celebrating on Easter Sunday with a couple of dozen or so of my fellow Con-goers. Communion in a windowless hotel event space with people who, with everything else going on, were making a choice to be in that space doing that - more so than I’ve sometimes felt in Church there was a palpable sense of everyone being there because they really wanted to be. We didn’t hit quite all the right notes with our unaccompanied singing, but it was genuinely a really special moment.
So, lows notwithstanding, would I do it again? You can ask me in Glasgow in 2027…
I have enjoyed:
Project Hail Mary - Ryan Gosling and a cute alien attempt to reverse the dimming of myriad stars in the galaxy that are being fed on by micro-organisms. At the same time as learning to communicate with his fellow traveller before they can start analysing the problem, Gosling’s trying to piece together the events that brought him so far out into deep space, having awoken on a spaceship with a dead crew and no memory of his part in the mission. Adapted from a book by Andy The Martian Weir, I can’t tell you how faithful it is, having not read it, but I can tell you it’s a hugely enjoyable piece of big-budget cinematic sci-fi and if anyone tells you it made me cry, they’re lying2. Props, too, to Sandra Hüller for her compelling performance as the project leader.
There’s always one guy looking straight into camera when he shouldn’t be… Crossing - Levan Akin’s 2024 film sees Mzia Arabuli star as a retired Georgian teacher crossing the border to Turkey to track down her transgender niece. Accompanied by her young neighbour Achi, and assisted by transgender advocate Evrim, this is a beautifully moving film about love and acceptance that doesn’t put a foot wrong and deserves every accolade and award it’s won. Highly recommended.
Simon, Will and Neil left Jay alone sleeping on the old lady’s shoulder. The Drama - Robert Pattinson and Zendaya star as the couple whose wedding preparations are thrown into disarray by a last-minute revelation by the bride. Things start in an unassuming manner, only to be utterly derailed and become increasingly awkward and darkly hilarious. The leads are both tremendous, and Alana Haim shows she’s not just a rock star with a meaty performance as the scandalised matron of honour. The only thing that didn’t quite work for me was the nature of the revelation, so carefully hidden in the trailer, and the other characters’ reactions to it. Can’t really say more without spoiling the movie, but in the end it didn’t stop this being a highly enjoyable, uncomfortable ride.
Believe it or not, one of the straight-up most hilarious scenes in The Drama. The Major and the Minor - In which Ginger Rogers plays a twenty-something woman pretending to be a few days shy of twelve years old in order to afford a train ticket home, and Ray Milland plays the army officer who falls into being her guardian on the train, then falls in love with her. It’s the sort of whacky premise that in 1942 could be played for laughs but now feels you leaving highly conflicted. After all, she is a grown-up, but he thinks she’s a kid, but he doesn’t really realise how he feels until he finds out she’s a grown-up… Look, it’s complicated. Point is, Milland and Rogers are on fine form3, Billy Wilder can direct this stuff in his sleep and Diana Lynn steals every scene she’s in as Milland’s fiance’s kid sister. If you can park your ick for 100 mins, it’s a blast.
It also has the best Veronica Lake gag you’ll see onscreen.
You can buy It’s Hard to Tell You This, Parallels, and Greyskin directly from Deixis Press. Playtime’s Over is published by Propolis. All should also be available from all the usual places, online and off.
Ray Adams’ self-published books are available from Amazon, until I get around to finding a more ethical alternative, or out of my garage.
I also review books on my website, most of which are available through my affiliate book shop on uk.bookshop.org - it’s a great alternative to certain online leviathans owned by Trump-supporting billionaires, and supports independent bookshops. Affiliates also get a % of books sold through them, so if you buy something from them, I gets paid...
Not a euphemism. Few means few.
They’re not lying.
Milland presumably getting the gig because Jimmy Stewart was busy flying bombers over Europe at the time.