[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-pulling-on-those-space-boots":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"When the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.societyofauthors.org/\">Society of Authors\u003C/a> asked me to organise an event and let me choose Science Fiction as the theme (my \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/426666.html\">last theme was comics\u003C/a>), I had such fun pulling together this fabulous group of writers for our \u003Ci>Worlds of Tomorrow\u003C/i> panel. It's the first time the Society of Authors has hosted an SF event and they were very excited! And other bloggers have beat me to the write-up: check out fab blogs by writers \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jeffnorton.com/public/Blog/Entries/2012/5/25_Worlds_of_Tomorrow.html\">Jeff Norton, here\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://dementionblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/dystopian-fiction-scifi-for-girls.html\">Teri Terry, here\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://beckysbarmybookblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/book-adventures-in-london.html\">Rebecca Earl, here\u003C/a>, and \u003Ca href=\"http://jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/jg-and-worlds-of-tomorrow.html\">Jonathan Green, here\u003C/a>, and if you're on Facebook, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.candygourlay.com\">Candy Gourlay\u003C/a> has posted a bunch of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151122736897678.545287.635152677&type=1\">photos\u003C/a> (many of which I have nicked for this post). To be honest, I was so caught up in hosting the event that it's all a bit of a blur now and I've forgotten most of what we said, but these bloggers took good notes.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/worlds_of_tomorrow-d31cb2fddf.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSo last Tuesday, I zipped up my space boots and joined the panel in front of a big crowd at \u003Ca href=\"http://www.foyles.co.uk/bookstore-charing-cross\">Foyles bookshop\u003C/a> on Charing Cross Road. Oo, I was not the only one in interesting footwear! Who could these belong to?\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_boots-da3227df2d.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photos by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here to find out, under the cut!-->\\r\n...Yes, Queen of curious gadgetry and small press \u003Ca href=\"http://www.kimlakin-smith.com/\">Kim Lakin-Smith\u003C/a> and this year's Costa Award winner, post-apocalyptic-western writer \u003Ca href=\"http://www5.scholastic.co.uk/zone/book_moira-young.htm\">Moira Young\u003C/a>! Kim and Moira both have fascinating histories if you look around the Internet; here's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16604528\">Moira on BBC News\u003C/a>, talking about her beginnings in comedy, tap dancing and opera, and how breaking both wrists turned her into a writer.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_kimmoira-492ecc36a5.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nThanks to \u003Ca href=\"http://www.philipreeve.blogspot.co.uk/\">Philip Reeve\u003C/a> for being a fabulous event host! Here you can see him lobbing good questions at the panel. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_philip-63bd5aa083.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nAnd here I am with good chum \u003Ca href=\"http://www.stevecolebooks.co.uk/\">Steve Cole\u003C/a>, who's written a zillion books, taught me lots about doing events, and really understands how kids' minds work. (He's wearing the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.fumboo.com/\">Jamie Smart\u003C/a> t-shirt I gave him for his 40th birthday.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_sarahsteve-d196577b9d.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nAnd some of our lovely books! It made me laugh, thinking that I could be part of an SF panel because I have a book about a princess going into space. And we pretty much stuck to talking about books for young adults, or 'Ya' books, as Philip called them. But I was chuffed to have someone come up to me later and say that she'd been hoping we'd also talk about SF in picture books, so perhaps that is a good subject for another event.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sf_book_covers-eb40ed2b0e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>Jared Shurin\u003C/b> and his partner \u003Cb>Anne Perry\u003C/b> run \u003Ca href=\"intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic\">The Kitschies\u003C/a> awards, and Jared was able to come and give a talk about the award 'for intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic' and how they're building community among lovers of Science Fiction with their parties, blogging and independent publishing.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_jared-464a841ab5.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nBefore the event, I'd had fun finding out all the speakers favourite books as children. Several people mentioned \u003Ci>A Wrinkle in Time\u003C/i>, but that was Moira's pick, then clockwise: mine with \u003Ci>The Runaway Robot\u003C/i>, Jared picked \u003Ci>Dominic\u003C/i>, Kim - \u003Ci>The Hitchhkiker's Guide to the Galaxy\u003C/i>, Philip - \u003Ci>The Martian Chronicles\u003C/i>, Steve - \u003Ci>Stories from the Twilight Zone\u003C/i> and Anne - \u003Ci>I, Robot\u003C/i>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sf_faves_covers-da7c40360b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne thing I do remember from the panel was mentioning the great ways young YA bloggers are reviewing books across genre lines, and introducing SF books to people who might not necessarily dive right into a SF section of a shop. Here's \u003Cb>Rhys Jones\u003C/b>, who was sitting in the front row, and runs a great review blog called \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thirstforfiction.com/\">Thirst for Fiction\u003C/a>. I had a chat with him about it after the event, and said how I'm always telling kids that a great way to get into books and publishing is to start up blogs and review other people's books. Reviewing books for \u003Ca href=\"http://www.justimaginestorycentre.co.uk/writeawayteam\">Write Away\u003C/a> helped me look more critically at picture books and meant I got lots of invitations to book launches, which is where I met loads of publishers and fellow writers and illustrators (including Philip, whom I met for the very first time while \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/308974.html\">reviewing the Carnegie Greenaway Awards\u003C/a>). If you're a kid and love books, get a free blog, start reviewing books you love, and if you do a half-decent job of it, you'll find that publishers start sending you free books to read, linking you on social media and inviting you to events. You may even get your name and quotation on the back of a book by one of your favourite writers. Publicists \u003Ci>love\u003C/i> reviewers. ...Think about it, people. *taps side of nose sagely*\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent1-c98832ffe2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe had loads of writers in the audience! Including a good showing from the \u003Ca href=\"http://britishscbwi.org/\">Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators\u003C/a>, another fab way to get stuck in to the world of making books, and who were a huge help to me in finding out about the industry. Here are Candy Gourlay, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.anitaloughrey.com/\">Anita Loughrey\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://teriterry.jimdo.com/\">Teri Terry\u003C/a> (whose new book \u003Ci>Slated\u003C/i> with SF themes did the SCBWI rounds with all our faces substituted for the original face on the jacket, see \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/474777.html\">here\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_scbwi-c310ab6999.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nThis year's winner of The Kitschies \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thekitschies.com/red-tentacle.html\">Red Tentacle\u003C/a> for \u003Ci>A Monster Calls\u003C/i>, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.patrickness.com/\">Patrick Ness\u003C/a>, is always good for raising shackles with a controversial, hard-edged comment.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_patrick-53853d1f77.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nA huge thanks to \u003Cb>Neil Jackson\u003C/b> at Foyles for being instantly excited about the idea of doing the event, and helping us so well along the way. Neil's a star. You can follow most of the gang on \u003Cb>Twitter\u003C/b>: Neil Jackson \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/devilslibrary\">@devilslibrary\u003C/a>, Philip Reeve \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/philipreeve1\">@philipreeve1\u003C/a>, Kim Lakin-Smith \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/KimLakinSmith\">@KimLakinSmith\u003C/a>, Moira Young \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/Moira_Young\">@Moira_Young\u003C/a>, Society of Authors \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/Soc_of_Authors\">@Soc_of_Authors\u003C/a>, Foyles \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/Foyles\">@Foyles\u003C/a>, Jared Shurin \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/pornokitsch\">@pornokitsch\u003C/a> (\u003Ci>and no, it's nothing to do with porn, but Jared, please get a better name so I can link you more happily!\u003C/i>), Anne Perry \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/thefingersofgod\">@thefingersofgod\u003C/a> and me \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/jabberworks\">@jabberworks\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_neiljackson-ce3cc4e1cf.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Candy Gourlay\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nSome photos from the signing session:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent_philip-a0533eca1f.jpg\" width=\"300\"> \u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent_moira1-87e00f0d77.jpg\" width=\"300\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's Jeff Norton, blogger and author of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jeffnorton.com/public/METAWARS.html\">\u003Ci>METAWARS\u003C/i>\u003C/a> a 'high-tech, dystopian, action-thriller' coming out this summer:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent_jeffnoon-5c07d2fd0d.jpg\" width=\"300\"> \u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/candy_sf_sarahbksteve-8f94ee09f5.jpg\" width=\"300\">\\r\n\\r\nLovely to see some familiar faces! Here librarian \u003Cb>Apryl Hammett\u003C/b> and her family, and librarian/writer/reviewer \u003Ca href=\"http://beckysbarmybookblog.blogspot.co.uk\">Rebecca Earl\u003C/a>, whom I met earlier this year at the \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/461497.html\">Kempston Library Children's Book Festival\u003C/a>.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent_steve1-8ecf913367.jpg\" width=\"350\"> \u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent_hammetts-d82ca9f4ee.jpg\" width=\"250\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Photo by Apryl Hammett\u003C/font>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nHere's Becky with one of her fellow Kempston librarians, and \u003Ci>Dark Parties\u003C/i> author  and active SCBWI member \u003Ca href=\"http://www.sara-grant.com/\">Sara Grant\u003C/a> just behind her.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/foyles_sfevent_kempston-2d4536f320.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThanks so much to our speakers for coming fairly long distances for the event, Foyles for hosting, and Jo McCrum and the CWIG committee for helping organise it! Do consider joining the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.societyofauthors.org/\">Society of Authors\u003C/a> if you're already published and want to see more of this sort of thing, and consider coming along to our conference in September where you'll have plenty of chance to meet Britain's finest talents.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.cwigconference.com/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/cwig_conference-c828f87189.jpg\">\u003C/a>","2012-05-27T13:26:00.000Z","pulling-on-those-space-boots",[],"pulling on those space boots",1776628721837]