Continuum XII.

Continuum XII is fast approaching, and I'm really looking forward to it. Last year, due to circumstances, I was only able to spend one day there. This year I'll be present for the whole thing. As this will be my last Australian convention for some time, it'll be great to catch up with a whole bunch of people just before I go,

For those who don't know, Continuum is an annual fan run speculative fiction and pop culture convention. From science-fiction to epic fantasy and everything in between, Continuum 12 will celebrate the theme “Stranger Than Fiction”. Continuum runs every year on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. In 2016 the convention will be held between June 10-13 at the Hotel Jasper in Melbourne’s CBD.

I've been selected for five panels. Mostly writing themed, but with one on Star Wars. I know some of the panellists already, and they're a great bunch. I look forward to meeting those I don't yet know.

In addition George Ivanoff has asked me to be involved in one of his notorious activities. And although I immediately said yes, I'm now starting to wonder if it was a good idea to take part. I guess time will tell.

For those attending, come up and say 'Hi'. Offer me a drink. Tell me things I don't know. Oh, and don't forget that drink!

Hope to see you there!

My panels:

Worldbuilding  (Saturday  10-11am) 

• How to create an immersive world, how much detail is too much, how much should you tell the audience or keep in the background, how does trade fit in and how do you draw the damned map?

Writers and Doubt (Saturday 4-5pm)

• Dealing with Imposter Syndrome. A very real and quite sobering issue, join us for a discussion on how to deal with Imposter syndrome and what we can do to alleviate it.

Plotspirations (Sunday 4-5pm)

• From mashups to bets to eureka moments to messages in the sky, how do you get your ideas? Where do your plot ideas come from?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Monday 10-11am)

• Revolutionary film or redone cliche cashing in on nostalgia? Badass female heroine or boring Mary Sue? Potential interracial gay couple or just a big tease? We analyse the new movie for any trace of Midichlorians.

The Author is a Jerk! (Monday 1-2pm)

• How do the personal opinions and actions of an author affect the reception of their work and do we really care? Should an author’s personal and professional lives remain separate or should we boycott problematic authors?

Continuum 11.

It's that time of year. Continuum 11 is on next weekend, and the program is looking great.

For those who have never heard of Continuum, here's the description from their website.

"Continuum is an annual Melbourne speculative fiction and pop culture fan convention celebrating creativity across genre and media. From hard-edge science fiction to high-flown fantasy, comic books to film noir, high culture to sub-culture … we sink our teeth into it all!

2015 marks our 11th convention, and we’re taking the time to celebrate Australia.  Not in a yellow-and-green-how-many-gold-medals-did-that-koala-get-in-the-sports way, but looking at Australia’s history and future, and also Australian genre and media, our fandom, and our people."

This will be my seventh Continuum. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, I won't be able to attend the entire weekend as I usually do. I'm even unsure of when I can manage to drop in, But I will definitely be there Saturday afternoon.

I'm only on one panel this time, Religions in Spec Fic, alongside David McDonald, RJ Anderson, Alexandra Pierce and Stephanie Lai. 

Religions are portrayed as good and bad forces in specfic, but in Western SF there are certain long-standing traditions. What are "neglected" religions? Has the way religion been portrayed changed along with its changing role in society? What are some of the mistakes writers make when incorporating religion?

Come along to Continuum. Check out the Religions panel. And if you're not even sure you want to go, Friday night of the program is a gold coin donation entry.

You can't get anything better for that price these days.