Marie O’Regan

I’m just about recovering from a really great weekend at FantasyCon - but one that was, as usual, hellaciously short on sleep. This was a good thing, though

Paul and I got there around eleven am on Friday morning, and immediately started helping Jen and Pat set up, aided by Debbie and Vicky when they arrived. Various FCON regulars and even a couple of FCON virgins who’d arrived early also helped with things like stuffing goodie bags, for which we are all eternally grateful.

The weekend from there rapidly became a whirl of catching up with friends and making new ones, attending panels and interviews, and generally drinking and eating too much. You’d think we’d learn, wouldn’t you…

A highlight of the weekend, for myself and Paul, was meeting Clive Barker - we’ve both been massive fans ever since the Books of Blood hit the shelves. I was delighted to find him to be such a nice person, and very funny and entertaining on the panels/interview that he did. He was nice enough to sign a few books we brought along - my first edition paperbacks of the Books of Blood, and my copy of Visions of Heaven and Hell. Paul bought some of his favourite Barker books along too, and Clive signed them all. (We didn’t just land them on him, I hasten to add, we did ask him beforehand if he’d mind). He even drew some pictures in them for us, which was great of him. Neil Gaiman, too, happily signed the books we’d brought along (and again, we’d asked him first if that was okay).

The speeches at the Banquet and Awards Ceremony were fantastic - especially one by Clive on why we shouldn’t use the term genre fiction. You can see the full transcript of it on Clive’s site here.

The Con turned out really well - we had somewhere in the region of 400-450 attendees, all of whom seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, with the exception of the bar shutting too early on Friday night (2am). We soon sorted THAT out. The bar’s a very important part of things, and no one wants to be sent to bed early, we were all enjoying chatting and unwinding. I’ve heard a lot of very positive comments, and we’ve already started planning next year’s. Strewth! For the record, it’s back at the same hotel, The Britannia, Nottingham, on the weekend of 21st - 23rd September, 2007. Expect some announcements about Guests etc soon.

Last thing I’d like to do is say my thank yous. Thank you to Debbie, Vicky, Pat and Jenny, who worked so hard all year on FCON - and thank you to everyone who helped out or took part in panels over the weekend, you were great. And lastly, thank you to the Guests of Honour for being everything a Guest of Honour should be - erudite, entertaining, and as committed as everyone else to having a damn good time. Thank you Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Raymond Feist, Ramsey Campbell, and Juliet E. MCKenna.

We (Paul and I) had the slightly weird experience on Thursday of travelling to Derby to be interviewed for Radio 2 about FantasyCon. Joining us in the interview were Mark Chadbourn, whose latest book is Jack of Ravens, and Juliet E McKenna, whose latest book is Eastern Tide. We got there, were installed in a studio and much genre chat ensued - great fun if slightly surreal. It’ll be interesting to see how much - if any - of what we said actually makes it into the eight minute slot allocated on Friday 22nd September, sometime between 10pm and midnight. I’ll have to get one of the kids to tape it, as we’ll be at FantasyCon by then.

FantasyCon grows ever closer, there are now 5 days to go, and things are getting even more hectic! Jen’s running around like a headless chicken, and doing a great job of getting everything together that needs to be brought along - such as members’ copies of Cinema Macabre and BFS: A Celebration, and the much anticipated FantasyCon booklet that has original, exclusive cover art by Clive Barker. We’re very grateful to Clive for allowing us to use this, and there’s also an interview with Clive and the other GOH inside the booklet. It’s going to be a good one

There are some interesting possibilities on the writing front, but they’re a bit too nebulous to talk about at the minute, so more shortly…. must go, have to wrest Paul’s new toy away from him (digicam). Honestly, some men shouldn’t be allowed gadgets…

So here it is, my own little corner of blogdom. Not sure how much I have to say, really, but I wanted to start keeping a journal, and in this day and age it might as well be an online one

It’s been a busy week, but a good one. I went to London on Friday 2nd with my fiance, Paul Kane, for the British Fantasy Society Open Night. They’re always fun, and this one was no exception - attendees included Steve Jones, Mike Marshall Smith, Tony Richards, Lavie Tidhar, Chris Fowler, Mark Samuels, Bob Covington, Dave Bezzina, Alec Worley, Alex Davis…loads more. It’s always a good night, and I don’t get to see these guys often enough.

It’s good to get a chance to catch up with friends from the writing side of my world that I only see every few months, but it’s also great as it gives me a chance to stay with one of my very best friends that I’ve known since I was nineteen, and catch up with my son Peter, who lives in London, my parents, and my oldest friends. I don’t see any of them anywhere near enough since I moved to Chesterfield from London last summer, but it does make for some great weekends when we get a chance to get away and relax.

This Friday we were at the launch of Christopher Fowler’s new book, Ten Second Staircase. A lovely guy, and a great writer. If you haven’t checked his stuff out before, why not? Ended up in the pub, no surprise there, before travelling homeward to Chesterfield with Paul, accompanied by Graham Joyce on his way back to Leicester. Very funny guy, and a great writer. And we get to catch up with everyone all over again in a few weeks, at FantasyCon, on 22nd September. For those who don’t know (shame on you), FantasyCon is the annual convention of the BFS, and this year it’s taking place at the Britannia Hotel, Nottingham, over the weekend of 22nd to 24th September. Full details can be seen at www.fantasycon.org.uk. Guests of Honour: Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Raymond Feist, Ramsey Campbell and Juliet E McKenna. Go and have a look at the site, and book a place. Trust me, it’s fun!

In the run up to FantasyCon, life becomes even more hectic than normal (just ask Jen and the rest of the FCON committee), so other news is a bit sparse at the moment. I’m very happy that Steve Upham, editor of Estronomicon, over at Screaming Dreams is going to bring out my novella, Mirror Mere, as an e-book, but want to finish a couple of other projects I have on the go at the moment, and get on with a website I’m designing. What a life

Currently reading: The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly

Last film seen: Saw II. Very pleasantly (?!) surprised by this one. It’s not often, to my mind, that sequels live up to the original. Aside from a couple of very miinor gripes, this one did.