adelaidesean | Entries tagged with appearances

Here's my schedule for the rest of the year:

SwanCon 36/Natcon 50 (April 21-25)
LA Times Festival of Books (April 30-May 1)
Auckland Writers & Readers Festival (May 11-15)
Sydney Writers' Festival (May 16-21)
Aurealis Awards (May 21)
Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts (May 26-June 5)
World Fantasy Convention (October 27-30)

If you want to catch me at any of these events, check the sites for program details. I'm the Australian GOH of Swancon, an invited guest of LA, Auckland, Sydney and Hay, a possible presenter of an AA, and just hanging out at this stage at WFC. There will also be the odd signing and tour date outside those festivals, which I’ll try to update here.

Sadly, I won’t be at this year’s Writers of the Future bash because it clashes with both Sydney and Auckland. Congrats to all the winners--particularly, and rather parochially, the Australians (I’m told we have a couple this year). My apologies for not being able to be there to celebrate with you.

I'll also miss the Nebulas (clashes with Sydney), which is a shame as I was keen to attend at least one SFWA committee meeting while ORD. Can't be everywhere at once, I guess, but I still feel a little guilty about it.

If you're in Adelaide and want to catch up . . . July is looking good!

If you're coming to Sydney for the Aurealis Awards bash, why not start the day a little earlier? I'll be talking with Peter Hollo about remixing as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival, which I'm attending as a guest (and very excited about it I am, too). Garth Nix and I will be larking about as well, here and there. Full program available here.

Master Remix with Sean Williams

Saturday, 21 May 1.00-2.00
Sydney Dance Company Studio 2/3

Sean Williams has collaborated with Garth Nix, Shane Dix and Simon Brown. But the list doesn’t end there. He’s also collaborated with Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Darwin (rewriting his most famous work as a series of haiku using his own words, using them to portray the evolution of the poetic form) and Gary Numan (in a series of novels in which one character speaks solely in his lyrics). He tells Peter Hollo of FourPlay how he makes it all work creatively (and legally).

Got a free afternoon on Sunday the 27th? Join Richard Harland and I at the Adelaide Festival Centre Amphitheatre at 2.45 for half an hour of fun and frivolity and . . . actually, I don't know what we'll be doing, exactly. We'll make it up as we go along. But we'll have a good time, and I guarantee that you will too.

This is part of the awesome ComeOut Festival, a program for children, young people, and families. There are workshops and performances and all manner of excellent things. I'm also taking a five-day workshop for young writers with A. J. Mackinnon, one of the most entertaining writers and speakers you'll ever see. All in all, it's going to be a busy and brilliant week.

From my signing session for The Fixers at Angust & Robertson Edwardstown on Saturday:

And yes, that's a copy of Castle of the Zombies he's reading. This, and Planet of the Cyborgs, are out now!

...there was Au Contraire. Despite my usual utter laziness when it comes to con reports, I’m here to tell you just how awesome it was because, you know, Aussiecon wasn’t everything. :-)

( Highlights )
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(Not sure what happened to the formatting here. Apologies!)

In short, a great time all round. The only downside I can think of was missing the annual Writers of the Future bash, at which the most awesome Jason Fischer received his 1st Prize gong. But that couldn’t be helped, and there were plenty of other people there to help him celebrate.

And the less said about getting sick the better. I have a nasty feeling I actually caught the bug here in Adelaide before leaving for NZ, so it’s no one’s fault at all, really, that I missed Worldcon and have had to read through so many excellent con reports. *weeps* In fact, I probably gave it to everyone else who came down with it in Melbourne. If so, I apologise most sincerely. Call me Typhoid Sean and hand me the antibiotics. :-)

UPDATE: Due to illness sudden (not serious, but sudden and dreadfully inconvenient) I am unable to attend Worldcon. Apologies to everyone I'd planned to meet up with or appear on panels with. This is the first time that I've had to pull out of anything at last minute, and it's a biggie. :-(

PS. Au Contraire was terrific, and is in no way to blame!

Here's my Worldcon schedule. In addition, I'm presenting at the Hugos, going to at least one other launch, and even hosting a party (there's probably going to be a bash in the SFWA suite after the Voyager party on Friday; more on that later). I'll also be in and out of the SFWA suite, so stop by and say hello. It'll be great to see you there!

THURSDAY
5:00 - Film, TV and spec fic (I arrive late Thursday, so I'm a maybe for this one)
(Note: I'm down for a kaffeeklatsche at 3:00 but won't have landed yet. Sorry!)

FRIDAY
3:00 - What is SFWA?
4:00 - Macabre launch & reading
5:00 - What can the mystery teach science fiction?

SATURDAY
10:00 - Building a bigger galaxy
2:00 - Kim Stanley Robinson interview
3.00 - Deborah Kalin Shadow Bound launch

SUNDAY
12:00 - Classic Australian SF
1:00 - Q&A: Writing YA speculative fiction
4:00 - Partners in crime: How to collaborate
5:00 - Objects in space (this clashes with the Hugo pre-event, so I'm a maybe here too)

MONDAY
11:00 - Reading
12:00 - Signing;
2:00 - Shared universes and united visions

Of course, prior to all this I'll be in New Zealand as GOH of Au Contraire. Will post that program soon. Exciting times!

I am slow in posting links to some interviews recorded while at Comic-Con a couple of weeks ago: with Darth Hater, and with Club Jade, and here's a little snip of video of me on stage in the Star Wars pavilion. Below is a shot of me looking slightly stunned at the Lucas Books stand, where I signed dozens of copies of Fatal Alliance, scores of The Force Unleashed, and countless posters.

RSI be damned! It was totally worth it.

Fatal Alliance debuted at #12 on the New York Times hardback bestseller list and #11 over at Publisher's Weekly. I'm sure this had very little to do with me and my small efforts, but it was great to be part of.

(That's about as much of a con report as you'll ever get from me. It was too huge to put into words!

Thursday
2.30-3.30: signing

Friday
1.00: on stage
2.00-2.45: signing
3.00: on stage & signing
5.00-7.00: Star Wars Community Event

Saturday
3.00-4.00: signing

Sunday
11.00-12.00: signing

This’ll all be in the Star Wars Pavilion, except for the community event (TBD).

So if you’re planning to be in San Diego next week, come along and say hi!

This one’s for those in Brisbane, either permanently or just for the weekend of the Aurealis Awards.

I’ll be at the most excellent Pulp Fiction with Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld from 11.30-12.30 on Saturday, enjoying a very relaxed signing/hang-out session. Come along and say hi! This might the last time I'm out of the cave until March.

A heads-up for the Adelaide crew. Novel Ideas is the Royal Institute Australia's new book club, and the awesome Leviathan is it's first book. I'm hosting the night . Hopefully Scott will be able to drop in electronically to answer questions. It's free, and it'll be fun. Come along!

Wednesday 27 January, 6-7.30pm
The Science Exchange

Novel ideas is the RiAus bimonthly book club for those keen to explore, rediscover and get excited about science-themed books, new and old. We start 2010 with Leviathan, an alternative history steampunk adventure by Scott Westerfeld. Set at the outbreak of World War I, Leviathan follows Alek - the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, fleeing from assassins in a mechanical war-walker - and Deryn, a Scottish girl crewing the Leviathan, a gigantic living airship evolved specifically for war.

For this book club we'll have the chance for a live link to chat with the author Scott Westerfeld, so make sure you join leading sci-fi writer, Sean Williams, and the RiAus team if you have something to say about novels with a scientific twist - it's time to bring out your inner bookworm.

In association with the Big Book Club.

I'm juggling two projects at once this weekend, which always hurts my brain. Here are some recent happenings:

Shawn at Suvudu asked if any of my books originally had different titles. There are a few.
Paul Cornell wondered what I was doing for Christmas.
The ABC's Life Matters program wanted to interview me about my essay on Doctor Who in 50 Voices of Disbelief.
Au Contrair, the New Zealand natcon, very kindly asked me to be their 2010 GOH, and I'm excited to be going.
The Dragon Book is out and looks awesome. If you want to know what happens to Ros after The Changeling, here's part one.

If I hear one more Christmas carol, I swear I might have to kill someone. Unless it's this one, of course:

Once upon a time, I used to think being a writer meant, well, writing. All the time. If only that were true! When between books, as I am at the moment, I don't even attempt to stick to my 1500 words/day target. There just isn't time. Here's what I got up to in the last week (Monday 5 to Sunday 12), for anyone interested in what I actually spend most of my time doing.

I delivered re-writes of all four Fixers books to my editor at Scholastic;
re-wrote outlines for The Resurrected Man and The Crooked Letter TV shows, as per feedback received while in LA;
reread the story notes of Magic Dirt, seeking inspiration for a podcast about my fifteen year-old story "A Map of the Mines of Barnath";
ditto my story "Ungentle Fire" in the forthcoming Dragon Book;
was interviewed live on ABC radio at the Royal Adelaide Show (and ate a large amount of junk food afterwards);
attended the Ruby/ABAF Awards;
had a Skype conversation, transcribed some notes, and looked over an outline for a project I haven't mentioned here yet (ooh, mysterious!);
attended a meeting of the SA Writers' Centre Board;
took Christobel Mattingley's place on the SA Writers' Festival "Fact or Fiction" panel, down at the beautiful Wirra Wirra vineyards in the McLaren Vale, and chaired the "First Book" panel;
read and annotated submissions for a retreat I'll be co-taking in a few weeks;
signed up to sit on a grant assessment panel doling out money for young South Australian writers;
suggested some spec fic titles for the Big Book Club's December/January selections;
caught up on the parallel import situation for the Australian Society of Authors;
revived my LJ and wrote this post. :-)

I also bought the new Steve Roach album, Destination Beyond, and Deepspace's World Ocean Atlas. (That's not really work, I know, but these albums will probably comprise my main writing music for the coming weeks, so it's kinda related.)

This wasn't an exceptional week, but it probably was a little busier than normal, thanks to the awards night and the festival.

How was yours? Did you manage to get some writing done? If so, well done. I am jealous!

Another event for your diary!

When: Wednesday 3rd June 7pm

Where: The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel (The Gov) 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh (Adelaide)

How: FREE event but booking required. Register at EventBrite

"Join best-selling sci-fi author Sean Williams and astronomer and popular-science writer Fred Watson as they explore how science and science fiction borrow from each other to entertain and to expand knowledge of the universe. Plus share with us their love of astronomy, cosmology and writing. Clare Peddie, The Advertiser’s science writer will facilitate, and the evening will include a musical interlude with Fred Watson on guitar."

(This is for the Great Big Science Read, a Big Book Club / Science Outside The Square collaboration.)

Next Thursday, June 4, Julie Czerneda will be appearing at Dymocks Rundle Mall to give a reading and take questions. Come along at 6.00 for a 6.30 start to get the jump on what Conjecture's very special guest will be sharing with us over the weekend. There will be plenty of nibbles and drinks.

THEN immediately afterwards everyone is invited to come to the cocktail lounge of the Electric Light Hotel for a Pirate Ditmar Party. Why pirates? Because they're always cool. Why Ditmars? Well, it's a long story. There won't be any actual awards (probably) but there will be Haigh's chocolate frogs in honour of the infamous Suncon cane toads. If you don't know what that means, come along and find out!

Both events are within walking distance of the Holiday Inn. Here and here are directions.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

I hope to see you there!

Last week, Boing Boing featured a post offering public speaking advice for anyone forced to bite that particular bullet.

Now I know full well that, given a choice, most writers would never come out of the garret, but as that choice doesn't really exist any more, taking note of this kind of thing is important. If you haven't done it yet, you'll probably be forced to one day, so best to read and absorb as much as possible from the people who did it and survived. Which is everyone, of course. No one ever died from public speaking, did they? (Please,

catsparx, don't tell me otherwise!)

I just want to add one other thing to the excellent (not exhaustive) list on the other end of those links. It's really a couple of things rolled into one, but they're connected.

The first half is: know your place. By that I mean, find out in advance what's expected of you so you can get the second part right: do your damnedest to deliver. In other words, do exactly what's required, no more and no less. If you're chairing, don't assume you're also a participant. If you're reading, don't go long. Prepare as required. That kind of thing. Obvious, really--so obvious that it boggles my mind how many people screw it up.

Going long, in particular, is a classic newbie mistake that pros will hate you for, because a true pro will never do it. They work hard not to, and so should you. Practice what you've prepared at least twice, and time it accurately both times. Have a watch or clock in line of sight during your performance. Stop your reading in mid-flow if it's obvious you're going to go too far over. Speaking twice as long as other program participants is never acceptable, no matter how good you think you're being. Break this one simple rule and everyone in the audience will curse you. Curse you, I say!

(Can you tell this happened to me recently?)

Anyway, this isn't aimed at anyone in particular, and I apologise for making so many sweeping generalisations. Some pros do make these mistakes, and some newbies are already good at it. This is just a rant thrown out into the collective unconscious (please, make it stop!) with apologies to anyone who had to sit through my overlong efforts way back in the day.

I'm delighted to be one of several writers reading at an Adelaide Fringe event next week.

You can expect something completely new and something by another author who inspires me. Come along and join in the fun!

( More details. )

Been white-noised by busy-ness.

Will return to normal soon.

Hoping to see lots of smiling faces at the Aurealis Awards bash this weekend.

Are you going?

Current Music: Deepspace's awesome new album: "The Glittering Domain"

Want an excerpt from The Grand Conjunction? What about reviews, interviews and shameless plugs? I am brimming over with links today, so I'm posting them all at once. Here's your chance to find out what my name looks like in Bulgarian (me, I've been dying to find out) and to learn which novella legendary Lou Anders recommends for the Hugo.

First up, the Book Show interview I mentioned a couple of weeks back is available as an MP3 download here. For readers outside Australia, I should explain that is about as big as non-paid promotion gets for writers down here. Almost literary, you could say.

On the other side of the world, Gary Reynolds at Concept Sci-Fi has been wallowing in Astropolis. The fruits of his labour (to confuse a metaphor or two) are now online. First, there's an excerpt from and a review of Saturn Returns:

"really good space opera that is a joy to read"

Then there's a review of Cenotaxis:

"superbly written...either as a standalone story or as part of the Astropolis series"

In his latest Ezine, Gary has reprinted "The Seventh Letter" with original artwork.

And on his website, right now, is an exclusive preview of The Grand Conjunction, the third and last of the Astropolis novels. Enjoy.

Gary promises a review of Earth Ascendant soon (to sit alongside this excerpt) but for now I have just one to post, and it's a corker.

A couple of weeks ago I received advance notice of a Jan '09 review in F&SF by Chris Moriarty, which I've been sitting on like a wriggly kid. It contains this wonderful line:

"Words like riveting, gripping, and page-turning get tossed around pretty cavalierly, but they all apply to the Astropolis series."

It can't get much better than that, can it? Actually, it can. This is one of those reviews that had me nodding along, going "yes...yes...YES" at every other line. Chris gets what I'm trying to do, and I'm grateful for it. I'll post more of the review next year, or whenever the issue is in print.

Meanwhile Mark Chitty of Walker of Worlds "recommend[s] Cenotaxis without hesitation" and Stuart Mayne in the latest aurealisXpress waxed somewhat lyrical regarding The Dust Devils, saying that it "works on all fronts". Stuart also gave me my first ever review of a workshop, specifically a weekend intensive I ran at the Victorian Writers' Centre while everyone else partied at Conflux. He says: "It was an absolutely fantastic workshop and can whole-heartedly recommend a workshop with Sean Williams as an experience that will help your writing immeasurably." I am blushing at such kind words.

To round out this enormous list of links, Robert Thompson emailed this morning to say that The Grand Conjunction is on his list of 2009 highlights, while Lou Anders, guest blogging on Tor.com, chided everyone in the US for not buying more of my books:

"His stand-alone novella, Cenotaxis, published by independent press Monkeybrain Books, was one of my favorite reads of the year and my personal choice for the Best Novella Hugo in 2008. It ably demonstrates why some people feel the novella is the ideal length for SF, and I say that because it’s true, not because he kindly set the novel’s resolution in my own home town (albeit of the far future.)"

And Bulgaria? I was very pleased to be interviewed by Darth Sparhawk for Citadelata.com. You can see the results here.

I'd end on the exciting news I have to impart, but that can wait until next time. No one will read down this far anyway. :-)

(Today's titles, btw, from the songbook of hell are: "Disconcert 1-6", "Praedeludium 1", and "Disconcerto for Violin, No. 1 (occasionally in G Mixolydian)".)

I'm back. Hello.

The last few weeks have been kinda crazy. Part of me wants to give you all the numbers: people I've met; libraries, schools, bookstores and events at which I've spoken; topics I've covered. There were panels, workshops, seminars, signings, interviews, retreats, photo shoots, and numerous waits for flights. That it's all become a bit of a blur (like the countryside from a Japanese bullet train) is probably a blessing for all concerned. I can't imagine how some people do this for weeks on end.

A big thank you to all who came along, and apologies to those dear friends I missed along the way. Everyone's been wonderful, even the woman in Queensland who asked me if my books would make her a better person (of course they will!). Expect some delays as I catch up on mail and the family. Normal service, whatever that entails, will soon resume.

Meanwhile, I'm craving a home-cooked meal. So, just for Kate Eltham, here are my Top Five Comfort Foods, as prepared by me or Amanda when we can't be bothered to think of something fancier to eat:

1) Beef casserole in red wine accompanied by a healthy dollop of buttery mash.
2) Vegetable stir-fry, with tofu.
3) Lamb pot roast.
4) Cheese, olives, pate and dips.
5) Chocolate.

I think I'll have all of them this week.

Note: the title of this post comes from Gary Numan's "I Dream of Wires". Is anyone is as excited as I am that he's touring Australia next year?

The South Australian Museum is undergoing renovations at the moment. Perhaps that explains this underwhelming display:

Or maybe the natural habitat of the Rocky Mountain Goat really is full of off-cuts, wood shavings and cardboard boxes...

Um, "NO" indeed.*

Anyway, I'm off again for a few days. Apologies if I'm slow responding to emails etc. I'll drop in when I can, depending on the weather and wi-fi on Bribie Island. Queensland is starting to feel like a second home, these days.**

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Special Big Book Club Force Unleashed Day of Fun in Adelaide yesterday!

* And what's up with the reflection? It looks like an immature Alien is about to bite Alfred Hitchcock on the head.

** Did I mention that I'm setting part of my crime novel there? I'm looking for a cemetery, and open to suggestions.

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Sean Williams

Entries tagged with appearances

appearances and disappearances

sydney writers' festival

come out and play

best photo ever

before melbourne...

worldcon

fatal alliance update

my first comic con timetable (TM)

signing at pulp fiction

Scott Westerfeld at the RiAus book club

five links

the week that was

watson + williams = science extravaganza

Julie Czerneda + Pirate Ditmar Party

the six-minute rule, and variations thereupon

other voices, other rooms

let's just skip January, shall we?

a plethora of plugs

press 'c' for comfort

going away goat