Winner Best Collection, Ditmar Awards 2024

Winner Best Collection, Ditmar Awards 2024

Returned from hols yesterday to learn The Measure of Sorrow (Meerkat Press) won Best Collection in this year’s Ditmar Awards!
 
And as if that wasn’t enough, Let The Cat In won the Ditmar for Best Fan Publication. Kudos to Kaaron Warren and Aaron Dries for three years of shit-talking banter…
 
Congrats to all the winners and shortlistees, but a special shoutout to Kaaron for the Bitters love, and to CH Pearce for the Ditmar trifecta. Huge thanks to all who voted – and to all the volunteers who’ve kept these awards alive since 1969.
Conflux 17

Conflux 17

Absolutely knackered after an immense weekend at Conflux 17. Remind me next year not to sign up for so much stuff! Earlier in the year, I pitched a whole bunch of panels, expecting one or two of them to get up – only they all did, and I ended up moderating most of them. Not mention hosting a fantastic (from my perspective, at least) workshop on utilising our own direct experience to enliven our stories. All of it great fun, of course, but too much… too much! Caught glimpses throughout the weekend of good friends heading off to this and that, with barely a moment to stop and hang. Next year it’ll be nothing but BarCon for me… come find me for a natter over a cup of tea.
 
I was such a ship in the night that Cat Sparks only managed to catch this one photo of me all weekend, pictured here hanging with script guru, Josh Koske. Check out the rest of Cat’s pics here.
 
Highlights of the weekend included sipping whisky with the immortal Ellen Datlow; Kaaron Warren and Ellen in conversation, an extended show and tell of all the extraordinary objects in Ellen’s apartment; Helen Marshall reading The Embalmer, from The Goldleaf Executions; and Let The Cat In co-hosts Kaaron Warren and Aaron Dries winning all the Ditmar Awards – go Catz!
Online launch: The Measure of Sorrow

Online launch: The Measure of Sorrow

in conversation with John Langan

Big thanks to everyone who rocked up to the virtual launch of The Measure of Sorrow, hosted by Meerkat Press last weekend. For those who couldn’t make it (or you hardcore types committed to watching the “Director’s cut”), here’s the full-length unexpurgated conversation, including Ohio, Kafka, black lakes, book burning, famous dead people, deep-fried platypi, Tina Turner, passing references to the collection, and big-ups to other people’s awesome books. Hope you can check it out!

Huge thanks to John for being a great host, an irrepressible conversationalist, and an all-round stand-up guy. If you’ve not yet read his latest collection – Corpsemouth and other Autobiographies – I insist you rectify that immediately. 

 

StokerCon 2021

StokerCon 2021

readings, panels, and a cat makes its debut…

I had such high hopes for getting to real-life cons this year, but COVID put paid to all of them. Though I would have loved to connect with more people in person, I had a blast at StokerCon 2021, which had an exceptional line-up of great content. I read a (freakishly beardless) extract from Ariadne, I Love You, and Kaaron Warren, Aaron Dries. and I launched the pilot of our new podcast, Let The Cat In. Check out the videos below.