Another week, another con … I’m off to Brighton in the morning for World Fantasy and I haven’t even reported back on Bristolcon yet, apart from a series of enthusiastic tweets on the day and the day after. Well … they said it all, really. Once again Joanne Hall, Cheryl Morgan, MEG and the rest of the team did a fabulous job. My panels were fun and funny, my fellow panellists were witty and wise, and the stuff I got to go to in between was equally thoughtful, informative and engaging.

In fact my only real request is for the ‘Humans are Weird’ presentation by Amanda Kear (aka Dr Bob) to be made available online so I can go back and revisit some of the weird and wonderful facts about Homo sapiens that she unpacked for us. It was evolutionary biology for the masses, with more than a bit of cultural anthropology and behavioural psychology thrown in. There were lots of laughs, some slightly rude jokes, and genuine wonder at how a species as bizarre as we are could have made it this far, and done this well. There’s an idea circulating to maybe make Bristolcon a two-day affair … and I’m  not sure I’m in favour of that. At the moment it seems small and perfectly formed, and I’m a little nervous at the thought of messing with something that works so well.

As for WFC … well … well … I wish I could say I’m looking forward to it with equal relish, but, as this post outlines very clearly and fairly, the communiques from the Central Con Committee of Doom have been less than welcoming. In fact if I hadn’t bought my ticket a year ago on the back of the UK’s regular Fantasycon (my first con ever, and hugely enjoyable), I’m not sure I’d be going at all. But I did, and I am, and maybe it won’t be as dour and dire and downright unfriendly as it’s seeming so far. I’ll report back next week, and will be tweeting from the front line …