Out of the whole programme available on Saturday, I chose to attend the following:
12:00-12:45 Writing and the Internet featuring Lee Harris, Darren Turpin and Simon Spurrier
1:00-1:45 Publishing Panel featuring John Jarrold (John Jarrold Literary Agency), Sarah Hodgson (Voyager), George Mann (Solaris) and John Berlyne (Chair)
2:00-2:45 Building a Career featuring Simon Clark, Michael Marshall Smith and John Jarrold
3:00-3:45 Chaz Brenchley on A Writer’s Life
4:00-4:45 John Jarrold on An Agent’s Work
Dinner was at Nando’s, but I’m not going to review that.
6:15-7:00 Scriptwriting featuring Graham Joyce, Philip Palmer and Michael Marshall Smith
7:15-8:00 Fantasy- Innovation vs Expectation featuring Juliet E McKenna, Chaz Brenchley, Stephen Hunt and Sarah Ash
8:15-9:00 Science-Fiction featuring Eric Brown, Tony Ballantyne and Charlie Stross
Due to the blistering heat of Derby on Saturday (well, blistering for me. Twenty two degrees and something like 80% humidity) I was exhausted by the time the last panel was over. That and I’m still struggling to get over an extended period of dehydration. Sadly, then, I had to leave when the day was done and get back to my hotel for sleep, rather than stay out all night and find the best curry in town.
Here’s the short of it: It was an excellent day. I had a fantastic time, and the panels I attended were informative, entertaining, and worth every penny of the ticket, the hotel room, and the train tickets. I’ll go into a panel-by-panel breakdown in later posts, but overall? Extremely pleased with the day, and I can guarantee I’ll be going to next year’s.
