Nine Worlds 2016

Well didn’t the weekend whizz by – but doesn’t it always when you’re enjoying yourself? In my last post I explained how my weekend started on Thursday evening at the Goldsboro Books event Fantasy in the Court, where I met up with some old friends and also met some new. Then it was off to Hammersmith with Falcio – sorry Sebastien de Castell, who fortunately has a better sense of direction than I do (actually he has a sat nav app on his mobile – but it did the trick).

Friday morning I was up early bright eyed and bushy tailed – read that as in desperate need of a coffee or three; I had two panels and was as nervous as hell. This was mainly my own fault; I’d been quite relaxed about the whole thing until I decided I should gen up on my fellow panellists and oh dear – they were real authors!

Transformations in YA panel with James Smythe (hidden from view), C J Dougherty, Chris Wooding and Maria Lewis

But enough about me and my insecurities; if one can’t stand the heat one should never enter the kitchen so I had only myself to blame. I wanted to be an author so now I was published I should act like one.

I won’t give you a diatribe of what I got up to over the weekend, but I will say this – for anyone who has never been to Nine Worlds you should give it a go. It’s not a cheap weekend, I give you that, travel and hotel costs hike up the expense (unless of course you live locally and can commute in) but if you buy your membership tickets early you can get them a good deal cheaper than a week or two before the event. I bought mine last year within days of the 2015 con ending and they cost me £75 for the duration of the event and this included the Expo than ran alongside it, which I thought was good value. Even if you can’t buy your tickets until later on it is still well worth the money and you can save on hotel costs by finding alternative accommodation rather than staying at the venue. One chap, I got talking to said he’d booked into a hostel, which although basic did the job and was incredibly cheap.

Nine Worlds is quite different to Fantasy Con, which is the other big event I attend, in that it’s not just all about books; it’s more fan orientated and includes all things fantasy. There’s something for everyone. Also people dress up, which is frowned upon at some conferences. This conference is wild and wacky and if you love fantasy give it a try. The conference is run by volunteers who love the genre and really needs our support as without it there’s a chance that we will lose it. This would be a big shame.

Tickets for the 2017 event are on sale now and I for one will be putting my hand into my pocket and purchasing my tickets within the next couple of days.

See you there folks.

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