{"id":6466,"date":"2013-04-27T12:35:05","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T02:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zenashapter.com\/blog\/?p=6466"},"modified":"2021-08-30T16:34:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T06:34:52","slug":"the-generosity-of-conflux9-writers-days-1-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/the-generosity-of-conflux9-writers-days-1-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Generosity of #Conflux9 Writers (Days 1 & 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I never sleep well without Hubbie (ahh\u2026). So what to do when I\u2019m away as I am now and can\u2019t sleep? I know\u2026 blog!!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been at #Conflux9 \u2013 Australia\u2019s 52nd<\/sup> Natcon \u2013 for two days now and it\u2019s been so fantastic I can\u2019t wait any longer to share it with you. If you haven\u2019t been to a writing convention before \u2013 I thoroughly recommend it, irrespective of how far you are along your writing journey. There\u2019s a generosity of spirit at these things that makes me proud to be a writer…<\/p>\n

\"Crowd<\/a>

A busy convention full of generous writers.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sure, the majority of us don\u2019t earn much money. Yes, we\u2019re constantly striving for dreams that vary among us but generally involve having our genius(!) recognised \u2013 logically we\u2019re competitors in that. And yet, and yet, we can\u2019t stop sharing.<\/p>\n

\"Cat<\/a>

Cat Sparks & Sean Williams
Congratulations, Cat \u2013 you sold out at your book launch!<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It started on Thursday afternoon, with a book launch that sold out. That\u2019s generosity in the obvious sense of the word. Remember \u2013 we writers don\u2019t have much money!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Me,<\/a>

Me, Keri Arthur & Tracey O’Hara<\/p><\/div>\n

It continued throughout Thursday evening at a cocktail party where seasoned professionals mingled with newbies, carrying zero egos with them (no hierarchies here!).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Patty<\/a>

Patty Jansen, Me & Joanne Anderton
Congratulations, Jo \u2013 your book launch sold out!<\/p><\/div>\n

Into the night writers and editors talked on panels until 11pm \u2013 I\u2019m usually in bed by that time! But even the last discussion of the day kept me wide-awake: How essential is an editor for authors?<\/p>\n

The answer: writers have to balance the expense of editorial advice against the income they can potentially earn from a story that readers may still enjoy despite otherwise imperfect elements. The discussion was respectfully tense \u2013 as are all the best panels.<\/p>\n

\"Rochelle<\/a>

Rochelle Fernandez, Me, Jack Dann & Janeen Webb<\/p><\/div>\n

Friday saw generosity happening all again with workshops prepared by writers who know what they\u2019re talking about,<\/em> sharing their expertise.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>

Me teaching my workshop on Friday morning.<\/p><\/div>\n

Writers, publishers, agents and editors on panels might not realise it, but simply talking about their experience of a given subject is invaluable to those listening.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the social side to things \u2013 linger long in any transitory space (such as a corridor) and you’re sure to encounter a trail of industry professionals happy to share a moment or two to chat about their day, their career, their pearls of wisdom\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Marc<\/a>

Marc Gascoigne<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our Guests of Honour: Marc Gascoigne, Karen Miller, Kaaron Warren, Rose Mitchell and Nalo Hopkinson have all been especially warm and welcoming. Thank you!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/a>

Richard Harland, Ian McHugh, Margo Lanagan, Me & Alan Baxter<\/p><\/div>\n

Friday’s panels ranged from zombies and publishing contracts, to crowdfunding and advice for first-time novelists. One particularly lively panel asked: Is steampunk as a genre inherently racist because it glorifies the imperialist era? Or does focussing on the plight of minorities offset any implied romanticism? Historical, medieval and passionate theories answered that one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Alex,me\"<\/a>The podcast panel itself was an illustration in writer-generosity \u2013 with panellists admitting to spending hundreds of dollars on equipment and countless hours recording their podcasts and uploading them \u2013 for listeners to enjoy for free.<\/p>\n

Throughout the day, writers could pitch to agents and there were more sold-out book launches too.<\/p>\n

The banquet in the evening featured an authentic regency menu and elegant dancers who got us out of our seats \u2013 literally!<\/p>\n

Four personal highlights for me were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Teaching my social media workshop on Friday morning. I always get a good crowd!<\/li>\n
  2. Getting countless compliments on the PR reports I\u2019ve been doing for the convention over the last year and a bit (find them here<\/a> if you\u2019re curious).<\/li>\n
  3. After my \u2018Reading\u2019 slot \u2013 wherein I read from the beginning of Darker<\/i> (the short story that recently ranked me semi-finalist in the internationally prestigious Writers of the Future<\/em> contest) \u2013 one listener, whom I respect highly as a writer, couldn\u2019t get the story out of her head. She tracked me down later and asked to read the rest. Well, what do you think I said?<\/li>\n
  4. Also, this conversation:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    SIMON: \u201cShe writes the best blog.\u201d<\/p>\n

    AIDAN: \u201cShe does.\u201d<\/p>\n

    ME (to Aidan): \u201cOh, do you follow my blog too then?\u201d<\/p>\n

    AIDAN: \u201cDo I follow your blog? I follow the sh*t out of your blog.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Gee thanks, guys \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

    Today is going to be another big day, so I\u2019ll leave you now with some photos of the banquet last night, and go grab some breakfast.<\/p>\n

    \"Conflux<\/a>

    Conflux 9 Regency Banquet \u2013\u00a0music.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \"Regency<\/a>

    Regency ladies.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \"Regency<\/a>

    Regency gentlemen.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \"Patty<\/a>

    Patty Jansen, Me & Jane Virgo<\/p><\/div>\n

    \"Alex<\/a>

    Alex Adsett & Paul Landymore<\/p><\/div>\n

    If anyone\u2019s around at 10am this morning (though note, the hotel’s Wi-Fi is playing up and this may not post until later), I\u2019m on a panel discussing virtual and f2f \u2018Writing Communities\u2019 and how that alters the old image of writers gazetted in attics (meet me in Forrest Room 1).<\/p>\n

    \"The<\/a>

    The hotel pool, hmm \u2013 watery laps \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n

    Tomorrow I\u2019ll be taking attendees on a journey through the tips and traps of reaching audiences online in the \u2018Elegant Promotion\u2019 panel (3.30pm, Forrest Room 3).<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ll be milling around in between too, so come and say \u2018hi\u2019 if you see me. I\u2019ll be happy to have a chat with you* \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

    *Unless I\u2019m on my way to the pool to do a quick 1km between sessions. That water is irresistible!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I never sleep well without Hubbie (ahh\u2026). So what to do when I\u2019m away as I am now and can\u2019t sleep? I know\u2026 blog!! I\u2019ve been at #Conflux9 \u2013 Australia\u2019s 52nd Natcon \u2013 for two days now and it\u2019s been so fantastic I can\u2019t wait any longer to share it\u2026<\/p>\n

    Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5,7],"tags":[27,29,31,67,74,105,131,192,275,294,302,303,317,331,347,396,400,435,440,475,513,518,532,537,557,593,668,709],"class_list":["post-6466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australian-authors","category-bookish-inspection","category-writer-advice","tag-agents","tag-alan-baxter","tag-alex-adsett","tag-authors","tag-banquet","tag-cat-sparks","tag-conflux-9","tag-editors","tag-ian-mchugh","tag-jack-dann","tag-jane-virgo","tag-janeen-webb","tag-joanne-anderton","tag-kaaron-warren","tag-keri-arthur","tag-marc-gascoigne","tag-margo-lanagan","tag-nalo-hopkinson","tag-natcon","tag-patty-jansen","tag-regency","tag-richard-harland","tag-rochelle-fernandez","tag-rose-mitchell","tag-sean-williams","tag-steampunk","tag-tracey-ohara","tag-writers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6466"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14239,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6466\/revisions\/14239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}