catsparx

Here are some more, non Ninjaz-related images from Conflux. It was a small convention. Too small by about 50 people, I reckon, and I do have to say... what the hell has to happen to convince the Marque to keep the fucking bar open till a reasonable hour? 10pm is way too early to be shutting off the fun. Still, my panels were well attended, I got to catch up with many fine folks and the Nicology audio visual presentation was well received. More photos here.

Donna Hanson, Stephanie Smith and Nicole Murphy

Emily Rodda and Marc McBride

Nick's birthday cake

Jack Dann and Jim Minz

Rob and me (photo by Alan Baxter, I think)

I'll be doing 4 panels at Conflux this weekend:

12.30pm Saturday: Setting the seen
3.30pm Saturday: Short story writing
3.30pm Sunday: Steampunk literature
11am Monday Editing anthologies

Looks like I'm down as the moderator for three of them. One should prove particularly entertaining as I'll be playing traffic cop to four men, three of whom are, shall we say, well known for their love of public speaking. My mission, as I choose to accept it, is to ensure all four get equal speaking time. No rampant displays of ego allowed. I shall be bringing a chair and a whip.

Plus don't forget we have Ninjaz with Attitude and Nick Stathopoulos's 50th birthday party following the masquerade on Sunday night. I can't wait!!!

Should you find yourself in the general vicinity of Canberra the weekend after this one, why not sign up for Conflux 6? And if attending a whole convention seems a bit hardcore, may I suggest turning up on Sunday night 4th October for two very special events. At 8.30pm my second favourite band in the whole universe, Ninjaz With Attitude,  will be playing live directly following the masquerade ball. And if that wasn't excitement enough, following directly afterwards will be Nicology, much beloved artist Nick Stathopoulos's 50th birthday party

I'm putting together a slideshow of all things Nick. This little guy is definitely my favourite!

And now, an important message from my sponsor...

This year's CONFLUX Virtual Minicon is on Sunday 30th August 2009, from 9am to 5pm.

You may be wondering just what a Virtual Minicon is? It's an on-line convention, a gathering where you can follow the program and have an hour's chat with our interesting virtual guests. You get all the fun of being at a convention, in the comfort of your home, and it's completely free!

9am to 9.30am - Welcome

9.30 to 10.30am Liz Argall (Comics writer/artist)

10.30 to 11.30am Gillian Polack (Writer & Historian)

11.30 to 12.30pm Richard Harland (Writer)

12.30 to 1.30pm James Minz (Senior Editor Baen)

1.30 to 2.30pm Maxine McArthur (Writer)

2.30 to 3.30pm Bruce R Gillespie (Fanzine Editor)

3.30 to 4.30pm Cat Sparks (Writer & Editor)

4.30 to 5pm Gillian Polack and Stuart Herring (web designer).

These times are for Canberra, Australia. If you're fuzzy on time conversions, try this site

Book the dates and times into your diary, and at the appropriate time go to the forum - sign in, find the forum featuring the guest you want to chat to and join the fun. There will also be a "secret meeting place" for general conversation in between spots.

Looking forward to meeting some of you on-line.

best wishes,

Karen Herkes

note: I'm not sure you can get "all the fun" of being at a convention. For a start, there's no one is silly costumes unless you decide to dress up your children or your pets. And secondly, no bar. Unless, like me, you have installed one beside your keyboard.

So, the trophy for belle of the ball at Conflux 5 definitely goes to Rachel Holkner [in green dress] for her Prohibition Ball ensemble. This photo does not do her justice -- take it from me, she looked like a 1940s movie star and managed to maintain the glam - and the lipstick - long into the wee small room party hours.

My second fashion and style award goes to the irrepressible flinthart . When I enquired about the unusual batik-print cummerbund arrangement wrapped around his waist, he informed me that it was, in fact, his pyjamas. You know, just in case he had a few too many drinks and wasn't able to make it back to the friend's house he was staying at... Sadly, I didn't get a photo, possibly because I was busy sipping on a glass of limoncello that he'd passed me, despite it being something like 10am and, therefore, not the appropriate time for hardcore alcohol consumption.

Just a reminder for those going to Conflux in October that you need to book in advance if you're attending the 1920s prohibition banquet. I'll be frocking up and sipping hooch from a slipper so why doncha come on down? Do the clicky thing to download the booking form.

Over the past few months a couple of friends have persistently asked me me whether or not I'm going to be attending Conflux 5: Dreaming this October. I'm actually an invited guest at the con, along with Sharyn November, Jack Dann, Mark Sherrif, Gillian Polack and Bruce Gillespie, but if my nearest and dearest can't hold that information in their heads then I'm not sure its worth making too big a fuss about.

The Confluxes are always good fun and this one will be more so because this year's organisers have given mouldy old Rydges Lakeside the flick. I don't think I could have stomached another weekend in that dump, with its clueless 12-year-old staff, perpetually broken elevators and suspiciously nauseating bar food. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I don't know anything about the Marque Hotel, but let's just say it would have to be hosting a leigonella outbreak or be actually on fire for it to suck more than Rydges, and even then it'd be a close call.

Personally I'm quite looking forward to the 1920s prohibition era banquet. Not that I have a suitable frock to wear - or a feather boa. But I did once dance a reasonable Charleston with the then State Minister for Agriculture at Parliament House one ANZAC day whilst on a photographic assignment (as Dawn Fraser waved a beer bottle and cheered me on), so I reckon that's all the inspiration to party I need.

Busy on Friday October 3 to Monday October 6, 2008? if not, why not come along?

Conflux 4 2007

OK, so where to begin? Like most cons, Conflux 4 was a blur of
familiar faces, new attractions, late nights, group dinners and
rushing about between panels and the dealers room.

Rob, Robin and I drove down from Wollongong, arriving at around 5.30.
Things got off to a bad start when it transpired that no one knew
anything about the boxes of Daikaiju3 that were supposed to have been
delivered to Rydges Lakeside during the day. The hotel staff, most of
whom seemed to be about 15 years old, didn't know anything about any
boxes. Turns out they didn't seem to know much about anything at all
for the duration of the weekend. "How do you make a latte?" and
"What's a gin and tonic?" were two classic quotes overheard by
congoers at different points. Someone actually asked if Rydges was a
training hotel. I thought it was more likely to be a work experience
weekend. As per usual, there'd be 50 people in the bar and one person
put on to serve drinks. When Etina tried to order a coffee she was
told off because it would take too long to make & there were other
people waiting for booze who would have to be served first. God help
anyone who ordered a burger. Not only was it cold when it eventually
arrived, it was raw in the middle. I had a dodgy stomach for the rest
of the day when I made the unwise decision to eat half of one.


Rydges Lakeside has always been a bit of a dive. The lifts have never
worked very well, but they were supposedly being "refurbished" the
weekend we were there. "Refurbished" meant a guy in tradesman overalls
hung about in the lobby telling you that everything worked fine if you
pressed the up and down buttons simultaneously. I took to using the
stairs and the goods lift until someone told me they'd been trapped in
the basement cos the fire doors were locked. There were old ladies
using the stairs too. I hope they made it out OK.


But enough about the lifts. Saturday morning came round and there were
still no Daikaiju3s to be found. I started to realise that it was
finally going to be my turn to have the launch with no books. Had the
printer sent them? Had the courier delivered them? No amount of asking
seemed to make any difference. The hotel said there were no boxes. The
launch was set for Sunday. I decided to cancel it. I also decide that
I was done with small press publishing. The dealers room was like the
Marie Celeste. No one was buying stuff. I shared my table with Keith &
Andy and Mark Deniz & Sharyn Lilley. As I was briefing newbie small
press publishers Mark & Sharyn on the running of the table, I saw
their bright little shiny hopeful faces & though "god, that was me
five years ago and look at me now".


I had a bit of a whinge to Kylie Seluka about my missing books.
Already way pissed with Rydges for a thousand other reasons, she
narrowed her eyes to slits and said 'let me go see if I can find
them'. When I came back from lunch two hours later, there they were!
My lovely Daikaiju books! Rydges, in their great wisdom, had shoved them in a
cupboard somewhere. Apparently Kylie had spent 2 hours harassing the
child-staffers till they looked in every possible storeroom, nook and
broom closet. "Lucky you!" said Guest of Honour Graham Joyce. "My
fucking books never turned up at all" Turns out his publisher
neglected to send any.

So we ended up having a D3 launch after all and it went well. We sold
enough to almost cover the print bill. Table sales of the other books
I was selling were dismal. I think I sold 5 copies of 26 Lies and a
handful of Orbs. No one buys our stuff anymore. People only bought
Daikaijus cos I gave em all half a glass of cheap champagne with a
squirt of melon liquor in it & a lolly dinosaur perched on the rim at
the door, and Sean riled em all up with daikaiju limericks while
standing on a chair. I was in a good mood for the rest of the con.


Graham Joyce may well have been the best Con guest of all time. He was
smart, funny, interesting, a talented verbal storyteller & he listened
when other people spoke to him. He had a lot of freakage &
disorganisation to put up with & took it all in his stride. I didn't see much of Kevin J Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, other than being on a panel with Rebecca. By the end of the con they both seemed to have the flu.

Despite Rydges' best efforts, I had a fabulous time at the Con. There are a lot of really funny stories I'd love to blog, but benpeek I'm not, so those will have to stay within the realm of private emails. Next Con on my list is WFC! I can't believe it's only a few weeks away. I am so not prepared to go overseas… The rest of my photos are here.