PANELS! Signing! Socialising! Chainsaw Juggling!

Okay, maybe not chainsaw juggling, but the first three are definitely happening this week and weekend at two awesome events.   Apologies - I really wanted to present my picks for the most interesting panels at Nine Worlds that don't involve me. I would also normally endeavour to rave about as many of the other authors at these events as possible, but I frankly haven't had such a manic working week in a while, so I'm afraid time pressures have stabbed all these good intentions to death.  You'll just have to put up with my own imminent schedule. It's all me me me... (*winks to Jack Sparks readers*)

THURSDAY AUG 11: FANTASY AT THE COURT!
6pm-9pm at Goldsboro Books, Cecil Court, London (see pic above)
This annual event celebrates fantasy and science fiction and is an informal gathering for fans of this genre to meet the best fantasy and science fiction authors published today.  Tickets for the event cost £5. Set in the beautiful surroundings of Cecil Court and given the unique history of the location, Goldsboro Books is the perfect place for an evening that is set to be fantastic(al) in every sense.

I'm delighted to have joined a great list of authors who will appear at this wonderfully fun event! See you there, I hope.

SATURDAY AUG 13: NINE WORLDS CON!

FORBIDDEN PLANET SIGNING TABLE
11.30am-12.15pm
I'll be signing at the Forbidden Planet table. Hooray! Please be advised, however, that my autograph automatically halves the resale value of any given copy of The Last Days Of Jack Sparks. BONUS EXCITEMENT: everyone who gets me to deface their copy of Jack Sparks will get a limited edition Jack Sparks bookmark!  (While the number of bookmarks in my inside jacket pocket lasts!)

GENRE FUN-TIME ROOM 101
5pm-6pm (Epernay)
Come one! Come all! See our passionate panelists voraciously compete to declare their choice of the Most Hated Cliche Of All Time - the biggest laugh sees the panelists' pet peeve or authorial nightmare consigned to the dark, dank, despicable, dire depths of Room 101! (All cliches will be fished out and washed off and given a good hug after, we don’t hold with cruelty to innocent plot devices)
Matt Blakstad, Jason Arnopp, Ed Cox, Bex Levene, Stark Holborn, Anne Perry (mod)

NEW VOICES
10.15pm-11.15pm (Bordeaux)
Join us for a set of fun and fast-paced readings from the very best new writers.
Mark De Jager, Rose Biggin, Jason Arnopp, Maria Lewis 
See here for my blog about a recent Jack Sparks reading I did, at Edge Lit.

SUNDAY AUG 14: NINE WORLDS CON!

TRICKING THE READER
11.15am-12.15pm (Bordeaux)
Autolycus. Locke Lamora. The Magicians of The Prestige. Wade Wilson. Unreliable narrators are everywhere in genre fiction and the one question we always ask is why? What’s the appeal of listening to stories narrated by liars? What’s the difference between authorial mischief and shaggy dog stories? Why do we love the twist in the tale?
Jason Arnopp, Mark de Jager, James Smythe, Genevieve Cogman (mod) Emma Trevayne
 
WELCOME TO CREEPYPASTATOWN, POPULATION: YOU
1.30pm-2.30pm (Chalon)
The internet is festering with tales of the grim and gory as it is but these days it’s feasting on creepypasta like it’s apocalypse o’clock. With these little home-grown mushrooms of fiction festering in the darker corners of the internet, creating monsters like Slenderman that have broken out into the wider, brighter world, how has that affected the horror genre? Is this the future, or a new facet of one of the oldest kinds of story?
Jason Arnopp, Catriona Ward, Angela Slatter, Tom Fletcher, Andrew Griffin (Mod)

Other panels, signings and events are available!  A whole galaxy of them, in fact.  Nine Worlds looks pretty amazing this year.  Check out the full schedule.

It's not too late (at the time of writing) to help place The Last Days Of Jack Sparks on the shortlist of The Guardian's Not The Booker Prize!  All it takes is posting a comment.  Do it for Satan! 
​

* * *

@JasonArnopp on Twitter

Check out my:

New Novel |  Free Books |  Patreon
  Script Notes |  Past Books |  Mailing List