Category: events

My FantasyCon 2019 schedule

I’ll be attending FantasyCon in Glasgow this weekend, and this is what I’ll be getting up to:

Launch: The Shadow Booth
Friday 5pm
Launch of Shadow Booth Vol 4, edited by Dan Coxon, with readings by Robert Shearman, Gary Budden and Tim Major.

Panel: The 13th Doctor
Saturday 12pm
The Doctor is back and she’s better than ever! What are the best moments in series 11? What do we love about Whittaker’s Doctor? How has the series riffed on existing concepts but explored them in new ways? And what kind of stories do we want to see next?
David Thomas Moore, Mark Morris, Tim Major, Una McCormack

And the House Lights DimLaunch: Luna Press
Saturday 1pm
Launch of the Harvester series of single-author collections by Marie O’Regan, Paul Kane, Nick Wood and Tim Major.
This is the official launch of my collection And the House Lights Dim, which was published in July this year.

Workshop: Short Fiction Submissions
Sunday 12pm
Alongside my BFS Horizons co-editor, Shona Kinsella, I’ll be running a workshop about how to make the best possible impression when sending short stories to editors.

…and then I’ll be attending the banquet for the first time – exciting!

Les Vampires by Tim Major…and then I’ll be attending the British Fantasy Awards for the first time – also exciting!
(Not least because my monograph about the 1915 film Les Vampires is on the shortlist for Best Non-Fiction – though it’s up against some fine competition, any of whom I’d be delighted to see win. Still, the nomination is a great excuse to finally stick around long enough to see the awards presented.)

Another first: I’ll be staying in the convention hotel. Hopefully this will mean a more flexible approach to planning my days, and less lugging around everything needed from morning until night. And more chance to bump into people and hang around with people I like, which surely is the point of FantasyCon in the first place.

My WorldCon schedule

Dublin WorldCon

I’m going to be quite busy at Dublin WorldCon in a couple of weeks’ time! Here’s my schedule:

Panel: When good futures go bad: dystopia as horror fiction
Friday 16 Aug 2019, 12:00 – 12:50, Wicklow Room-1 (CCD)
It’s not just for science fiction any more! How do horror dystopias differ from those in SF, and what are some examples, old and new, that we should be reading?
Prof David Farnell (M), Tim Major, Pat Cadigan, Emil Hjörvar Petersen, Nina Allan

Panel: Hammer Horror
Friday 16 Aug 2019, 14:30 – 15:20, Odeon 3 (Point Square Dublin)
Terry Pratchett, Guillermo del Toro and writers of Doctor Who (during the Tom Baker period) have all evinced admiration and  inspiration from a set of horror flicks produced by a long dormant British film producer Horror Films from the 1950s and 1960s. Our panellists look at what makes them so enamoured of their productions.
Genevieve Cogman (M), The John Vaughan, Tim Major, Helena Nash, Mr Grzegorz Aleksander Biały

Panel: Rural pagans, haunted forests: folk horror revival
Saturday 17 Aug 2019, 11:00 – 11:50, Liffey Hall-2 (CCD)
With its roots in folklore and rural life, ‘folk horror’ has enjoyed a huge resurgence in the last few years. What is folk horror, and why is it suddenly so popular? Is it nostalgia-based, or are there new anxieties at work that have driven its rise?
Tim Major (M), Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Tuttle, Neil Williamson

NewCon Press book launch
Saturday 17 Aug 2019, 17.30 – 18.30, Point Square: Warehouse 2 – Performance space
Inc. launch of Best of British Science Fiction 2019, which features my story, ‘Throw Caution’.

Les Vampires shortlisted for British Fantasy Award

This morning I was delighted to discover that my monograph on Les Vampires has been shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award, in the Best Non-Fiction category!

I’m very flattered, and surprised – and as always, I’m grateful to Neil Snowdon of Electric Dreamhouse Press for giving me the opportunity to write the book.

British Fantasy SocietyThe full list of shortlisted works is well worth checking out. More than anything, what strikes me is the reminder/realisation that I know so many of the shortlisted writers, editors and artists personally, from various genre events, and how much of a pleasure it is to see them achieving and progressing so swiftly in their careers – and being so supportive while doing so.

Find out more information about my Les Vampires monograph here.

My Edge-Lit 8 schedule

This weekend I’ll be heading to the Edge-Lit convention, a one-day genre writing event on Sat 13th July in Derby. It’s always a terrific event, and incredibly friendly. I’m really looking forward to it.

In fact, Edge-Lit was the first writing convention I ever attended, back in 2015, after I’d published only one novella and a couple of short stories. I was very nervous and hung around at the backs of rooms, but the few people I spoke to were lovely. I found the panels and workshops particularly encouraging – they provided me with some useful expectations as I started out on what would hopefully become a writing career.

And I suppose I did end up with a writing career – or at least, I’m still on that trajectory. So, it feels like important milestone that on Saturday I’ll be attending Edge-Lit as an invited guest, appearing on stage, at launches and conducting a workshop.

My workshop is intended to pay back the favour of that help I received when I first attended. It’s titled ‘Routes to Becoming a Novelist’ and is aimed at new writers – I’ll be discussing a sort of apprenticeship route to building up a writing CV.

Here’s my schedule:

10am Cinema 1
Short Cuts: Does a Background in Short Fiction Help You Build a Career as a Novelist?
Panel – with Simon Bestwick, Zen Cho(Chair), Jan Edwards, Tim Lebbon, Tim Major

11am Digital Studio (1st floor)
Workshop – Routes to Becoming a Novelist
Intended for writers at the beginning of their career – see description above.

2pm Participation Space (ground floor)
Shadow Booth Launch – with Tim Major, Robert Shearman and Aliya Whiteley
Featuring readings and discussion about weird fiction, led by editor Dan Coxon.

3pm Cinema 2
Black Shuck Books launches PAREIDOLIA , edited by James Everington and Dan Howarth and THE FINITE by Kit Power
(I have a story in the Pareidolia anthology)

6pm Participation Space (ground floor)
Readings – Anne Charnock and Tim Major
As well as reading a snippet from Snakeskins, I’ll probably read from my short story collection, And the House Lights Dim, which will be published 4 days before Edge-Lit.

Do you have an Edge-Lit ticket yet? You should come. If you do, please do come and say hello at any time – particularly if you’re a new writer looking for the same kind of reassurance that I needed when I first attended four years ago.

Cymera Festival

Claire North & Tim MajorAll told, the inaugural Cymera Festival in Edinburgh was a triumph. Organiser Ann Landmann did a terrific job of booking writers, setting up events and apparently managing to keep her cool throughout. I got a chance to speak at length with lots of SFF authors I’d only met in passing before, and hang out with the Titan Books editorial and marketing team, who are all ace.

And it was a personal triumph, too. The event I was scheduled to take part in – a discussion with Claire North (or Cat Webb, to dispense with the pseudonym) – was a far bigger event than I’ve ever done before. I mean that quite literally – we were onstage in the main theatre, with stage mics and everything. But the festival was so casual and friendly, as was Cat/Claire when we spoke in the Green Room, that I found myself more relaxed and confident than at previous events.

And I think the actual discussion went well, too! I certainly enjoyed it, Cat/Claire’s opinions are always fascinating and her recent novel 84K is an absolute marvel, and I think I was mostly coherent and mostly on topic. I so appreciated people stumping up for the event – most would have paid for the event individually rather than as part of a weekend pass – and a bunch bought copies of Snakeskins and asked me to sign them, too. All in all, I was allowed to feel like a Real Author, which was very exciting.

I’m told that Cymera will return next year, so watch out for more details – I highly recommend coming along.

In conversation with Claire North at CYMERA SFF festival

Over the weekend the full programme for the new SFF literary festival, CYMERA, was announced. The festival will take place on 7–9 June 2019 in Edinburgh, and features some amazing guests, including Marian Womack, Tade Thompson, Gareth L. Powell, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Charles Stross, Christopher Priest… and many more – it’s a heck of a list. And Claire North! And me!

I’d been told a while back that I’d be on a panel with Cat Webb (otherwise known as Claire North), but I’d assumed there’d be a bunch of us onstage. Instead, the event is the two of us in conversation – and while this is SO cool, I’m also feeling SUCH anxiety. I love Cat’s/Claire’s books.

We’ll be chatting about unequal societies in fiction, related to my upcoming novel SNAKESKINS (in which a small group of Britons have the power to shed their skins every seven years, rejuvenating in the process) and the Claire North novel 84K (in which anyone can get away with any crime, if they have the money to pay for it). 84K is a superb novel and if you haven’t already read it, you must.

The event will be on Sunday 9th June at The Pleasance in Edinburgh. There are more details on the CYMERA website.

My FantasyCon 2018 schedule

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I’m finally getting around to thinking about my FantasyCon plans. Mostly, those plans involve chatting, but I will have some fixed points in amongst the socialising:

Friday 5pm – PS Publishing launch – My hybrid non-fiction/fiction book about the 1915 film LES VAMPIRES will be available for the first time, alongside other Electric Dreamhouse Press titles by Tim Lucas and John Connolly, AND new PS Publishing books by Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon, Paul Kane, Stephen Volk, Ian Whates and Thana Niveau. Wow!

Saturday 9pm – reading slot – alongside the very excellent Gary Budden and Priya Sharma. I’m so looking forward to this session! (I have no idea what I’ll be reading, yet – maybe an oldie as I’ve been dusting off stories for next year’s story collection, ‘And the House Lights Dim’.)

Sunday 11am ‘Reprinting short fiction’ panel – with Ian Whates, Peter Mark May, Marguerite Kenner and Nina Allan.

But more than anything, I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone. I’ll be around all weekend – a rarity for me – so there should be lots of opportunities to hang out. See you all there!

‘The Weird in Weird Fiction’ FantasyCon panel on The Outer Dark podcast

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This week’s The Outer Dark podcast includes a recording of the ‘Weird in Weird Fiction’ panel from last month’s FantasyCon in Peterborough, featuring me alongside some wonderfully knowledgeable people: Phil Sloman (moderating), Helen Marshall, Stephen Laws, Paul Woodward and Alistair Rennie.

I had such fun taking part in this one! The panel starts at the 1:11 mark, though you should also listen to the WorldCon ‘Rise of Weird Fiction’ panel recording earlier in the episode, and Helen Marshall’s fantastically detailed commentary on the current state of weird fiction. (Also: read Helen’s fiction! Her short story collections are incredible.)

What I’ll be up to at FantasyCon 2017

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Next weekend I’ll be attending FantasyCon for the third time. In 2015 I was a bystander; in 2016 I jumped in at what I thought was the deep end, with a reading and a panel appearance. It turns out there are deeper waters, though: this year I’ll be participating in three panels and a reading. If you’ll be there, this is where you can find me:

Readings: Weird Fiction – Saturday 11am
Laura Mauro
Tracy Fahey
Tim Major

Short Fiction: Markets, Outlets, Awards –  Saturday 3pm (Panel Room 1)
Allen Ashley (mod), Stephen Bacon, Tim Major, Pat Cadigan, Adam Millard, Lynda E. Rucker

Unruly Authors: The Perils of Being an Editor – Saturday 5pm (Panel Room 1)
Juliet  Mushens (mod), Tim Major, Colleen Anderson, Mike Chinn, Rose Drew

The Weird in Weird Fiction – Sunday 11.30am (Panel Room 3)
Phil Sloman (mod), Paul Woodward, Alistair Rennie, Tim Major, Stephen Laws, Helen Marshall

 

 

 

My FantasyCon schedule

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FantasyCon2016

Next weekend I’ll be heading to FantasyCon for the second time. The difference will be that, whereas last year I skulked shyly at the edges of rooms this time around, this time I have a novel to promote (though I reserve the right to skulk). I’ll be appearing at these events:

Friday 23rd Sept

  • 9–11pm Horror Writers Association & Jo Fletcher Books Party – where I’m looking forward to meeting other HWA members and writers.
  • 9.30pm Tim Major reading – I’ll be doing a reading alongside Alex Lamb (though I haven’t yet decided what I’ll be reading) as part of the ‘Sci-Friday’ bunch of writers. I like to see my reading slot as acting as a warm-up for recent Clarke Award winner, Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Saturday 24th Sept

  • 2–3pm Snowbooks launch – where my time-travel novel, YOU DON’T BELONG HERE, is the side attraction to the launch of Snowbooks’ series of horror novellas by authors including Mark Morris, Ray Cluley and Cate Gardner.

Sunday 25th Sept

  • 1–2pm ‘How to Build a Time Machine’ panel – my first ever panel appearance… Expect a lot of blustering, though I genuinely have built a time machine as part of my preparation.

You can read the full FantasyCon programme here.