P-Con 4, Phoenix Convention, Dublin 10-11 March, 2007

P-Con V....

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:59:07 +0100

We will be launching the brand new P-CON 5 website soon. However, in the meantime, there is a temporary site at www.pconv.shadowcat.name

P-Con V in 2008: Guest of Honour announced

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 02:45:38 +0000

P-Con IV is over and we would like to thank everyone: our Guest of Honour, Kim Newman, all our guests and everyone who came to the convention for making it a great weekend.

We are already getting ready for P-Con V next year. We haven’t quite pinned down the date, although it will be in the Spring of 2008, but we have confirmed our next Guest of Honour.

We are delighted to announce that the Guest of Honour for P-Con V will be Catie Murphy.

On the launch pad...

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:11:53 +0000

P-Con is on the launch pad, fueled up and ready to go. Guests have arrived, programme items are being fine-tuned, programme books are ready and the clock is ticking…

The convention will be starting at 10.00 tomorrow morning. We hope to see you there. If there are any significant updates or news from the convention, we will try to get them on the site during the convention; otherwise, this will be the last post to the website until after the convention.

We would like to thank all the people who have made P-Con possible, and for those of you who are going to the convention, we look forward to seeing you and remember, the main thing is to enjoy yourselves there.

P-Day -1

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:29:20 +0000

We have had enquiries from people wondering if they can join at the convention itself. And the answer is yes, of course you can.
Just check in at the front desk of the convention, which we hope won’t be hard to find, and you can join there.

Schedule alterations

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:35:01 +0000

There is a revised schedule of events at the convention, available on the site. One or two changes in personnel on the panels, and a few of the Saturday panels have had their times changed.

Check the Schedule: Saturday and Schedule: Sunday pages for the new timetable.

The timetable is also available as a PDF download.

Bear in mind that, there may changes in the timetable between now and the convention.

Diane Duane and Peter Morwood unable to attend

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:28:44 +0000

We regret to inform you that due to last-minute circumstances beyond their control, Diane Duane and Peter Morwood will be unable to attend the convention.

Peter and Diane are great guests, and this will be the first P-CON they have not been able to attend. They will be missed, but we hope to see them again next year.

LJ Meetup @ P-CON

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:58:14 +0000

There will be a meetup of LiveJournallers at P-Con, taking place around 6pm on Saturday, possibly in one of the programme rooms or possibly the bar; it could be a moveable feast. More details on the good Mr. Slovobooks’s journal here.

LiveJournal seems to be the blogging choice of many a genre aficiando, with at least seven of the guests having a presence there, not to mention a truckload of members of the convention.

Timetable for P-Con

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 02:26:30 +0000

The provisional schedules for the P-Con weekend are now online.

You can find the Saturday schedule and the Sunday schedule by clicking the appropriate links.

Please remember that all times and panellists are subject to change, due to the always inevitable unforseen circumstances.

News in Brief

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 02:14:19 +0000

Saturday schedule on the site – Raven Dane Book Launch at the convention – Technical Hitches – Glorifying Terrorism, the book – What Locus magazine says you should read

The provisional schedule for Saturday at P-Con is on the website. The Sunday schedule will follow shortly. All times and panellists are subject to change.

Raven Dane will be launching her second book Blood Lament, at the convention.

We have had a few technical hitches with the site, which meant the site was unavailable on occasions during the last few days. Sorry about that, and full service has (probably) been restored.

Rackstraw Press have just published a new work Glorifying Terrorism, which is a protest against some of the elements of the Terrorism Act of 2006 – the controversial ban on the glorification of terrorism in the UK. To quote from their website:

This Act is opposed by people from many political parties as an attack on free speech. Government protests that it will only be used if someone directly incites terrorism have been regarded as implausible by lawyers who point to the many other laws which currently cover this action. Science fiction is a political genre. There are many science fiction writers who have already written novels and stories which could be considered in contravention of the law.

Writers who have contributed to this include Kathryn Allen, Chaz Brenchley, Marie Brennan, Hal Duncan, Suzette Haden Elgin, Kira Franz, Van Aaron Hughes, Davin Ireland, Gwyneth Jones, Vylar Kaftan, Lucy Kemnitzer, H. H. Løyche, Una McCormack, Adam Roberts, Elizabeth Sourbut, Katherine Sparrow, Kari Sperring, Rachel Swirsky, Lavie Tidhar, James Trimarco, Jo Walton, Ian Watson, Ian Whates and P-Con guests Ken MacLeod and Charlie Stross.

The 2006 Recommended Reading List from Locus Magazine suggests that you should read The Man from the Diogenes Club from Kim Newman and The Clan Corporate by Charlie Stross. Who are we to argue?

Kim Newman up for a Stoker Award

webmaster@slovobooks.com (Ian) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:51:01 +0000

Guest of Honour Kim Newman is up for another Stoker Award, this time in the Long Fiction category for his story, Clubland Heroes, which appeared in the Retro Pulp Tales anthology, edited by Joe Landsale.

The Man from the Diogenes Club was selected for the 2006 Recommended Reading List by Locus Magazine. More, as always, on his rather spiffing website at johnnyalucard.com.