Despite being fully ensconced in the last (hurrah!) assignment of the current history module, it occurs that an exo-bloggage round up is due.  Thusly, here's what's been happening...

On Shiny Shorts we've recently had reviews of The Satyr’s Head: Tales of Terror, Julian: A Christmas Story, Something Wicked #19 and Rough Music,with reviews due soon for Shimmer #14, Mammoth Book of Body Horror, The Respectable Face of Tyranny, Adrift on the Sea of Rains, and, ooh, many more... We also welcomed to the fold new reviewers Jennifer Rickard and Mario Guslandi.  (And are always looking for more volunteers to join us...)

Over on Girls' Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse I've posted on artefacts to save the world and the fairy apocalypse, and from the rest of the gang there's more gadgets and music posts, Ask the Experts with Chris Farnell, guest post from Dana Fredsti as part of her Plague Town blog tour, musings on the loss of the internet, zombie hamsters, the easter bonnet of the apocalypse, a little something on the Hunger Games, in Know Your Idols we have Commander Shepard for the Mass Effect fans and Donna Noble for the Whovians, there's also survival tricks our mothers taught us and a warning about the haggis apocalypse...

What's not to love?  ;-)

Well, gosh. Wasn't that fun. I might even go so far as to say Best! Eastercon! Ever! (Though it being only my third one, it's a small sample pool to judge by!) Ignoring the fact that the hotel meals had reached new lows and apparently the prices in the downstairs bar were apt to bring about heart attacks, the whole event had a fantastic vibe to it that practically screamed 'this is your clan'.

And, oh, the panels! I do love me some interesting panels! The only one I missed that I really wanted to see was the archery one (looks winsomely at Fcon committee peeps in the hopes they can get an archery thingy in for Fcon this year. Pretty please?) But Saturday had a full day of funky stuff - there was Sufficiently Advanced Magic with Marcus Gipps, Juliet E. McKenna, Stephen Deas, Chris Wooding, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Shana Worthen - talking about magic systems and the developmental comparisons with technology; an utterly fantastic Gender Parity on Panels at Conventions thingy with Kari Sperring, Juliet E. McKenna, Emma Peel, Farah Mendelsohn, Kat Takenaka and Paul Cornell which I could have listened to for much longer as it was both fascinating and educational and left me thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so scary sitting up on a panel at a con; in a similar vein there was How Not to Suppress Women's Writing with Tricia Sullivan, Juliet E. Mckenna (she was busy this convention!), Penny Hill, Amy McCullock and Ian Sales, (and in vaguely related news, check out the all new Fantasy Mistressworks blog that Amanda Rutter has set up!). There was also an extremely interesting panel on A History of Feminist SF in Britain with Roz Kaveney, Lesley Hall, Andy Sawyer, Maureen Kincaid Speller and Kari Sperring which turned out to be one of those ones where I wished I had taken notes of all the names mentioned for later searching out of books.

And, oh, Saturday readings - Anne Lyle with her new book - The Alchemist of Souls - just launched and had sold out in the dealer room by Saturday afternoon. Awesome. Talking of awesome, Tom Pollock, people! Reading from his upcoming book The City's Son (out in June from Jo Fletcher Books) the man is a rock star! Has to be, hands down, the best reading I've ever been to - you don't just want to buy his book, you want to rent him to read it to you as well!

Among other delights, Sunday had Occupy the Metaverse with Tricia Sullivan, Farah Mendlesohn, Adam Roberts and Paul Graham Raven - talking about radicalism and revolution in SF, and almost got a bit heated towards the end when trade unions got mentioned...

Oh, and, I did bar stuff. I never do bar stuff. But Jan and Pete came up for the Newcon launch on Friday (Jan is in the Dark Currents anthology! You'll want to read it. Hers is a fab story of steampunky pirates.) And we plotted mad plots for Ancient Wonders and jumped innocent looking authors for possible contributions. And sat in the bar and chatted with peeps. Which is a thing that usually makes me run away screaming in the opposite direction. But it was quite nice, so I may have to try it for Fcon this year once Reg duties are done...

And there was the Game of Thrones sword-throne. (No, I didn't sit in it. But here's a picture anyway!)


And there was tech! I inherited mum's old Blackberry not long before the con so had a blast facebooking and twittering during the con, just as the gods of tech intended. Which came in handy during the BSFA awards ceremony, as I could witness the horror as it occurred on twitter instead of having to sit through it live. And those genius Eastercon peeps did a guidebook app that updated panel items and gave you the maps and schedule and all sorts. On your phone! How very cool is that? And if that's not enough, the main room stuff was filmed so you can watch some of the panels here.

And the peeps for the Bradford 8-Squared bid got the dubious pleasure of organising Eastercon next year. (That would be Juliet McKenna taking over the universe...) ;-) And apparently Eastercon will be in Glasgow in 2014.

And I didn't get lost on the way there for a change. Nor on the way back. A thing which is listed in hidden tomes somewhere as the definition of a minor miracle. All hail the transport gods!

And all in all, the whole thing was abso fabulous! Can't wait to be let out for Fantasycon in September!

Further to my last, you'll find the particular story preferences of m'fabulous co-editrix Jan on her blog here. (Whereas mine are in the last post!) All told, no matter what the setting or sub-genre, an engaging story is what we're looking for. That submission link again!

So, you may or may not have noticed that I have a bit of thing for stories about ancient sites (no, it's not just tomb raider fangirling. Although any kind of archaeological adventuring is always fun... ;-P ) Therefore, being asked if I wanted to do an anthology on ancient sites with Jan Edwards for Alchemy Press was a bit of a no-brainer. It's called The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders and is set for publication around late September and we are open for submissions right now. (Yes, now!) ;-)

Soooooo, the necessary blurbage:


Standing stones, burial mounds, ruined castles or sunken settlements, the ancient sites that litter our landscapes have a mysterious appeal which cannot be denied.

Think myth come to life; old folktales updated; the consequences of tomb raiding; hidden guardians and secret civilisations; from archaeology to tourism; mysticism and myth; folklore to the fantastical. Take us on a journey around the esoteric and enigmatic places that cannot fail to fire the imagination. Intrigue us, thrill us, make us wonder about the where, the what and the who.

We are interested in fantasy, sf, weird and horror tales of all kinds. (No erotica, romance or poetry.)

The nit-picky official guidelines and other techy details can be found on the Alchemy Press website here

--
Now the official bit's done, on a personal note and in case it needs saying - we welcome stories from anyone and are looking for stories involving ancient sites found anywhere on this world, secondary fantasy worlds or other worlds, with well rounded active characters of any age, race or orientation. Make sure your settings and cultures are well researched and not exoticised and be wary of cultural appropriation (see here and here and here and here and here for more on that).

Co-editor Jan will likely be putting her own preferences up on her blog at some point (will link as and when), for me, personally I'm a fan of the type of stories found on Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Clarkesworld and Expanded Horizons so stories with that kind of feel are going to make me happy. I also skew more towards the fantasy and SF end of things and particularly want to see stories set in or crossing over to other worlds. Also stories where actual archaeology occurs. Especially if the site in question doesn't get destroyed at the end of it. ;-) And fun pulpy romps that don't commit crimes of cultural appropriation (as mentioned above). Ooh, and dystopian/post-apocalyptic fic. And space ships. Can we get an ancient site on a space ship? (Actually, an ancient crashed/buried space ship does technically count as an ancient site...) Do the fae get annoyed when people hijack their standing stones for riding ley lines? What happens when the local community object to a gold-digging chancer kicking over their heritage?

There's bundles of possibilities for interesting stories so bung 'em over to us.

So, not-so-little-anymore sister will be getting married next year. (Cue relatives eyes lighting up at the thought of someone in that weird branch of the family doing something vaguely normal that they can talk about. Bless.) And NSLA-sis, in a fit of obvious insanity, has decided she wants me as a bridesmaid. (Guh?) In a proper dress. (Eep!) A purple one. (Oh, well, in that case… alas, my suggestion of all the bridesmaids dyeing their hair purple was nixed, however artful streaks of purple have been tentatively approved.)

Not just any old bridesmaid though, I’m to be Head Bridesmaid. (Which does make me have visions of it being more of a Head Cheerleader thing and do you think anyone would mind me doing a triple back-handspring down the aisle? Not that I could actually *do* a triple back-handspring, and where would you put the pom-poms?) But I digress. Having been given such a very responsible position, I got to thinking, just what in blazes is a Head Bridesmaid supposed to do? Frantic googling naturally ensued.

In Ancient Greece the bridesmaids were there to protect the bride from any forces of evil that might lurk in her path. Thusly, bridesmaids must be just a bit kick-ass as they’re the last line of defence between the bride and whatever Eeeeeeeevil is foolish enough to have a go. As an over-protective big sister I can definitely do that. (Goes to check the kitchen for suitable concealable weaponry, nods in satisfaction at findings. They. Will. Not. Pass.)

Legend also has it that the bridesmaids were there to confuse and distract any evil spirits who wanted to ruin the marriage. This tradition can be seen in old Roman law which stipulated that there had to be ten witnesses to the wedding – five men and five women – with the women dressing like the bride and the men like the groom. This was meant to perplex the spirits as to who, exactly, was getting married and so protect the happy couple from unwanted otherworldly attentions. Hopefully the one officiating the marriage wouldn’t be taken in by the subterfuge otherwise hijinx could very well ensue…

The Anglo-Saxons were a bit more traditional with their protection detail – in their version of events, it was the groomsmen who protected the bride from attack by the groom’s rivals/rejected suitors, as it was thought the groomsmen were better able to fight off any attacker who may want to kidnap the bride. (Obviously the Anglo Saxons hadn’t met the women of my family – potential kidnappers would not stand a chance…) While the boys were off having fun with a bit of pre-wedding hack and slash, the bridesmaids were relegated to leading the bridegroom to church. (Wave a cup of tea in front of him. Job done!)

But bridesmaids aren’t just there to play bodyguard, oh no. They’re also there to give the groom merry hell and make him prove his worthiness before he can even think of getting near the bride. The Ancient Chinese had a tradition of wedding games to help ease the tension between the happy couple and their families and one of these games was the wedding door game. This is where the bridesmaids come in to play as it was their task to block the groom from the bride’s door and set him challenges in order to prove his love for his intended. (Now, do we use one of the four different versions of Trivial Pursuit we have or send him off to find the thirteen treasures of Britain? Is throwing a dragon at him too much? How about a riddle game?)

So the evidence suggests that my bridesmaidly duty, as set out by the ancients, is to harass the groom until he’s proven his mettle, drag him to the altar for the ritual sacrifice… er, nuptials … while fending off Team Evil in a posh purple frock. Sounds like fun. :-)

So have just heard when and where the scary exam for this year's history module is taking place. Not, as previously thought, at Reading Uni. Nope, somewhere far more interesting than that...


This would be Sindlesham Court, which may or may not be connected to the Berkshire Masonic Lodge next door.

Strangely, this has just wiped out about half the stress from the impending June torture as it has the bonus of being closer to home with waaay better parking than Reading Uni. Also, it's quite pretty. I may even be looking forward to the exam now... ;-P

So the BFS Awards nominations are now open for business here:
http://bfawards.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=94577

You get three choices per category (aarrrrrgh, the torment!) and the top four choices with the most votes go through to the judging panels for final wossnames.

The new online voting form thingy is still a bit buggy so to ease your pain -

1) when you've entered a couple of choices, nip down to the bottom of the page and hit the 'resume later' button to save your work. Then you can pop up and add a couple more choices, then nip down and hit resume to save it. (Far less frustrating than doing the whole thing, hitting submit, getting an error message, doing the whole thing from scratch all over again, rinse and repeat until the laptop gets thrown out of the window...)

And 2) apparently there's an IP blocker on it somewhere, so if you're being helpful and providing links to some of the very excellent online magazines and stories and wotnot that really should be getting nominated... don't put the 'http://www' bit of the address in as this apparently makes the web page panic and then it's error messages and losing your noms... (here speaks the voice of experience who filled out the form many many times this morning...)

If you're short of inspiration, there's some cool picks on the Best of 2011 post I did a while back, not that I'm at all biased...

So if you're a BFS member, are attending Fantasycon 2012 or attended Fcon 2011 - hop on over to http://bfawards.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=94577 and share your love of the genre...

XOXO

There is no such thing as too many blogs. Really there isn't. ;-) So with that in mind, a few of us have started up a review blog specifically for all things short fiction. We'll be covering flash, short stories, novellas; podcasts, print & online magazines; anthologies & collections; fantasy, horror, SF, & crime; new releases & old favourites.

And so, announcing: Shiny Shorts!

So far we've posted reviews of Welcome to Bordertown, Beneath Ceaseless Skies #86, The Princess Trap by Peter Darbyshire (from Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #11), Lavender and Lychgates by Angela Slatter (from Best New Horror #22 but originally from Sourdough and Other Stories) and The Thief of Precious Things by A. C. Wise (from Bewere the Night), and there's plenty more reviews stacked up in the post-schedule queue so drop on by and have a trawl through.

And if any of you, dear internet peeps, fancy volunteering to contribute the odd review, please do let me know - can be of single stories/audio fic, or full magazine/anthology etc. reviews, and we'll also take reprints of older reviews - the point is to share the love of all things short-fic!

Get your Shiny Shorts on! ;-P

I already mentioned this over on the Girls' Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse, but it bears repeating here because, frankly, I love this song.

I give you, the gloriousness that is: The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey.



It was used in the closing credits of the excellent Un:Bound Video Edition: Zombies and it's such a wonderfully catchy song...

Have you checked out the lol-tastic Un:Bound video covering the disturbing events of zombies running riot through Leicester? If not, do so - it includes interviews with acclaimed zombie experts and authors Jasper Bark, Wayne Simmons and Dave Moody.



Plus, in not entirely unrelated news... the first trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution has been released!



Woohoo!