LexiCon 2017: Done and Dusted!

“Babylon’s Song” did not win the 2017 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novella. Yes, I am sad. It would have been nice to have won but such is life. For those readers who nominated “Babylon’s Song,” thank you. It’s because of you that my novella was shortlisted and for that, I am eternally thankful. At the end of the day, if I can make you happy, then I’m happy, and to me, that is a big part of why I write.

To the winners, congratulations! You folks rock!

Best Novel	Into the Mist Lee Murray (Cohesion Press)
Best Youth Novel	Light in My Dark Jean Gilbert and William Dresden (Rogue House Publishing)
Best Novella / Novelette	The Convergence of Fairy Tales Octavia Cade (Book Smugglers)
Best Short Story	“Splintr” A.J. Fitzwater published in At the Edge(Paper Road Press)
Best Collected Work	At the Edge Edited by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray (Paper Road Press)
Best Professional Artwork	Cover artwork for At the Edge Emma Weakley (Paper Road Press)
Best Professional Production/Publication	That Kind of Planet Emma Weakley (Random Static)
Best Dramatic Presentation	This Giant Papier Mache Boulder is Actually Really Heavy Andrew Beszant and Christian Nicholson (Little Hero Productions)

As for LexiCon, this was my first ever convention and I loved it. I attended some awesome panels, most notably “Publicity for Writers” and “Worldbuilding,” which I enjoyed very much. “Worldbuilding” was an interesting discussion and exploration of both science fiction and fantasy, from alien planets to fantasy worlds fuelled by unique magic systems. We considered the obligation on a writer to stay true to the rules created for their world and to what extent they could deviate, if at all. “Publicity for Writers” dealt with the who’s who of New Zealand’s book Media and how to approach them and I’ve made some good contacts there which I hope to use in the near future.

Building Worlds with Robin Johnson, Tracy Joyce, John McCormick, and Jack Newhouse.

I met some wonderful people at the Con, people I already knew from Facebook and social networks and I made some new friends. As you know, I’ve never been involved in fandom or any SF community for that matter, apart from my Interspecies co-authors who I’ve been working with for a couple of years now and who I also consider great friends of mine. So this experience was a good one. I just wish I had more time available for interaction as I missed out on the social get-together sessions in the evenings due to reasons beyond my control.

I’ve been a regular member of SpecFicNZ for a few years which is an association for speculative fiction writers here in New Zealand, and as a member, I attended their Annual General Meeting at LexiCon. And lo and behold, I’m now on the association’s committee, which means I’ll be getting more involved in local projects to further New Zealand speculative fiction. I really look forward to this.

With SJV winners Lee Murray and Dan Rabarts.

All-in-all, I think achieved most of my goals for attending my first ever fantasy and science fiction convention. I left there feeling enriched and inspired and with a renewed zest in my step. I have lots to plan and do still, and thousands upon thousands of words to write before the year’s end, and I can’t wait to share it.