Conflux 8 Report – Part 3: Day 1 After-Lunch Panels

Lunch on Day 1 of Conflux 8 was over almost before we realised it and many of us had to scramble to make the first after-lunch panel on time. Something I’m going to have to remember to have a better handle on at Conflux 9.

Several interesting panels ran after lunch, but I couldn’t attend them all. Here are the ones I was able to get to, and each one was well worth it.

1300-1400: Romance Writers of the Apocalypse with Tracey O’Hara, Nicole Murphy and Jodi Cleghorn

Panelists (from left to right): Tracey O'Hara, Nicole Murphy, Jodi Cleghorn.

This panel consisted of a few of the many writers making up the Romance Writers of the Apocalypse blog. The blog was born out of a Twitter conversation about the need to get fit, have fun and write smart. They each spoke about the different ways they got into writing and/or publishing. Jodi Cleghorn spoke about how the lyrics of ‘Deck the Halls’ and the anthology that resulted brought her to the independent publishing field. They also talked about the elements making up post-apocalyptic fiction and the role that landscape and climate would play in Australian apocalyptic fiction.

1400-1500: The art of scene and mood setting in dark speculative fiction with Tracey O’Hara, Alan Baxter and Lily Mulholland

Panelists (from left to right): Lily Mulholland, Tracey O'Hara, Alan Baxter

One of the most important elements of scene and mood setting these panelists pointed out was place. They discussed how place was important to story, and how applying the dark aspects of a place assists in building its character. Examples of writers good at creating place included Stephen King, Paul Haines, Joanne Anderton and Steig Larsson.

1500-1600: Keith Stevenson Guest Spot with Keith Stevenson

Keith Stevenson (Coeur de Lion Publishing)

Keith Stevenson needs little introduction in the field of Australian speculative fiction and publishing. He spoke about the changes going on in the publishing industry at the moment, and then moved on to the importance of editors in whatever mode of publishing a writer selects. Keith also spoke about the different types of editing and emphasised that every piece of work benefits from editing.

1600-1700: How do you write a good non-human romantic lead? with Janeen Webb, Keri Arthur, and Tracey O’Hara

The key element to making a non-human romantic lead successful was to make them human enough that the reader could relate to them, but alien enough to make them believable non-human. The appeal in a non-human romantic lead was more about the emotional than the physical as this was where readers were most likely to make the connection. They also talked about the ways characters had to grow, and that characters should provide readers with a reason to cheer them on. It was also important to note that there were some lines writers should not cross in the depiction of non-human sex, such as no rape or bestiality.

Panelists (from left to right): Tracey O'Hara, Janeen Webb, Keri Arthur

And there endeth the day… for me at least. There were some excellent panels remaining, and five books being launched, but I was exhausted and needed to go home. Next year, perhaps…