CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

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. ...

Conflux 8 was the first writing conference I’ve been able to attend in a long time—a very long time. I’d like to thank the organisers for the wonderful experience they put together for those who were able to attend, and to thank those who sat on the panels during, and ran the workshops prior to, the convention. I am looking forward to seeing what they do for Conflux 9 , now. Conflux 8 ran over two days, with a day of workshops run the day before the convention opened. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend three of the workshops and many of the panels, although discovered I was a bit short on stamina by the time late afternoon arrived, so I didn’t attend the afternoon or evening sessions. Pre-con workshops were very, very good, and I regret I couldn’t clone myself or use a magical device to attend more than the three workshops I managed. I also regret not taking out my camera and photographing those I could attend. To recap: Workshops—Friday 28 September 2012 I know ...

Today I got to attend a full day of workshops and learn more about the writing craft. Speakers included Nicole Murphy , Rik Lagarto and Alan Baxter and Ian McHugh , whose sessions I attended, and Gillian Polack , Jack Dann and Dawn Meredith whose sessions I couldn't make. The day was not the spring day I could have hoped for, being grey and rainy, but at least I had no regrets for spending the day inside... although with these workshops, that would have been hard to do. Session 1: Writing Backstory The day started with Nicole Murphy's workshop on Writing Backstory , which ran from 0900 to 1100. I have to admit, I didn't really know what to expect when I went into this workshop. I had half an idea that it would be about how to write backstory that I could then draw from for my stories, but it was so much more than that. Backstory might include everything you know about your characters (major and minor), your world, and the history of it all, but everyone knows t...