Edge Lit 2 - Convention Report

On Saturday I hopped on the bus to Derby for Edge Lit 2, a one-day science fiction, fantasy and horror convention. This is an extremely convenient con for me, as I only live in Nottingham, about 30 minutes away on the bus (a bus, I should add, that had AIR CONDITIONING, unlike the actual convention venue)

I had such a great time. Edge Lit is easily my favourite of the conventions I’ve been to so far. It’s small and intimate, and though all cons have been very friendly to me, this is even more so. And, despite the lack of air con, which may have just unluckily not been working on that day, it really is a great venue. It’s open, has a lovely cafe and patio area, two big cinema rooms that are good for panels and talks, and plenty of restaurants around. And I have a soft spot for Derby anyway, as I used to live there.

As always, it was lovely to see so many people again, and for the first time ever, I actually introduced some people to each other! Woohoo, I’m not the newbie anymore! I also met wonderful new people, and have added even more authors and books to my neverending To Read shelf! On such a hot day, it was so nice to be able to relax with a drink with such a great group of people.

The panels I went to were all good, and I particularly enjoyed the discussion about Urban Fantasy and what makes it so popular. I also loved the raffle, which really has to be experienced! Well done to the raffle hosts, Sarah Pinborough and Conrad Williams, for making it so fun.

Congrats to Adele Wearing, K.A. Laity and Fox Spirit on the launch of Noir Carnival, and to all involved with Spacewitch, which also launched at Edge Lit. Spacewitch is a site that exists as a catalogue of several independent publishers’ books, a place to buy them and discuss them, and to discover more from the authors, editors and artists involved. There are four publishers on there so far – Fox Spirit, Jurassic London, Newcon Press, and Clarion Publishing – and more will follow. It sounds really interesting, and the website looks really good too. Check it out here.

And finally, I didn’t manage to stay for the quiz last year, so was pleased to make it this year, and had a lot of fun contributing virtually nothing while laughing at Emma and Pete Newman’s joke answers.

I’m already looking forward to the next event, and I’m definitely going to make Edge Lit one of my must-go-to cons! Thanks to the organisers, volunteers, and everyone who made it a wonderful day.