Sledge-Lit 3, Derby, 25th November 2017

This year saw the third Sledge-Lit event in Derby, held at the Quad (organised as ever by Alex Davies) and as I had such a good time at the previous two (I wrote about 2015 here and 2016 here), I bought my ticket as soon as it was announced.  Then, to add the icing on the cake, my friend Alison Littlewood (who's one of the Guests Of Honour, along with Sarah Pinborough) asked if I'd interview her onstage and, of course, I quickly agreed!

me, Becky Moore & Paul Melhuish

Paul Melhuish drove us up, like he did last year and we made good time to Derby, chatting writing and books on the way.  After seeming to find yet another route to the Assembly Rooms car park (neither of us recognised the road at all), we were quickly and, by coincidence, parking up at the same time as our Northampton Speculative Fiction Writers Group colleague Becky Moore.  She’d never been to a writing con before but, after speaking to us at the last NSFWG meeting, decided to come along on the condition she catch latch onto us and we agreed.  We said our hellos and crossed the square to the Quad where the first person we saw was Pixie Puddin, who's under the weather at the moment but was still her chirpy-self and it was good to see her so.  I introduced Becky, we got signed in and then Gary McMahon arrived, so I got my hug from him too.  After getting my free bar tickets (the event has me listed as a speaker) I bought Paul and Becky drinks and we found a table to run through the programme, which this time around was packed full of stuff I wanted to do.  

James Everington, me, Alison Littlewood - Fergus remarked that we were standing under the specials...

I spotted Alison Littlewood across the bar and went to see her and Fergus and, as ever, it was great to catch up with them both.  She was really nervous about her GoH interview so I told her my plan about asking a really awkward question in the middle of our interview but, oddly, it didn't seem to make her feel any better.  She was sitting with James Everington (my fellow Crusty), so I caught up with him and then suddenly we were in a big fluid group of people who were arriving and congregating at the bar.  Adele Wearing was there, quickly followed by John Travis and Simon Clark and Tracy Fahey and the big group of us chatted for a while, with Paul and Becky coming to join us all as well.  Eventually, we headed back to our table with Tracy, Lisa Childs arrived along with Stephen Bacon and there was a wonderful feeling of the gang being back together as everyone caught up.

The gang gathers - from left, Becky, me, Tracy Fahey, Stephen Bacon, Lisa Childs, John Travis and James

At 11.25, I headed up to The Box and met Dion Winton-Polak and Steve Shaw on the landing, said hi to them and Steve introduced me to Kitty Kane, with whom I’d tangled online with an irate Dr Who fan who, apparently, hated all women (including Kitty).  I went into the auditorium and Alison & I got ourselves sorted, both of us feeling nervous as we settled down in our chairs, made sure the microphones worked and waited for people to file in.  We’d already compiled a list of questions, loose enough to go off at tangents if we wanted and, with a bit of trepidation, I set off but I needn’t have worried - the audience was engaged and interested, Alison is a great speaker and very interesting and the time rocketed by.  When I threw it open for questions, we got several good ones and I bartered good-naturedly with Jo (the red-shirt in the room) for a bit more time and overall I think it went really well.  Time up, both relieved, we hugged and posed for some photos then headed back down to the bar for lunch.

Alison & me, mid-interview - pic by James Everington

Alison & I - relieved...

The bar had filled up but we quickly ended up linking three tables there were so many of us - with John, Simon, Steve, Fergus, Alison, me and James on one, Paul, Dion, CC Adams and Angeline Trevena on the next two, plus we then found room for Becky to join us.  Wonderfully, Fergus insisted on buying me lunch for the interview, I suggested it was worth a drink at most but he’s a persuasive chap (thanks Fergus!).  Everyone, even though in the middle of eating, joined in the conversation, chatting writing and stories and life and the time sped past, helped by the great company and tasty food.

(clockwise) - me, [Steve Bacon & John's heads], Simon Clark, Fergus, Alison and James, at our table for lunch

We broke up around 1.20 as people went off to their various things and, on my way out of the bar, I finally got to meet Linda Nagle, which was nice.  Steve Harris was in reception so I said hello and hugged him, spotted Fiona Ní Éalaighthe (more hugs), introduced them to Becky then Steve Bacon, Paul & I headed up to the Thrills & Chills panel.  As we waited for go in, Andrew Barker (who wrote the excellent Dead Leaves) appeared with his young daughter and we got to say hello.  The panel itself, moderated by Alex Davies, was interesting and I enjoyed it a lot then afterwards, Phil Sloman & I chatted with Mark Morris, a conversation that naturally ended up involving The Three Investigators.  Leaving everyone behind for the second GoH interview (Sarah Pinborough talking to Gary McMahon), which I’d really wanted to see, I made my way down to my panel on the first floor where I met up with Penny Jones (who was moderating) and introduced myself to my fellow panellists, Stephen Aryan and Claire North (I felt a bit out of my depth).  Life Online: Social Media and The Writer was an interesting topic and we all made good points and the tone was nicely downbeat, which seemed to go down well.  I enjoyed it and Stephen & Claire were good company.

The panel - Claire North, Penny Jones, Stephen Aryun, me

With the panel over, I headed back up to The Box for the Dark Minds Press/Fox Spirit launch and sat with Steve Harris, finally getting a chance to have a chat with him.  The launches went well (they adopted the same process Laura & I did for our Dark Minds Press launch, where people read work by other writers) and as the readings finished, I got up meaning to go and buy the books - Imposter Syndrome and Tracy’s novel.  As it was, Gary McMahon and Sarah Pinborough were standing off to one side so I stood chatting with them for a while instead.  Gary went to get his books, leaving Paul & I with Sarah and since I’d missed her interview, it was nice to catch up with her, especially talking about the wonderful Behind Her Eyes and her new deals.  By the time I got to the book table, Tracy’s book had already sold out though she signed me a bookplate and I picked up a copy of Imposter Syndrome.  After chatting for a while longer with Sarah - and seeing Jay Eales - Steve Bacon, Phil and I headed down to the A Home For Horror panel, which Sarah was moderating.  It had an interesting mix of panellists and was entertaining - even better, I got to say hello to Kathy Boulton, who was sitting behind me.

When the panel was over, Steve & I went to the bar then headed back up to The Box, walking up the stairs and chatting with Simon Clark, who's a genuinely lovely bloke.  As we sat down, I finally got to meet Andy Walker who I think I’ve seen at every Con for the last few years and raffle king Ross Warren was ably represented by Lisa (his wife is on the verge of giving birth so he stayed at home).  Sarah and Gary co-hosted and, as ever, it made for a very funny and entertaining raffle (and deadpan Pixie, dressed as a Christmas tree, was as priceless as ever), keeping alive the traditionally disrespectful Edge-Lit raffle vibe.  Even better, I won this year, a boxed version from PS Publishing of Joe Hill’s The Fireman.  Steve also won a set of Midnight Movie Monographs and since he already had the Death Line edition (the one I was after), he gave it to me.  Double result!

As Ask Italian - from left, Phil Sloman, me, Paul, Steve, Gary Dalkin, James, Alison & Fergus

With the end of the raffle signalling the end of Sledge-Lit, we congregated on the landing and I got to say hello to Kevin Redfern briefly before we made our way downstairs, saying our goodbyes as we went which, for me, is always the sad part of any event.  There were two dining options, curry or Italian and I headed up the latter, with Alison & Fergus, Steve B, James, Paul, Phil and Gary Dalkin.  We were easily seated ("a table for eight?" usually brings on furrowed brows), the drinks came quickly and so did the food and we ate and talked and laughed and had a fine old time.  Putting together a group of writers, at the end of a day filled with creative energy, is always great and we had a lot of fun putting the world to rights.  As it was, Ask Italian did good business from Sledge-Lit and we saw tables full of fellow con-goers there so we got to say even more goodbyes when we finally made a move to leave.

I’ve always had fun at Sledge-Lit but, as Paul & I discussed on the way home, this year seemed to have a little bit extra with very few of us spending much time in the bar since the quality of the programming and panels was high.  I had a great time, it’s always lovely to spend quality time with old friends in such a creative atmosphere and my only regret is missing Sarah’s interview.

Already looking forward to the next one!