C.C. Adams's Blog: C.C. Does The Write Thing, page 9

So. Now back on home territory after spending the end of August out in Toronto. No matter where else I travel to during the space of a year, the summer trip to Toronto is always a thing. A chance to catch up with friends, hit FanExpo, do a little networking, etc. Let's stick with the FanExpo thing for now, since this is the thrust of this particular entry. Bear with me because, for the most part, I haven't been back in town long. So I'm kind of against the clock, as it were. You'll see. It finally happens. Jeff Goldblum (in jacket and hat) appears at FanExpo. Given that I wasn't entirely impressed with last year's FanExpo, I was wary on the approach to this year's outing. Ideally, I'd message my concerns to the organisers - since they invite feedback - and then update you after the fact with their response. Still, there's much to juggle in terms of business I put on hold to actually take some downtime.


Anyhow. To be fair, the Expo was better than last year. There was a little more variety in terms of dark/horror programming. Q&A with cast members from the original Blade Runner film. Advance screenings, e.g. for Mike Colter's upcoming Evil, as well as for the new John Travolta film The Fanatic. Guests such as John Travolta himself, as well as Jeff Goldblum. A welcome appearance, given last year's Expo. New content also included a behind-the scenes Q&A panel for VFX, courtesy of Jennifer Maillet whose work includes The Walking Dead. (Yes, a look at all the zombie/walker effects and such). Even the food options were better - no longer just your bog-standard pizza or such. Healthier options too, like sushi: definitely welcome. But the Expo still fell short of the mark for me. Let me explain why. Branching Out. No longer sticking with the likes of pizza, FanExpo now adds healthier options such as sushi to its offerings. Which I prefer, so there. For those unaware, the Expo runs across 4 days. You can pick which days you go on, but I and my friends hit the Expo for the full 4 days. So: 1. still an shortage of dark/horror programming. Don't get me wrong: the advance screenings of the likes of Evil and The Fanatic were a good step in the right direction. However, both of these were on the same day - Saturday. Why isn't such programming more readily available across the full four days? Which leads me to... 2. Abrupt endings for the larger Q&A/panels. Namely John Travolta and Jeff Goldblum. In both cases, while an hour slot had been assigned to both, each session was cut after half an hour from the scheduled start time. Why? I say the scheduled start time because in allowing for the room to fill up and the audience to take their seats, it'd be something of a late start anyway. Don't get me wrong: both guests were charming and engaging. But both sessions were brutally short. I'm aware that time needs to be allowed for the audience to file in and out of the various rooms. So I'm thinking... 3. Were all the rooms used? I know last year that some areas of the MTCC (Metro Toronto Convetion Centre, where FanExpo is held) were flooded. But as far as I'm aware, the flooding and any resulting issues has been resolved. So why weren't areas such as the lower theatre in the North Building used. (FYI, this particular theatre has hosted William Shatner (more than once), as well as Morena Baccarin (V, Deadpool), the cast of Lost Girl, and Anthony Stewart Head). 4. Where/how do the organisers compile their dark/horror programming? Not just a question of why wasn't more available across the four days but rather, why wasn't there more available, period? I concede that guests may cancel for whatever reason, but the Expo lists cancellations as well as who's slated to appear. The pickings on that list give me pause for thought. As far as the realm of dark/horror medium goes, the genre is very much alive. Has been. And no doubt will be. In the realm of film and TV from the last year or so, you can pick the likes of director James Wan (Insidious, Saw, etc.) or actor Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Hereditary). For more legendary individuals, there are the likes of director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead franchise, Drag Me To Hell), as well as actor Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween franchise) and Tony Todd (Candyman, Final Destination). Closer to home for the Expo are the likes of legendary horror director David Cronenberg, whose works include Scanners and The Fly. (yes, the same 'The Fly' that Jeff Goldblum was in). For the likes of TV and streaming services, you have Dexter, Charmed, Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Angel, Supernatural, Black Mirror, American Horror Story, Stranger Things, etc. In short, there's plenty. The Ontario Chapter: hanging at the Expo's HWA booth with authors Brian Clement and Karen Dales All In At The Lucky Clover: The standard Saturday evening HWA meet before the final day of the Expo. l-r: Nancy Kilpatrick, William 'Bill' Snider, Pat Flewwelling, me, and Sephera Giron. Outside of the Expo, time was also spent with the local (Ontario) chapter of the HWA. I actually bailed early on the preview of The Fanatic so I could catch up with the guys. A good sit-down and catch-up: shop talk and such. Not everyone from last year made it this year. A nod to my fellow hustler Andrew Wilmot: who actually swung by the last day of the Expo (Sunday). Conversation on everything from the likes of Iron Man and the MCU to Buffy/Angel and the hustling of an independent author. So there it is. There's still additional business to pick up (as always), but the plan is to give FanExpo organisers the feedback on the Expo. In much the same way as a beta/critical read of a new manuscript: not only outline what didn't work, but also what did. Constructive feedback. That's the plan.


Who knows? Things might go according to plan.


Ha. #FanExpo #HWA #horror #andrewwilmot #thefly #Toronto

There's an irony in these conventions in that, as much as you know people there and you endeavour to catch up with them, it invariably fails to meet with 100% success. I think for this year's Edge-Lit, I only caught up with a fraction of people. What happens for a whole bunch of us author attendees is that you'll engage in convo with one person. Someone you've not see in a while will walk past or something, so you'll ask the first person to give you a few minutes while you talk to the newcomer. The flipside is to stay with the first person and let the newcomer walk on by, as it were - and risk not catching up with them later. But whichever way you slice it, your work is cut out for you trying to catch up with everybody. First thing in the morning, I'm headed north on the Northern line and make it to St. Pancras with time to spare, despite feeling to the contrary. Again, why these trains insist on packing strangers in at tables of four is beyond me. Not only because of the legroom issue, but I don't particularly want to sit with people I don't know. Anyhow. Legroom and relative peace and quiet are in effect, so the journey into Derby is passable. Brisk walk from the station down to the QUAD, where Edge-Lit is held. Enough time to sign in, hug a few people before I head off to Wetherspoons around the corner for the morning feast. Then back to Edge-Lit, where I spent most of the day in the bar. Fine Fellows: the majority of the This Is Horror podcast crew. l -r: Kev Harrison, Luke Kondor, Dan Howarth (who are also part of my 2017 A Story A Week challenge brethren), and Paul Feeney. Let me clarify a thing or two. As much as I like to drink, I don't drink to excess. For the record, I've only ever been drunk once and that was half-drunk, way back in my teens. Also, one of the things that makes conventions such as Edge-Lit isn't necessarily the panels, or workshops, or launches, it's the people. That was primary motivation for staying in the bar. As much as I love all of those things, more I just wanted to hang out, and lounge, along with meet and greet. The only place I went to apart from the bar was the Dealers' Room, and even then, I didn't get a chance to catch up with everyone. My adoptive horror parents: HWA UK chapter heads Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane. What seems to be a thing for another people - certainly those who move in these circles of writing/editing/publishing/etc. - is a sense of social awkwardness and/or anxiety. The irony here is that for people whose craft is to present some of the darkest and unsettling art they can muster, they're genuinely some of the nicest people you could hope to meet. For my part, a portion of yesterday was spent with a newer writer and just talking shop with them and others, as well as introducing them to other exponents in the game. Finally had a lengthy catch-up with Paul Feeney, who I'd only met in passing a couple of years back at FantasyCon. Along convo on game and how to engage your audience (from giveaways to Easter eggs). Also had a similar catch up with the driven Sue York (that woman is relentless) - and finally got to connect with Gary Couzens. And finally got to meet the This Is Horror team (most of them) who are also my '2017 - A Story A Week' brethren. Long overdue. Sadly, I only saw the soft-spoken smut-hound Dion Winton-Polak briefly, and Kit Power not much longer than that. Ditto for the likes of Georgina Bruce and Tracy Fahey. Selfie, Again. l-r: John Travis, Steve Harris, me, David Watkins, Dan Howarth, Paul Feeney. The sense of camaraderie is also something to factor in when leaving, especially if you've got a train to catch. Considering how many people you might need to say goodbye to and how long those goodbyes could take, you might need to allow an extra half-hour for them. As is, I barely made my train: when I got to the platform and boarded, it set off about a minute later. A half-hour later, at around 8pm, I'm back in London. An hour later, I'm back in the house. About 21:25, I'm passed out from exhaustion (and I only know this because I got a missed call from one of my guys I hit up 10 minutes earlier). Some hours later, I wake up in the middle of the night, somewhat recharged. So I can feast, and then go back to bed.


So, yeah, Edge-Lit - like many conventions, is a chance for meet and greet. Hanging with the like-minded for panels, readings, book launches, etc. Along with friendship, business, networking: and celebrating all our genre has. They're essential. #edgelit #HWA #paulfeeney #kevharrison #lukekondor #danhowarth #dionwintonpolak #kitpower #georginabruce #tracyfahey

I remember a conversation I had with one of the co-heads of the HWA's UK chapter, Paul Kane, a little while ago. I'm always grateful when we have these convos because this is a man with 'X' number of years experience in the game. Plus, it's an absolute pleasure to talk shop with him, like so many others in the game. Anyhow. What we get into, among other things, is the nature of reprints. I admit, I've had something of a purist view on this. The idea being that when you release a story into the wild, that should be enough: the audience snap it up, enjoy it, and then they're free to pick it up for a re-read when they see fit. Or let that shit gather dust, or sell it on or give it away. Or even bin it. (FYI: I can remember seeing a copy of Dr. Who book "The Horror Of Fang Rock" in the bin some years ago - after I bought it for my nephew. Of course, I rescued the book because I love it). Anyhow. An idea I warm to now isn't so much of a 'purist' view where a story is only published once. These are the reprints. And as such, they get a repeat viewing. Of course, whether they stand up to a repeat viewing is something else - but that's hardly a new idea. I'm thinking of films for example, where they get released at the cinema and then, further down the line, they're released on DVD or Blu-Ray (which is a far cry from watching films released on VHS when I was small and Afro'd). The advantage is that, at least with films on disc, the viewing experience may be enhanced. Outside of all the bonus features you might get with a film on disc (director's commentary, deleted scenes, etc), the film may be remastered. Sharper picture, better colour, clearer sound. All that good stuff. With books, you won't necessarily get such bonus features - although, for my part, I love to add bonus material to my work. Author notes, illustrations, whatever - just so a reader feels they get more bang for their buck. That might not always happen: but bear all of this in mind, since I have a reprint on the horizon.


Back to the matter. Even without bonus material, a reprint means a work can be presented to an audience who, for whatever reason, missed it the first time. Said reprint may have scenes added/altered/deleted, to make for a tighter read. Or at least have some change(s) to keep more in line with the author's vision. Maybe some new artwork. Stories originally printed as part of a collection may be reprinted as a standalone work. Or vice versa. A nod to Paul Kane & Marie O'Regan for the Mammoth Book Of Body Horror collection. Without it, I wouldn't have gotten to read the likes of The Fly (which ultimately begat the Jeff Goldblum/Geena Davis outing), Who Goes There (which ultimately begat John Carpenter's "The Thing"), or Re-Animator, et al. All strong works. And again making the case for the benefit of a reprint.


Mid-June and I catch wind of one of Kendall Reviews guest posts via Twitter, from Lee Markham. What's notable here isn't that this is a name I'd not heard in a few years. No. What's notable is the work that this man has done: specifically a novel known as The Knife. My closest friends will tell you that at least when it comes to film, I'm not the most forgiving critic. Lee Markham's 'The Knife' is a novel I discovered some years back where, as an HWA member, you can opt in to read works that other authors are offering free of charge for Bram Stoker award consideration. I'd decided to give the novel a try, and didn't regret it. That harsh and gritty work is easily one of the better novels I'd read in recent years - and I went as far as to call it a game-changer. So I'd spread the word. Voted for it in the Stokers. It's that good. With the wonder of social media, a little convo kicks off between Kendall Reviews and myself, and then Lee Markham joins in. He gives thanks for the props, and also tells how The Knife has been reprinted as The Truants, complete with an extra chapter. The upshot of all of this is that I finally get to meet Lee in London yesterday who tells of life, reprints, optioned work and such. Despite already having gifted me with an electronic copy of The Truants, he hits me off with a signed print copy as well. And I'm reading this, headed home on London Underground, thinking, "this is still some good shit." All 'fuck you, blud' - read the book, and you'll see what I mean. Lee: much appreciated, boss. Here's hoping you can make a convention or two.


The joy of social media. Also around this time is when I catch 'Noige' (as in 'noigeloverlord') on Facebook. Another blast from the past, since this is a name I know from the days of Brian Keene's FUKU - Fans Uv Keene United - on the BK message forum. This is also the same place I 'met' Jim McLeod, long before The Ginger Nuts Of Horror grew legs and became the monolith of horror media reviews it is today. That good man still has a love of the genre and supports it, as so many do. So be mindful of what and who you happen across. Because not everything or everyone stays buried - and that's a good thing. #reprint #kendallreviews #HWA #paulkane #marieoregan #LeeMarkham