Talking Heads

Easter weekend saw me in attendance at Swancon, a speculative fiction convention held annually here in Perth, Western Australia. While Writers’ Festivals are attended mostly by readers, conventions like Swancon attract readers, gamers and fans, and most of the readers are also aspiring writers. Readers of speculative fiction (think science fiction, fantasy, horror and a plethora of related sub-genres) love to write.

I’ve lived in Perth since long before I became a serious writer, but this was only the second time I’d been to Swancon. Why? Well, in some respects my life is that of a hermit. I live alone, apart from animals, and as a full time writer I work from home. My kids are all grown up. I’m accustomed to quiet. I don’t like crowds. I find it almost impossible to work in a noisy environment or to switch on my creativity in short spurts as the opportunity offers. I was most impressed when fantasy novelist Glenda Larke, a guest of honour at Swancon, spoke of her ability to snatch brief writing opportunities while on ornithological expeditions. She had the photos to prove it (‘Now here I am in the mangrove swamps using up the last of the laptop battery …’) Yes, she writes wonderful fantasy novels AND has an adventurous day job. I’m equally admiring of people with small children who manage to fit writing into their demanding days and/or nights.

Some writers tackle events like Swancon with enthusiasm and verve. Others, like me, have to flick some kind of internal switch to go into the mode that allows lively interaction with strangers and the ability to perform with confidence in public. There are two issues for me. Firstly, although I’ve worked (successfully) in jobs that required plenty of public performance ability, I still feel nervous and inadequate when I have to put myself on show. I tend to over-prepare, using up far more time and angst than I need to and resenting every moment it robs from my precious writing time. If I delved deep enough, I know I would find that all this is based on a fear of being shamed in public by saying something dumb!

Secondly, the more writing I do, the more reluctant I am to analyse and deconstruct it. There’s a real element of navel-gazing in the way some writers discuss their own work, and I’m quite uncomfortable with that. I think many readers would be surprised at how much of what writers do is instinctive rather than carefully technical – the knack lies in getting the technical elements right without being too conscious of what you’re doing. Good advice for aspiring writers might be: learn the tools of your craft so well you don’t need to think about them, then let your imagination loose.

I ended up enjoying my participation in Swancon. A particularly stimulating panel was ‘Girl meets Boy: Romance in Fantasy’. The picture illustrating this post shows participants, from left, Ju Landéesse, Satima Flavell, me holding forth about something, and Glenda Larke. I wore pink especially for this panel, in which we made unofficial awards for best female and male writer of love stories in fantasy novels. Each of us had slightly different choices, but Jacqueline Carey and Guy Gavriel Kay each got an imaginary trophy.

It was fun to catch up with interstate visitors, such as the always entertaining Karen Miller who was launching a new novel, and to chat with writer friends over coffee. However, the empty page beckoned all weekend long.

I believe it’s important for us, as writers, to give something back to the readers without whom we couldn’t pursue the craft we love so much. Of course, the best thing we can give back is a new book, which in my case means isolating myself to get on with the job. But we should also make ourselves available to speak on panels, to chat, to answer questions (even the weird ones), to sign books, to listen to what readers want to tell us. Interaction between writers in panel discussion is, at its best, intellectually stimulating both for the participants and for the audience – and speculative fiction readers make a particularly switched-on audience, bursting with good questions.

Now, I just need to remember all this the next time I go to a convention …

Photo supplied by Glenda Larke.

Juliet Marillier

Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in  2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.

www.julietmarillier.com