Last weekend, Alba went to her first FantasyCon, an annual convention organised by the British Fantasy Society for authors, readers and lovers of fantasy and science-fiction to meet and mingle together. They are so welcoming of newcomers, having an event just for newbies – the introductory session where they answer all your questions and make sure you know there is a goody bag waiting for you with your pass. 

Our authors, Saara El-Arifi, Jen Williams and Stephen Aryan were there signing books and meeting readers at the Dealer’s Room (there are two – Alba bought books in both of them). Saara was in the panel Bad Girls in SFF with guest of honour Tasha Suri on Saturday and signed all the stock of The Final Strife and The Battle Drum. Jen had a very busy weekend – the launch party for Talonsister, readings, and the panel Making Worlds on Sunday. Angry Robot had set up tent on the dealer’s room and Stephen signed all their stock of The Judas Blossom, including the beautiful Broken Binding edition. He also talked about his previous trilogies in A Conclave of Mages and Sages panel on Sunday. 

Alba attended as many panels as she could – some of her favourites were Reading Something New (full of useful recommendations), and World Mythologies, and she was a guest panellist at Connecting with the Reader Market, a Fantasy Fellowship Panel. She got to talk about Foreign Rights so she was a happy camper for the rest of the day.  

It was a perfect weekend for the run-up to the Frankfurt Book Fair!