WorldCon Day 3 – and Brisbane 2025

Evening all!

Another day, another early morning with tech and script checks for the Hugos. Really keen to see these done for real tomorrow, and REALLY hoping we can pull off the first digital-only ceremony with minimal hitches!

Regarding the day’s events though, I had the pleasure of hearing local Canberra author Sam Hawke read part of her Ghost Novel – the unpublished manuscript that was meant to follow City of Lies, before another path was taken.

Before that though was a group for networking, which while I thought it would be a session on networking, it was actually one better – the practical experience. A room full of like-minded writers, publishers and editors all looking to connect, which like the bars last night, was something I thought I would miss out on at a digital con. The other advantage was that when I had to leave for ‘How to Create Believable Characters in Unbelievable Situations’ with Charlie Jane Anders. The take away from this was all about the experiences, relationships, and traumas of a character. No matter how weird, wacky, or wonderful we make someone, these things give them grounding and enables at least some kind of relating to and understanding of the character.

This is where the day went a bit pear shaped – things happened, everyone is ok, but I had to put the Con aside for a bit. I managed a bit of the Fairy Tale Contract Law (in which we determined Fairies want the eldest for the inheritance, the youngest always completes the quest because once they’re done there’s no need for more kids, and that the Fairy Mafia is run by the Goosefather).

But the BIG thing that happened was the evolving of a discussion that had begun on day one.

In short, I made a comment about Canberra running for WorldCon 83 as Yes We CanCon 2025. Apparently someone else – in fact a few other people – had a similar idea, and a mutual friend put us and a bunch of others in a room to discuss the idea seriously. While Canberra unfortunately doesn’t have the capacity just yet, Brisbane does. So it’s official – we’ve started the wheels turning for Aus2025 in Brisbane.

Now, much of this discussion happened over the bar, which may have inspired my bid for a logo:

Thankfully, the far more talented Kat Clay came up with a better temporary logo – there are a few other elements we want to incorporate, but they need to be done properly. That said, I think Kat’s design is a pretty darn good. So without any further rambling from me, go find it, go support it, and lets get behind the first Aussie WorldCon since 2010!