Conflux 14 Local Author Spotlight: Robert Hood

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Conflux Admin

This year, Conflux 14 is doing a local author spotlight on none other than Aussie horror’s wicked godfather…

Rob Hood

Rob has published over 200 short stories, novellas, articles and short books for kids, in the genres of Horror, SF, Fantasy, Crime and other generally Weird mutations of these categories. His stories have appeared in Australian and overseas magazines and anthologies, as well as in several personal collections and in various Year’s Best anthologies.

He has also written novels, including the award-winning epic fantasy Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead (Wildside Press, 2013). His most recent book is Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories (IFWG Australia Publishing, 2015), a career defining tome that gained him the Australian Shadows Award for Best Collection. His latest short stories include a Lovecraftian weird tale, “Time and Tide”, which appears in the newly released anthology Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Vol. 2 (ed. Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira and Bryce Stevens, IFWG Publishing Australia) and a Halloween tale, “A Man Totally Alone”, to be published in The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories (ed. Stephen Jones, Skyhorse Publishing) later in the year.

He is currently writing (and is theoretically nearing completion of) several novels, which he would love to rant on about if you care to ask. He, his long-time partner, award-winning author Cat Sparks, and their 3 cats moved to Canberra nearly two years ago, after Rob decided working for the University of Wollongong for 27 years was quite enough. Now he writes full-time, which means his productivity has diminished. Weird.

You can track Rob down in the internet by starting at www.roberthood.net.

Conflux 14 MC

Posted on July 21, 2018 by Conflux Admin

Dr Rob Porteous will be the MC for this year’s Conflux:
Rob is a Canberra writer and editor who dreams of being an Evil Overlord. Completely ambidextrous, he’s working on a sprawling epic fantasy novel and a neon-sharp cyberpunk SF novel simultaneously. In between times, he runs the Canberra Spec-fic Guild’s Novel Writing Master class and writes the odd short story.

CSFG/Conflux short story comp is OPEN!!!

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Conflux Admin

Holy tales of epic deeds of epicness, Batman!

It’s time to once again break out your storytelling super-powers, because Conflux Inc is partnering with the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild to bring you the CSFG/Conflux 14 short story competition!

This year’s theme is THE UNCONVENTIONAL HERO!

We want your tales of 4000 words or under about tales of unconventional heroes, heroines and awesome people of non-specified gender, in any speculative fiction genre.

The competition is open to all Australian residents and members of either the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild or Conflux 14.

Entry is $5, unless you are a member of the CSFG or Conflux 14 or you are aged 16 or under, in which case it is free!

Prizes

First prize is $200 and a Conflux 15 membership! Second prize is $50 and a discounted Conflux 15 membership, and third prize is $25 and a discounted Conflux 15 membership.

Guidelines

Stories should be written in English, suitable for a general audience (ie, no gratuitous violence or erotica) and, of course, your own original, unpublished work.

Please submit them in the following format: RTF, double spaced, Times New Roman, Ariel or Courier font, with the story title in the top right header.

Make the first page of your document a cover sheet that includes your name, contact details and story title (we’ll remove this before we give it to the judges). YOUR NAME MUST NOT APPEAR ON ANY OF THE OTHER PAGES OF THE STORY.

Get it to us at csfgshortstorycomp@gmail.com before midnight on 31 July 2018.

Fees

Fees can be paid by direct deposit (BSB: 325185 Acct: 03421621 Acct name: Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild) or Paypal to canberra.specfic@gmail.com (For other options or any more information contact us directly at the csfgshortstorycomp@gmail.com address)

Announcing the Conflux 14 Guest of Honour

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Conflux Admin

We are very pleased to announce that this year’s Conflux Conference Guest of Honour is Ambelin Kwaymullina. Dr Kwaymullina is an Indigenous Australian novelist, illustrator, and assistant professor of law at the University of Western Australia. She is of the Palyku people (Pilbara region of Western Australia). As well as beautifully illustrated picture books, she is the author of The Tribe series of novels: The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (Walker Books, Australia, 2012. Shortlisted for Aurealis Awards); The Disappearance of Ember Crow (Walker Books, Australia, 2013); and The Foretelling of Georgie Spider (Walker Books, Australia, 2015). She has a new speculative fiction novel due out in September: Catching Teller Crow (Allen and Unwin).

We are so much looking forward to her visit in October this year.

Conflux 14: The Unconventional Hero

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Conflux Admin

We are pleased to announce that Conflux 14: The Unconventional Hero will be held at the Vibe Hotel in Canberra from Saturday 29 September through to Monday 1 October 2018. There will also be an opening social BBQ event on Friday evening at a local park (TBA). Registrations are now open at www.trybooking.com/UPIQ
See you in spring!

And that’s a wrap!

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Conflux Admin

And that’s Conflux over for (at least) another year!

Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a fab con. It wouldn’t be what it is without the wonderful community of people it draws on and that is you. Yes, you.

An especial thank you to our wonderful guests and MC: Ellen Datlow, Angela Slatter, Meri Amber and Kaaron Warren.

: Ellen Datlow

: Angela Slatter

: Meri Amber

: Kaaron Warren

A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered their time and energy to participate in panels, or moderate the discussions; to our amazing workshop convenors; to the authors and publishers who launched their books at Conflux; to the publishers who took pitches; to the cosplayers who kept everything colourful; to the staff of the Hotel Vibe who where just awesome; and of course to the Conflux Committee who organised the whole thing and made it run so smoothly and the brave souls who have volunteered their time and energy to making the next Conflux happen.

: Ecopunk launch; Photo by Cat Sparks

: Kaffeeklatsch with Ellen; Photo by Cat Sparks

: Felicity Banks; Photo by Cat Sparks

: Donna & Craig at the Dragonwine Books 3 & 4 launch; Photo by Cat Sparks

: Launch of Zena Shapter’s Towards White; Photo by Cat Sparks

: GOH in animated discussion on the Fairy Tales With Teeth & Claws panel;Photo by Cat Sparks

: Magic School panel; Photo by Cat Sparks

: Mysterious origami unicorn; Photo by Leife Shallcross

: Little Red cosplay at the banquet; photo by Leife Shallcross

As usual, you can relive all your Conflux memories by checking out Conflux on Instagram, or by checking out Cat Spark’s spectacular portfolio of Flickr pics.

Some announcements! Winners of the CSFG/Conflux Short Story Competition were:

1st place: Marianna Shek, with If the Shoe Fits
2nd place: Leife Shallcross, with Flawless
3rd place: Zena Shapter, with The Kind of Man

Winner of the E G Harvey Award for Australian SF Art for 2017 is Shauna O’Meara

The theme for Conflux 14 will be The Unconventional Hero. Stay tuned for more information about when and where Conflux 14 will be held.

Until then…

Thanks again for another great year!

– the Conflux 13 Committee

Two more sleeps!

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Conflux Admin

Conflux 13 is nearly upon us! The con bags are packed, our international GOH has just landed in the country and we’re just about ready to rock’n’roll. A few useful tips

Parking. The ACT Government-owned car parks out at Brindabella Park are $10 per day compared to the airport car parks at $22. You might have to get there early on Friday, but the other days should be good.
Groceries: There is a Woolworths and a CostCo (but you need to be a member to shop here) at Majura Park, which is on the other side of the airport from Vibe. Head for the giant Ikea sign, but turn right into Majura park instead of left into Ikea.
Food at Vibe: keep your con badge on, because it will get you a 10% discount on food & coffee at the hotel.
Buses: The Vibe Hotel shuttle will do a pickup at the Jolimont Centre each day of the con at 9am. Space is limited, though. The number 11 Bus goes out to the airport on weekdays and weekends. You can download the route 11 timetable on the Transport Canberra website.

Parking at Vibe

Public Transport to Vibe

GOH Breakfast winner & last chance to book!

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Conflux Admin

Thinking of coming to the Conflux banquet? Had your heart set on attending the GOH Breakfast? You will need to book your ticket through Trybooking ASAP as they will be closing soon so we can get numbers to the hotel.

If you want to book but need another day or two, please email Karen on kazherkesott@yahoo.com.au to let her know.

And congratulations to LM, who purchased a full membership between 1-7 September, and who was the lucky winner of our GOH draw! You should have an email from us in your inbox today.

Last call for panelists!

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Conflux Admin

Are you coming to Conflux? Would you like to participate on a panel?

We have places available on the following panels:

Friday

10am: Con 101

12pm: Once upon a silver screen (TV & movies influenced by fairy tales)

3pm: Cryogenics and Rip Van Winkle – the ins & outs of sleeping for 100 years

3pm: Use and abuse of the Tarot: using the Tarot as a literary device

4pm: The Long Long Journey to Earth2 – generational starships

Saturday

10am: Remembering Terry Pratchett

12pm: Feral Children or Where are the Parents? Orphans in peril

12pm: Who Woulda Thunk It? – Dr Who wassup

1.30: Frankenstein’s Apocalypse

3pm: Vampires – what’s changed?

3pm: POP! Fan stuff – Cool swag or cynical money making exercise?

Sunday

1pm: Vampire poetry

3.30pm: Terraforming the 7 new planets

4.30pm: Magical practices beyond the fairy tale – How have fairy tales borrowed from real-world magic systems?

If any of those strike your fancy, drop us a line at confluxchair@gmail.com.

If you’re not feeling up to being a panellist, consider offering to moderate a panel. We’ll hook you up with the panellists who will tell you what they want to cover in the discussion. You just have to come up with some crunchy questions and make sure your panellists all get a fairly even go on the mike.

Pre-register for Conflux 13 workshops

Posted on September 12, 2017 by Conflux Admin

Have you checked out our Workshops Page to see what workshops are on offer this year at Conflux 13?

All our workshops are free with your Conflux 13 membership*, with the exception of Gillian Polack’s Questions of Culture, for which there is a $20 charge.

If you see something that tickles your fancy, don’t forget to register for it! You can do this by signing up at registration at Conflux, or if you’re super keen and definitely don’t want to miss out, drop us a line at confluxchair@gmail.com.

*For day memberships, you are able to attend all workshops on the day of your membership (with the exception of Questions of Culture with Gillian Polack, which has an additional charge of $20.)