Eastercon 2008 hasn't even happened yet, but the Bradford Telegraph and Argus is already getting excited about Eastercon 2009, in, yes, Bradford. Well, I say excited, they have an article entitled Scifi Fans Ready To Land In City because, you know, we all have spaceships, being SciFi fans. At least they didn't say "teleport" or "beam down". Despite that the article actually has some decent information, including rumours of discussions with the National Media Museum. (They have IMAX, mmm big explosions.) The article also has a picture of Jon Courtenay Grimwood, in shades and a suit, because apparently it is illegal for JCG to smile in photos.
Actually, you missed a "beaming down" in the intro.
In my defence, it's difficult to "sell" an SF-based news story to a mainstream - especially a regional newspaper mainstream - audience without a little light-heartedness. I'm sorry that falling back on hoary SF tropes does offend some people (although, let's face it, enough authors are getting paid big bucks for doing just that) but without them it's sometimes impossible to create that interface between the worlds of "serious" SF and the general public without fandom coming across as incredibly po-faced. Which, surely, nobody wants.
Also, as an author of a couple of SFnal books myself I consider it fair game to poke a tiny bit of fun, as it's therefore classed as self-deprecating, which we all know is one our saving graces.
David Barnett
Hi David. The fact that you're an author who knows about SF, does actually make a difference, because you're right, poking fun at ourselves is within our rights!
I wasn't really offended, it was nice to see mention of Eastercon in some local press. Somehow I doubt that Metro will mention this years.
And I can't believe I missed the "beam down" I must have been distracted by JCG looking like a cast member of The Blues Brothers :-)