GeyserCon Photo Tour!
GeyserCon 2019 in photos
GeyserCon, NZ’s 40th national SFF convention, came, and it went — in a blur of sci-fi & fantasy discussion, events, education, networking, crafting, hilarity and fun. I had a busy weekend. For me, there were many highlights, best shown in photos! Okay, the photos aren’t brilliant, but they’re all I have!
Kids’ Workshop – Super Heroes & Interactive Fiction
A.J. Ponder and I taught a large class of kids in the Young NZ Writers Big Day Out — jam-packed sessions on how to write superheroes and interactive fiction like Mystic Portal, Dragons’ Realm and Attack of the Giant Bugs!
It was lots of fun, with very cool kids who all shared enthusiasm for writing and reading.
NZ Youth Laureate Award Book Launch
Editor Lee Murray and judge Piper Mejia, both of Young New Zealand Writers, did a fabulous job coordinating the NZ Youth Laureate Award, reading the manuscripts and coaching the winning authors.
Representing Phantom Feather Press, A.J. Ponder and I launched the NZ Youth Laureate books at GeyserCon with Young New Zealand Writers.
Winner: Emma Uren, It’s A Small World.
Editor’s Choice: Xiaole Zhan, The Extinct.
Click on a cover to order your copy!
6:30am in the Redwoods
Groan, not that early in the morning! Yes, it was worth it. Yes, we’re all bleary-eyed after little sleep the night before! The redwood forests in Rotorua were beautiful.
GeyserCon: Future of High Fantasy Panel
I had an interesting time moderating a panel discussion on the future of High Fantasy with fellow writers Laura VanArendonk-Baugh (Guest of Honour), David Hair, Mark Johnson and Dan Rabarts. This photo does not do the panel justice. Although the photographer only caught Mark Johnson laughing in this shot, we did have fun, and the audience did too. It was a stimulating discussion, first thing in the morning — a great start to the day.
Laura VanArendonk-Baugh (Guest of Honour), David Hair (thinking hard), Mark Johnson (laughing at David’s witty comment) and Dan Rabarts (listening)
GeyserCon: Marketing for Indie Authors
Yes, I did give a presentation and there is a photo somewhere on the internet on someone’s feed, but I don’t have it! Rumors said it was great though!
GeyserCon: Creating Fantasy Maps
Ava Fairhall teaches at Yoobee design school. I was lucky enough to meet her online in an international writers’ forum and find out she lived near me! Ava gave a fascinating presentation on creating fantasy maps. The huge coloured map on the left is Dragons’ Realm, the world of my Riders of Fire series.
GeyserCon: Masquerade
The fun kept going all weekend!
Ready to rock! Watch out for the guy in the back! He’s trouble (Darian Smith is a great writer of epic fantasy).
Cosplay Guests of Honour
Lauara VanArendonk-Baugh & Alena VanArendonk, our international cosplay experts, entice Lee Murray into a costume. Well, a hat anyway.
You’d never believe that in real life Alena (right) has really long hair!
Craft Corner
Victoria Dreyer had a fun time with kids (young and old) in the craft corner (writers have multiple talents). No prizes for guessing which piece of dragon-themed jewellery I made!
World Con 2020 – ConZealand
There was lots of cool news about ConZealand, WorldCon 2020! You can get more info here and confirm the rumours that George R R Martin is toastmaster and that great authors like Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon will be here in NZ next year!
Sir Julius Vogel Awards
The 2019 Sir Julius Vogel Awards list is here.
More fun
GeyserCon is over
I met new readers, networked with writers, fantasy fans and friends. We also swam in the geothermally-heated pool, chatted in the bar, and to top it all off, had a pizza party in my room!
But, one last question: when a dragon’s not eating tacos or pizzas, what does it eat?
I look forward to ConZealand in 2020 and hope you join us for New Zealand’s first WorldCon!
4 Responses
Great summary of Geysercon! I attended your workshop on Amazon advertising, and I can confirm that it was excellent, however I didn’t take any photos, as I was too busy taking notes!!! Good stuff, and next time I think you could cover the content in 3 sessions please 🙂
Hi Sharon,
I knew I had enough material for a 1-day workshop!! However, there was only an hour available for my presentation, so I tried to give everyone a whirlwind taster of a variety of topics. I hope you received my pdf file of helpful links.
Cheers,
Eileen
[…] just recently attended a GeyserCon 2019 in New Zealand. Check out the awesome photos on her […]
Thanks Juneta!
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