We had a great Eastercon. Spending time with so many wonderful friends and colleagues is always a pleasure and a privilege, and chats with Ian Whates, Pete and Nicky Crowther, Andrew Hook (at the con just for one day with his lovely partner Sophie and gorgeous little girl Cora), Simon Ings, Alison Littlewood, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gary Couzens, David Hebblethwaite, Chris Beckett, Neil Williamson, Mercurio D. Rivera, Jaine Fenn, Paul McAuley, Justina Robson and Ian Sales among many others were what this, as every other, Eastercon was mostly about. But there was also the town of Bradford itself, which surprised and delighted us in so many ways – the National Media Museum and Omar Khan’s curry house both stand out as highlights. Then there were the three days we spent after leaving Bradford, exploring Whitby and Scarborough (Scarborough we fell in love with) and the North Yorkshire moors. A special week – busy and productive and enriching.
The news of Iain Banks’s tragic illness, which we heard on the radio as we were driving home this afternoon, came as a deeply saddening shock, at odds with the sunlight.
At Whitby Abbey - photo by Chris Priest
Scarborough time traveller? Photo by Chris Priest
Grave of Anne Bronte, St Mary's, Scarborough