December 11th 2023. The year culminated in the launch party for New Rock New Role at the Century Club in London. The evening went with a bang, and a good time was had by guests of all ages, ranging from 12 to 83—including some who had already read the book and its sequels, and reviewed them for the website.
Dedicated cosplayers took on the roles of our heroes, Daxx, Qrysta and Grell, entertaining one and all with their elaborate costumes and props.
The cake (a replica of the book in dessert form) tasted as good as it looked.
The press who attended were all about fantasy fiction. I am looking forward to all their reviews when they come in.
We hope to have a party at the same place next year for the launch of the sequel, New Rock New Realm.
Our new website, designed by the excellent Jimmy Hunter of We Are Noisy, launched in December and is still being completed—hence no December or January blog. Jimmy’s designs far surpass those of the previous website builders and are much more in the spirit of all things New Rock.
There is a wonderful Fantasy exhibition at the British Library, on until February 25th, which I highly recommend. The fantasy genre is certainly having a moment. Well, who needs worrying, dreary old scoundrel-filled reality when you can escape into wild and wonderful adventures in strange new worlds?
Coming up: Boskone SF and Fantasy Convention in Boston MA in February, then Norwescon in Seattle-Tacoma WA in March. I’m on some fun panels on many different topics. I am very much looking forward to both of them and will post updates on the blog.
A belated Happy New Year everyone, and all best wishes for 2024.
