Dymocks Camberwell hosted George’s final Melbourne appearance at the MCG, of all places. They held it in the Olympic room which overlooks the stadium, and it’s kind of a strange atmosphere for an author talk. Or what was supposed to be an author talk. When I booked tickets the event was advertised as an author talk, reading and Q&A, instead we got yet another interview with some journalist.
Quite frankly I am a bit over this format. I was also looking forward to hearing George read from Winds of Winter, which he will be doing at the Adelaide Supanova, so I was really disappointed. It’s funny, a couple of years ago George came to Australia and did signings at book stores for free, now we’re shelling out $50 for less than an hour talk and a keep-the-line-moving signing. It’s no wonder George was reminiscing about old sci-fi conventions on Tuesday. Both the events hosted by Dymocks have been scheduled tightly , this time they were starting the talk before everyone had even gotten inside the room and taken a seat.
There was apparently a V.I.P. sessions before the main interview, where some fans had gotten to have a talk with George beforehand, and he carried on the theme of writing and even gave some more advice later in his talk. He suggested starting out with short stories when writing in the fantasy or science-fiction genre, saying that he had met aspiring writers who were trying to begin with a nine-book series which he said was a mistake. He discussed his career before A Song of Ice and Fire, and how his book Armageddon Rag almost ruined his writing career, but launched his screen-writing career.
A George look-a-like popped up in the audience who was actually pretty authentic looking, he would have made a nice stash if he had charged for all the photos he took outside with fans. George told the look-a-like he was pretty tired and might be looking for someone to help him out for the rest of the tour.
It was an interesting enough talk, but brief. The Q&A only allowed for about four or five questions, and the whole event was under an hour long, and again there was no time to stop and have a chat with George, just get your book signed and a thank-you and off you go. If this is what George R.R. Martin author talks are going to be like I think I’d probably be better off seeing him at Supanova next time he tours. They’re really getting too commercial for my liking.
George will be at Adelaide Supanova for the remainder of the weekend, more details here.
