Genrecon 2026

Genrecon is held on the 21st and 22nd of February in Brisbane, and is a celebration of all things ‘genre’ – science fiction, fantasy, horror, crime and romance. It’s run by the Queensland Writers Centre (which I have close professional relationship with) and will be located at the Thomas Dixon Centre in West End, Brisbane, not far from the State Library building where the Writers Centre is located.

I’ll be hosting a ‘Chatterbox’ discussion event on Fantasy, and will be panellist at two of the panels – one on digital publishing, and one on Journeys to Publication.

The Writers Centre have also asked me if I’d like to promote some free tickets to the event, so watch this space as we arrange the giveaway.

Workshop: Choosing Your Publishing Path

As part of the Genrecon additional program, I’ll be presenting a full-day workshop on the publishing process on the Thursday before the event at the Queensland Writers Centre. I’ll be talking about the different options for publication – trad, indie or self publishing – and then the further options like audiobooks and overseas translations available to authors. Come along and ask me anything about the publishing journey.

This is particularly relevant for me because I started a small additional business in 2025 helping people to self-publish their books through Essential Self-Publishing. I just spend the holiday break updating my rates and putting more of my happy clients onto the page. As part of the service I provide a half-hour consultation on the best journey for each client, and many people ask the same questions when looking for advice. I can provide these answers to the people in the workshop – and take it much further for the entire publishing journey. I’m very much looking forward to presenting it!

‘Dark Heavens’ in 2026

This is really big for me, both exciting and terrifying and it will be a whole lot of work. Under the terms of the contract that I have with my publisher, they have six months after me requesting the rights back – to give them back to me. This includes all the audiobooks and the overseas publications.

When I do gain the rights back, I will have to rejacket the entire series. I’ll need new book covers for every single book, and if I do special editions (because of course I will) I’ll probably want to add illustrations on the interior flyleaves of the books as well. This will both be expensive and difficult, but I’m excited to have the series relaunched the way that I wanted it to appear in the first place.

I’m on the hunt for an artist who can do manhua/xianxia style illustrations with a Western twist, so let’s see if I can find that…

I’m also booked for Oz Comic-Con 2026 and Semester 1 of the media course at University of Canberra is starting up in March. so it looks like it will be a busy year for me!