Tomorrow evening brings opportunity to venture outside my usual literary circles. The London Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors Summer Social at Bat & Ball Covent Garden represents territory I rarely explore, but perhaps that’s exactly why it intrigues me.
The casual gathering welcomes both aspiring and published writers to share ideas and discuss their creative journeys. Whilst my work typically inhabits existential realism rather than speculative fiction, the fundamental challenges remain identical – creating believable characters, building atmospheric tension, exploring human nature under extraordinary circumstances.
What draws me is curiosity about how sci-fi and fantasy writers approach world-building. My own work relies heavily on psychological landscape and social observation, but speculative fiction demands constructing entire realities from imagination. The technical skills required fascinate me.
The social format removes pressure to present polished work or demonstrate genre knowledge. Instead, it offers chance to observe how writers working in completely different forms approach similar creative problems – character development, narrative pacing, thematic exploration.
Wednesday evening at Covent Garden might reveal unexpected connections between existential literature and speculative fiction. Both genres explore human condition under unusual circumstances, just through different lenses.
— Writer Anastasia Dubinina