Hello all. Some of you are new people! Settle in, new people, make yourselves at home!

I knew in theory that the post about the Weekender might get more attention than I was used to. But I didn’t know it would and the reality of a thing is always pretty different from the expectation anyway.

As it was -- Baby’s first internet kerfuffle!

Some of you have left great comments on the original post that are various flavours of wise/thoughtful/supportive/wanting to know more.

I want to thank you for them. I would normally go through and reply to all of them and I just want to ask you to forgive me for the fact that this time, I’m not going to.

The fact is,I’m tired, I’m behind on work, I have a stinker of a cold that’s also making me throw up for some reason, and I’m still trying to bounce back from various fun things like a death in the family that did a number on my brain over Christmas. I went through a long, and I think, ultimately productive twitter and email exchange with an SFX team member before Dave Bradley stepped in, and now I don’t feel I can afford to outlay any more energy on this. Of course, no one needs my permission to keep talking about this wherever you like.  But I don’t think I’m going to be part of the discussion any more. Not, at least, until we’re getting closer to the next Weekender.   I said what I wanted to say, it did get listened to, and now I’d really like to get on with this book I’m supposed to be writing.

(And to stop throwing up).

Oh – one more thing I am going to do, and urge you to do, is to write to Chic Festivals about the dancer situation. info@chicfestivals.com and lisa@chictalent.com are the email addresses Lizzie Barrett of the British Fantasy Society has been using. As I understand it, Chic Festivals work with, rather than for, SFX – I guess as partners? – in making the event happen. So they’re not being paid by SFX, and they send those half-naked stiltwalking girls to all their events. I’m told that SFX has raised concerns about them before, and Chic Festivals hasn’t listened.  I’m not saying this lets SFX off the hook – the event bears their name, after all – but still, these are the people who think silent half-naked women and no silent, half-naked men at SFX Weekender is  good idea, and going directly to the source of the problematic entertainment may be a useful next step.