No, not the DC Superhero. This is Bristol Flash, a local festival of flash fiction. It is taking place on National Flash Fiction Day, which is Saturday June 22nd. Our good friend Kevlin Henney is one of the main organisers, and several of the BristolCon team are likely to turn up. Some of us may even be reading. You can find out more about the event on their Facebook page.

On Saturday May 18th, from 13:00 to 14:00, Forbidden Planet will be holding a launch event for Adventure Rocketship, a new Bristol-based SF magazine. Editor Jonathan Wright will be on hand, along with authors Liz Williams, Tim Maughan and Rob Williams, all of whom contributed to the debut issue. A few BristolCon people are likely to turn up, and as Jonathan does a lot of work with SFX some of their crew may be there too. We hope to see some of you there. The the event page for more details about the magazine.

Author, Patrick Ness, will be appearing at The Birdcage on Thursday night. New editions of his award-winning Chaos Walking series, each volume including a new short story, will be published that day. You should be able to find copies of them in Foyles that day if you want to take then along and get them signed.

Also on the bill with Patrick is Matt Haig whose books may well be of interest to you.

Local author, Tim Maughan is the subject of a major feature in the Bristol Post today. You can read it online here, or of course pop out and get a paper copy so that you can get him to sign it next time you see him.

The transformation of our hotel into a Hilton Doubletree is underway. The photo above shows the new signage being put in place on the exterior of the building.

It is almost May now, and we’d like to remind you that only have just over a month to take advantage of the special low early membership price of £15. If you can’t remember whether you have bought one yet, we’ve put the current membership list online here.

The BristolCon Foundation, in collaboration with Wizard’s Tower Press, is delighted to announce a call for submissions for a new anthology of locally-based steampunk stories: Airship Shape & Bristol Fashion.

The full Call for Submissions is available at the Wizard’s Tower Press website. The short version is that we are looking for stories set in around Bristol that make use of its colourful history during the Victorian age.

To help local writers get inspiration we have arranged an event at the Shakespeare Tavern in Prince Street from 6:30pm on the evening of May 1st. Local historian and SF writer, Eugene Byrne, will be giving an informal talk about some of the wilder aspects of the city’s history. These include:

A brand new source of energy to power a fleet of warships that would capture Algiers, the world’s first forensic scientist, the mysterious foreign engineer who designed flying saucers, energy from the river Avon, a vast artificial lake which would serve as a base for flying-boats connecting the British empire … And the marvellous and unavoidable Mr Brunel.

Editors Jo Hall and Roz Clarke will be on hand to answer any questions. We look forward to hearing your story ideas.

On the evening of May 2nd two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness will be reading at The Birdcage. He’s supported by another writer of children’s fantasy novels, Matt Haig. And there will be music. To book go here.

Later in the month, Waterstones have two huge events. Fantasy legend, Raymond E. Feist will be in store on Saturday May 11th at mid-day. Then on the evening of May 29th top class horror writer Joe Hill will be at the store. Details of both events are available here.

Our Guest of Honour, Philip Reeve, had some exciting news on his blog this week: he has written a Doctor Who novel. The book will be released later this month. Philip talks about the writing of The Roots of Evil, and his affection for Tom Baker’s Doctor, here.

This is a reminder that the April Word of Mouth event takes place at The Thunderbolt tonight. This one is showcasing the Bristol Short Story Prize, and our good friends Kevlin Henney and Tania Hershman will be performing. Details here.