2012 Souvenir Program Book (PDF) - Convergence

Guests of Honor
SOPHIE ALdREd
Introduction by Nick Seidler
Every now and then you encounter an actor or actress
that really makes being a sci-fi fan exciting. That’s the
feeling that I get when I think of Sophie Aldred. She
has a genuine love for her career and a true interest
in the character that most have us have come to
know her for: Ace on Doctor Who!
As the character of Ace, Sophie would help redefine
the role of the companion character in the Doctor
Who series. Her character, first introduced in the story
“Dragonfire” opposite the Seventh Doctor Sylvester
McCoy, was a street-smart teenager eager to adventure
with the Time Lord from Gallifrey. Spunky and “real,” her
characterization as a believable modern 1980s teenager
quickly made her a fan favorite. In her adventures, Ace
would meet Daleks, Cybermen, and work with Brigadier
Lethbridge Stewart’s UNIT to help the Doctor save the
world. The series’ storylines featured Ace’s character
and her personal development prominently. Sophie
Aldred’s Ace was the companion on the series when
the original run ended in 1989 with the story “Survival.”
Her character’s universal appeal to the audience would
become the template for the companion Rose when the
series returned in 2005. Ask her about her character Ace
and she will reveal a love and understanding as if she is
the character herself.
But Sophie is not a one-trick pony. Her engaging and
warm style of acting has been on display in theater and
television, including performances opposite Topol in
Fiddler on the Roof, the prime-time soap opera EastEnder,
and as a children’s TV presenter on various series such as
Rainbow and Melvin & Maureen’s Musicgrams.
In 1993 she returned to the role of Ace for the BBC’s
Children in Need charity special in the 3-D special Doctor
Who: Dimensions in Time. Not long after the special,
Sophie wrote the book Ace!: The Inside Story of the End
of an Era about her character, co-authored by the visual
effects artist Mike Tucker. The book gave details about
the character including the original plans for Ace’s
departure in what would have been Doctor Who’s 27th
Season were it produced. It seems she somehow finds
herself back in Ace’s black bomber jacket one way or
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another.
Sophie Aldred married fellow
actor Vince Henderson in 1997. She took a
break from acting and concentrated on her family. After
the birth of her two children, Adam and William, she
worked as a teacher in their school. From her career as
a children’s TV presenter to her work in the classroom,
Sophie has always been engaging youth and working to
make the world a bit better for others.
In the intervening years she has done a large amount
of voice work including series such as Bob the Builder and
in the role of Dennis the Menace on the series Dennis
and Gnasher. She has also reprised the character of Ace
in over 30 Doctor Who audio adventures produced by Big
Finish. Her most recent appearance was in the independent
film Thriller Theater! (2011) which was filmed in
nearby Madison, Wisconsin.
CONvergence is excited to welcome the warm and
wonderful Sophie Aldred to our convention and we
hope to hear all about her exciting and varied career. Her
conversations are engaging and warm, just as we might
hope. We expect the experience to be “Ace”!
SHARyN
NOvEMBER
Introduction by Michael Levy
I first became aware of
Sharyn November as an
editor of young adult
fiction a number of
years ago when her name began
appearing repeatedly in conjunction with
the books I was reviewing for Publishers
Weekly & VOYA. If Sharyn was the editor, it
was certain to be a good book at the very
least, & more often than not a great one.
Her choices were often gritty, even edgy, books that
sometimes challenged the limits of young adult fiction
& particularly YA fantasy. Further, she was editing some
of the biggest names in the field and, more often than
not, getting their best work out of them. It wasn’t until
years later when I actually met Sharyn, however, that I
discovered what an entirely remarkable person she is.
We were on a young adult fiction panel at a convention,
perhaps WisCon, & I initially found her to be very
intimidating.
The first thing you’re likely to notice about Sharyn
November is that she’s beautiful, not perhaps in a
conventional sense, but in an eccentric, kinetic, New
York Jewish, witty, smart, pre-Raphaelite sense. She’s
tall, dresses in black flowing skirts & tops, & wears her
astonishingly thick mahogany red hair very long. She
has a strong jaw & lively eyes. She always seems to be
in motion, perhaps overly caffeinated, especially while
making some perceptive comment about fantasy
literature or young adult publishing. She can easily
dominate most conversations if she chooses to, but
is equally willing to listen when other people have
worthwhile things to say, & she’s particularly interested
in the opinions of young adults. Now that I’ve gotten
over finding her scary, she’s probably my all-time favorite
person to share a panel with.
Before becoming an editor, Sharyn was a successful
poet, song writer & rock musician. She’s now worked at
Penguin & its subsidiaries in various editorial capacities
for more than twenty years & is
currently both senior editor at Viking
Children’s Books & editorial
director of her own fantasy imprint,
Firebird Books, which she
founded in 2002. Firebird primarily
publishes reprints & reissues
but does the occasional
original volume, most importantly, a trio
of astonishingly good short story anthologies, Firebirds,
the World Fantasy Award-nominated Firebirds Rising,
and Firebirds Soaring. Sharyn has also been responsible
for convincing a number of important authors of adult
fiction to write young adult stories, both in the Firebirds
anthologies & at book length. Among the best of these
books have been Kelly Link’s Pretty Monsters, Elizabeth
Hand’s Illyria, Ellen Klages’s The Green Glass Sea, and
John Barnes’s Tales of the Madman Underground. Her
list of authors, not all of them fantasists, includes Lloyd
Alexander, Laurie Halse Anderson, Charles de Lint,
Sarah Dessen, Nancy Farmer, Allison Goodman, Hiromi
Goto, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Diana Wynne Jones, Nnedi
Okorafor, Meredith Ann Pierce, & Megan Whalen Turner.
Her most recent original publications are Elizabeth
Hand’s wonderful time slip story Radiant Days, and
John Barnes’s novel Losers in Space. Sharyn is a two time
nominee for the World Fantasy Award.
When I asked Sharyn if there were any interesting
facts about her that aren’t already common knowledge,
she asked me to mention that she’s always looking for
good book recommendations, & that she has a short
attention span. Despite the latter, she can take credit
for bringing into print a remarkably high percentage
of the best Young Adult fantasies of the last twenty
years. I hope that you will make a point of attending
Sharyn November’s panels because she’s not only smart
& knowledgeable, but also one of the most enjoyable
raconteurs you’re likely to come across at CONvergence
or any other science fiction convention.
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