Mr Baum, 35, from Melbourne, came to Canberra for the ''speculative fiction'' convention Conflux 5, held over the long weekend at the Marque Hotel.

In its fifth year, the convention attracted 160 people from all over Australia.

American-born author Jack Dann, who lives in Victoria, said there was something special about speculative fiction.

''With any good book you get the thrill and it becomes part of your memory and experience, but with fantasy, magical realism and science fiction, the sense of wonder is different for different reasons,'' he said.

''It somehow enriches your sensorium the way you experience the world and of course there's [the element] of escape.''

Mr Baum said he enjoyed the conventions for the discussions, some of them more serious than others.

''We had one if you're going to be working for an evil overlord, what sort of things you should be looking for,'' he said.

''Whether they have good employment conditions ... and what it means if they've got a high staff turnover you should probably avoid them.''

Sydney author Margo Lanagan, who launched her book Tender Morsels yesterday, said she loved the ''complete freedom'' of writing fantasy.

''I moved over into fantasy partly because my ideas were just getting odder and odder and I thought I would see what fantasy writing was like,'' she said.

''And then I realised, 'Oh right, this is where my ideas have actually been leading me and there is actually a place for them.'''

She said Tender Morsels explored how we protected ourselves and our children and how ''we can take that protection too far until it itself turns into a kind of abuse''.

With a wicked dwarf, a man who turns into a bear, treasure and witches, she said ''there are various things to lighten the mix.''