Discworld Monthly - Issue 135: July 2008

1. Editorial

Welcome to issue 135. Things have been really hectic recently and are not showing any sign of slacking off - which is making it increasingly difficult for me to write everything myself each month. So if you have an idea for an article or feature and feel like having it published then please get in contact.

Don't forget, if you visit a play or a talk and would like to let the world know about it, please feel free to email your review to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk and we will consider it for publication.

--
Jason Anthony (Editor) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
William Barnett (Lost in Translation)
Richard Massey (Deputy Editor)

2. News

Comic fantasy author Robert Asprin recently passed away peacefully on May 22, 2008 at his home in New Orleans. He was apparently found in bed with one of Terry's books in his hand. I can certainly think of a lot worse ways to leave this life. RIP Bob.

www.mythadventures.net/

Terry was recently interviewed by Bryan Appleyard of the Times newspaper. See discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=TIME2008071

News from Colin Smythe (Terry's Agent):

A copy of the UK proof of Terry's next novel, Nation, inscribed by Terry to the winning bidder, the proceeds going to the RICE [Research Institute for the Care of the Elderly] Centre in Bath, has just been sold on eBay for 2,427.00 GBP sterling

For North American fans: On August 26th Acorn Media (Silver Spring, Maryland) will release the 2-disc set Terry Pratchett's Discworld Collection, with both Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music included. Besides those features, running 322 minutes, there will also be some extras: storyboards, an interview with Terry Pratchett, a Pratchett bio, character bios, and more! All of this will go for 39.99 USD SRP.

Terry has recently added his support for not putting video like age labels on novels. Many authors feel that this arbitrary age limit will restrict book sales and will prevent children from experimenting with reading.

discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=AGE2008071

Making Money has been voted best fantasy novel by the readers of the respected Science Fiction magazine Locus in the US. Also among the winners is Neil Gaiman for his novella "The Witch's Headstone".

www.locusmag.com/2008/Locus_Awards_Winners.html

It looks like Dreamworks are still interesting in making their adaptation of the Bromeliad series - they purchased the rights back in 2005 and very little has been heard of the project since.

However, in a recent article in the Times, there is mention of a meeting between Dreamworks (who flew over to the UK) and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce who has been adapting Truckers.

See: discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=TIME2008072

A signed monQee will be auctioned in July by Forbidden Planet for Alzheimer's research.

Authors that have signed the vinyl monQee include: Neal Asher, Chris "Fangorn" Baker, Neil Gaimen, Kari Maund, China Mieville, Andy Remic, Chaz Brenchley, Holly Black, Ed Buckley, Paul Cornell, David Devereux, Brianna Flynt, Amanda Hemingway, Tanith Lee, Tom Lloyd, Justina Robson, Mark Robson, Geoff Ryman, Sarah Singleton, Charles Stross, James Swallow, Bryan Talbot, Freda Warrington, Liz Williams and Frank Wu.

www.qee4all.com/2008/06/match-it-for-pratchett-mon-qee.html

Neil Gaiman recently interviewed Terry for Waterstones. The very entertaining interview can be found at: www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1575

Terry recently wrote an article in the Daily Mail about his much publicised "finding god" moment. His conclusion states: "I don't think I've found God, but I may have seen where gods come from."

discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=MAIL2008071

Den of Geek have an interview with Terry's daughter Rhianna about her work on the computer game Overlord located at: discworldmonthly.co.uk?redir=GEEK2008071

Discworld Dates...

This section will contain events that you need to keep in your diary. Entries will remain until they go out of date. New entries will include the word [New] next to them. If this section gets too large we will start pruning entries.

[AU, New] MAYTE Youth Theatre, inc will be performing "Maskerade" from the 3rd July until the 12th July 2008 at Ballarat Secondary College's Wendouree campus, on the corners of Giot Drive and Forest Street in Wendouree, Victoria, Australia. Tickets cost 10 AUD adults and 8 AUD students. For bookings or more information, phone 0400 483 188 or email mayteyouththeatre@yahoo.com.au

[AU] The Unseen Theatre Company will be performing Carpe Jugulum from July 4 to 19 (Wed to Sat) at 8pm at the Bakehouse Theatre, 255 Angas Street, Adelaide. Bookings can be made by phone 82270505 or book@bakehousetheatre.com

Tickets cost adults 18 AUD, concessions 15 AUD, fringe benefits 15 AUD, groups (10+) 12 AUD.

More information: www.unseen.com.au

[UK] The Really Necessary Travelling Actors are putting on a production of Men At Arms at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth, 8 - 12 July 2008 at 19.30. They have done several Terry Pratchett plays in the past and all have been very well received.

Tickets can be booked through the New Theatre Royal Booking office 02392-649000 or you can contact them via their website www.newtheatreroyal.com

[UK, Updated] The Broken Drummers is a London Discworld Group that meets once a month on a Monday evening. Membership is free - just come along. New members and visitors to London are both welcome and encouraged.

July's meeting will be on Monday 14th July at the Monkey Puzzle, Paddington, London, W2 1JQ.

Keep an eye on ~~www.brokendrummers.co.uk~~ or e-mail helenenicholls@yahoo.co.uk

[UK] Guards! Guards! will be performed by Zenith Theatre Co. at St Aldhelms Hall, Poole Road, Branksome, Poole on July 18th & 19th 2008. Curtain up at 7.45pm Friday & Saturday, 2.30pm Sat Mat.

Tickets will be 6 GBP, 5 GBP concessions and 4 GBP Matinee and children under 14.

Box Office: 01202 723588.

[UK, Updated] KATS World Premier of Terry Pratchett's Moving Pictures adapted for the stage by John Hicks and Kevin Miller will be performed from 31st July to 2 August 2008 at Kennet School, Thatcham. Tickets cost 8 GBP, see www.kats.org.uk for more details.

Terry is scheduled to visit KATS for their opening night. There will also be a sealed-bid auction again with details appearing on the KATS website soon.

[Although not as important as Terry's visit I will be at the closing night - Ed]

[UK] Mort (The Musical) will be performed by the Youth Music Theatre UK from Wednesday 20th - Saturday 23rd August from 8pm. (There is also a Thursday and Saturday matinee at 2pm).

The performance takes place at Priors Field School, Godalming, Surrey. ~~ymtuk.org/mort08.html~~

More information can be found at: ~~www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/stage.asp?s=413~~

[UK] The Discworld Convention 2008 will take place at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham from 22nd to 25th August 2008.

For more information visit: www.dwcon.org/

[UK] Wadfest 2008 will take place on the 29th - 31st August 2008. Tickets cost 15 GBP for adults with children under 16 free when accompanied by a paying adult.

For more information visit: www.wadfest.co.uk/

[UK, New] The resurrected Point 303 Theatre Company will be performing Night Watch from 4-6 September 2008 at 7.45pm with a Saturday Matinee starting at 2.30pm.

The shows are part of a one-off fund-raiser in memory of a former member of the group who died in September 2007, aged 25 form cancer. 55% of the ticket sales will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The performances take place at The Studio, Questors Theatre, Matlock Lane, Ealing, W5 5BQ

Tickets cost 10 GBP or 8.50 GBP for concessions.

Visit www.questors.org.uk or call 020-8567-0011

[UK] The Wincanton Hogswatch Event will be celebrated on the 29th and 30th November. Visit www.discworldemporium.com/ for more details once they have been confirmed.

[US] The First North American Discworld Convention will take place from September 4-7, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.

For more information visit ~~http://www.nadwcon.org/~~

Small Ads...

Please note, DWM has no way of checking the veracity or validity of any of the items in our small ads section. As always, exercise caution when giving out your details over the Internet. We *strongly* recommend parental supervision for younger readers who
follow up any of these contacts.

Toni Allison Tallon toni_t15@Hotmail.com writes: As a regular reader of DWM, I am wondering if there are any Discworld fans reading this newsletter, living in Northern Ireland or in Ireland. If so would anyone from here be interested in meeting up sometime or even setting up a group over here.

As I live in Northern Ireland and hardly see anyone from my part of the world writing in to DWM, or see any meetings of groups advertised. It would be nice to meet other Discworld fans from my part of the world and perhaps even meet up. As I live in a place called Newry, which is near the border, I would like to think, I'm not the only Discworld fan living here! So if there are any Discworld fans in or around the Newry area, please feel free to contact me and see what happens.

If anyone reading this is interested in meeting up sometime or even setting up a group, please email me.

Emma-Jean Miller emmajeanemiller@aol.com writes: I have been trying for some time, with no success, to obtain a copy of the Assassins Guild 2000 diary.

I will pay any reasonable price for a decent copy (no writing in pen, torn pages etc).

So if you have a copy lying around which you would like to sell, please email me.

3. Readers' Letters

If you have any letters or comments, please email them to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk

We assume any correspondence is eligible for use in the newsletter unless otherwise stated, including the sender's email address. We may also srettel ruoy tide.

It is vitally important that you don't pass off other people's work as your own. If you use information from other resources please let us know so we can give proper credit.

The best letter of the month will receive a Kiss the Cook print supplied as by Bonsai Trading. Sadly Bonsai Trading is no longer trading but John Pagan has kindly supplied me with a reasonable supply of prints to give away.

*
* From: "Merril McEvoy-Halston" merril.mch@gmail.com
*
I have been concerned by the two letters in which people have been told they are too old to read PTerry's books. Together with, what appears to me a poorly designed survey, which indicates that only 2% of PTerry's fans are old. Frankly I was amazed to hear that I was too old to read anything. It had never occurred to me that I was not free to read anything I pleased ranging from The Superior Court's latest decision to The House at Pooh Corner. From whence comes this notion and at what age must one stop reading certain materials? This really interests me as it appears that Ageism is rearing it's ugly head. Merril McEvoy-Halston age 69.

P.S Does this explain why their is a Guild Of Seamstresses which, I assume, comes with The Agony Aunts and not,it seems, a group of "interchangable Emmas" of The Sunshine Sanctuary?

DWM replies: We've not done a survey of our readers in a very long time but I seem to remember that there was a very wide spectrum of ages. As far as we are concerned as long as you are reading Terry's books it doesn't matter how old you are. We hope that you are no too old to accept a Kiss the Cook print for getting this month's Letter Of The Month.

*
* From: "Heather Mohieddeen" hmacca@yahoo.com
*
I'm sure you'll get a lot of letters prompted by the unfavourable review of Colour of Magic by Charlie Ashford. I am writing to support him, I thought it was dire too.

Of course the Colour of Magic is not the best of Terry's books, in fact I'd go to say it's not in the top 29! I suppose it is the most 'classic fantasy' and LoTR like, and would attract people who enjoy those books, but Terry's Discworld is way more than that.

The worst feature of the programme to me was the librarian character. The librarian was played by someone who seemed to be imitating a monkey, and that's before the transformation. He simpered and danced around the Archancellor timidly, and after the transformation the only change was more hair! The Librarian is a powerful ape who drinks heavily and can flatten anyone with a single punch. I can't see the TV version being able to pick someone up with one hand and bounce them on their head merely for uttering the word *monkey* This version looks like he'd scuttle into a corner and nurse a glass of babycham all night! I just can't see him in the Broken Drum in the middle of a brawl.

I know that everyone sees the Discworld differently and it's difficult to create an adaptation that pleases everyone, so I swallowed my disappointment, until an hour or so after it finished and I watched an adaptation of "The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" that was absolutely true to the characters and believable!

I blame the director - let the Real Librarian get his hands on him! (all four of them!)

DWM replies: If you disliked the book so much is it really surprising you didn't enjoy the adaptation? The librarian in The Light Fantastic was just one of Terry's one-line throw away jokes that didn't get developed into a real character until later in the series.

*
* From: "Roy Stead" roy.stead@btinternet.com
*
In reply to Charlie Ashford's letter in DWM 134: I also loathed the adaptation of "Hogfather", and for much the same reasons that Charlie stated: The poor acting, the appallingly bad script, the low production values and so forth.

For that reason, I was a bit.. Cautious about whether to even bother watching the "Colour of Magic" adaptation. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

It's not perfect by any means - sagging a bit in the middle, particularly around the whole dragons sequence (lovely CGI, but tedious to watch) - but overall David Jason's Rincewind worked rather well, the "American tourist" version of Twoflower was rather satisfying and Tim Curry turned in a splendidly over the top pantomime villain performance of the kind that only he can do.

It could happily have been cut down to, say, a two hour movie without losing anything of substance (personally, I'd lose the Wyrmberg and the visit to Death's cottage, which added little to either the main story or the humour) but on the whole it worked rather well, and was definitely worth watching.

*
* From: "O Caris" omcaris@yahoo.com
*
As one of Terry's American fans, I read the news of his illness with a great deal of sadness, but was uplifted by his remarks. With that in mind, I don't expect he'll be touring in America again.

My husband and I have always wanted to travel to England, and now since they've lifted the ban on small animals entering (we have 3 Yorkies), I'm wondering if any stateside fans would want to tour England as a group. I'd be glad to touch base with the fans here if that is at all possible.

If so, do you have any advice on how we could get us all together in some central place and plan a Terry Pratchett tour? Especially when there is an event like celebrating Hogswatch! Hope to hear from you.

DWM replies: Keep an eye on the Discworld Dates section to see if it helps plan your trip. Terry will be Guest of Honour at the first US Discworld Convention in 2009.

*
* From: "Simon James" simon_james63@hotmail.com
*
Firstly, thanks heaps for the ongoing Discworld Monthly and all the news it has been givin' us out here in the far reaches of Roundworld, in a place that we like to call Planet Perth. (and yes we can consider Perth to be another planet since we are apparently the most isolated capital city in the world and often feel we live in own little bubble often far far removed from what is happening in the rest of the world .. something we enjoy and can feel warm and fuzzy about ..) Anyhoo, the enclave of devoted Mr P fans in this neck of the woods is appreciative of the gnus Discworld Monthly sends us!

Secondly, as Australia's BEST producer of Terry Pratchett Plays, anointed as such by some serious (and seriously connected!) Mr P fans, ARENA Arts & Entertainment is looking at delving into MASKERADE for its 2009 Pratchett Play.

I remember from a Discworld Monthly long passed that some German group had actually made a Musical Version of MASKERADE. Can anyone point us in the right direction to getting a copy of such? Thanks!

4. DiscTrivia

This month I'm asking questions about The Wee Free Men.

Q1.: What was the name of the first creature that Tiffany hit with a saucepan?
Q2.: What animal travelled in Tiffany's apron?
Q3.: What is the old Kelda's only daughter called?; a) Bjorn; b) Dion; c) Fion; d) Sally
Q4.: What do dromes do?
Q5.: What did Granny Weatherwax give Tiffany?

The results, as always, appear at the end of this issue.

5. Review: Wadfest Pin-badges

Reviewed by Jason Anthony

The organisers of the excellent annual Discworld camping event Wadfest have created a couple of limited edition pin-badges as part of this year's merchandise. One generic and the other specific to this year's event.

The generic badge has been created in the shape and likeness of the Wadfest shield complete with Wadfest's slogan "Casus Pro Veris Populis" which I think roughly translates to "an event for all people". I am sure someone with better Latin skills than me will translate it better. The shield features two luggages crashing into each other (representing the luggage wars games that Wadfest invented), a camp fire / bar-b-que, a single "W" character on a chequered background and the top of a circus tent. The badge is quite understated and doesn't actually mention Wadfest on it at all.

The Wadfest 2008 badge features this year's event subtitle: "Fat Tuesday Voodoo for Dummies" and the voodoo logo created by Wadfest's artist Catskind.

The badges which have been created by Black Dragon appear to be excellent quality. They are made of metal and feel very solid.

The badges look great and mine now live on the strap of my laptop bag (they would look equally good on coats or baseball caps).

Apparently the 2008 badge can only be purchased when you order your tickets so be sure to get your order in soon.

There will be more information soon on the Wadfest website www.wadfest.co.uk/

6. Competitions

This month Sandra Kidby has very kindly offered a paperback of Making Money, signed by Terry, as our prize.

In order to enter the competition you simply need to send the answer to the following question to competitions@discworldmonthly.co.uk before 20th July.

Q1.: If you purchased a signed copy of the Making Money from Sandra's site how much in GBP would it cost you (not including carriage)?

The randomly selected winner will be announced next month. For more information about Sandra's exhaustive range of Discworld products visit www.discworld.com

Last month I twisted Barrie "The Special Discworld Jeweller" Wakeford's arm in the Bear Inn at the Wincanton event to see if he would be willing to provide us a competition prize. Barrie agreed and will provide an unspecified prize.

We asked you to answer the following question:

Q1.: How much does THE TURTLE MOVES (DW21) cost in GBP from Barrie's website?

The answer we were looking for was 18 GBP.

We had nearly 300 entries into the competition and most of the entries were actually correct. The randomly selected winner of this unspecified prize is Emma Jones of Cornwall.

See ~~www.jewellerybybarrie.co.uk/~~ for more information about Barrie's extensive range of Jewellery.

7. Article: Wadfest Murder Mystery - Looking for Volunteers

Written by Rob Lupine.

Ok you lot, you know the drill, and if you don't I'm detailing it below!

"Shadow is a zombie.

She has no idea who she was before she was a zombie and how she came to be one. She has a feeling she has not been one for long and that her death was anything but natural.

So now she has to go through life suppressing her urge to eat human flesh and hiding from would be zombie hunters looking to cut off her head or put a crossbow bolt to her brain.

The thing that's really bothering her though is why she is carrying this voodoo doll around..."

The Wadfest Murder mystery is here and if you want to be involved as a suspect email me with your name, email address and Wadfest ticket number.

I will then send you a character profile for you to play at the event.

You will need to be in character throughout the Saturday, leading to a live revelation of the murderer as part of the evenings entertainment. You will also have to be comfortable standing in front of an audience and happy to get your own costume together!

If you are up for taking part in the fun, then email me at rob@lupinemagic.com for more information.

If you have already contacted me prior to this post then please could you contact me again as my memory is rubbish!

More information can be found on the Wadfest forums at www.wadfest.co.uk/

8. The End

Discworld Monthly would like to thank Sonnet UK for hosting our mailing list for us free of charge. For more information about Sonnet UK visit their website at www.sonnetuk.net

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* Latest Book Information *

Discworld hardback: Making Money http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?ISBN=0385611013

Discworld paperback: Making Money http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?ISBN=0552154903

Discworld hardback Companion: Where's My Cow? http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?ISBN=038560937X

Discworld Young Adult paperback: Wintersmith http://discworldmonthly.co.uk?ISBN=0552553697

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* Disc Trivia Results *

Q1.: What was the name of the first creature that Tiffany hit with a saucepan?
A1.: Jenny Green-Teeth.
Q2.: What animal travelled in Tiffany's apron?
A2.: The Yellow Sick Toad.
Q3.: What is the old Kelda's only daughter called?
A3.: c) Fion
Q4.: What do dromes do?
A4.: Trap you in dreams.
Q5.: What did Granny Weatherwax give Tiffany?
A5.: A virtual pointy hat.

* Obtaining Terry's Books *

If you are looking for Terry books or videos over the net, simply visit our web page at discworldmonthly.co.uk and follow the 'Purchasing' link on the left panel of the page.

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Thanks

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* Thanks *

Thanks for reading this issue of 'Discworld Monthly'. We hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments or suggestions for the future of this newsletter please email: info@discworldmonthly.co.uk

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Discworld Monthly - Issue 135: July 2008

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