Discworld Monthly - Issue 283 - December 2020
↑≡1. Editorial
Welcome to issue 283 and the last issue of 2020. It's been a rough year for all of us but here we are on the final few legs of the year hoping that 2021 will be better.
This is a short issue with just a couple of small pieces of news to tide you over to the new year.
So what have we got to look forward to in 2021 (the now announced Discworld Year of the Beleaguered Badger) :
Tick as appropriate:
- The Watch Series on BBC America, AMC+ and Stan in Australia
- No The Watch Series in the UK
- Llamedos on the Clacks
- Discworld Monthly zoom quizzes
- The Amazing Maurice animated movie in 2022 (maybe)
- The Irish Discworld Convention (hopefully)
- News on the Discworld Cinematic Universe (not sure if it's called that but it should be ... hopefully)
- Other ............................ (I've probably missed loads - Ed)
So, please try to enjoy whatever end of year celebration you participate in, frolic around (safely - keeping a safe distance and wearing a mask) opening gifts from the Hogfather. Eat, well. Drink, sensibly. Have a safe and enjoyable break and we'll see you in the Year of the Beleaguered Badger.
Jason
Happy Hogswatch Everyone!
2020 has been a bit nuts hasn't it? Here is my 2020 news roundup just in case you missed anything.
- We started the year by attending (who am I kidding, we organised it) the first ever Llamedos Holiday Camp in March. It was a huge success and raised 5,326.40GBP for charity.
(And then, unfortunately, all Discworld in person events got postponed / cancelled for the rest of the year.)
- Discworld Monthly turned 23 years old.
- The Magic of Terry Pratchett by Marc Burrows was launched in July: The first Discworld event to go online due to the pandemic.
- The 2021 City Watch Journal appeared in shops in August alongside the 2021 Discworld Calendar which was also centered around the City Watch.
- Discworld Monthly started running monthly quizzes which seem to be popular - we still run them once a month.
- A new collection of Terry 's childrens short stories called The Time Traveling Caveman appeared in bookshops in September.
- Rhianna Pratchett published her first novel, the first woman to write a Fighting Fantasy book which is called Crystal of Storms.
- October became Disctober for many as Discworld Monthly launched our alternative Art challenge for the whole month. There were tons of beautiful Discworld Fanart appearing all over social media as a result.
- The Watch series dropped its first trailers onto Youtube with a panel at New York Comic Con online. Youtube trailers playlist
- The Ineffable Convention 2 happened online in the middle October and we listened to Rob, Neil and Douglas talk about making Good Omens as well as the Chattering Order of St Beryl causing carnage in their panel.
- The Ankh-Morpork Archives Volume two was published.
- Senate House Library hosted A Magical Mind: The World of Terry Pratchett online as part of the Being Human Festival with Neil Gaiman, Rob Wilkins and Rhianna Pratchett which was watched by thousands. You can still watch the talk on Youtube
- A beautifully illustrated edition of Guards Guards found its way onto bookshelves in November.
- The Amazing Maruice - an animated film being made for Sky Cinema made a casting announcement. Hugh Laurie will voice Maurice, with Emilia Clark as Malicia, Himesh Patel as Keith, Gemma Arterton as Peaches, Daid Thewlis as Boss Man and Hugh Bonneville as The Mayor. (Film is due out in 2022)
- The Discworld Emporium celebrated 21 glorious years of emptying your bank accounts. Happy anniversary!
- The traditional naming of the next year was announced by ourselves and the TerryandRob twitter account as 2021 was named The Year of the Beleaguered Badger!
- And finally, our last quiz of the year named The Big Fat Discworld Quiz of the Year will happen this Thursday !! (See Section 2.2 for details)
*****
2021 will have much of the same with some events hoping to run. Here is a quick rundown.
(Please note all book releases have affiliate links in our Book release section) .
- The Watch series debuts on television in America and in Australia at the start of the year.
On BBC America at least, they will show a double episode on the 3rd January at
(Currently we only have the name of the 1st and 3rd episodes)
Episode 1 is called A Near Vimes Experience; Ook
Capt. Sam Vimes' life in the City Watch is changed forever when a figure from his past returns to Ankh-Morpork.
A week later on BBC America Episode 3 will air and it is called The What?
The Watch must rob the city's most secretive institution in a desperate effort to find the artifact.
* * *
- Llamedos On the Clacks will happen online in March. Tickets due to go on sale in January - see Section 2.3 below for further details.
- New script books by Stephen Briggs are meant to be published on 11th March 2021
- Hogfather - The Play Script
- Lords and Ladies - The Play Script
- The Shakespeare Codex - The Play Script
(a combined edition titled All the Discworld's a stage VolumeTwo will appear later in the year)
- The Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Dunmanifestin Edition will be available from 25th March 2021 (limited to 1000 copies worldwide)
- The Puffin Book of Funny Stories will include a story by Terry Pratchett and it will appear in all good bookshops from April.
- The Schweibenwelt Convention otherwise known as the German Discworld Convention has had to cancel its plans to run in person BUT will be online over the 8th / 9th May and free of charge! For more information: scheibenwelt-convention.de
- The Irish Discworld Convention is currently scheduled to happen on the weekend of the 8th until 11th October 2021. This will be at the Cork International Hotel. More details over at 2021.idwcon.org
- A new stage adaptation by Stephen Briggs called Murder at Ankh-Morpork will hopefully get it's World Premier in Abingdon in November
- The Carpet People celebrates 50 years since it's publication on the 16th November 1971.
- And it would have been 20 years since the Discworld Emporium held its first ever Hogswatch in Wincanton. Whilst the shop no longer holds events, the memories of them are cherished by many and will live on through the tales of madness that occurred at them.
Rachel
If you have something you'd like to chat with other fans about, why not send us a readers' letter, to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
--
Jason Rincewind Anthony-Rowlands (Editor and Wizzard) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Rachel Anthony-Rowlands (I want everyone to adopt a chimp for christmas at Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary
after all, someone asked Michael Sheen what he wanted, and the fans bought him the cow he asked for!)
rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Richard Massey (Vice President of Pencil Shavings in South-East England)
If you want to make a small, purely optional, financial donation to the upkeep of the newsletter please use our Paypal account info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
We'd like to thank all those that have already helped, you really do make a difference.
↑≡1.1 Important Information
We have several places where you can get up to the minute news and information about all things Discworld from Discworld Monthly.
Facebook: Discworld Monthly Facebook Page
Twitter: @dwmoook
Instagram: Discworld Monthly on Instagram
And our website, discworldmonthly.co.uk which contains loads of information about the books, stage productions around the world, interesting articles, back issues and our merchandise shop.
↑≡1.2 Submissions
Want to make your opinions about the Discworld known to the world?
Have you been to see a play or a Discworld related event and want to write a review about it?
Then get writing! We are always on the lookout for exclusive articles and reviews to share with our readers so don't hesitate, email us today with the subject Article/Review at rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk
If you are putting on a stage production or know of a stage production near you, please email us and let us know about that too.
We happily advertise all stage productions for free and we can help in other ways too. Email rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk with the Subject line "Stage Production".
The deadline for submissions to issue 284 of Discworld Monthly is the 10th January 2021.
↑≡1.3 Merchandise
We're past the posting date for Hogswatch sorry... Also our mug printer has become rather poorly of late and has been put out to pastures new [or the dump - Ed] so we are currently unable to produce mugs until we can source a replacement.
Discworld Monthly has an amazing (if we say so ourselves) range of badges , fridge magnets , keyrings , and window stickers for sales worldwide.
↑≡2. News
2.1 2021 has been named The Year of the Beleaguered Badger
↑≡2.2 Discworld Monthly December Online Quiz
We went with Eventbrite to prevent being Zoom Bombed and ended up with some other problems.
DECEMBER QUIZ
The date of the December Quiz is Thursday 17th December at 8pm Uk Time.
As per usual we will be hosting it on Zoom, but you must have an account with them to take part. It's free and takes just a few moments to register at zoom.us
To register for a Quiz ticket you will need to register via Eventbrite
After acquiring a ticket on Eventbrite, you should get an email from Zoom with the event details. - please do not delete that email, it contains the Zoom link you need to enter the quiz !
You will get a reminder about the quiz from Eventbrite about an hour before the quiz starts with the Zoom link in case you lost the first email.
We won't start the quiz until about 8.15pm to allow everyone time to log in etc.
As it's Hogswatch, we would love to see as many Christmas Jumpers/Hats etc as possible !
[Sidenote, Zoom is an added expense for us here at Discworld Monthly, one we can't really afford every month. If you fancy helping out with the cost side of things, bung a few pennies in our paypal with the wording "Zoom help" and we can use it to put on another online event in the future. - Rachel]
There will be a Quiz in January 2021 - Please keep an eye on our social media channels for details as we may not get a newsletter out before it happens !
↑≡2.3 Llamedos On the Clacks - Date announcement for 2021
We are happy to be able to announce the Llamedos On the Clacks dates.
Drum roll please…
Friday 5th - Sunday 7th March 2021
The event will start at 7.30pm on the Friday with an opening ceremony and close at about 7+1pm on the Sunday.
Both days will start at about 9.30am and close at about 9pm each night UK time.
The team are currently figuring out if they can overnight show footage from all the panels so attendees not in the Uk can still get to see everything.
Tickets were meant to go on sale this month but things being things, it means the ticket launch has been pushed back to January.
To find our more, sign up to their newsletter and to volunteer for any panels, head over to any of the following.
Llamedos On the Clacks website
↑≡2.4 Troll Bridge - Yes Troll Bridge!
These are Daniel Knight's words not ours !
"We know a lot of backers under the 30USD cutoff have been waiting for this, and we're here to announce it's happening! When? Early next year to coincide with the second anniversary of the cinematic premiere! Has it been two years already?! Indeed it almost has, we're just as shocked as you are!
As a result, we've slashed prices to the Streaming Arena in half for those who can't wait that long! Yes, yes, we're cutting our own throat, etc:
That's still USD 15, but we don't think that's too bad for 21+ hours of behind the scenes content and 3 versions of the short film itself. And if you still don't like those prices, and just want the film without all the fancy extras? Just need to wait for the wider release next year!"
↑≡2.5 Book Releases 2021
Publishing dates have been screwed around by COVID-19, but if you have already pre-ordered, your order should still stand.
We now have a few new affiliates in our programme so you have more choice as to where to buy things from. We gained Book Depository, Blackwells and Forbidden Planet in the last couple of months.
If you want to buy Discworld books, but don't want to use Amazon within the UK, we now have an affiliate bookshop at uk.bookshop.org
Bookshop.org helps independent bookshops all over the UK when you purchase from them. We are currently populating our shopfront there with all of Terry's books, a portion of the profits go to independent bookshops in the UK. - If we don't have a book you want in our store front, just ask and I'll pop it in there for you!
Due for publication in March 2021
The latest three playscripts adapted by Stephen Briggs finally have a release date.
Hogfather, Lords and Ladies and The Shakespeare Codex will make their way to book shops on 11th March 2021.
Priced at 10.99 GBP each, currently they are only available to pre-order at Waterstones uk although we are sure that will change shortly.
They will come out as an omnibus later in the year under the name "All the Discworld's a Stage - Volume Two"
Hogfather Playscript by Stephen Briggs
View our affiliate links to order Hogfather adapted by Stephen Briggs Play ScriptThe Shakespeare Codex Playscript by Stephen Briggs
View our affiliate links to order The Shakespeare Codex adapted by Stephen Briggs Play ScriptLords and Ladies Playscript by Stephen Briggs
View our affiliate links to order Lords and Ladies adapted by Stephen Briggs Play Script---
Due for publication in April 2021
A new collection of short stories by various authors will be published by Puffin books.
The Puffin Book of Funny Stories has stories and extracts from best-loved classic authors Joan Aiken, Terry Pratchett, Dick King-Smith, Rebecca Elliott, Humza Arshad, Henry White, Julian Clary, Sam Copeland and other contemporary writers.
ISBN-13: 978-0241434734
Price 7.99GBP in the UK in paperback, 3.99GBP on kindle
View our affiliate links to order Puffin Book of Funny StoriesAnd just in case you didn't get it for Christmas,
Illustrated Guards! Guards!
With each of the editions containing 10 full page colour illustrations and series of pencil drawings, these editions of Guards! Guards! follow the format of the illustrated Good Omens that were released last year.
View our affiliate links to order Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Standard Edition View our affiliate links to order Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Slipcase EditionThe Dunmanifestin edition will be published 25th March 2021 at a cost of 195GBP and they are a limited edition of just 1000 copies.
Currently you can pre-order a copy from shop.paulkidby.com
↑≡3. DiscTrivia
This month I've included some questions previously asked in one of our online quizzes. This should be an easy set...
| Q1. | What does the second mouse get? |
| Q2. | According to Granny, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? |
| Q3. | What was Rincewind's room number at Unseen University? |
| Q4. | What nickname did Wolfgang have for Vimes? |
| Q5. | How long did Mr Pump spend at the bottom of a hole in the ground? |
The answers as usual can be found at the end of this issue.
↑≡4. Birthdays
Everyone has a birthday. If you know someone who would like a mention or if you would like your birthday included in the listings, send us an email the month before your birthday and we will add it to the list! Email rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk Subject: Birthday
Happy December Greetings to: Pallas Jade, Martin Holloway, Sean Bell, Marita Arvaniti, Karlyanne Bantock, Gill Milford-Scott, Sharon O'Connor, Margaret Rouke, Charlotte Le Grys, James Serjeant, Hannah Boron, Roisin Rowlinson, Cathie McEvoy, Wendy Blaser, Paul Stevens, Andrew Knight, Nicole Landy, Kerri McCaffrey, Hilary Lucas, Sebastian Barwinek, Andy Loveridge, Marc Simonetti, Ian Whybrew, ,Rob Grundy, Susan Hagstrom, Dave Corne, Amy Atkins, Tim Brown, Lau LeiaTortoise Twenteas, Ella Farley, Karen Stropkovic, Steve Lewis,Steve Himel, Issac Olding, Robert Mansridge and Peter Helmer Madsen
A very special Happy 50th Birthday to our dear friend Freya Tarttelin.
Finally, on a personal note Happy Birthday to our middle son Callum as he turns 19 and to our eldest daughter Emily as she turns 22.
↑≡5. 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. The answer to last month was 3800K if anyone is interested... it doesn't actually matter as it appears we have no letters anyway.
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.
We make an editorial decision on what letters to include. Sometimes the opinions expressed in a letter are not the same as our own but we reserve the right to publish them nevertheless. You might not like the content of the letters we publish and we encourage you to write in your own constructive letters explaining your points of view. We will not shy away from you including letters that question our views and expect our readers to be able to accept that not everyone has the same point of view on all subjects.
Please bear in mind that the Discworld Universe does NOT include The Watch TV series and thus if we read deeply between the lines, it looks like we will only get the one season of it anyway whether you love it or hate it - Rachel
Nope - nothing to see here --- move along.
↑≡6. Stage Productions
Of course, most if not all of the productions that would normally appear here have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. We really hope that once the current situation has resolved itself the productions will be rescheduled and we can get our regular dose of Pratchett performances.
Whilst we would love to get to every event and play to write reviews and articles about them, we just don't have enough time, petrol and a wide enough spread of friends to borrow the couch for the night. But you, our wonderful readers do have the time, petrol and often don't need the couches as the event or play is on your doorstep!
We don't have English degrees here and you don't need one either to write something for Discworld Monthly!
PS. If you know of a play or event that we don't know about (shock horror) , email us. We like the surprise!
All submissions should be emailed to rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk or info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Don't forget to visit Pratchett Stage Productions for our most up-to-date list of stage productions.
↑≡7. Discworld Conventions and other Events
The UK Discworld Convention has been postponed until 2022.
CabbageCon 2020 has been Cancelled and the next one will happen in 2022.
Australia's Nullus Anxietas 7a has been postponed until 2022
Scheibenwelt Convention 2021 has been cancelled. The next one will happen in 2023 BUT they will be holding an online event over the 8th and 9th May 2021.
Online events are happening - see our index for details.
Llamedos On the Clacks will happen 5th-7th March 2021
↑≡8. Recurring Fan Meetings
By their very nature the listing of recurring fan meetings remains static. So we've moved the full listings to our website at Recurring Fan Meetings
The newsletter will only include any listings that are new or have changed within the last 30 days.
↑≡9. The End
This month's issue is brought to you by board games, trees and funny jumpers.
The deadline for submissions to issue 284 of Discworld Monthly is the 10th January 2021.
↑≡9.1 Supporting Discworld Monthly
Discworld Monthly was created as a totally free newsletter and will continue to remain so for as long as it continues. However, the costs of maintaining the website, postage, travel etc. add up. If you feel you would like to make a small contribution towards these costs please consider doing so via: PayPal
Our account for Paypal is info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
You can also purchase items from our range of licensed Discworld Monthly products from: Discworld Monthly Shop
↑≡9.2 eBook Editions
Since issue 166 we have produced a version of Discworld Monthly that is formatted better for the Amazon Kindle eBook reader and since issue 186 we also produce an ePub version for other eBook readers such as the Kobo, Nook and Sony readers.
You can download either version from Discworld Monthly eBooks
Please do let us know if you use them!
↑≡9.3 Contact Information
We prefer information to be sent via email info@discworldmonthly.co.uk or rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk but can also accept information via post at the following addresses: Discworld Monthly, 20 Cambrian Place, Pontarddulais, Swansea, SA4 8RG, United Kingdom
↑≡9.4 Latest Book Information
There is a list of books on our website with the cover blurb and direct links to UK, US and Canadian Amazon websites.
Terry Pratchett books at Discworld Monthly
You can also find a list of our affiliates at:
Discworld Monthly Affiliate Links
We have an extensive Terry Pratchett biography with a tick list you can print out at:
↑≡9.5 Subscription Information
To subscribe to Discworld Monthly simply enter your email address in the form on the Discworld Monthly web page. Our web site contains all back issues and links to other Pratchett sites.
To unsubscribe please follow the instructions at the end of this email.
↑≡9.6 Trivia Answers
| Q1. | What does the second mouse get? |
| A1. | The cheese (the first mouse gets the trap) - TAMAHER |
| Q2. | According to Granny, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? |
| A2. | Sixteen (Carpe Jugulum) |
| Q3. | What was Rincewind's room number at Unseen University? |
| A3. | 7a (The Colour of Magic) |
| Q4. | What nickname did Wolfgang have for Vimes? |
| A4. | Civilised (The Fifth Elephant) |
| Q5. | How long did Mr Pump spend at the bottom of a hole in the ground? |
| A5. | 240 years (Going Postal) |
9.7 Small Print
We make every effort we can to ensure the information in this newsletter is accurate and legal. All trademarks are recognized as the property of their respective owners, whoever they may be. Discworld (R) is a registered trademark of the Estate of Sir Terry Pratchett used under licence.
↑≡9.8 Thanks
Thanks for reading this issue of 'Discworld Monthly'. We hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments, complaints or suggestions for the future of this newsletter please email the editor : info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
Thank you Terry Pratchett
↑≡9.9 The Final Word...
*Rachel here*
We may not be perfect designers, or award winning journalists but we do our best to keep you all entertained and informed about all things Terry. We do have some ethics though. We like our news to be current, up to date and factual with a solid source. We don't like posting rumours but occasionally the source it comes from is 98 percent solid so we will tell you it's a rumour and confirm it when we have a 100 percent confirmation. Our own articles are written by us for us only. You won't find articles from other publications here unless it's a formal press release about an adaptation, book release or event or something we actually wrote for someone else unless they begged us to publish it (OK not begged but some of our lovely friends do ask us occasionally to boost something) . [NB I say we are not award winning but Discworld Monthly did win Website of the Month for Issue 3 back in a different century. It would be nice to win something much more recent, or even just get acknowledged #justsaying]
Whilst you keep reading it, we'll keep on writing it because we love Terry's books just as much as you do.
Keep smiling, Keep washing those hands but most of all, Keep breathing.
We will all get to hug again !
GNU Terry Pratchett...
Affiliate Links
- Hogfather adapted by Stephen Briggs Play Script
- The Shakespeare Codex adapted by Stephen Briggs Play Script
- Lords and Ladies adapted by Stephen Briggs Play Script
- Puffin Book of Funny Stories
- Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Standard Edition
- Illustrated Guards! Guards! - Slipcase Edition