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Discworld Monthly - November 2022 - Issue 293

Issue 293

1. Editorial

Welcome to issue 293. We've added Mastodon to our list of social media outlets. If you are unaware of Mastodon it appears to be an open source rival to Twitter. You can find Discworld Monthly at Mastadon

This is an additional outlet and we'll continue to post to all our other social media options.

We've had fun stalking Rob around various talks about his official biography of Terry Pratchett. (We had to give up on heading back up to Edinburgh as it's too far even for us for a day).

We're really looking forward to seeing The Amazing Maurice film at the Manchester Film Festival (especially after seeing the Making of video at MCM Comic Con in London.)

We've started seeing some more play news - so it looks like production companies are getting back into theatres. If you see a Discworld play advertised, please let us know. We may not know about it and would love to share the information with other fans. Just email us at info@discworldmonthly.co.uk or rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk with whatever details you can find.

Until next time, stay safe.

Jason

* * * * *

Hello all,

It's been a busy couple of months for us here.

September was bonkers, we spent some of it playing with the Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain at their Woodathon event at Alton Towers and Drayton Manor Park.

It was Jason's birthday at the start of October, we spent it having dinner with some wonderful friends who had travelled down from "The North" to visit our home land.

We ran Disc-tober 2022 which was a huge success with many artists taking part on social media channels all over the place. It made social media a happy place to be.

Google #disctober2022 and have a look on the various public social media channels at some of the artwork.

I want to point out one artist in particular. I feel quite honoured that Robert Sienicki took part. He is an illustrator who has had his luggage artwork printed on a Discworld Emporium T-shirt and he spent the entire month producing Discworld artwork to our prompts.

You can see his #Disctober2022 artwork on this twitter thread

It's been a busy month or so for Rob Wilkins with his book Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes coming out and the associated promotional tour. We were lucky enough to make his London Launch, his Cheltenham talk and his Bristol talk. He also did a talk at MCM London at the end of October.

He was in Edinburgh at the start of November (anyone want to write a review?) and he will be in Norwich at the end of November - see section 2.1

Jason has written a review of Rob's talks which you can find down in section 4.

Talking of Rob, we also saw him at MCM London in the EXCEL for The Amazing Maurice promotional stand and panels.

Where's the news about The Amazing Maurice film?

For us MCM London was a fantastic event and we met loads of peeps and as a result we've got loads of stuff to share. Coupled with an advanced screening of the film this weekend at the Manchester Animation Festival, we decided that we would produce an AMAZING special issue in about a week's time covering the film, the merchandise and the worldwide release dates.

I'm still searching for a better method of producing the newsletter but I will say your emails make writing this a lot easier on the heart.

Much Love,

Rachel


2. News

2.1 Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins - on Tour .. well sort of! Another date for your diary!

Rob Wilkins has been packing the miles in going up and down the country visiting such wild places as Bristol, Edinburgh and Cheltenham as well as the Big Smoke London (twice!).

This time, he's going home to Norwich!

You can see him at Waterstones on Castle street in Norwich (NR2 1PB) on Wednesday 30th November 2022 at 7pm

He will be doing a quick signing after the talk.

Tickets cost just 5 GBP if you already own the book, or 20 GBP if you want a copy of the book too!

To get yourself a ticket head over to Waterstones Norwich Tickets


2.2 Abominable SnowBaby News

Congratulations to Julie Walters who has been nominated in the Performer category for a Children's & Young people' BAFTA for her role as Granny in Channel Four's adaptation of Terry Pratchett's The Abominable Snowbaby.

We wish her the best of luck as the Awards ceremony will be on Sunday 27th November. We will update you if she wins!

Bafta Nominees

2.3 Discworld Convention News - Worldwide

After a couple of years filling our screens with online Discworld events, things are getting back to in-person events all around the world.

Cabbagecon in the wonderful Netherlands held their gathering over the weekend of 29th and 30th October 2022.

They had a wonderful weekend, raising around 800 euros for the Dutch translation team who have fallen on financial hardship. The dutch translations are some of the best out there and we think it's rather sweet of Cabbagecon to support the team at this time.

Cabbagecon is possibly the smallest of the Discworld events and is welcoming to all.

Check out their website over at www.dutchdwcon.nl/

* * * * *

In 2023

Scheibenwelt Convention will be happening over the weekend of Terry's birthday, 28th April until 1st May in 2023. This convention is always rather magical in that it is held in a German Castle, Castle Ludwigstein surrounded by beautiful scenery of the woodlands and the river Werra, this German convention welcomes all to its festivities.

Tickets are now on sale.

www.scheibenwelt-convention.de/

* * * * *

The Irish Discworld Convention is back in Cork 8-10th October 2023. They have just announced some of their guests which includes most of the usual suspects.

2023.idwcon.org/

* * * * *

In 2024

Llamedos Holiday Camp will be turning its camp into the Llamedos Holiday Camp Scout Jamboree. The madness that is Llamedos will be occurring over the weekend of the 1st - 3rd March 2024. Tickets will go on sale on the 1st June 2023.

llamedosholidaycamp.com/

* * * * *

Nullus Anxietas has announced they will be gathering the fans in Australia in 2024, but haven't released a solid date as yet. To find out more.

ausdwcon.org/convention/


3. Book and Merchandise News

3.1 The Ultimate Discworld Companion - The Dunmanifestin Edition (Hardback)

Ultimate Discworld Companion Cover

This kind of epic collectors edition used to be only available from Discworld.com and Paulkidby.com but finally these kinds of editions have started to make their way into the mainstream book shops.

In this case, you can purchase this exuberant edition from Waterstones!

Your guide to the entirety of Discworld (R), from The Colour of Magic to The Shepherd's Crown, and everything in between. The Ultimate Discworld Companion covers the riotous, intricate, and exuberant world that is the life's work of master storyteller Terry Pratchett. This beautiful (and weighty at 4.5kgs) volume is the essential guide to Discworld's characters, concepts and creatures, assembled by Terry's long-time collaborators, Discworld archivist Stephen Briggs and official Discworld artist Paul Kidby.

Besides being the most comprehensive guide to Discworld, this special edition also includes expanded entries and information covering the events of The Science of Discworld series, additional full-colour artwork, and exclusive brand-new illustrations. Bound in a foil-embossed cover and presented in a matching presentation slipcase, this book is the ultimate companion to your Discworld library.

Priced at 150 GBP you can get a copy from our affiliate page


3.2 Discworld Calendar 2023

2023 Calendar Cover

Yes, due to public outcry last year, there is a calendar for 2023 available Huzzah!. With illustrations by Paul Kidby, the calendar is available in all good bookshops and through our affiliate link page.

2023 Calendar - Example Page

It's yours for the princely sum of 14.99 GBP which is really cheap for 12 beautiful Paul Kidby images for your walls.

You can purchase yourself one through our affiliate page

2023 Calendar - Rear cover

3.3 Book Releases

We have a slight change this month to how we deal with Book Release news.

We're just going to tell you about them and you can just go and buy them over on our shiny new Bookshop.org website.

If there is a book or item we cannot get into our store, we will give you the links to whichever affiliate programme it is available at.

This Autumn / Winter, there has been a plethora of books released (or about to be released). Most are, of course, new editions or tie in books to the animated film The Amazing Maurice but first up..

Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins.

If you don't know about this already... Where have you been? It is the biography of Terry Pratchett's life as written by his business manager and friend Rob Wilkins. Quite simply a wonderful book that will make you laugh, cry and snort at the pages that were lovingly written by the Keeper of the Anecdotes Rob Wilkins.

* * * * *

The Amazing Maurice - Film Tie-In paperback edition. This has glorious unseen images from the film within it and an excerpt from the script. Well worth the price if you are super excited about the movie.

The Unadulterated Cat Maurice. This has a new introduction by Rhianna Pratchett and has over 50 glorious images of Maurice throughout. It is a Hardback edition and I simply love my copy. [I'm not writing a review of it, but I may do a comparison article next month about all the editions of The Unadulterated Cat- Rachel].

The Amazing Maurice - The Art of the Film by Ramin Zahed. - This coffee table book is filled with wonderful double page images notated with information. More information about this in our special Amazing issue coming soon.

There has also been the obligatory new paperbacks with covers by Leo Nickolls. This time around they are the Death books. These were released on the 27th October.

They are: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather and Thief of Time.

You can purchase all the books above from our very own Bookshop - Autumn Winter Releases

Bookshop.org supports not only Discworld Monthly with every purchase you make from our store front, but it also supports independent book stores across the UK as 10% is donated to them from every purchase. #loveyourbookshop


4. Rob Wilkins on Tour

We managed to get to three of the talks by Rob about his biography Terry Pratchett * A Life with Footnotes - London, Cheltenham and Bristol.

4.1 St. James's Church, London - Piccadilly.

St. James's Church is an amazing looking church and when we arrived the main auditorium venue was already nearly half full. A makeshift stall had been set up in the atrium. As this was the official release day of the book we picked up one of the Waterstones deluxe editions of the book. It was fun walking into the auditorium and seeing so many familiar faces. We found a space on one side and made ourselves comfortable.

Rob and the interviewer came out and took their places to a huge round of applause. Rob very shyly suggested that none of the applause was for himself and all of it was for Terry (represented by one of Terry's hats - that Rob brought with him).

It very quickly became clear that the interviewer was a big fan of Terry's books and managed to avoid most of the obvious where did Terry get his ideas type questions. If you have read the book nothing particularly new came out of the interview but it was entertaining and great to hear Terry's voice through Rob. Soon the interviewer handled questions over to the audience and a lively q&a took place. After a short break while tables were arranged Rob came back in and settled down for a signing session.

Afterwards a few of us found a local pub for a quick pint. While sitting outside the pub we were entertained by a small riot forming on the other side of the road. We decided that we'd had enough street theatre for one night and carefully made our way back to our hotel. [I thought a Street Brawl was perfect entertainment after a Terry Pratchett event, very much a Discworld Thyng! - Rachel]

* * * * *

4.2 Town Hall, Cheltenham Literary Festival

Our second visit was to the Cheltenham Literary Festival. This time the venue was the town hall.

It was a very large space and was sadly only about a third full. Again Rob refused to take any of the applause for himself and again said it was all for Terry. (Rob needs to learn to take some credit for his work).

The interview was less fluid than the London one with the interviewer having a preset list of questions he wanted to ask without considering the responses he got back. Again nothing new was really disclosed that wasn't in the biography.

One thing the interviewer did was make Rob read the final part of the book. This is obviously a hugely emotive part of the book and Rob with a couple of restarts was able to read it to us. I doubt there was a dry eye in the room.

Overall it was fun and after the talk, Rob was relocated to a temporary Waterstones in an adjoining room for a signing session. We had some samplers of the biography that we had managed to find and got them signed by Rob. Afterwards we found a pub and went for lunch with about ten friends before heading back home.

* * * * *

4.3 Waterstones, Bristol

Our final visit was to a Waterstones store in Bristol. It couldn't have been more different to the previous two events.

The store itself is large and airy and full of books (and sadly soon to be demolished and turned into student accommodation). A small stage and seating area had been set up near the rear of the store.

This was a much smaller and much more personal room and the interview was more natural. I think the combination of a good interviewer and Rob relaxing into the interviewee role made it really fun. Rob was able to engage more with the audience and some of the people Terry worked with at the CEGB were in the audience. We spoke with some of them and they were really lovely and remembered Terry fondly.

After the interview and the Q&A session Rob again was happy to sign things. This time we found a random Terry Pratchett "Biography" on Amazon and got Rob to sign it for us. (It really is a bad biography - it's only about 20 pages with massive fonts and is very poorly researched). Rob was really surprised to see the book but was very graceful in signing it.

We were the last people in the store with Rob, so much so the lovely Waterstones bookseller asked us to keep an eye on the door whilst they escorted the interviewer out to the car park. And then we were all finally evicted from the building so we headed home.

* * * * *

4.4 Conclusion

It was fun seeing how three different interviewers took different things from the biography to ask questions about. It was worth going to all three talks as each had different conversations and different feels.

We decided that we wouldn't be able to get to the Edinburg talk (if you did make it please consider writing us a review) and we won't be able to make it to Norwich at the end of November (again if you get a chance please write us a review).

What all three talks had in common is the celebration of the biography. It really is a great book and should be read. Rob only wants you to read it if you want to. The publishers want everyone to read it. But please if you purchase a copy do read it. It is a book to be read.


5. DiscTrivia

This month Jason has written five more random trivia questions. I think these might be a little easier than normal. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Q1. What is it called when Granny Weatherwax piggybacks another creature's mind?
Q2 What level wizard was Galder Weatherwax?
Q3. What is the process of determining the type or nature of a spell called?
Q4. Which spell did The Lecturer in Recent Runes suggest to sober up Bilious?
Q5. What is the name of the magic sword that Rincewind borrows for a while?

The answers can be found at the end of this issue.


6. 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 Belated Birthday Greetings to our October Birthday readers including Our editor Jason (and his daughter Isobel) , Malcom Minchin, Jes Hynes, Completely Batty, Pauline Pixie, Estelle Botham, Nathalie Eeckhout, Dan Young, Amy Atha-Nicholls, John Hicks, Revelle Gerson, our eldest son Jack Anthony James, Barbara Felton, Pete Haddock (AMCW) , Len Brook, Douglas Carr, Libby Irvine, Lottie Holland, Nathalie De Schampheleer, Amanda Pitchford, Simon Rowlinson, Peter Morwood, Sara Long, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Emma Willis, Justin Dorey, Pete Belson, Rob Lupine, Becky Ottery, David Moger, Helen Woodall.

Belated November Greetings (to those that have already had November birthdays) to: Chris Gibbs, Jem John Miller, Don "Cohen" Bridges, Lisa Riz Risley, Elizaberh Angua Macmichael, Lizzie Glaiser, Michaela Lilla Bos, Pete Smith, Sarah Spall, Lyn Moger Happy November Greetings to: Steve Durbin, Danielle Clarke, Tiger Mac Mathuna, Joe Angel, Karen Carr, Ruechenda Herd, Charlie Mitchell, Tim Van Holder, Barbara Durbin, Martin Macey and Toni Tallon.


7. 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. Your letters may appear in any sequence we deem fit or funny.

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 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.

* * * * *

* From: "Casey Leonard" caleonard@gmail.com

I'm writing to say how much this community and newsletter mean to me. Discworld has been a part of my life for 20 years. I love reading each issue and the upcoming artwork featured in this article is amazing. Like everyone else riding on the Disc, I continue to grieve the loss of Terry but feel that he's still here because of this great community.

Best wishes and happy trails,

Jason replies: The community is something quite special. It's like a big extended family. Some parts of it don't talk to others because of something that someone said to someone else's sister's cousin's friend fifteen years ago. But as a cohort it's a nice place to hangout.

* * * * *

* From: "Roger the Saurus" roger2014@btinternet.com

Thank you for recommending the edition of The Amazing Maurice illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson. I ordered it immediately and think she has caught the essence of Maurice, an alley cat who got lucky, much better than the fat, benign cartoon version.

Keep up the good work!

Jason replies: Rachel is a huge fan of Laura Ellen Anderson and not just her Terry covers. We have many of the Amelia Fang books in our collection.

Rachel replies: Laura Ellen Anderson also illustrated the Tiffany Aching series of books, Nation and Dodger. Do buy them. They certainly add something to the stories.

* * * * *

* From: "Mary Ashbee-Dobbins" mashbeedobbins@gmail.com

Just got around to reading this latest newsletter and thank you so much for another wonderful edition.

I discovered the Discworld books in 1996 and, years and years later after attending many Clarecraft events (oh how I loved those!) and seeing Paul Darrow as Vimes in Swansea (Guards! Guards!), my love of Pratchett has never waned. If I have a regret, it's that I never made it to a convention when PTerry (I was on afp too!) was alive. Saw him many times at book signings and at Clarecraft events and it's a testament to his work that the books still speak as loudly now as they did the first time I read them. And a secondary regret - that when I went to Uni it was around the time AFP moved from Usenet to Google, so I lost access until after he had passed (I didn't realise where it had gone!).

Didn't have much to say really other than thank you for helping me hold on to the light that is the Discworld with every issue. Those books and that part of my life - looking forward to the next book, feeling spoiled if there were two per year, interacting with PTerry on AFP - are truly happy memories.

Thank you again for keeping the magic alive.

Jason replies: Thank you for still sticking with us after all this time. I remember the Clarecraft events fondly.

* * * * *

* From: "Susan Alexander" susanalexandercarves@comcast.net

Thank you. I so enjoy every issue you publish, especially enjoy your sly humor!!

Living just outside Chicago, I'm assuming I won't be able to attend any of the meet/greets noted below, but I'm ordering Rob Wilkin's book as soon as I hit the SEND arrow.

I have all of Pratchett's books (whether written by him, or about him), in one form or another, from one continent or another, (looks like a circus of books on my shelves) as well as his very old CD audio books. Makes me feel closer to him cause I just know he'd like it.

I saw one Youtuber who has viewers send in pics of their book shelves. Would love to see everyone else's STP's shelves. If you go that route, let me know and I'd love to be first in line. His audiobooks got me through long, difficult years as my husband fought prostate cancer, and eventually succumbed to it. Pratchett wrote on so many level! With my first listens, I only heard the comedy which helped so much. Later listens allowed me to see the depth and different levels of his mastery. I guess we are given what we need at the time we need it. Again, thank you for your publications. Good health and blessings to you.

GNU Terry Pratchett

Jason replies: Thank you and we are sorry for your loss. We are really glad that Terry was able to help you in your most desperate of times.

* * * * *

* From: "Chris Poulton" chris@thecmp.net

I attended Rob Wilkins' talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival today (16th October) and was delighted to not only hear from him, but to meet you both in the book-signing queue.

I am as old as the Discworld, having been born the year of The Colour of Magic, and have grown up devouring Terry's books as quickly as he could write them. It was wonderful to attend this talk from Rob and hear of how he lived and worked alongside Terry. We learned something of Terry's final days, of how it affected those around him, and of the moment that Rob and Rhianna had to tell the world that Death had come calling.

I was fortunate to have a couple of my questions asked of Rob, from which we learnt that of all the places in the Discworld, he would choose to visit Lord Vetinari's office and spend time with Leonard of Quirm, a character somewhat based on his own father. Of all the Discworld characters, Rob had no hesitation to say that he feels most affinity with Moist von Lipwig and spent time in Terry's office creating the clacks out of matchboxes. From other audience questions, we heard: that Terry loved all animals, especially the wild ones, but cats most of all; that Rob was frequently "fired-and-re-hired" by Terry for arguing over a choice of words or over what is and isn't possible in the Discworld; that his favourite book to write was Unseen Academicals, because neither he nor Terry had the first clue about football; and in writing A Life with Footnotes, Rob learned a great deal about Terry's early life that he'd never heard before.

It's now time for me to pick up the book and read it for myself so that I can hear Terry's words once more and gain a new insight into the wonderful man that was Sir Terry Pratchett.

Jason replies: It was great meeting you too. I really enjoyed the talks. It's nice for Rob to get a voice.

* * * * *

* From: "David" dmaxwell@as.net

After trying to get a copy of Terry's Biography from Amazon (and it never showing up so I cancelled the order), I finally got a copy of it.

Started reading it last night for about an hour before going to bed. So far it is great! Am looking forward to finishing the rest of it this coming weekend.

Jason replies: It really is a great book. I like that it shows more of Terry the man rather than Terry Pratchett. It isn't afraid to show that Terry was a real human being with a strong desire to give a voice to those that couldn't speak for themselves.


8. Productions

We know it's been a while but we've started to see productions pop back up on the schedule (It's a slow process - but it's a sign that productions are coming back).

8.1 Current and Upcoming Productions

For more details of these current and upcoming productions visit: Pratchett Stage Productions

8.2 New and Updated Productions

These productions are new this month or have been updated. For our full list visit: Pratchett Stage Productions

* * * * *

[New: Australia] Brisbane Arts Theatre presents Night Watch as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Tce, Petrie Terrace, 4000
Dates: 11th, 12th, 13th, 18th, 19th, 25th, 26th November 2022
Times: 8pm (Friday and Saturday) 6:30pm (Sunday 13th)
Tickets: 29 AUD
Box office: https://www.artstheatre.com.au/productions/night-watch/


9. Review: Discworld Convention 2022

Review by Jason Anthony-Rowlands

The International Discworld Convention took place over the weekend of 19th - 22nd August 2022 at the Birmingham Metropole Hotel. The last time the convention was at this hotel was ten years ago in 2012. It was an interesting choice of hotel given how upset people were with it the last time. (I actually don't mind it as a hotel).

The 2022 Convention should have been the 2020 Convention but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. At the time it was promised by the Concom that it would give them an extra two years to make it the best Convention ever. Did they succeed? Read to the end to find out.

I've been going to Discworld Conventions since 1998 and have always found the communications with the committee to be very good. But something seemed to shift with this current iteration of the committee - important emails were taking longer and longer to be responded to and then when / if responses were issued they seemed rushed and missing important bits of information (was this a sign to worry about?)

Rachel and I had agreed to run three events at the Convention - a talk about 25 years of Discworld Monthly, a Llamedos Holiday Camp on Tour event and the charity auction.

Coming up to the event there was some confusion about what day some of our events would take place but it was eventually sorted and the Discworld Monthly Talk and Llamedos would take place on the Saturday with the Auction taking place on the Sunday.

The event started properly with the opening ceremony. A very clever sketch written and performed by Elaine Mein reminded us that if we had any problems to go to ops. (Anyone who has been to a UK convention will know this mantra). After the sketch the then current chair came on stage and said a few words of introduction, it was a very strange opening ceremony in which she basically said I'm not doing this anymore after this weekend and if you would like to take over talk to the con com. And then suddenly the opening ceremony was over. It wasn't the shortest I'd been to but looking at the people around me it was clear that people felt something was missing.

This was a Discworld Convention and in the opening ceremony Terry wasn't mentioned once, and that upset people.

After we were ushered out of the main hall we retreated to the bar as nothing else was due on the schedule until bedtime stories. This was on the schedule as a Marc Burrows event (Marc wrote the unofficial biography of Terry Pratchett a couple of years ago). Marc had secretly asked Rob Wilkins (Terry's PA and Business Manager) to join him on stage but this had for some reason been kept quiet. It was clear from talking to people in the bar that the bedtime stories event was not going to be well attended. We knew Rob was planning to be there so we tried to make sure people were going to go. When we got a message from Rob to say he was in the building we rushed around the bar area and spread the word. In the end there was a large queue waiting to go into the hall and the event was well attended. Marc and Rob's talk was a lot of fun and very informative.

There were some interesting issues with the timetable; there appeared to be large areas of no events and then several at the same time. My talk about Discworld Monthly was on at the same time as Stephen Briggs' talk on adapting Discworld for the stage. I was happy to have many people come to my talk and I hope that I managed to entertain them. I am sure they were happy with the pin badges that we gave away.

After a short break we were running Llamedos Holiday Camp on Tour (sadly the tech requirements got lost in the ether somewhere but we were finally set up with a microphone and was able to make do). We ran tasters of several of the events we run at Llamedos and introduced the audience to some of our particular madness. I think the audience enjoyed the goodie bags (while they lasted) and the chocolates. It proved to be a popular event and we had to turn some people away as we ran out of space in the room.

The auction was very popular and we had about 100 auction lots. The bidding was frantic and a lot of fun and in the end we were able to collect over 14,000 GBP (some people rounded up their purchase amounts). We did end up running over a little but Ben Aaronovitch who was on after us was quite happy as he had a coffee and a seat!

Our duties were now done. We only went to one other event over the weekend which was a talk about what went wrong with the Watch TV series. It was well populated and for the most part people were civil. (The Watch TV series tends to be an emotive subject).

We ended up spending a lot of time in the bar which meant we got to speak to lots of people. One of the common topics of conversations was how the event felt a little flat. Some blamed the pandemic but others felt that things were missing.

The closing ceremony again featured a skit by Elaine Mein, based on a Monty Python sketch. It was very funny and well received - especially given how quickly it was put together. After the skit, a few prizes were given out from events that took place over the weekend, people were thanked and the new Chair was announced.

Once again mention of Terry was absent. The concom have since apologised for not thanking Terry.

As this was the first International Convention back after the pandemic people's expectations were high and sadly the event felt a little flat. I suspect that for people new to conventions it was great. Personally I thought it was great to spend time with people in the bar, but it just wasn't a patch on Conventions from the past.

The new Convention committee has promised a rebuild from scratch for the next Convention and have promised to address the many concerns that have been brought to their attention.

Watch this space for updates.


10. The End

This month's issue is brought to you by Furries, roller coasters (we found a rare one in Southampton and rode it) and an Isle of Cats

The deadline for submissions to issue 294 of Discworld Monthly is 17th November 2022 - short date this month as we need to get a HUGE Maurice issue out asap.


10.1 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


10.2 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 address: Discworld Monthly, 20 Cambrian Place, Pontarddulais, Swansea, SA4 8RG, United Kingdom


10.3 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: Terry Pratchett Biography


10.4 DiscTrivia Answers

Q1. What is it called when Granny Weatherwax piggybacks another creature's mind?
A1. Borrowing.

Q2. What level wizard was Galder Weatherwax?
A2. Eighth (The Light Fantastic).

Q3. What is the process of determining the type or nature of a spell called?
A3. Reverse thaumaturgy.

Q4. Which spell did The Lecturer in Recent Runes suggest to sober up Bilious?
A4. Spold's Unstirring Divisor (Hogfather).

Q5. What is the name of the magic sword that Rincewind borrows for a while?
A5. Kring (The Colour of Magic).


10.5 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. discworldmonthly.co.uk

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10.6 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.


10.7 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


10.8 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.

See you soon!

GNU Terry Pratchett...


Table of Contents:

1. Editorial
2. News
2.1 Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins - on Tour .. well sort of! Another date for your diary!
2.2 Abominable SnowBaby News
2.3 Discworld Convention News - Worldwide
3. Book and Merchandise News
3.1 The Ultimate Discworld Companion - The Dunmanifestin Edition (Hardback)
3.2 Discworld Calendar 2023
3.3 Book Releases
4. Rob Wilkins on Tour
4.1 St. James's Church, London - Piccadilly.
4.2 Town Hall, Cheltenham Literary Festival
4.3 Waterstones, Bristol
4.4 Conclusion
5. DiscTrivia
6. Birthdays
7. Readers' Letters
8. Productions
8.1 Current and Upcoming Productions
8.2 New and Updated Productions
9. Review: Discworld Convention 2022
10. The End
10.1 Supporting Discworld Monthly
10.2 Contact Information
10.3 Latest Book Information
10.4 DiscTrivia Answers
10.5 Subscription Information
10.6 Small Print
10.7 Thanks
10.8 The Final Word
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