Terry Pratchett News Update for July 16, 2007

The people at Black Phoenix Alchemical Laboratory (“purveyors of fine esoteric goods perfumes and potions”) have released a Good Omens collection of perfumes, “based on the characters, locations, and concepts squished within the pages of Good Omens, an apocalyptic comedy by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.” Such perfumes as “Agnes Nutter” (with gunpowder, charred wood, smoke, and rusty nails) and “Crowley” (musk, patchouli, lilac cologne, lemon rind, and so on) are included in the line.

Also, in case perfume is not in your line, maybe acting is:

The Mob Film Company is looking for costumed Discworld fans to become extras in the coming Discworld TV adaptation, based on the first two novels in the series. In a letter to various Discworld-related sites, the company says:

When we were planning the movie of Hogfather we met a lot of Discworld fans and admired their enthusiasm for costuming. That led to us inviting fans to join the extras in some of the scenes of that movie.

Boy, was that a high speed learning process. We had not realised that the history of fan involvement with movies was so chequered.

Since then we have learned more about fandom. We went along to the Discworld Convention and had a great time. We made certain that fans got more than half the tickets for the Hogfather premiere. And now, with the Colour of Magic / Light Fantastic movie in production we are going to extend the offer of (minor) participation again - and this time you know who we are. Many of you have already met us.

On August 1st and 2nd the magic of the movies will be strained to its utmost to turn part of Guildford into Ankh-Morpork (no jokes, please). We need Ankh-Morpork citizens. We would very much like to have citizens on both days to a maximum of 50 people. Ideally we would like the same faces on both days, because that helps with the continuity of the filming. We can accommodate some one day only visitors, but two days is really what we are looking for.

Regrettably, we don’t need wizards. We have nothing against wizards. We like wizards. However, since the crowd will be demonstrating against the wizards of Unseen University, having wizards taking part in the demonstration as well would be silly. Apart from that, anyone who could be legitimately part of of an Ankh-Morpork crowd would be acceptable. We know there are some wonderful Discworld costumes out there and we can help out somewhat from the wardrobe department on the day, perhaps in order to enforce the fact that Discworld as yet does not have trainers or lurex or much in the way of bright colours. You will find styles from late Tudor to early Victorian to generic Fantasy, but you won’t find much glitter. And remember: most citizens in Ankh-Morpork probably think soap is bad for you.

This is not a way of doing without extras. We will have lots of extras. God help us, we have reason to believe that fans would actually enjoy taking part.

The fine detail: We could accomodate around 50 of you. We will pay you £25 a day towards your expenses, we will feed you, you will get priority tickets to the premiere, a very limited edition cast & crew T-shirt and an Ankh-Morpork Access All Areas laminated pass. We will also give an additional award for the best costume.

To get the ball rolling, e-mail a photo of yourself in costume to

extras@colourofmagicthemovie.com

as soon as possible, remembering to include your name and contact details. We understand that you will have to make plans and so we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Letter courtesy pjsmprints.com.

Terry Pratchett News Update for July 5, 2007

For those that don’t already know, the next Discworld novel is set to release in the U.K. (according to amazon.co.uk) September 24, 2007 and in the U.S. (according to amazon.com) October 1. To quote the synopsis:

It's an offer you can't refuse. Who would not to wish to be the man in charge of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Mint and the bank next door? It's a job for life. But, as former con-man Moist von Lipwig is learning, the life is not necessarily for long. The Chief Cashier is almost certainly a vampire. There's something nameless in the cellar (and the cellar itself is pretty nameless), it turns out that the Royal Mintruns at a loss. A 300 year old wizard is after his girlfriend, he's about to be exposed as a fraud, but the Assassins Guild might get him first. In fact lot of people want him dead Oh. And every day he has to take the Chairman for walkies. Everywhere he looks he's making enemies. What he should be doing is ...Making Money!

Editions in both countries (including the audio versions) are available for pre-order on Amazon.

Terry Pratchett News Update for July 4, 2007

The Walker Art Gallery, as part of its exhibition of Josh Kirby’s artwork, has published a series of webpages detailing Kirby’s career and progression as an artist. Kirby, who did the artwork for the British editions of many Discworld novels before his death in 2001, is iconic for his work as a science fiction and fantasy artist. Though many Discworld fans disagree with his portrayals of Discworld and its characters, it was at Terry Pratchett’s own request that Josh Kirby consistently painted Discworld covers for 26 novels over a period of fifteen years. To quote the article:
Kirby’s highly original, inventive paintings for Terry Pratchett’s novels are synonymous with the author’s work, capturing the frenetic pace of life in the Discworld. Pratchett has said: “I only invented the Discworld. Josh created it.” Reflecting on his enjoyment illustrating them, Kirby described the books as ‘Bruegel in literary form.’
Working so consistently on the Discworld covers helped promote Kirby’s own career, as the article writes:
The association between Kirby’s cover art and a rollicking good read, exemplified by the Discworld books, led to a growing number of commissions from publishers seeking his unique visual ‘brand’ for their own authors. Kirby, in turn, responded to the humour in much of this fantasy literature, since it enabled him to expand his already playful and distinctive approach.
The exhibition (titled Out of this world: the art of Josh Kirby) will run through September 30, 2007 at the Walker Art Gallery, and is free and open to the public. A complete list of special tours and events related can be found here.