Terry Pratchett News Update for June 30, 2007

The press release of the 7th United States National Book Festival, to be held September 29 in Washington D.C., includes Terry Pratchett in its list of participating authors under the “Fiction and Fantasy” category. The free, open-to-the-public festival, organized by the Library of Congress and hosted by Laura Bush, is a “celebration of the joy of reading and the creativity of America’s writers and illustrators,” in the words of Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Terry Pratchett is among about 70 well-known writers and illustrators who will be participating, including Mercer Mayer, Rosemary Wells, Gail Carson Levine, Gene Luen Yang, Joyce Carol Oates, and Lalita Tademy. Participating writers will give presentations, sign books, read excerpts, and answer questions from audience members.

Terry Pratchett News Update for June 29, 2007

Ian Stewart, co-author of the Science of Discworld books, has given the Guardian Unlimited an interesting insight into being a popular science writer. He says:

“If it so happens that on page 175 there is some statement which technically is actually incorrect,” he continues, “or it’s incorrect because it’s been simplified - and there’s a fine line between simplifying things and oversimplifying things - I honestly don’t mind that much, because I don’t think that has a big effect on getting the main message over.” Readers can always look it up on the internet or ask an expert. “When you unwrap some casual sentence in a popular science book you find hidden depths, which range from ‘everybody says this but it’s not true’ to ‘this is incredibly controversial and nobody knows what’s going on’.”

Additionally, Stewart lauds Terry Pratchett’s storytelling influence on his own writing. To quote the article:

His prose is gradually becoming more relaxed, with a chattier, dressed-down tone and wry asides, a development he puts down to his collaborations with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen on a series of books about science in Discworld.

“I learnt a lot of this from Terry Pratchett,” he says. Pratchett is a mine of information about how to tell stories, and in working with him you pick this stuff up. “If you get it wrong he will tell you,” Stewart laughs. “It changes your view of what you’re trying to do and how you’re trying to do it.” When starting a book he used to ask “What’s the interesting stuff I ought to be covering?”, now his question is “What’s the story?” The story comes first, and the mathematics is chosen to fit.

Ian Stewart has collaborated with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen on the Science of Discworld books (the most recent of which is the Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch).

Terry Pratchett News Update for June 28, 2007

While Terry Pratchett has confirmed that one more Discworld TV dramatization is in the works, a Daily Mail article mentions that David Jason has “an existing commitment to appear in two more bigbudget Terry Pratchett dramatisations” (emphasis added). However exciting this news may be, readers should remember that the Daily Mail is a tabloid, and therefore can’t be wholly trusted.
Terry Pratchett has confirmed that he is now working on a TV script that combines stories from The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic.

Terry Pratchett News Update for June 26, 2007

As we reported earlier, the winners of the 2007 Locus Awards were announced June 16, in Seattle. Locus magazine readers, we’re proud to say, voted Wintersmith (third in the Tiffany Aching series) the best Young Adult Book. This is Terry Pratchett’s third award in the same category, as both of Wintersmith’s prequels received the same honor. Pratchett beat out two other well-known children’s fantasy authors, Garth Nix and Ursula K. Le Guin for the award.

Terry Pratchett News Update for June 15, 2007

On the UK Government’s official e-petition site, the petition to award Terry Pratchett knighthood (for services to literature) has garnered 1, 361 signatures since we first told you about the petition. Today, at a total of 2, 142 signatures, we’re optimistic that Terry Pratchett will be awarded knighthood. Although it is too late to add your support, you can see the list of other signers here.

On another note, in a couple of days we will find out how Wintersmith (third in the Tiffany Aching series, by Terry Pratchett) fared in the 2007 Locus Awards, at the awards ceremony (to be held June 16 in Seattle). Readers should be reminded that the award was a voters’ choice award, though voting is closed and the winners in each category are already determined, though unannounced. The possible winners in the Young Adult Book category (for which Wintersmith is competing) include Sir Thursday (Garth Nix) and Voices (Ursula K. Le Guin).

Terry Pratchett News Update for June 14, 2007

Continuing it’s broadcasting of Terry Pratchett, BBC7 is now playing a dramatization of Only You Can Save Mankind, a Johnny Maxwell novel. The three half-hour episodes play 6:00 p.m. GMT (Monday through Wednesday) and 12:00 a.m. GMT (Tuesday through Thursday). Use BBC7’s Listen again feature if you miss the broadcast.

Terry Pratchett News Update for June 12, 2007

The British Fantasy Society has announced the nominees for its British Fantasy Awards 2007, and among the nominees are the Ankh-Morpork Post Office Handbook Discworld Diary 2007 (Pratchett, Briggs, Kidby) and Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather: The Illustrated Screenplay (Pratchett, Jean), both in the Best Non Fiction Category.

The awards are given to voters’ choice literature and artists first published in 2006. To vote, however, one must be a member of the British Fantasy Society, and voting concludes August 1.