Terry Pratchett News Update for October 28, 2007

More coverage is available of Terry Pratchett’s appearance at the National Book Festival, here on the National Book Festival website. (See the October 19 edition for special coverage of Pratchett’s speech.) Pratchett spent two entire hours signing books, but made a great speech as well, as the Library of Congress Gazette says:

If Terry Pratchett ever hangs up his novelist gig, he might have a career as a
standup comedian. The award-winning British writer kept his Fiction &
Fantasy audience in stitches with his wicked wit … As his 30-minute presentation
showed, Pratchett’s humor extends well beyond the printed page. He told of
winning the Carnegie Medal for children’s literature in 2002. “I like working on
the children’s books,” he said. “Adult books give you money; children’s books
give you prestige.”

Terry Pratchett News Update for October 27, 2007

The National Book Festival website, as part of their podcast series, have interviewed Terry Pratchett. The interviewer asked about everything from his early reading habits to “the genesis of Discworld,” to which Pratchett replied “because I take the fantasy seriously, by some strange alchemy, it then becomes funny.” To quote the podcast description:

Science fiction and fantasy author Terry Pratchett talks about his best-selling
books and how he made “Death” one of his most popular characters.

The podcast is about half an hour long and was released September 13.

Terry Pratchett News Update for September 19, 2007

Terry Pratchett’s daughter, Rhianna Pratchett, has recently given an interview in which she talks about her work in scripting video games. She mentions Terry Pratchett’s effect on her as a writer and how her interest in computer games began. To quote Rhianna Pratchett:

My dad was very techy and into computers, electronics, robots and that kind of thing. He'd bring something that clicked and whirred home and I was an only child so, of course, I was fascinated with whatever my dad was doing. Games were only really becoming commercial then and maybe he thought it was quite cute to get his six year old daughter playing a game where she would run around with a sword killing giant bugs. I asked him about Mazogs the other day and he said that he remembers me being rather frightened of the bug creatures, at first. Although once I found I could kill them, I was much happier!

I got hooked from that and I would get all his hand-me-down machines. We would play lots of games together, mainly isometric adventure games. Or rather, he would play them and I would sit beside him drawing all the maps for him.

Terry Pratchett’s input into the old Discworld games is mentioned, too, as well as his personal gaming preferences:

My dad is a big gamer himself, but he doesn't have very much interest in point-and-click adventure games, like the Discworld titles. He had input into them, of course, and played and enjoyed them when they came out, but he much prefers first person shooters and stealth games. He was very into Half Life 2, Farcry and the Thief games. He also loves Oblivion and I just got him the expansion pack for his birthday.
...

We kind of keep our writing separate really. We occasionally talk about writing in general, the things he's doing and the things I'm doing. Having someone there that's writing so much and so often is both a blessing and a curse, really.

Here's to hoping the writing continues!

Terry Pratchett News Update for August 22, 2007

Some of you may remember the e-petition to knight Terry Pratchett from a few months ago. The promised response from the government has been posted:

Thank you for taking the trouble to sign this e-petition.

The Prime Minister recognises the achievements of Terry Pratchet [sic] and the widespread regard in which he is held. But it is of course the case that only about 60 Knighthoods are granted each year and there are many deserving candidates for each honour.

However, the government can assure you that your support for this suggestion will be taken fully into account.

The petition garnered a total of 2,143 signatures before the deadline on June 11, 2007.

Terry Pratchett News Update for August 18, 2007

The Terry Pratchett’s Making Money signing tour has been announced by his American publisher, Harper Collins. The full tour, to include stops in California, Oregon, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and New York state, is posted here:

Monday, September 24, 2007
07:00 PM
BORDERS #86
3700 Torrance Blvd Torrance, CA 90503

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
07:30 PM
KEPLER’S BOOKS
STE 200 1010 El Camino Menlo Park, CA 94025

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
07:00 PM
POWELL’S BOOKSTORE
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd Beaverton, OR 97005

Thursday, September 27, 2007
07:30 PM
TATTERED COVER BOOK STORE
1628 16th St. Denver, CO 80202

Sunday, September 30, 2007
01:00 PM
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK COMPANY
975 Paoli Pike West Chester, PA 19380

Monday, October 01, 2007
07:00 PM
BARNES & NOBLE/Union Square
33 E 17th ST New York, NY 10003.

Please note that Terry Pratchett will also be appearing at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C. on September 29, 2007.

Terry Pratchett News Update for August 15, 2007

The Cheltenham Literature Festival will include an hour-long session with Terry Pratchett on the 6^th of October. The event, to take place at Everyman Theatre, will be “a celebration of nearly 25 years of magical fantasy as he reveals the secret of his success,” according to the website, here. Use the website to reserve your seat if you are interested.

Terry Pratchett News Update for August 14, 2007

Colin Smythe, Terry Pratchett’s agent, posted more casting information for the Color of Magic TV adaptation this August on his site. Several actors are returning from Hogfather, including Nigel Planer (previously Mr. Sideney) as the Arch-Astronomer, Marnix Van Den Broeke again as Death (the guy in the costume), Nicholas Tennant (previously Nobby Nobbs) as the pre-orangutan Librarian, and of course Terry Pratchett, again in a cameo. New cast members include David Bradley (Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies) as Cohen, Laura Haddock as Bethan, and Liz May Brice as Herrena.