Nation

Retro News: Pratchett interview, in which he actually talks about things other than Alzheimer’s (29 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (19:57) Comment!

Deborah Orr at the Independent.co.uk interviewed Terry Pratchett late in November, and in doing so provides some insight into Terry Pratchett’s writing process.

The article gets the requisite Alzheimer’s questions done early. Terry Pratchett summed up the effect of his very public diagnosis:
(more…)

Retro News: Pratchett interview (08 November 2008)

28 December 2008 (18:07) Comment!

In a Daily Mail interview titled I’m not beaten yet: Terry Prachett on the frustration and fury of Alzheimer’s, Terry Pratchett shared with the interviewer some more about his attitude towards the “embuggerance” of Alzheimer’s. To quote the article:

Although he calls it a ‘wretched disease’, since disclosing that he has it, he has retained his dark sense of comedy. He began an address to his latest convention of fans by cracking a joke. ‘I said, “Hello my name is…” Then I retrieved a crumpled piece of paper from my pocket and read out my name,’ he recalls.

The audience laughed because Terry, afflicted by an illness that steals both memory and identity, was permitting them to do so.

(more…)

Limited edition of Nation, exclusively from Waterstones

23 December 2008 (21:56) Comment!

A limited edition of Nation is available for pre-order at Waterstones. The book jacket features stars, constellations, and a telescope.

There are be 5,000 numbered copies of the limited edition book, with the ISBN 978-0-385-61636-2. The book, which costs £16.99, is available for pre-order (with a discount) at the Waterstone’s website.

The limited edition book has the same number of pages–432–as the regular edition book, possibly implying that the content of both is the same.

Retro News: Pratchett signing at the smallest bookshop in the U.K. (13 Sept. 2008)

14 December 2008 (17:10) Comment!

As part of the book launch for Terry Pratchett’s latest book, Nation, Pratchett signed books at a bookstore chosen for it’s diminutive size (it has only three square meters of floor space).

HaylingToday.co.uk reports that hundreds lined up for the signing, one of very few public appearances Pratchett is making in the U.K. this year. A live parrot helped set the theme based on the book.

Retro News: Pratchett on Washington Post chat (01 Oct. 2008)

13 December 2008 (17:30) Comment!

Terry Pratchett chatted with Washington Post readers on Wednesday, Oct. 1st on Book World Live for a discussion about his most recent children’s book, Nation. To quote the full transcript:

Terry Pratchett: Hello, it’s Terry Pratchett, here to talk about my book Nation, and anything else. Except cookery, or mathematics. I’d like to start by thanking the Washington Post for the wonderful review in Book World. It’s nice when people spot the little twiddly bits. I was pleased to see that. The reviews have been very encouraging around the globe.

Houston, TX : How did you get the idea for Nation?

Terry Pratchett: I wish I knew, because if I did I would go back to the same place with a bucket. The initial idea and the image of Mau standing on the beach defying his gods came to me instantly, late in 2003, and it hung around for a long time…. what I originally had in mind was something like the explosion of Krakatoa, and the shipwreck of the Sweet Judy is very loosely based on a real event that happened after the volcano exploded.

Woodbridge, Va.: The Washington Post review of your book says that it deals with “fundamental questions about religious belief.” Are you a man of faith?

Terry Pratchett: Certainly I have no faith in Jehovah, although I think it quite likely that Jesus Christ, as a preacher and a wise man, did indeed exist. I think possibly the ending of Nation pretty much outlines what I think. Indeed, the whole of Nation outlines what I think, which is that if you do your best for your fellow man, then the issue of the gods is somewhat superfluous.

Falls Church, Va: … I have two questions: What is your favorite Discworld Book? More importantly, how young an adult is your “Young Adult Novel” appropriate for? My 12 year old son is a decent reader for a 7th grader. Do you think the book would be appropriate for him?

Terry Pratchett: I would say that I have done my best writing in the Tiffany Aching series, which are technically Discworld books, although they are meant for children.

Among the adult books, Nightwatch [sic] must be my favourite.

The question of age and suitability is a hot one here in the UK, where authors are banding together to stop publishers’ age-banding children’s/YA books. That is to say, they want to include advice like “suitable for a child of 7 1/2″ on the cover of the book. The reason this is a very hit-and-miss message is that it all depends on the child. I think I had read all the James Bond books that were available by the time I was 12, and you have to remember that a book like Pilgrim’s Progress was once considered a perfect Sunday afternoon for children of 7 or so. If a kid is bright and questioning, and really interested in the world, they will find a lot for them in Nation. Equally, I imagine there’s one or 2 adults that won’t get it!

Gaithersburg, MD: How are you feeling?

Terry Pratchett: I’m feeling good.

I think I feel a question that no one is quite asking here.

Yes, I have PCA, which is a rare variant of Alzheimer’s. Right now, its main effect on me is to mess up my typing skills, and also to make my spelling inaccurate — I mean to the point where I might actually fail to remember how to spell a simple 5-letter word just as I am about to type it. these [sic] things are a nuisance, and certainly slow down my work rate. But to some extent, technology can help. There is no cure. PCA is a strange thing, and no one is taking any guesses about how long I shall be able to keep working like this. My personal view is that the sheer grind of writing will get me down long before there’s still plenty of room for me to enjoy things in life. Oddly enough, the ability to plot and invent dialogue and characters seems to be totally untouched. It is worth pointing out that Nation, in its entirety, was written by a guy with PCA. I did not know that I had it until the late fall of last year, but throughout that year I had been putting down the problems of typing, etc. to other things, senior moments and just general aging. To put it bluntly, you would have to know me very well, and possibly even be familiar with PCA, to suspect that I was anything other than an average 60-year old guy.

Wallace, N.C: You once wrote a short story about a female King Arthur (Queen Ursula) and Mervin (a geeky Merlin). Have you ever thought about returning to that particular story and finding out how the Table is different? (Speaking as a huge female fan of Arthurian legend, I have always wondered what would happen after Ursula pulled the sword out of the stone! She was a very impressive character.)

Terry Pratchett: Thank you! I was very pleased with that short story and had planned, which circumstances are likely to derail, to extend it into a novel. Since Merlin was a time traveller, I did wonder if we would end up with something like an Elizabethan age several centuries ahead of its time. There are so many ways it could have gone. Nevertheless, it was quite good fun doing it as a straight short story, just to introduce the idea.

Washington, D.C.: You hail from the nation that built a global colonial empire, but also wrote the Magna Carta and fought both Napoleon and Hitler. One theme that seems to run through many of your novels is the conception that good is relative but evil is the absolute inability to care about other living things, be they golems, people, or cats. Are there any specific religious beliefs, philosophical texts, or life events that shaped this conviction?

Terry Pratchett: See my earlier answer about being a reader. It was SF and fantasy that got me reading, and SF writers in particular have pack rat minds. They introduce all sorts of interesting themes and ideas into their books, and so for me it was a short leap to go from the F and SF genres to folklore, mythology, ancient history and philosophy. I did not read philosophy because I set out to become a philosopher; I read it because it looked interesting. All I am really promoting in the books is the Golden Rule, which I hope everybody knows to be “do as you would be done by.” It has one or 2 flaws, but it is a good soundbite. Evil starts when you treat other people as things. There are perhaps worse crimes, but they begin when you treat other people as things.

Manchester, UK: When I had the pleasure of meeting you at the DWCON in Birmingham this year, you said you were a little unsure of the book on the whole - you weren’t sure whether to tweak it somewhat, etc, and what the reaction from your fans was going to be with it being so completely unlike anything you’ve done before. After Nation was released and became a top seller (again!) and the reviews have been wonderful - Do you feel any differently towards it now?

Terry Pratchett: … Somebody once said that books are not finished, they just escape. I probably spent five months doing the final rewrites and edits of Nation. It was so long because I tend to be very “big brush” on the early drafts. I look at it now and see places where I could have improved it, but in reality, I would probably have had to put in 100% more work for 1% improvement.

Philadelphia, Pa.: Do you have a writing process? About how long do you think about your storyline before you put it down on paper? How much of writing is rewriting?

Terry Pratchett: Good one. Nation was written in a very strange way. I was doing draft 5 of the first few chapters when I was on draft 1 of the ending. In a sense, it was written in a way more suitable to painting; in effect I was working on the whole thing all the time.

Generally I start writing when I have even the smallest idea of how a book is going to go, because the physical process of writing itself keeps the mind active and focused on the job at hand. Usually I write in about 5 drafts, but that simply means there are 5 definite times when I go in a linear fashion from the beginning to the end of the book.

Terry Pratchett also talked about his Alzheimer’s and a book he is currently working on, which he says is set on the Discworld and follows an almost completely new suite of characters.

Terry Pratchett on Second Life (Updated: transcript)

9 October 2008 (14:40) Comment!

Terry Pratchett answered questions on Second Life in a live chat starting at 3:00 EST today in a promotional event for the release of Nation. Terry Pratchett (second life name TerryPratchett Morpork) introduced himself, after much digital applause, with “Hello everybody! Sorry, I’m new at all of this kind of stuff and so can anyone tell me how to get the rocket launcher?” to much lol-ing.

After some initial banter with the fans (”As far as I am concerned, my books are Second Life.”), the questions and answers started. (The banter never really stopped.) Some highlights:

[12:03] Matty567 Dallagio: Why was “Nation” not set on Discworld?
[12:04] TerryPratchett Morpork: Good question; for one thing, the fact of it being on Discworld would change all kind of things that I could do. After all, Nation is hardly full of laughs. Setting Nation on a thinly disguised “alternate” world does, I think, give it more power and urgency.

[12:05] Matty567 Dallagio: Why a slightly alternate Earth instead of the real one?
[12:07] TerryPratchett Morpork: Because the real one has already happened. I wanted this world, but with a few interesting alterations. One details I’m sure you will have noticed is that Carl Sagan is still alive in that alternate earth.

Full transcript:

[11:59] Robby Pomeray: .-’`'-. APPLAUSE APPLAUSE .-’`'-.
[11:59] Kelli May: *applause*
[11:59] IYan Writer: ***** APPPPPPPLLLLAAAUUUSSSSEEEEEEE***********
[11:59] Carl Blue: YAY
[11:59] Dedric Mauriac: YaY!
[11:59] Salaamata Afarensis: applause!!!!!!!!
[11:59] iAlja Writer applauds!
[11:59] Rain Runningbear: hurrah
[11:59] Matty567 Dallagio: applause
[11:59] Riss Altman: appluses
[11:59] Morrigan Vendetta: hooooo
[11:59] Mocksoup Graves: YAY!
[11:59] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Loud cheers
[11:59] Jo Sapeur claps
[11:59] Ron Khondji: clap clapclap clap
[11:59] Dedric Mauriac: lol
[11:59] Riss Altman: woohoo!
[11:59] Murdock Pennell: clap calp
[11:59] Vernes Veranes: Yaj Terry :D
[11:59] Tioh Fluffy: SQUEAK!
[11:59] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: clap clap

[11:59] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: made it
[11:59] Charis Parx: welcome!
[11:59] Tatsuki Kurosawa: Gday Mate!
[11:59] Brett Usbourne: Isn’t this romantic?
[11:59] You: clap
[11:59] iAlja Writer: lol
[12:00] Nick Gloucester: first question please
[12:00] Nick Gloucester: Vernes you had some good ones
[12:00] Vernes Veranes: jay! :D
[12:00] TerryPratchett Morpork: Hello everybody! Sorry, I’m new at all of this kind of stuff and so can anyone tell me how to get the rocket launcher?
[12:00] Roxette Wise: lol
[12:00] Mocksoup Graves: lol
[12:00] Dedric Mauriac: lol
[12:00] Robby Pomeray: lol…
[12:01] Samantha Poindexter giggles.
[12:01] IYan Writer: I think it’s “5″ ;)

[12:01] Kelli May grins
[12:01] IYan Writer: (plasma on 6 ;) )
[12:01] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: i love the fact we’re all papping Terry and taking pictures as in RL!!
[12:01] Jo Sapeur: sure, I have a few to spare! ^.^
[12:01] SignpostMarv Martin: lol, Terry’s first pulbic appearence in Second Life and he asks for a rocket launcher X-D
[12:01] Vernes Veranes: Must be odd, virtual Q&A
[12:01] TerryPratchett Morpork: …and I’m not really into all of this YourTube into MyFace kind of stuff!
[12:01] Vernes Veranes: But we’re all real behind our pc’s
[12:01] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I missed the rocket launcher :(
[12:01] Michaelx Beerbaum: Question is if Second life will appear in one of the books
[12:02] Robby Pomeray: i bet, he’ll have a zillion in a minute ;-)
[12:02] Vernes Veranes: I though roundworld was secondlife? :P
[12:02] TerryPratchett Morpork: As far as I am concerned, my books are Second Life.
[12:02] Brett Usbourne: Hi Nick - yep, Gav is here! - so is Zeb
[12:02] Vernes Veranes: yeah
[12:03] Matty567 Dallagio: Why was “Nation” not set on Discworld?
[12:03] TerryPratchett Morpork: Okay, I know that you have to get the shotgun first, but sometimes you get lucky.
[12:03] Multi Gadget v1.55.2 by Timeless Prototype
[12:03] Mocksoup Graves: lol
[12:03] Mocksoup Graves: closest thing I have to a rocket in my inventory… now if you had asked for a nice pair of stillettos…
[12:04] Charis Parx: I have an extra black hat
[12:04] Samantha Poindexter: Indeed. SL tends toward Make Clothes, Not War. :-)
[12:04] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: i have ice skates :(
[12:04] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: and a snowball fight thingy he he
[12:04] Dedric Mauriac: Should we be giving our questions to someone else to hold in a queue?
[12:04] TerryPratchett Morpork: Good question; for one thing, the fact of it being on Discworld would change all kind of things that I could do. After all, Nation is hardly full of laughs. Setting Nation on a thinly disguised “alternate” world does, I think, give it more power and urgency.
[12:05] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: should we IM them to Terry?
[12:05] Michaelx Beerbaum: Most books are so realistic, I guess the banking disaster might be a nice topic
[12:05] Sweetie Saunders: wasnt there a notice from nick in the group as to how to do questions?
[12:05] Matty567 Dallagio: Why a slightly alternate Earth instead of the real one?
[12:06] Carl Blue: IM HERE TO LISTEN TO TERRY NOT EVERYONE ELSES COMMENTS
[12:06] Nick Gloucester: can you im your quiestions to TYerry direct
[12:06] Roxette Wise: We would like to hear the questions too
[12:06] Robby Pomeray: yep
[12:07] Nick Gloucester: yes we will copy them back before answering
[12:07] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: why dont we all IM them to one person then one person asks the questions on our behalf? That would work and that way we would see the questions that terry is answering
[12:07] TerryPratchett Morpork: Because the real one has already happened. I wanted this world, but with a few interesting alterations. One details I’m sure you will have noticed is that Carl Sagan is still alive in that alternate earth.
[12:08] Sweetie Saunders: nods.
[12:08] Nick Gloucester: ok immortality you are nominated
[12:08] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: okay dont mind
[12:09] Nick Gloucester: thanks thats great Imotality….
[12:09] Nick Gloucester: first question please
[12:09] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: okay first question: What was the inspiration behind the book?

[12:11] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Q: Hi Terry, how does it feel to be in a virtual world were everything is possible and wierd is excepted as normal
[12:11] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: hmm thats two questions there and there are a lot more. I shall wait for answers on those two first!
[12:11] Vernes Veranes: Let’s hear his answer first, yes
[12:12] TerryPratchett Morpork: I came up with the idea in 2003 and it was not long before I was going to do a talk and signing in Folyes in London. I was so excited that I told Sarah Lefanu and I’m glad that I did because she is one person who can vouch that I came up with the idea before the big Asian Tsunami.
[12:12] Sweetie Saunders: lol
[12:12] FromRimToHub Morpork: That tsunami is such a copycat
[12:13] April Kohl: haha
[12:13] Sweetie Saunders: bit like making money and the northern rock crisis :)
[12:13] TerryPratchett Morpork: I think I’ve lived in one of those for the past 60 years :o)
[12:13] Kelli May: hehe
[12:14] Charis Parx: yes, it’s weird to be normal these days
[12:14] TerryPratchett Morpork: Another question, please.
[12:14] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Question: Hi Terry, how does it feel to be in a virtual world were everything is possible and wierd is excepted as normal from Carl
[12:14] Charis Parx: ithink he just answered that
[12:14] Sibella Starbrook: When is the next discworld book ?
[12:14] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Have you any thoughts on how your characters (from Nation, Discworld, Carpet People ) SignpostMarvMarvinmight react if they found themselves in Second Life ?
[12:14] TerryPratchett Morpork: I have just answered that one…
[12:15] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: sorry just trying to track them up argggghhh
[12:15] Angel Slocombe shouts: Please submit your questions to ImmortalitySou Ballinger in IM
[12:15] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Any plans to do another non-Discworld book soon? from Charis Parx
[12:16] TerryPratchett Morpork: I think Sam Vimes would be very annoyed, whereas the witches would just deal with it. I have to say that I quite like the idea of Second Life, because it is a totally human activity. Monkeys wouldn’t be able to join.
[12:16] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Q: Q: What are you views on people in second life creating people, places, and things from your books and either giving or selling them to other players. from Dedric Mauiac
[12:16] Jo Sapeur disagrees!
[12:16] SignpostMarv Martin: I think the Librarian might object to that comment :-P
[12:16] IYan Writer: Oook.
[12:17] Jo Sapeur: SL is ape-friendly
[12:17] Matty567 Dallagio: The Librarian Isn’t a Monkey!
[12:17] Tenebrous Pau notes that the librarian is not a monkey ;)
[12:17] Dedric Mauriac: SL is L-Space
[12:17] TerryPratchett Morpork: I did not know about Nation until the idea hit me. I had no advance warning and that is how it happens. Sometimes an idea comes out of nowhere and grabs you by the throat.
[12:17] Sweetie Saunders: M word! ook
[12:17] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: First of all: THANK YOU FOR COMING TO SL! ^.^ (yay!) - Q: I noticed that religion was a major topic in “Nation”, how did the response from readers look so far? from Jo Sapeur
[12:17] SignpostMarv Martin: though one wonders if the Librarian would find SL as easy to navigate as L-Space…
[12:19] Dedric Mauriac: If the librarian is dislexic, it wouldn’t be a problem SL/LS Space-L
[12:19] TerryPratchett Morpork: It would be interesting to see what the law could do about Second Life! Regrettably for you, copyright and trademarks exist everywhere, but in reality I see this sought of thing as fan activity.
[12:19] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Do you think Moist Von Lipwig would have managed the banking system better than those currently in charge? from Ciaran Laval
[12:20] Meester Freese: Such a good idea to publish a non-Discworld book in the 25th year of Discworld.
[12:21] TerryPratchett Morpork: Religion; fantasy writers like religion. It’s so interesting to play with and it is a great forum for asking questions.
[12:21] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Terry we know you are a fan of computer games like Alien vs Predator, what do you make of Second life which doesn’t appear to have a plot or goal? from Trago Mills
[12:22] Sweetie Saunders: waves to Trago!
[12:22] Vernes Veranes: /nod
[12:22] TerryPratchett Morpork: It seems that, primitive as it is, the Discworld economy is considerably more stable than the one here. And, come to think about it, Moist’s solution to the problem was not a long way from what has been done over here…
[12:23] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Question for Pterry: “You haven’t written a non-Discworld book for a while. What kinds of mental adjustments did you have to make as you wrote it?” Question from
[12:24] You: that’s from www.FromRimToHub.com (me, if you couldn’t tell)
[12:24] Angel Slocombe shouts: For new arrivals - Please submit your questions to ImmortalitySou Ballinger in IM
[12:24] Sweetie Saunders: Elizabeth?
[12:24] TerryPratchett Morpork: Oblivion is my current computer game of choice, specifically because we (me and Rob) discovered modding, and I get a thrill from the thought that thousands of people write some wonderful mods and distribute them at no cost.
[12:25] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: What are you views on people in second life creating people, places, and things from your books and either giving or selling them to other players. from Dedric sorry folks I have just realised how to do this easliy so give me a chance to catch up o your questions :(
[12:25] Dedric Mauriac: I think he already answered :)

[12:25] TerryPratchett Morpork: I answered that one as well…
[12:25] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: DeutroJesaja Gothly: I read Carpe Jugulum when I was studying to become a missionary and reverend. How did you get the Quite Rev. Oats so right?
[12:25] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: April Kohl: If you haven’t already got too many questions, could I ask: “Was there any novel you found particularly difficult to write?”
[12:25] Meester Freese: Yay, Rob!
[12:25] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: sorry :(
[12:26] Vernes Veranes: It’s ok, don’t panic
[12:26] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: just as it was going so well he he
[12:26] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: its my first time at this be gentle with me
[12:27] TerryPratchett Morpork: Probably it was Nation. Probably because I wrote the first draft in six months and then spent the next six months wrestling it into the right shape.
[12:27] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: okay did you answer both questions there was one after another
[12:28] Dedric Mauriac: It’s best if it is in the shape of a book
[12:28] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: on that occassion?
[12:28] Tenebrous Pau: that helps dedric :)
[12:28] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: heres the next one
[12:28] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Kelli May: I hope this isn’t too morbid, but a lot of the characters in Nation question why fate or the gods have inflicted various trials on them. Is this a question that’s on your mind these days?
[12:28] Free Radar HUD v1.1 by Crystal Gadgets
[12:28] TerryPratchett Morpork: For obvious reasons, mostly because I am the poster boy for the battle against Alzheimer’s, there have been quite a number of days when I have been unable to write a word.
[12:28] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Vernes Veranes: What was the inspiration behind the book?
[12:29] Sweetie Saunders: ty for what you do.
[12:29] Sweetie Saunders: poor terry.
[12:29] Jo Sapeur: ty Terry
[12:29] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Jo Sapeur: How long does it usually take you to write a book?
[12:29] Ladyjane Plympton: oops sorry
[12:29] IYan Writer: :( best wishes in your battle from all of us, I’m sure
[12:30] TerryPratchett Morpork: Err, no. I don’t believe in Gods.
[12:30] Carl Blue: not even small ones?
[12:30] Vernes Veranes: :)
[12:30] Gellan Glenelg: but do they believe in you?
[12:30] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: have you answered Jo’s question terry?
[12:30] Vernes Veranes: If they read books they do :P
[12:30] Jo Sapeur: … I think a better question would be: Do you believe in humans?
[12:31] Dedric Mauriac: not even small gods
[12:31] Harmony Linden wonders if Terry believes in potatoes?
[12:31] Tenebrous Pau: lol harmony
[12:31] Sweetie Saunders: ofc :)
[12:31] TerryPratchett Morpork: For Unseen Academicals I won’t even hazard a guess. But for the last several years I have only done one book a year because of all the other distractions placed on an author’s life. Put it another way: Don’t ask a man to reply to every email AND do a full thousand words a day :-)
[12:31] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Carl Blue: Which of your characters do you feel is most like you?
[12:32] Vernes Veranes: ooh, good one
[12:32] TerryPratchett Morpork: Yes, I actually have a small potato in my coat pocket. In time of hunger a potato is more likely to be more useful than prayer.
[12:32] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: someone somewhere owes me a cup of cofee
[12:32] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Salaamata Afarensis: my wife Ab (sadly at work) asks: it seems from reading the early Discworld novels that you grew to respect characters like Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes the more time you spent with them. These two characters, in particular, have come to represent standards of ethical behavior. Do you find that your relationship with the characters in the books has changed over time?
[12:33] Sweetie Saunders: nice question!
[12:33] TerryPratchett Morpork: There is probably a bit of me in all the major characters. I would like to be like Sam Vimes, but deep in my heart I know I am Rincewind.
[12:33] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: thanks Harmony
[12:33] Samantha Poindexter: Hee.
[12:33] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Ciaran Laval: Would you like to see more of your books repoduced on film in the fashion they haven been by SKY?
[12:33] Tenebrous Pau is totally Rincewind lol
[12:33] Harmony Linden: Closest I can come to coffee, Immortality. :)
[12:34] Dedric Mauriac: we all have a bit of rincewind in us
[12:34] Vernes Veranes: let’s let him answer a few questions first.
[12:35] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: :)
[12:35] Jo Sapeur: stupid question: has anyone told Terry how to open the chat history?
[12:35] SignpostMarv Martin is keeping track of the answers to questions on http://www.flickr.com/groups/terry-pratchett-in-sl/discuss/72157607890478353/
[12:35] Jo Sapeur: (CTRL + H)
[12:36] TerryPratchett Morpork: That is a good question. It seems to me that if you get a character just right, they start doing the work for you. It is as if they become a subroutine in your own brain and you are right when you point out the similarity between Granny and Vimes; you might notice that both of them seem at every stage to be fighting some internal demon.
[12:36] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Vernes Veranes: Has your experience with discworld influenced the nation book (and how)?
[12:36] Jo Sapeur: heh, I didn’t want to ask about that ^.^
[12:37] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Ineed more questions….
[12:37] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: have one more lined up
[12:37] Angel Slocombe shouts: Please submit your questions to ImmortalitySou Ballinger in IM
[12:38] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: perhaps I shouldnt have said anything he he
[12:38] Angel Slocombe hears all LOL
[12:38] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: okay okay I am stacked again hang fire now until I get through this lot
[12:38] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: thank you for your patience :)
[12:38] TerryPratchett Morpork: Yes, but I don’t have any particular hopes for Hollywood. Besides, I like the British stuff, even though the budget is much lower than it might be in the States, I can get involved at just about every stage in the production. To an author, that is worth a great deal.
[12:38] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: DeutroJesaja Gothly: I know you don’t belive in gods, but do you mind if books or quotes from your books is used in Christan teaching for young people?
[12:39] Sweetie Saunders: hanging around set makes your feet hurt though!
[12:39] Jo Sapeur: don’t let Hollywood botch your stories, Terry :)
[12:39] Robby Pomeray: George Clooney would give a great Vimes;-)
[12:40] Jo Sapeur: I’m gso lad that you don’t let them butcher the Discworld so far
[12:40] TerryPratchett Morpork: Not at all. I have no problem with the existence of Jesus Christ, who I think was very probably a wise man and a compassionate teacher. It’s just that I don’t believe in the same god that he believed in :-)[12:40] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Vernes Veranes: Where in Second Life can I buy a complete SL-version of the book? Is Second Life even concidered a Niche market?
[12:40] DeutroJesaja Gothly: ty.
[12:41] SignpostMarv Martin would prefer Pete Postlethwaite for Sam Vimes
[12:41] Samantha Poindexter imagines trying to read a novel on an HUD and shudders.
[12:41] TerryPratchett Morpork: As an aside, myself and Rob would like to wish Lisa and Jason ‘Discworld Anthony’ our very best wishes on the birth of their baby Isobel.
[12:41] Charis Parx: Oh wow!
[12:41] Charis Parx: Congrats to them!
[12:41] IYan Writer: congrats!
[12:42] Jo Sapeur: …that won’t work, Verne - all content in SL is technically owned by Linden Lab
[12:42] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Congrats
[12:42] Sweetie Saunders: wtg Jason and Lisa
[12:42] Salaamata Afarensis: congrats!
[12:42] Angel Slocombe: Not true Jo. Linden Lab respect IP rights.

[12:42] Samantha Poindexter: Is NOT, Jo. Leaving intellectual property in the hands of its creators is one reason SL’s taken off.
[12:42] Dedric Mauriac: The IP of that content though is owned by the authors
[12:42] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: has Vernes qwuestion been answered?
[12:42] Vernes Veranes: Jo: actually, they stated that the creator has copyright of its own creation
[12:42] IYan Writer: (not so Jo, creators retain IP - some books have already been published in SL, too)
[12:42] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: sorry about typos typing too fast!
[12:42] TerryPratchett Morpork: All I can tell you is that my publishers are watching this event. They are probably disguised as palm trees.
[12:42] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: he he
[12:42] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Carl Blue: Whats you fave book, not your own?
[12:43] Salaamata Afarensis: lol
[12:43] Robby Pomeray: lol…
[12:43] Sweetie Saunders: what is Colin disguised as?
[12:43] Harmony Linden always was suspicious of those Linden trees.
[12:43] Dedric Mauriac: Let’s carve some canoes!
[12:44] TerryPratchett Morpork: Colin would be disguised as a bottle of wine.
[12:44] Sweetie Saunders: lol
[12:44] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: guys dont ask any more questions until I ask you am conscious of time
[12:44] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: What kinds of mental adjustments did you have to make as you wrote it?” Question from www.FromRimToHub.com.
[12:44] Elizabeth Burleigh: a nice cabernet, maybe?
[12:44] Sweetie Saunders: two bottles of excellent red!!
[12:44] Sweetie Saunders: i believe i can hear terry laughing?
[12:44] Charis Parx: and Rob is hiding in the mic
[12:45] Dedric Mauriac: oh, i want a gesture with terry laughing
[12:45] TerryPratchett Morpork: Actually, maybe a Pina Colada. With an umbrella.
[12:45] Gail Linden: hehe
[12:45] Sweetie Saunders: lol
[12:45] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Willi Reino: when you read for relaxation, who are your favourite authors?
[12:45] Charis Parx: what a picture that is
[12:45] Sweetie Saunders: Bit blue oyster club?
[12:46] TerryPratchett Morpork: I have a whole library shelf of favourite books. However, I still think that one of the funniest and best works of fiction was the “Evolution Man” by Roy Lewis. My favourite bedtime reading at the moment is “Feeding Nelson’s Navy” by Janet MacDonald. Believe me, it’s considerably more thrilling than the title might suggest.
[12:46] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Charis Parx: If you had a day with no demands on you at all, what would you do with it, BESIDES writing. :)
[12:47] Dedric Mauriac: no writing? that sounds like a demand
[12:48] Sweetie Saunders: sounds like a punishment.
[12:48] TerryPratchett Morpork: What do you mean, besides writing?
[12:48] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Wai Kamachi: Do you plot your novels?
[12:48] Samantha Poindexter grins.
[12:48] Charis Parx: Hah. I was trying for the answer I couldn’t predict
[12:48] Charis Parx: I failed!
[12:48] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I’m guessing that was the answer ….!
[12:48] Sweetie Saunders: smiles at Charis.
[12:49] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Samantha Poindexter: Any chance we’ll ever see Esk of Equal Rites again?
[12:49] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: whoops sorry pressed say!
[12:49] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Oh, I do hope so
[12:51] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: dont worry will repeat question after terry answers wais first
[12:52] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Nick I hope Terry can stay a bit longer as answering questions in text takes longer than voice and I have a number still lined up
[12:53] Sweetie Saunders: Sandra may kill Rob though!! :)
[12:53] Dedric Mauriac: maybe he crashed
[12:53] TerryPratchett Morpork: Believe it or not, I seldom read a novel these days. Nearly all the books in the 3ft pile beside my bed are social histories or the biographies of intereting, if not important, people. I’m also a sucker for the kind of books with titles such as “Picky – The History of 500 Years of Snot in Britian”.
[12:53] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Samantha Poindexter: Any chance we’ll ever see Esk of Equal Rites again?
[12:53] Mocksoup Graves: lol
[12:53] Samantha Poindexter laughs.
[12:53] Vernes Veranes: wow
[12:53] Malburns Writer: lol
[12:54] Sweetie Saunders: lol
[12:54] Dedric Mauriac: is that a real book?
[12:54] Jo Sapeur: … someone wrote _that_ book?? O.O
[12:54] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: i must look that book up my last one was pies and prejudice!
[12:54] TerryPratchett Morpork: Pies and Prejudice - I like that :o)
[12:55] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: by stuart marconi!
[12:55] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: very good
[12:55] TerryPratchett Morpork: I think that if the last Tiffany Aching book, which will be called “I shall Wear Midnight”, gets finished it will probably re-introduce Esk.
[12:55] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: DeutroJesaja Gothly: Howcome everybody knows a Granny and a Nanny?
[12:55] Vernes Veranes: yes!
[12:56] Samantha Poindexter: YAY!
[12:56] Salaamata Afarensis: omg! yay! Tiffany!!
[12:57] TerryPratchett Morpork: Because they are a widespread social sterotype and I am an observant author.
[12:57] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Dedric Mauriac: What fan art has impressed you the most?
[12:58] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: even my greek cypriot granny was a weatherwax down to the nose!
[12:58] Vernes Veranes: Can’t possibly seen it all :P
[12:58] TerryPratchett Morpork: Sorry. I really can’t remember.
[12:58] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: April Kohl: Many writers and publishers in modern magazines talk about how much more difficult it is to get a first novel sold now than it was even ten years ago. Do you think you had it easier than the new kids on the block?
[12:58] Rain Runningbear: deutro is marrying a Nanny act alike :)
[12:59] Harmony Linden: Argh, gotta go back to work. This has been fabulous! Thanks, Terry and the folks who put this together!
[12:59] Salaamata Afarensis: lol Rain
[12:59] Sweetie Saunders: see you harmony!
[12:59] Jo Sapeur: byebye Harmony
[12:59] Vernes Veranes waves
[12:59] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: bye say hello to Glenn
[12:59] Angel Slocombe: LOl Harmony you’re a Linden you’re AT work hehe *waves*
[12:59] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: and babbage et al
[12:59] Gail Linden: bye
[13:00] Nick Gloucester: bye
[13:01] TerryPratchett Morpork: I don’t think it was all that easier when I started, but the parameters have changed. If you can go on a comedy show and are on the telly long enough, and sometimes not for all that long, getting a novel published appears to be very easy and sometime you don’t even need to write it.
[13:01] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: SignpostMarv Martin: Would Terry consider a Discworld-based MMO, perhaps using something like OpenSim as the underlying tech ?
[13:01] Sweetie Saunders: two words naomi campbell lol
[13:01] SignpostMarv Martin pokes Immortality to paste the first part of that question as well plz
[13:01] Dedric Mauriac: John Stewart?
[13:02] Vernes Veranes: first part sounds cool anyway
[13:02] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: oh gosh sorry
[13:02] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: SignpostMarv Martin: for Terry: There haven’t been any full-length official Discworld games since Discworld Noir in 1999- now that Discworld films are being made, are there any plans for new games to be made ?
[2008/10/09 12:42] SignpostMarv Martin: ^as an addition,
[2008/10/09 12:43] SignpostMarv Martin: Would Terry consider a Discworld-based MMO, perhaps using something like OpenSim as the underlying tech ?
[13:02] TerryPratchett Morpork: What is an MMO? What is OpenSim? Can we accept for a moment that I’m not that engrossed by online activities?
[13:02] SignpostMarv Martin: lol
[13:02] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: sorry
[13:02] Mocksoup Graves: hahhah
[13:03] SignpostMarv Martin: Massively Multiplayer Online game
[13:03] SignpostMarv Martin: lots of Discworld fans running around the back of the disk of a virtual Great A’Tuin
[13:03] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Carl Blue: Will you be coming to live with us here in SL?
[13:03] TerryPratchett Morpork: Then no.
[13:03] Vernes Veranes: Aww chucks
[13:03] SignpostMarv Martin: OpenSim: open source Second Life server
[13:03] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Jo Sapeur: Is there a chance that you will return to SL for another Q&A session? I have several friends who are mourning because they couldn’t come after the the sim was full.
[13:04] Dedric Mauriac: man, i would love to play around an an ankh morpork, or grab a hotdog from CMOT Dibbler
[13:04] Vernes Veranes: We have a sim of Morpork now, but that’s not what you mean I think
[13:04] DeutroJesaja Gothly: A warm canine?
[13:04] Charis Parx: Dedric - that might be the last thing you ever do, though!
[13:04] Samantha Poindexter: I think he means a sausage inna bun. :-)
[13:04] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Sound very CMOT
[13:05] Sweetie Saunders: another visit would be really great!
[13:05] Sibella Starbrook: rat on a stick
[13:05] Sweetie Saunders: someone already built the Cloning Artificer shop
[13:05] Salaamata Afarensis: there is “Rat Onna Stick” in sl :D
[13:05] Sweetie Saunders: it had Bernard smoke rings coming out the chimney
[13:06] TerryPratchett Morpork: Early in 2003 we had approaches from about 5 or 6 games developers. I told them all to go away and knock up something that would show me that they had a grip on what Discworld would be about, and none of them came back. I’m not unhappy about that. Certainly I would require a new Discworld game to be as immersive as Thief II and with the sound and graphics suitable for the times.
[13:06] Malburns Writer: wonders how many discworld inspired avatars there are? esp after graphic novel version
[13:06] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Dedric Mauriac: Have you ever drempt that you were in one of your novels?
[13:07] Vernes Veranes: I like that answer :)
[13:07] Salaamata Afarensis: nice question!
[13:07] Sweetie Saunders: hear hear!
[13:07] SignpostMarv Martin: ooh. that’s a good answer. Especially taking into account that Terry is a fan of Oblivion, I think we can rest assured if there’s a new game, it would be really good :-)
[13:08] Vernes Veranes: indeed!
[13:08] Rain Runningbear: indeed
[13:08] SignpostMarv Martin: ^better wait for the possibility of a good game than have a rushed tie-in with one of the Sky films
[13:08] TerryPratchett Morpork: I think you’re going to have to improve the graphics considerably before I come back to Second Life. The graphics in Oblivion allow you to see the graphics in the bottom of a pond and I think that came out in 2002.
[13:08] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: i havnt seen the films :(
[13:08] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Mocksoup Graves: [12:48] Siyu Suen: Both you and Neil Gaiman’s visions of Death are pretty similar in some ways. They’re very human and more friendly than the typical grim reaper image. I know you two have worked together, did you guys talk about Death at all in morbid moments?
[12:49] Mocksoup Graves: Question from Siyu for Terry
[13:08] Adri Saarinen: For fans, by fans is the way to go for games, but it does sometimes proculde the great graphic quality
[13:09] Tenebrous Pau: hehe… Good Omens movie PLEASE thanks… lol :)
[13:09] Sweetie Saunders: there was a great panel in Noreascon with Terry and Neil
[13:09] Sweetie Saunders: about Death
[13:09] Lasynda Shichiroji: Are there any plans to do another book with Mr. Gaiman? I absolutely *love* Good Omens
[13:09] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I feel I know so little :(
[13:09] Lasynda Shichiroji: oooo a Good Omens Movie that would be really cool :)
[13:10] TerryPratchett Morpork: No, but I have often dreamt of scenes, usually just before I wake up.
[13:10] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Sibella Starbrook: the people on nation are asking if there is a chnace terry can pop pver there at the end ?
[13:10] Jo Sapeur: I hope Gail can relay that message to the other Lindens ;)
[13:11] Samantha Poindexter: Well, if you crank up the graphics settings here, things can be better, but, yeah, a platform in which all content is user-created and streamed on the fly is inherently more limited than one with a more constrained library you can install up front…
[13:11] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: as every Terry is just as popular in SL as in RL
[13:11] TerryPratchett Morpork: desire. The same could be said about Mort.
[13:11] Dedric Mauriac wonders how long it will be before he sees avatars looking like Terry Pratchett
[13:11] Sweetie Saunders: and we truly appreciate just how available you make yourself to your mad fans Terry ty
[13:11] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Do you think virtual environments will play a large role for the marketing of books (of fiction)?
[13:12] Carl Blue: You cant fall in love in a game.
[13:12] Sweetie Saunders: the answers are quite delayed.
[13:12] Sweetie Saunders: but you can fall in love in SL
[13:12] SignpostMarv Martin: coughSLisnotagamecough
[13:12] Samantha Poindexter: …you can’t?
[13:12] April Kohl: Carl: Tell that to the people who got married in WoW
[13:12] Willi Reino: so where *can* you fall in love???
[13:12] Sweetie Saunders: i know… looks at wedding ring.
[13:13] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: sorry has Terry answered last question?
[13:13] Vernes Veranes: No
[13:13] SignpostMarv Martin: I have no idea which question Terry’s last message was in response to
[13:13] Charis Parx: the dream one
[13:14] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I forgot to say who asked it. Sorry to whoever it was :(
[13:14] TerryPratchett Morpork: Good Omens movie? Regrettably people with enough money do not share your
[13:14] Sweetie Saunders: cant we all send terry gilliam some cash?
[13:14] Tenebrous Pau: if only that’d do it :)
[13:14] SignpostMarv Martin: Charis: this one: “[13:11] TerryPratchett Morpork: desire. The same could be said about Mort.”
[13:14] TerryPratchett Morpork: desire. The same could be said about Mort.
[13:14] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: okay so shall I go back through the list?
[13:14] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: or plough on with the next one?
[13:14] Tenebrous Pau: ahhh understand now :D
[13:15] Vernes Veranes: My question is still to be answered Sou
[13:15] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I shall go onto next question Terry
[13:15] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: Vernes Veranes: Do you think virtual environments will play a large role for the marketing of books (of fiction)?
[13:15] Elizabeth Burleigh: just wait til I win that lottery jackpot ;)
[13:15] Vernes Veranes smiles
[13:15] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: there you go vernes …!
[13:15] TerryPratchett Morpork: History says that Terry Gilliam is a worrying man to give money to :-)
[13:15] Sweetie Saunders: yeah…
[13:15] Tenebrous Pau: lol yes :)
[13:15] Sweetie Saunders: but we can hope.
[13:15] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Lol!
[13:15] Jo Sapeur: I guess film producers still try to remove Death from the movie scripts for proposed discworld movies
[13:16] DeutroJesaja Gothly: That’s just silly
[13:16] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: hmm where would quentin tarantino be without death and destruction
[13:16] DeutroJesaja Gothly: My kids love Death in Hogfather
[13:16] Lasynda Shichiroji: yeah Death is the coolest character
[13:16] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: probably writing scripts for childrens tv
[13:16] Tenebrous Pau: … sesame street probly
[13:16] Tenebrous Pau: hehe
[13:16] Dedric Mauriac: I like the name of deaths horse
[13:18] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: ive just realised I havent asked a single question :(
[13:18] TerryPratchett Morpork: Folks. We are now overtime on this chat and so I’m off to hang about on Nation island for a bit. Cheerio.
[13:18] Vernes Veranes: ok
[13:18] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Farewell for now….
[13:18] Tenebrous Pau: thanks so much Terry :D
[13:18] Willi Reino: bye terry

[13:18] Murdock Pennell: bye
[13:18] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I have two more questipns lined up :(
[13:18] Vernes Veranes: Bye terry
[13:18] Salaamata Afarensis: Thank you so much!! :DD
[13:18] DeutroJesaja Gothly: Thank you
[13:18] GaiusJulius Drut: Tahnky Terry
[13:18] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: oh well sorry folks
[13:18] Samantha Poindexter: Thanks for coming, and answering, and putting up with us! :-)
[13:18] Willi Reino applauds!
[13:18] Malburns Writer: Many thanks terry
[13:18] Carl Blue: thank yo terry
[13:18] IYan Writer: bye Terry, thanks for being here!
[13:18] Malburns Writer APPLAUDS!!!
[13:18] Elizabeth Burleigh: ta, Terry!
[13:18] Roxette Wise: Thanks Terry
[13:18] April Kohl: Bye, Terry. Thanks for coming and putting up with us
[13:18] Sweetie Saunders: ty so much terry
[13:18] Morrigan Vendetta: byes and thank you
[13:18] Malburns Writer APPLAUDS!!!
[13:18] Robby Pomeray: thank you Terry :-)
[13:18] Charis Parx: Good to see you here!
[13:18] Salaamata Afarensis: apppplausse!!!!!!!
[13:18] Robby Pomeray: .-’`'-. APPLAUSE APPLAUSE .-’`'-.
[13:18] ImmortalitySou Ballinger: I will send them to Nick
[13:18] Roxette Wise: Applauds!!!
[13:18] Jo Sapeur: Take care Terry and thanks for joining us today ^.^
[13:18] iAlja Writer: bye, thank you!
[13:18] April Kohl cheers
[13:18] GaiusJulius Drut claps

More pictures are available at the flickr group.

Another Nation review

29 September 2008 (14:24) Comment!

The favorable reviews of Nation continue, as Michael Dirda writes (slight spoilers at the link) in The Washington Post that “no reader is every likely to forget Terry Pratchett’s Nation“

No reader is ever likely to forget Terry Pratchett’s Nation…. Nation is — as Terry Pratchett tells us in his author’s note — “set in a parallel universe, a phenomenon known only to advanced physicists and anyone who has ever watched any episode of any SF series, anywhere.” It is also what’s called a crossover novel, which means that while Nation may be aimed primarily at bright-eyed young adults– as were Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and the Harry Potter books of J.K. Rowling — many grizzled old adults are likely to enjoy it, too. You don’t even need to know anything about Pratchett’s earlier work: It’s a stand-alone book, with no connection whatsoever to Discworld.

Nation remains at heart a novel of ideas, a ferocious questioning of vested cultural attitudes and beliefs. In form it is a classic “Robinsonade,” that is, a book in which characters are marooned on a desert island and there create a little civilization of their own….

It is a thrilling story.

Nation is out already in the U.K., and can be pre-ordered in the U.S.

Pratchett essay on Nation from HarperCollins

19 September 2008 (21:43) Comment!

HarperCollins had published an essay Terry Pratchett wrote (slight spoilers at link) on his newest non-Discworld book, Nation which comes out September 30 in the U.S. (It is already available in the U.K.) To quote the essay:

I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard on a book…

Nation was born several years ago…. About four months later, when I hadn’t even scheduled the book, Indonesia was struck by the most recent tsunami, and I thought: There will be a time for Nation, but it’s not now. The story still cooked itself through, at the back of my mind, while I waited a few years.

After that disaster, I saw footage of people celebrating because the wave, which had flattened their whole village, had miraculously left their new mosque standing. But that seemed to me to be not much of a miracle—one that flattens flimsy huts and fails to disturb a solid-looking house of worship. Surely the miracle of a caring god would have razed his holy temple but left every little house intact? What had in reality taken place was the opposite of a miracle, wasn’t it? The trouble is, we call these things acts of God….

Is this the right kind of topic for a young adult book? Probably none better, I thought.

And the rest of the book fell into place like a clicking Rubik’s cube.

Pre-order and preview Nation

19 September 2008 (21:33) Comment!

American Pratchett fans can now pre-order the U.S. edition of Terry Pratchett’s newest non-Discworld book, Nation, which goes on sale September 30.

The cover blurb:

The sea has taken everything.

Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle Daphne—a girl from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.

Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne’s sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives—all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. . . .

Internationally revered storyteller Terry Pratchett presents a breathtaking adventure of survival and discovery, and of the courage required to forge new beliefs.

HarperCollins is also offering a sneak peek of Nation.

The U.K. edition of Nation was released September 11.

Nation promotional campaign on Second Life; Pratchett on Second Life Oct. 9

14 September 2008 (22:26) Comment!

HarperCollins launched a month-long promotional campaign for Nation, Terry Pratchett’s newest non-Discworld novel, on Second Life on September 11.

Terry Pratchett will participate in a live question-and-answer session on Second Life October 9.

Second Lifers can get a look at Mau’s island, digitally imagined, on the digitally created world The Nation. The island will include scenes and locations from Nation, as well as opportunities to win Second Life prizes and real-life prizes through a treasture hunt.

Pratchett interview on Nation

14 September 2008 (22:11) Comment!

Publishers Weekly interviewed Terry Pratchett recently (slight spoilers at the link) about Nation, calling it “more somber,” to which Pratchett responds, “It’s important for the hero to have tragic relief, the opposite of light relief. Let’s not forget that at the very beginning, the young hero has to bury everyone he’s known in his life and spends quite a lot of the book teetering on the edge of insanity. The book deals with issues that can’t be handled lightly.”

The interview takes a bit of a detour, of course, into Alzheimer’s.  Pratchett points out that “Alzheimer’s made a mistake, because it hit me with a variant that leaves me still more than capable of thinking and writing and speaking, and a lot of my time now is taken up with publicity for Alzheimer’s funding.”

He also talks a bit about kid’s reading, saying, “when I was a kid I read books well ahead of what my parents thought I read. It’s a wise child that doesn’t always let their parents know what they’re reading. I picked up quite an extensive vocabulary from reading although I must confess that for years I thought the word ‘ogre’ was pronounced ‘ogrey.’ I’d never actually heard it spoken, but I’d read it hundreds of times.”

Most intriguing of all, to those who haven’t yet read Nation Pratchett’s answer to whether or not Nation is “magical”: “That depends.”

Nation came out Sept. 11 in the U.K. and Sept. 30 in the U.S. (it is now available for preorder).

Nation review

14 September 2008 (21:28) Comment!

Amanda Craig of TimesOnline.co.uk reviewed Terry Pratchett’s newest book (slight spoilers at link), Nation, which comes out this month in both the U.K. and the U.S. To quote the review:

It is hard not to see the terrible wave crashing through Mau’s people’s memories as an extended metaphor for the Alzheimer’s that has stricken Pratchett’s ever-fertile mind, and Mau’s struggle to recreate something new out of devastation akin to the author’s grappling with an assault on his creative powers. Yet like all serious writers of fantasy, Pratchett has always been proccupied [sic] with death. It is curious how those who dislike this form of literature believe it to be escapist when in fact it tends towards the opposite, dramatising the sorrow of eternal loss.

Nation, a non-Discworld book, can be ordered on Amazon.co.uk and pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

The Discworld Convention 2008

3 September 2008 (8:29) 3 Comments

Many of you were lucky enough to go to the convention–but many more weren’t so lucky (including the admin of this site, a.k.a. me).  Fortunately for us, demdike from The Cunning Artificer’s forum was nice enough to be our scribe and write a convention report, in which we learn a bit about Nation, slightly more about Going Postal and other future film adaptations, and a lot about our favorite fandom:

The First Day: Friday, August 22, 2008

[The convention] started (officially) with the Opening Ceremony. There were voice-over messages asking for the stage to be cleared of party debris and on came Lu Tze with his broom. After telling everyone to go home–the Con had been and gone, and the disruption in the Number 7 procrastinator was blamed–the Men in Saffron (1 of the 2 was me) were called in to rewind 72 hours.  Cue stone grinding and Tardis noises, the lights went up and Lu Tze and the Men in Saffron had been replaced by Terry.

After briefly touching on his illness (most of which has already been printed online in most places) he spoke about the last year which has propelled him from relative media obscurity to celebrity status.

The evening ended with Terry’s bedtime stories, where the usual nutters turned up in their nightwear clutching their various bed companions (mostly furry).  Terry then read from Nation. I had to leave after an hour and a half so I apparently missed the lighter passages.  Definitely a darker book than any previously written.

The Second Day: Saturday, August 23, 2008

[Saturday] was spent trying to familiarize myself with the Hotel. Although the standard of the rooms was very high, it lacked the atmosphere of previous venues. The rooms were at the end of very long corridors. There was no one place to congregate, [the hotel] having a number of bars and eating places, so I never saw some people I knew were attending, and some I saw briefly in passing and never again.  Although the lectures and workshops were very well attended, quite a lot were scheduled for the same time. In fact the lady running the candle workshop came down the corridor wondering what the queue was for and was quite horrified to find out it was waiting for her. Previously she had had around a dozen people attend and this time it was 60!  She had only brought the materials for 60 candles, so had to turn people away.

The Masquerade I shall have to leave others to describe as I took part and was locked up in the ‘Green room’ with the other participants for all of it, but I can say that during the acts the Ankh-Morpork street refuse collector was called and the anonymous disgusting gnoll that came to clear up was none other than our own Pam Gower, and the fact that she was unrecognised pleased her no end, and of course the costume was all her own work as usual.  In fact, off stage I didn’t recognise her myself until I overheard her speaking.

The Third Day: Sunday, August 24, 2008

I attended the “2008 Is Wallace Year” lecture given by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, which was both entertaining and informative and as usual showed that the Roundworld can be as wierd and wonderful as the Discworld, with many similarities.

Pat had made the great error of describing his audience as sitting ducks–bad move as most of the auction (and every other appearance he made) was punctuated by duck calls.  The Octavo made an extremely impressive centrepiece and I had to leave before it came up, because it never would have fitted in the car.

The evening was rounded off by the Gala Dinner and Dragon racing.  The meal was very enjoyable except for the fact that I went out for a nicotine fix between courses and someone replaced my pudding with 2 grapes on a plate!

Terry gave a speech mentioning that for half the attendees it was their very first convention, which does raise the question of what has happened to half of the regulars?  The last speech was given by Lord Vetinari and his statement of one man one vote and he had it was interrupted by Terry begging to differ. Terry also said that he wasn’t bad–he was just written that way, which amused everyone.

The Dragon racing was enjoyable with a Tote using our free money and despite numerous stewards enquiries, photo finishes and one dragon being lifted and ‘helped’ to the finishing post by Nac Mac Feegles went off very well.

The Fourth Day: Monday, August 25, 2008

[Monday] was spent mostly packing, saying goodbye to friends old and new.  The Mob had brought David Jason’s Rincewind hat (the one that had fallen in the water, so suitably snotted), Kring the magical sword, and the Bafta, which Stephen Briggs managed to photograph it held by many people.

During the Meet the Mob presentation it was mentioned that the order of the next films will be Going Postal, Making Money, then Sourcery.  Unfortunately there may be limited fan involvement as the next two will be filmed in Hungary due to a lack of suitable buildings here and that most of the action is set amongst architecture.

The Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony was the usual mix of sadness and joy.

Joy because the prizes were given out, and we were all able to fit into the room together as at the Opening ceremony, but also sadness as one of the prizes for the Guild member who remained in charactor for the whole convention and who had contributed greatly to their guild and in promoting other peoples enjoyment was given an award named for Ewan the young assassin who captured everyone’s heart at the 2006 convention and who died shortly afterwards.

At the very end when the guests and con committee had left the stage there was the voice overs asking for someone to clear the stage of the mess and on came Lu Tze and despite being told we had only just got there, was adamant that we only got one time turn and this time really had to go home, so we did.

Home again, Wadfest next weekend, then the frantic saving for Hogswatch and Nadcon in Arizona.

Many many thanks to demdike for the report!

Would anyone else like to share their experiences? And for those who couldn’t go, how jealous are you?

The Big God Brouhaha

30 July 2008 (22:45) 1 Comment

As you may or may not know, in the past few months an interview with Terry Pratchett kicked off media speculation that the famously-atheist author had got religion, a misconception he then rebutted in an essay for The Mail On Sunday, which paired the essay with a misleading headline.

Got it? Well, if you didn’t, here’s the story, slowly, with the details:

Brian Appleyard from The Sunday Times interviewed Terry Pratchett in an article titled “Terry Pratchett, Lord of Discworld, fights to save his powers.” It starts out innocuously enough, with light chat about yellow mustaches.

‘Do I,” says Terry Pratchett suddenly, “have a small yellow moustache at the moment?” He does. His wife Lyn has just given him a turmeric drink.

“There is some evidence from America that it has some effect on Alzheimer’s, slows it down, but anyway I like it. She had me on that from the word go.”

The article discusses the effect Alzheimer’s has had on Pratchett’s writing and daily life.

Aricept and/or turmeric seems to be working for him. His condition has improved since December. In the car, he no longer has to keep stabbing away with the seatbelt; he can fasten it in one. Dressing, he’s no longer baffled by his clothes; he just puts them on.

And it mentions the 25th anniversary of the Discworld series this year, as well as the spates Pratchett has had with other popular authors over the years.

… when I bring up Rowling he sits there comically tight-lipped. I get round this by talking about the novelist Margaret Atwood, who displayed similar genre snottiness when she said that Pratchett didn’t write sci-fi but “speculative fiction”.

“Oh good! Right!” he roars, “Well, I’m writing advanced folklore, perhaps – alternative folklore!” He slips into a prissy Atwood persona – “I’m just speculating about the future. It’s got robots in it, but it’s not science fiction.”

Only near the end does the article kick off the controversy, saying “Pratchett may have found God.”

“I’m certainly not a man of faith, but as I was rushing down the stairs one day . . . it was very strange. And I say this reluctantly, because I am trying to deal with this situation in as hardheaded a way as I can. I suddenly knew that everything was okay, that what I was doing was right and I didn’t know why.” …

It was his first such experience. Did it make him rethink his lack of faith?

“Faith in what? If I get pushed in this corner, I believe in the same God that Einstein did. Einstein was a clever bloke . . . And it is just possible that once you have got past all the gods that we have created with big beards and many human traits, just beyond all that on the other side of physics, there just may be the ordered structure from which everything flows.

“That is both a kind of philosophy and totally useless - it doesn’t take you anywhere. But it fills a hole.”

Other news mediums immediately leaped at this “news.” Here’s a sample of what journalists had to say:

[Terry Pratchett] said an unexplained experience had caused him to reconsider his beliefs. (from Telegraph.co.uk)

TERRY PRATCHETT, the fantasy writer suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, has suggested he may have found God after years of atheism. (from TimesOnline.co.uk)

In response to this unwarranted speculation, Pratchett obliged The Mail On Sunday with an essay about his faith, or lack thereof. He made clear that he is still an atheist, saying “There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.” The entire essay is well worth a read (although a very slight spoiler warning is appropriate). Terry Pratchett ends:

It’s that moment, that brief epiphany when the universe opens up and shows us something, and in that instant we get just a sense of an order greater than Heaven and, as yet at least, beyond the grasp of Stephen Hawking. It doesn’t require worship, but, I think, rewards intelligence, observation and enquiring minds.

I don’t think I’ve found God, but I may have seen where gods come from.

New Nation cover art

27 May 2008 (11:12) 2 Comments

A first look at the Nation cover art is now available at HarperCollins.com. The cover features a young boy discovering a shipwreck and the tagline “When much is taken, something is returned.” To quote the synopsis on Amazon.co.uk:

Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He’s also completely alone–or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She’s certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship’s parrot. As it happens, they are not alone for long. Other survivors start to arrive to take refuge on the island they all call the Nation and then raiders accompanied by murderous mutineers from the Sweet Judy. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things–including how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good thing–and start to forge a new Nation. As can be expected from Terry Pratchett, the master story-teller, this new children’s novel is both witty and wise, encompassing themes of death and nationhood, while being extremely funny. Mau’s ancestors have something to teach us all. Mau just wishes they would shut up about it and let him get on with saving everyone’s lives!

Nation is the newest Terry Pratchett book, and is being marketed as a non-Discworld children’s book. It will be released September 30, 2008 in the U.S. and September 11, 2008 in the U.K.

From Terry Pratchett: Alzheimer’s, documentary, book, and film news.

19 April 2008 (14:13) Comment!

Over at the Discworld illustrator’s website, Terry Pratchett has kindly updated his fans with information about everything: the BBC documentary (”broadcast next year”), dealing with Alzheimer’s (”I am now firmly ensconced with a specialist”), Nation (”line-edited”), and the coming TV adaptation of Going Postal. The full text of the letter follows:

My office is now effectively at a standstill. In fact, my office is probably moving slightly backwards. It has not helped that a five story rack of filed mail collapsed under the weight recently, thus shuffling several thousand documents into new and interesting combinations. Right now it is a good day if we can answer just those emails that turn up on that day. Most days are nothing like good days. Can we please say this:

I very much appreciate all the letters, emails and cards that have come in, many of them recounting personal experiences and quite a few passing on “survival kits”. There does seem to be some people out there who have managed at least to slow AD, although I have to say that it does appear by taking various supplements, not by milligram, but by grams :o)

Nation has now been line-edited, and in theory I was going to have a month or so off, although a large part of that will now be spent reassembling what passes as our post room. In reality there are now more calls on my time than there have ever been, to the point where we are simply having to ignore approaches. I think we must have had more than a dozen approaches from documentary companies alone, and I think we shall now just stop sending out the “You are too late, guys” emails (You may see us around and about being followed by Craig and Charlie, who are making a documentary about me for the BBC which will be broadcast next year.) I never intended that I would be some kind of AD spokesman, but the world seems to be deciding otherwise.

On a brighter note, I am now firmly ensconced with a specialist, testing last week showed that nothing much had moved since the end of November, except that in situations where I must parallel process I find that serial processing is about as much as I can achieve :o)

There are a number of things planned for the rest of the year, and they include cracking on with Unseen Academicals and also, with any luck, playing a rather larger role in the making of Going Postal.

Nation: cover art, synopsis, September release date?

13 April 2008 (14:07) Comment!

Terry Pratchett’s newest novel, Nation, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. (There is also a Nation page on the American version of the site, although pre-ordering is not yet available there.) According to Amazon.co.uk, the hardcover is 300 pages long, and the publishing date is approximately September 11, 2008. (The American Amazon states a publishing date of September 9.) Interestingly, the (probably non-Discworld) book is categorized as a children’s book. To quote the synopsis:

Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He’s also completely alone–or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She’s certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship’s parrot. As it happens, they are not alone for long. Other survivors start to arrive to take refuge on the island they all call the Nation and then raiders accompanied by murderous mutineers from the Sweet Judy. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things–including how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good thing–and start to forge a new Nation. As can be expected from Terry Pratchett, the master story-teller, this new children’s novel is both witty and wise, encompassing themes of death and nationhood, while being extremely funny. Mau’s ancestors have something to teach us all. Mau just wishes they would shut up about it and let him get on with saving everyone’s lives!

Here’s to happy reading about Mau, Daphne, and the mutineers in September!

Bath Literature Festival report

26 February 2008 (16:45) Comment!

Terry Pratchett’s appearance at the literature festival in Bath last weekend was attended by fellow Discworld fan Sarah Brett (whose blog can be found here), and she has graciously agreed to let FromRimToHub.com publish a report of the event, which follows.

Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of seeing Terry Pratchett speaking at The Forum in Bath. He was “in conversation” with Sarah LeFanu (Art Director of the Festival) and the subject of the evening was ‘25 years of Discworld’. This was only the second time I had seen him in the flesh, the first being at a book signing at Ottakers in Walsall about 7 years ago. I was surprised, as I was then, at how unassuming a character he is in real-life. Small, balding, with a neatly trimmed beard, and customary black hat, he talks in a slightly high-pitched voice and seemed a little nervous when he first walked on-stage. However, his ready wit immediately came to the fore as he began answering LeFanu’s questions. Their chat meandered through a variety of subjects, beginning with how he first came to the world of Fantasy/SF (via a Saturday job in a library) and moving through subjects such as his fillings, tarletane dresses, his new book ‘Nation’, and ended by touching on his recent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.It was fantastic to hear him speak about so many subjects, both related directly to Discworld and also about his own life, which he is generally pretty reticent about. He talked about his house and how he had his own library built, with shelves high enough to require a ladder, and a magnificent open fireplace with stone lintel, which he regularly bangs his head on and led to him wearing an Edwardian velvet smoking cap when sitting in their of an evening. It’s details such as these which remind me why I identify with Terry so much, he is a lover of reading books as well as writing them. I also dream of being able to afford to have my own library, ideally two-stories with a spiral staircase leading up to a balcony running round the top shelves… Though I don’t know what the Librarian would have to say about having an open fire near all of those books (actually, I do, he’d say Oook!).

Terry also read us an extract from his new book ‘Nation’, due to be released in September. This will be another stand-alone book, without the usual suspects (though I assume Death will make an appearance). It is set on a small Pelargic island, known as ‘Mothering Sunday Island’, which near the start of the book is hit by a massive tsunami, killing all but one of the inhabitants. The boy who is left is shortly joined by another survivor, a girl who has been shipwrecked on the island by the wave. So far that’s all we know, though Terry then proceeded to read the extract, taken from the beginning of the book it described the wrecking of the ship from the captain’s perspective. A religious man, he has lashed himself to the wheel, and proceeds to sing ‘For those in peril on the sea’, adding his own alternative final verse as the ship is swept inland on the crest of the wave. The reading also involved Terry singing the verses as the captain heads toward his doom, which was highly entertaining. It was a tantalising glimpse into the new novel and has certainly whetted my appetite, it sounds like it will include Terry’s usual insightful wit and unusual characters. At the end of the talk Terry signed the paper which held the extract and proceeded to auction it off there and then, with the proceeds dedicated to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. It was finally won by a lady sitting a few rows behind me, with a winning sum of £425!

After the conversation part of the evening then Terry answered questions from the audience, sadly no-one asked any terribly insightful ones but he answered with good humour and told a couple of anecdotes. We learnt of the inspiration for the Luggage, as most people know the inception of this character occurred when Terry saw a rather large American woman struggling with a massive suitcase on wheels, apparently with a life of its own. However he went on to say that the Luggage then started life as a character in his next door neighbour’s sons’ RPG games. It was a walking inventory, which was liable to wander off and turn up later, but without your carefully secured weapons and items of value. He also talked a little about Sam Vimes, possibly his most well-loved character, and drew an interesting parallel between Sam’s discomfort with his elevation to the landed gentry, and how this reflects Terry’s own journey from his working class origins to his current status as one of the wealthiest authors in the world.

After his talk Terry came down to the front of the auditorium to sit and sign books. Unfortunately a result of his illness is that he is no longer able to sign dedications, and indeed he did seem to be tiring as we in the queue were encouraged to be as quick as we could when having our books signed. Fortunately I had done the restrained thing anyway, taking only one book to be signed: ‘Guards Guards’, which was the first Discworld novel I ever read. However, the queue stretched from the front all the way around the stalls and out of the door at the back, so I suspect he was there for quite a while.

It was a highly enjoyable evening all in all, it was the first time I had heard Terry speak at length and he was as brilliant and funny as you would expect him to be. I also very much enjoyed being amongst such a large gathering of Discworld fans. I don’t usually attend fan events, more by accident than design, but in future I may try to get to some. The atmosphere was great, everyone was chatting about things that I usually only hear of through the e-fanzines and websites, and I immediately felt that I was amongst kindred spirits (even if some of them did smell a bit strange).

For any fans who may be reading this Terry also mentioned that ‘Night Watch’ is to be broadcast on Radio 4, beginning on Wednesday 27th February at 11pm. He also confirmed that he has a small cameo in the forthcoming adaptation of The Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic, though he was unable to give us any further detail of the date of its premiere on Sky.