Warning: Do not buy Discworld novels from Hill House, Publishers until further notice

Happy Birthday, Terry Pratchett

BBC birthday celebrations for Terry Pratchett

• Book Club: Terry Pratchett talks to James Naughtie about Mort and the Discworld series. Airs May 2 at 6:30 pm. and 12:30 a.m.
• Truckers: The first novel in Terry Pratchett’s trilogy about nomes, read by Philip Pickard. Airs May 5 to May 8 from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Big Toe Books.

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

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.

Terry Pratchett/Alzheimer’s documentary by IWC Media and the BBC

The Illustrated Wee Free Men, coming this October

‘They can tak’ oour lives but they cannae tak’ oour trousers!’ When the Queen of Fairyland steals away Tiffany Aching’s young brother, Tiffany has to do something. Helped by the Nac Mac Feegle–the thievin’, fightin’, stealin’ pictsies known as the Wee Free Men–she steps through into another world…. This is a terrific adventure set on the Discworld, filled with Terry Pratchett’s inimitable wit, style and invention–and this new gift edition includes extra new material to give real added value for fans.

Nation: cover art, synopsis, September release date?

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!

The Folklore Of Discworld, by Jacqueline Simpson and Terry Pratchett

The Folklore Of Discworld, a book we’ve heard Terry Pratchett speak about on his Making Money tours last year, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk. (There is also a Folklore Of Discworld page on the American version of the site, although pre-ordering is not yet available there.) To quote the synopsis:

Most of us grow up having always known to touch wood or cross our fingers, and what happens when a princess kisses a frog or a boy pulls a sword from a stone, yet sadly, some of these things are now beginning to be forgotten. Legends, myths, fairytales: our world is made up of the stories we told ourselves about where we came from and how we got there. It is the same on Discworld, except that beings that on Earth are creatures of the imagination, like vampires, trolls, witches and, possibly, gods, are real, alive and in some cases kicking on the Disc. In “The Folklore of Discworld”, Terry Pratchett teams up with leading British folklorist Jacqueline Simpson to give an irreverent yet illuminating look at the living myths and folklore that are reflected, celebrated and affectionately libelled in the uniquely imaginative universe of Discworld.

TerryPratchett.co.uk on-line

U.K. Discworld publishers Transworld have put up an official Terry Pratchett site at TerryPratchett.co.uk. The full site is still coming soon, but the site already has a “featured books” section, a competition (rules here and registration here), and promises “a great destination site for all fans.” Future updates are expected to include a forum, exclusive news, downloads, and games.

TV Zone magazine features Tim Curry in The Colour Of Magic

TV Zone’s 226th issue features Tim Curry, who acted Trymon in the recent Discworld TV adaptation, The Colour Of Magic. The excerpt available on-line includes Curry marveling at the technology available to the producers of The Colour Of Magic. To quote Tim Curry in the article:

The technology has taken such huge leaps. It’s so interesting that even in television, the director can now say ‘Oh, don’t worry about that, we’ll paint it out’, or, ‘This section is a CGI’. In Legend there was nothing like that. They weren’t even puppets…. I’ve seen images of [the creatures in The Colour Of Magic]. I saw the two dragons today that looked fantastic.”

And then there’s the all-important question (to fans at least): Was he a fan of the Discworld series? But alas:

I wasn’t aware of Terry Pratchett until I was sent this script, although I’m told that he sells very well in America… I hadn’t been aware of him before.

Motion in U.K. Parliament: “Terry Pratchett and Alzheimer’s Research Funding”

The Match It For Pratchett website has received a message from Andrew Scheuber at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust about a motion in Parliament “to increase funding and promote further research” for the disease. The letter reads, in part:

If you’re a UK citizen, please write a letter to your MP urging him or her to sign EDM no. 1337 http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35577&SESSION=891

The House of Commons motion is called TERRY PRATCHETT AND ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH FUNDING and it reads:

That this House applauds Terry Pratchett, who is donating $1 million to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust; notes that there are 700,000 people with dementia in the UK, a number forecast to double within a generation; notes that for every person with Alzheimer’s, £11 is spent each year on UK research compared with £289 for each cancer patient; supports the work of the UK’s leading scientists, who recently met at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust’s Network Conference in Bristol, in researching better treatments and possible cures for dementia; welcomes the campaign by Terry Pratchett and the Alzheimer’s Research Trust to increase funding and promote further research into the diagnosis, treatment and a possible cure for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Your MP’s address is: The House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA.

If you don’t know who your MP is, go to www.theyworkforyou.com and type in your postcode.

Writing a real letter tends to be most effective, but if you’d prefer to do things electronically go to www.writetothem.com

Use your own words; it doesn’t have to be long. Just a message asking the MP to sign EDM 1337 would suffice. If you want ideas on what else you could write, check out http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/info/statistics/ or see what Terry Pratchett has to say about dementia research funding http://www.alzheimers-research.org.uk/news/article.php?type=News&id=205

A few days after sending your letter, if you have a spare few minutes, call the Parliamentary switchboard on 020 7219 3000 and ask for your MP’s office. Check that your letter has been received, ask if the MP will sign EDM 1337, and explain why you’re concerned about the underfunding of dementia research. Please be extremely polite to the researcher or secretary; they are overworked, underpaid and dedicated to helping constitutents.

Match It For Pratchett advertising badges to be removed

Because of concern expressed by Terry Pratchett and his agent, Colin Smythe, the badges for the Match It For Pratchett campaign which use Discworld characters and settings should be removed from blogs. The Match It For Pratchett website has addressed the issue, saying:

They’re lovely badges and they were made for a good cause, but Terry Pratchett has no wish for his Discworld characters to be used for advertising of any kind.

They will be dropped from this website ASAP, of course. The idea of the Match It For Pratchett campaign is to raise money for Alzheimer’s research in honour of Terry, not to create problems for him or to use his intellectual property in ways that he doesn’t want.

Terry Pratchett on J. K. Rowling

Terry Pratchett, as fantasy writer extraordinaire before J. K. Rowling came along and Stole His Thunder, Causing Him To Become Intensely Jealous And Bitter (according to the newspapers, anyway), has been asked once more about his attitude towards J. K. Rowling. Of course, most journalists can’t resist over-dramatizing a story (thus the heading on this article: “Broomsticks at dawn as Pratchett curses JK.” I mean, really.), but here’s the quotage anyway:

At the screening of the TV adaptation of Pratchett’s mass-translated novel The Colour of Magic, I asked if he was a fan of [J. K. Rowling].

“Not particularly,” he said bluntly. “I read the first one [Harry Potter], that was fine, but now I read other things. You don’t have to be a fan, it’s not compulsory.”

The article also mentions Terry Pratchett’s take on the Rowling’s recent lawsuit against RDR Books, who intended to publish a print version of the Harry Potter Lexicon. To quote Terry Pratchett:

In fantasy writing, accusations of copying are very difficult to make. You know who invented wizards? Who invented Goblins? If we were going to start paying royalties for nicking one another’s ideas, we’d have all given our life savings to the Tolkien family a long time ago.

Not particularly surprising, or unreasonable. And very funny. I don’t see any cursing, do you?

Colour Of Magic premiere Q&A transcript

DenOfGeek.com, in addition to the review we told you about earlier, has made available a complete transcript of the Q&A session that followed the screening March 3. Director Vadim Jean, Sir David Jason (Rincewind), Sean Astin (Twoflower), and of course Terry Pratchett participated in the session. Some selections:

Terry Pratchett: … some screens actually glittered at home but now, well, some screens didn’t glitter so much – I’ll put it that way.
Vadim Jean: It’s definitely the projector! In glorious high definition – which you’re all going to go out and buy just to see this, it’s, well, stunning.
Terry Pratchett: Actually, for once, he’s not lying! I’ve seen it on the big TV screens and there was masses of colour.
Vadim Jean:We’re just stretching the technology to the limit, throwing it 150 feet.

————

Sean Astin: Richard, the prop guy who worked it from inside – there actually was someone inside working it – after 45 minutes you’d forget someone was inside there. You’d lift the lid and he’d be just about dead, make-up running, sweating and everything, and they’d like ‘we’re gonna go for another one, jump over the hill again?’ and he’d say ‘no problem! No problem!’

————

David Jason: I think this is accessible to everyone. The Rambo-lovers as well as mums and dads – we’ve got our little ones here and they’ve been loving it, and Sean’s little ones too. I think that given a fair go, and reasonable publicity, that this will attract a lovely family audience, and that’s what we made it for.

Match It For Pratchett: “Not official”

Terry Pratchett issued a statement on The Cunning Artificer’s about the Match It For Pratchett campaign. The campaign is organized by fans to match Pratchett’s recent half-a-million-pound donation to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. To quote Pratchett’s post:

As far as we are concerned this is not official, and if we don’t think its official, it aint. I hate to appear to be in any way negative about what appears to be very good intentions, but I could wish that the gentleman concerned had got in touch with us first before going ahead.

I have to say there are certain things that worry me about this project, not because they are in any way fraudulent, but raising and distributing money for charity can involve rather more problems than seem apparent at the start – especially in the loveable volatile world we know as fandom.

Most of the £13,000 raised since last Thursday has been sent to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust (https://www.committedgiving.uk.net/art/public/donor.aspx?id=cc) directly, which at least has the benefit of being straight forward.

Luggage auction ends at £3,667.42

The charity auction for the one-off replica of the Luggage used in the Colour Of Magic ended on Monday March 24, with a bid of £3,667.42. All £3,667.42 of that goes to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. The Luggage was filled with the complete set of Discworld books, signed by Terry Pratchett, and the new film tie-in edition of The Colour Of Magic, signed by some of the actors in the movie.

Colour Of Magic premiere report; Terry Pratchett, Sean Astin, and David Jason on video

BBC has a video report on the premiere of The Colour Of Magic, which includes interviews with Terry Pratchett, Sean Astin, and David Jason. Terry Pratchett says seeing the film is “like wandering around on the inside of my own head,” while Sean Astin and David Jason bring the on-screen double-act into real life, bantering about David Jason’s daughter’s impressions on the film as well as other things.

The premiere took place March 3, and the Colour Of Magic adaptation aired for the first time last Sunday and Monday in the U.K.

Terry Pratchett on Alzheimer’s: “I’ve never felt more alive.”

In the wake of Terry Pratchett’s 500,000 pound donation to Alzheimer’s research, BBC has posted a video interview with Terry Pratchett. In the fairly long (fifteen minutes long) interview, Terry Pratchett is asked about his life since the diagnosis, what his plans are for writing in the future (”I’ve started the next book.”), his access to medicine, what he feels about Alzheimer’s underfunding compared to cancer, and a whole myriad of other interesting topics.

Also made available by the BBC website: Terry Pratchett’s donation speech, including the preliminary banter about the evolutionary reasons for Alzheimer’s.

Terry Pratchett audio interview on Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke died at age 90 recently, and accordingly, BBC interviewed Terry Pratchett on Clarke’s contribution to the science fiction/fantasy genre. The audio of the interview can be found on the BBC website. In the two-and-a-half minute clip, Terry Pratchett speaks about the effect of Clarke’s Space Odyssey, his astonishingly accurate predictions, and how he “put some science into science fiction.”

The Colour Of Magic finishes airing; early reviews good

As you all know, The Colour Of Magic, the TV adaptation of the first two books in the Discworld series, finished airing for the first time March 24 in the U.K. The reaction fans so far has been excellent, and the early reviews so far have been similarly good. To quote a TimesOnline.co.uk article on The Colour Of Magic:

The two-parter was better than Sky’s previous Discworld adaptation, the story more clearly told (I could understand it) and David Jason happier as the hopeless wizard Rincewind than as Albert in The Hogfather [sic]. It also benefited from an excellent villain in Tim Curry. It looked good, in an over-glossy, Hallmark Productions kind of way …

Another article, from The Scotsman, said, “this was a good-looking production that proper fans probably appreciated.” However, criticisms were also evident in both articles:

Every now and again the budget (tight, it was implied, by the accompanying “Making of” documentary) looked stretched. If it could show characters falling off the edge of the world, make a trunk walk and blow up the Broken Drum Inn, why is it impossible for the skeleton Death to open its mouth when it speaks?

And:

The opening instalment, based on Pratchett’s first and possibly worst Discworld book, was far too long, dragging out its attempts at satire with leaden direction and script.

The Guardian.co.uk some preliminary viewing figures for the adaptation:

• The second part concluded with almost 1 million viewers last night, with an average of 967,000 viewers and a multichannel share of 4.7%. The viewer numbers peaked at 1.1 million viewers at 7:15.
• The first part (which aired Sunday March 23) attracted 1.5 million viewers and an 8% multichannel share.

Compare these numbers to Hogfather’s: 2.4 million for the first part (a record-breaking number) and 1.5 million for the second.

Update: Another highly enthusiastic review.

Reminder: The Colour Of Magic aired 6 p.m. on Sky One tonight

The headline says it all, really. Viewers in the U.K. had the opportunity to see the first part of the much-awaited Colour Of Magic adaptation tonight at 6 p.m. Part two airs tomorrow, also at 6 p.m. Don’t forget to check out the official site, where galleries and videos can help you pass the time until tomorrow! FromRimToHub.com’s Colour Of Magic section will also help pass the time.

David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, Terry Prachett on Colour Of Magic

An extensive article from TimesOnline.co.uk includes quotes from David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry, and Terry Pratchett about the coming Colour Of Magic two part adaptation, which will be broadcast this Sunday and Monday at 6 p.m. To quote Sean Astin in the article:

It’s a little weird…. Some guy has a brain fart and I’m wearing big furry feet for two years. Another guy has an acid tablet and I’m in a pond in the back of Pinewood…. Terry obviously loves Tolkien and fantasy but he also loves to … take the piss out of it.

Tim Curry, with some less colorful language, also speaks about the Discworld series:

Terry’s big on satire and drawing conclusions in his worlds that you can take into this one…. I don’t think class has passed him by, or the advancements of technology. Trymon is such a wonderfully double-dealing slimeball–he’d be totally at home in Brussels. I’ve had a lot of extremely uncomfortable pointy shoes to wear, and lots of great hats.

And finally, Terry Pratchett himself also speaks:

Hogfather was more serious; The Colour of Magic is about humour…. It’s a buddy movie except that one of the buddies [Rincewind] doesn’t want to be a buddy. It’s a road movie although roads are probably the last thing they manage to travel on most of the time.

[On signing over the rights to The Colour Of Magic and The Light Fantastic] I tried to conceal the fact that I really wanted them to do it but really would like to be paid a lot of money…. The nice thing is that The Colour of Magic really had no plot. It was a series of episodes and we could, like a smorgasbord, pick what we wanted. So it wasn’t quite the slaughter job that I thought it would have to be.

Terry Pratchett also addressed the concerns of many fans on the casting of David Jason as Rincewind, since many consider Rincewind to be younger and skinnier:

It was mainly the book cover illustrations that did that…. I’m very good at not describing characters. David Jason has got three amazingly good attributes. Firstly, he is an excellent actor. Secondly, he’s Sir David Jason, and that name counts for something. And thirdly he’s a Discworld fan and about 15 years ago he declared that he wanted to play Rincewind. I thought, ‘Wonderful!’

The article also has a set-report aspect to it, as it describes the filming of the scene where Rincewind is close to being swept over the edge of the Discworld. To quote the article:

“I don’t want to leave this world!” gurgles David Jason. Britain’s Most Popular Actor [sic] is clinging to a log in the middle of a foaming torrent of water, which swirls through his red robes and greying beard and plasters his hair across his face. “DON’T MIND ME - I’VE GOT A BOOK TO READ,” deadpans a skeletal figure in a deckchair on a nearby rocky outcrop. Slowly, Jason’s grip relaxes on the log and he disappears beneath the surface.

“Cut!” barks a voice through a megaphone. A bedraggled Jason re-emerges, and is shepherded by a squad of frogmen to the edge of Pinewood Studios’ 100-square metre water tank, as the huge compressed air generators that were creating the torrent wind down. It’s an overcast August afternoon near the end of the 11-week shoot for The Colour of Magic, Sky One’s multimillion- pound Easter adaptation of the first two books in Terry Pratchett’s supernaturally successful Discworld series…. In this scene [Rincewind] is attempting to avoid being swept over the Discworld’s oceanic rim and into space, which will be represented on the vast blue screen behind him. His travails are observed by the sardonic Death, whose vocal duties have passed from the late Ian Richardson to Christopher Lee, who voiced him in the Pratchett animations Wyrd Sisters and Soul Music.

The article also informs readers that the fight with Tim Curry has been filmed in addition to the upside-down fight in the Wyrmberg.

Dress up and win an iPod and every Discworld audiobook

TimesOnline.co.uk is offering a contest to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Colour Of Magic, the first novel in the Discworld series. To win, send a photograph of “yourself dressed as your favourite Pratchett character” to books@timesonline.co.uk and explain why he or she is your favorite character.  Things to note about the contest:

• Only residents of the U.K. and Eire aged 16 and over are eligible.
• Each person is allowed only one entry.
• Include “Pratchett” in the subject of your entry.
• The email should include the picture of yourself dressed up, the name of your character, why he or she is your favorite (in less than 50 words), your name, your age, your phone number, and your email address.
• The photograph must be in jpeg format and less than 10 megabytes.  Dimension specifications: “a minimum pixel width of 450 for landscape photographs or 450 pixels for portrait photos.”
• The deadline is midday May 19, 2008.

 The full terms and conditions can also be found on the site.

Colour Of Magic airs 6 p.m. March 23 and 24; more Colour Of Magic trailers

SkyOne has finally announced the air date in the U.K. for The Colour Of Magic: 6 p.m. March 23 and March 24, on SkyOne and SkyOne HD. In addition, two new trailers have been posted to YouTube.

Trailer 2, length 32 seconds:

Narrator: From the dawn of time, they have always been there: the eight great spells. Now, one of them is missing.
Trymon: Well, that’s rather badly organized.
Narrator: And only one wizard–
Rincewind: I never really completed my training.
Narrator: –can bring it home. David Jason, Sean Astin, and Tim Curry take you to the very edge of the Discworld. Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic. This Easter. SkyOne and SkyOne HD.

Trailer 3, Theatrical, length 93 seconds:

Narrator: In a distant and secondhand set of dimensions, from the very dawn of time, they have always been there: the eight great spells. Now, one of them is missing. One of the eight spells is missing.
Trymon: Well, that’s rather badly organized.
Narrator: And there is only one wizard–
Rincewind: I’m the worst wizard this side of the Circle Sea!
Narrator: –who can bring it home. From the makers of Hogfather. SkyOne presents a pigment of your imagination.
Twoflower: All my life I’ve wanted to see dragons.
Rincewind: Don’t be ridiculous. Dragons don’t exist.
Rincewind: I won’t. (?)
Rincewind: What are you grinning at?
Death: Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t help it.
Rincewind: He says he’s a tourist.
Broadman: What’s that mean?
Twoflower: Smile!
Rincewind: I think it means idiot.
Narrator: David Jason, Sean Astin, and Tim Curry–
Trymon: Fantastic.
Narrator: –take you to the very edge of the Discworld.
Twoflower: And I thought everything was going so well!
Rincewind: Well, you thought wrong.
Narrator: Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic. This Easter. SkyOne and SkyOne HD.

You can find more videos on YouTube (though all are repeats from what can be found on the site) on Sky’s YouTube channel.

Terry Pratchett tributes science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke’s recent death at the age of 90 recently has prompted tributes from scientists and authors, including Terry Pratcett and Sir Patrick Moore.  To quote a Guardian.co.uk article on the subject

The science fiction author Terry Pratchett praised Clarke as a “great man” who “put some science into science fiction”.

“Most notably, I think he was probably the first science fiction writer to break out of the science fiction ghetto,” Pratchett told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. “He became a national treasure like Patrick Moore.”

The film version of 2001: A Space Odyssey - in which Sir Arthur was closely involved - was “totally, totally new”, Pratchett said.

“What I particularly recall is Arthur complaining that the reason why the apes never won the Oscar for best make-up was that they were so good the judges thought they really were apes.”

Terry Pratchett has previously said, “There is a tradition in the science fiction and fantasy genre of ‘paying forward.’ At the first convention I attended in my youth was Arthur C. Clarke [and other authors] I thought of as gods. They signed books for me and let me into their conversations, even if they thought of me a bothersome little tit. You can never pay back something like that but you can pay your way forward by making your own contribution.” (AdelaideNow, March 2007)

Terry Pratchett opens Winchester planetarium

Last month we told you that Terry Pratchett would be opening Britain’s largest planetarium at INTECH’s Science Centre in Winchester.  ThisIsWinchester.net reports that Terry Pratchett said at the event, “I thought it was amazing.  My imagination got fired by going to the planetarium when I was a child.  I think it’s quite important to get kids interested in who we are and why we’re here.”

Sir Patrick Moore also attended the event, saying “The young enthusiasts of today are our researchers of tomorrow. The planetarium is a great thing for the area and the country.”

INTECH Director Phil Winfield said, “Terry Pratchett was inspired by astronomy as a young person and that’s exactly what we want to do at INTECH - inspire young people.”

The 176-seat planetarium will be open to the public starting on March 21, 2008.

Sky begins major advertising for The Colour Of Magic

MarketingWeek.co.uk reports that Sky’s multimillion-pound advertising campaign for Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic is kicking in gear this week, which “includes TV, press, online and outdoor executions as well as the rerelease of Pratchett’s book of the same name, part of the Discworld series.” To quote the article:

Sky is also partnering with online bookseller Amazon, as well as homepage takeovers on MSN, Yahoo! and AOL. Interactive ads will run across sites, such as TVGuide and Yahoo! linking to the sky.com/magic microsite.

National press advertising will run in titles including The Sun, The Guardian, New Statesman and listings sections and TV spots will air across Sky Networks. Sky is also launching a Bluetooth zone at Victoria station, which will give mobile users the opportunity to download video clips, ring and text tones and screen savers.

Sky is also involved in viral and social network promotion for the adaptation.

Terry Pratchett interview from Sky

The Sky News blog posted a video interview of Terry Pratchett recently, in which Terry Pratchett talks about his recent half-a-million-pound donation to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K.  In the minute-long video clip, Pratchett calls the organization “somewhat of a Cinderella charity compared to the cancer charities” and explains a little more about his diagnosis. 

Match It For Pratchett: Donate 1 pound to Alzheimer’s research

Pat Cadigan started an online campaign (dubbed “Match it for Pratchett” by participants) on her blog to get half a million Discworld fans to each donate a pound (that’s about two dollars in U.S. currency) to Alzheimer’s research, thus matching the half-million pounds/a million dollars donation Terry Pratchett made yesterday to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in the U.K. Cadigan says on her blog, “So whaddaya say, guys? … You can spare that much. Go here and make your donation. Tell them it’s in honour of Terry Pratchett.”

Edit: The Match It For Pratchett site, www.matchitforpratchett.org, has been set up for more information. A Facebook page has also been set up by the originator of the initiative, which includes a letter from the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.

Buy the Luggage, support Alzheimer’s research

A charity auction on eBay is in process to support the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. Terry Pratchett and the Colour of Magic crew worked together to provide this “unique opportunity” to own the only replica of the Luggage used in producing The Colour of Magic adaptation. To quote the item description:

A unique opportunity to own a one-off replica of the luggage as featured in Sky One’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic. This quirky ‘suitcase’ is filled with the full library of Discworld novels, plus the production designs used to build the luggage as seen in the film. Both the books and the designs have been signed by Terry Pratchett.

Also included in this money can’t buy piece of memorabilia is a copy of the Discworld 25th anniversary edition of The Colour of Magic which hits book store shelves on the 10th March. This brand spanking new reissue not only features the stars of Sky One’s magical adaptation, Sir David Jason and Sean Astin, on the front cover, but the two actors have also signed the novel.

Fifteen bidders have bid the price up to £2,000.00.  The auction ends on March 24.

More Colour of Magic official site updates: “Tourist Guides” and more!

The official Colour of Magic site from Sky has been updated to include more fun descriptions of the creatures, characters, and places of Discworld. In the Video section, four out of eight “Tourist Guides,” hosted by the Librarian of the Unseen University and a goofy assistant have been uploaded. The videos include glimpses of the Rimfall and Wyrmberg, the dragon-filled, upside-down mountain. You can watch them to see a small clip of Twoflower using his phrase book to speak with a bemused Broadman, an odd interaction between Rincewind and Twoflower, and a particularly creepy speech from Trymon.  Watch the slightly nutty videos to learn about Discworld’s geography, wizards, cuisine, inhabitants, religions, plants, and entertainment.

Four out of seven “Behind the Magic” videos are also on the site, where you can hear Sir David Jason and Sean Astin speak about The Colour of Magic.

You can visit the official Colour of Magic site for wallpapers, interviews, trailer, production notes, and more goodies.

Terry Pratchett donates $1 million to Alzheimer’s research

Many news sources are reporting today that Terry Pratchett has donated $1 million to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, deploring the lack of funding for research and support for those affected by the disease. Funding per cancer patient is £289, compared to the £11 spent per Alzheimer’s research. (That’s more than 25 times more per patient.)

Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust Rebecca Wood said, “Terry’s generous donation will fund promising UK research which hopes to find ways to slow down or halt the disease. The reality is that [now] we are scraping for every penny and have to turn down two out of every three research projects.”

“There is a kind of heroic glamour about the battle against cancer. We use the language ‘the battlefield,’ or there is a battle, whereas frankly with Alzheimer’s it is a lot of skirmishing … I don’t think any cure is going to be discovered in my lifetime… but I think there might be a regime, some combination of lifestyle and drugs which helps people live with Alzheimer’s,” the AFP quotes Terry Pratchett as saying.

The TimesOnline reports that Terry Pratchett described Alzheimer’s as “[stripping] away your living self a bit at a time” and “a nasty disease, surrounded by shadows and small, largely unseen tragedies.”

“Part of me lives in a world of new age remedies and science, and some of the science is a little like voodoo, but science was never an exact science, and personally I’d eat the arse out of a dead mole if it offered a fighting chance.”

“There’s nearly as many of us as there are cancer sufferers, and it looks as if the number of people with the disease will double within a generation … It’s a shock and a shame to find out that money for [Alzheimer’s] research is 3 per cent of that which goes to find cancer cures. Perhaps that is why, for example, I know three people who have successfully survived brain tumours but no one who has beaten Alzheimer’s.”

“I’d like a chance to die like my father did – of cancer, at 86 . . . Before he went to spend his last two weeks in a hospice he was bustling around the house, fixing things. He talked to us right up to the last few days, knowing who we were and who he was.”

“I want to go on writing. You can’t write books when you are dead, unless your name is L. Ron Hubbard.”

The press release can be seen on PJSMprints.com, and you can read Terry Pratchett’s full speech at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust conference in Watershed, Bristol this morning, Thursday, March 13th.

The Colour of Magic official site continues to expand. It now includes a gallery, where fans can browse through a film gallery (The Film >> Film Gallery), on set stills (Behind the Scenes >> On Set Stills and Gallery >> On Set Stills), and concept art (Behind the Scenes >> Concept Art and Gallery >> Concept Art).  You can see Bethan (looking somewhat upset) being led toward the sacrificial altar, Cohen the Barbarian, Rincewind in the Patrician’s palace, Death’s Domain, Ankh-Morpork, the Forest of Skund, Twoflower, The Librarian (enjoying a banana!), and more (and more and more and more).  Terry Pratchett figures largely in the on set stills gallery, as you see him interacting costumed actors and director Vadim Jean.

The official site can be found at thebrokendrum.net, www1.sky.com/colourofmagic/index.html,  and www.sky.com/magic.

Jeremy Irons plays the Patrician in the adaptation in a guest appearance.

Plans are to air The Colour of Magic in two parts over Easter in the U.K. and sometime this summer in the U.S. More specific dates and times have yet to be announced.

For the trailer transcripts, pictures, and continuously updated news, visit www.FromRimToHub.com.

“Sooner or later it’s you and the cursor flashing on the keyboard and you’ve got to do that book and with any luck you’ll be able to make it better than the last one although you absolutely know that sooner or later, by the sheer laws of mathematics, it’s going to be impossible. And that is quite terrifying.”

Now, in The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld, various nuggets of Pratchett's witty commentary and sagacious observations have been compiled by Pratchett expert Stephen Briggs, a man who, they say, knows even more about Discworld than Terry Pratchett.

Within these pages, you'll find musings on:

• Interior decorating: "It's a fact known throughout the universes that no matter how carefully the colors are chosen, institutional decor ends up as either vomit green, unmentionable brown, nicotine yellow, or surgical appliance pink. By some little-understood process of sympathetic resonance, corridors painted in those colors always smell slightly of boiled cabbage—even if no cabbage is ever cooked in the vicinity." (Equal Rites)

• Travel: "Any seasoned traveler soon learns to avoid anything wished on them as a 'regional speciality,' because all the term means is that the dish is so unpleasant the people living everywhere else will bite off their own legs rather than eat it. But hosts still press it upon distant guests anyway: 'Go on, have the dog's head stuffed with macerated cabbage and pork noses—it's a regional speciality.'" (The Last Continent)

• Young men: "And then there was the young male walk. At least women swung only their hips. Young men swung everything, from the shoulders down. You have to try to occupy a lot of space. It makes you look bigger, like a tomcat fluffing his tail. The boys tried to walk big in self-defense against all those other big boys out there. I'm bad, I'm fierce, I'm cool, I'd like a pint of shandy and me mam wants me home by nine." (Monstrous Regiment)

• Class: "'Old money' meant that it had been made so long ago that the black deeds that had originally filled the coffers were now historically irrelevant. Funny, that; a brigand for a father was something you kept quiet about, but a slave-taking pirate for a great-great-great-grandfather was something to boast of over the port. Time turned the evil bastards into rogues, and rogue was a word with a twinkle in its eye and nothing to be ashamed of." (Making Money)

Filming of the epic fantasy is already underway at Londons’ famous Pinewood Studios.... THE COLOUR OF MAGIC is set to take fans deeper into Discworld than ever before, the story follows the inept wizard Rincewind (Sir David Jason) and Discworld’s first ever tourist, Twoflower (Sean Astin), on the journey of a lifetime; as the duo battle wizards, elude druid mercenaries and ride mythical dragons. But can Rincewind defeat his scheming nemesis Trymon (Tim Curry) and save Discworld from ultimate destruction?... Production on the multi-million pound adaptation commenced on July 23rd with the show set to build on the grand scale and lavish scope seen on the award winning Hogfather. The Colour of Magics’ universe is also more ambitious in its breadth, with the production team determined to bring an even richer Discworld to Sky One screens, with increased prodcution [sic] values and ground-breaking CGI work.

Sir David Jason, who is also the executive producer of the films had this to say: “Taking up the role of Rincewind marks the achievement of a career-long ambition for me. It was wonderful to be a part of the success of Hogfather and to be at the heart of this second family oriented adaptation, which is set to be every bit as fun and fulfilling.”

• Rincewind ... Sir David Jason OBE


• Twoflower ... Sean Astin


• Trymon ... Tim Curry


• Cohen the Barbarian ... David Bradley


• Bethan ... Laura Haddock


• Galder Weatherwax ... James Cosmo


• Jiglad Wert-Hoodwinkers ... Michael Mears


• Head Librarian ... Nicholas Tennant


• Head Librarian & Luggage ... Richard da Costa


• Rerpf ... Arthur White


• Zlorf ... David Schofield


• Broadman ... Stephen Marcus


• Liessa ... Karen David


• Picture IMP ... Geoffrey Hutchins

The Lord of the Rings actor tells us he just returned from England, where he made the adaptation of Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic for Sky TV with a cast that includes Tim Curry and Christopher Lee. Astin tells us the plan is to air the magical fantastical production here [the United States] on Fox. Pratchett's Discworld book series has sold more than 60 million copies throughout the English-speaking world, from the United Kingdom to New Zealand, so far, and is picking up steam in the United States.

"It's like Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter meets Monty Python," says Astin. He plays the character Twoflower, Discworld's first tourist. "I show up with the big, flowered shirt and my camera, and when I pull the lever on my camera, there's a one-inch-tall picture imp in there, drawing the pictures real fast."

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A new, much longer and more detailed synopsis (scroll down) for Making Money has turned up on amazon.com. The synopsis:

The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running like . . . well, not at all like a government office. The mail is delivered promptly; meetings start and end on time; five out of six letters relegated to the Blind Letter Office ultimately wend their way to the correct addresses. Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig, former arch-swindler and confidence man, has exceeded all expectations—including his own. So it’s somewhat disconcerting when Lord Vetinari summons Moist to the palace and asks, “Tell me, Mr. Lipwig, would you like to make some real money?”

Vetinari isn’t talking about wages, of course. He’s referring, rather, to the Royal Mint of Ankh-Morpork, a venerable institution that haas run for centuries on the hereditary employment of the Men of the Sheds and their loyal outworkers, who do make money in their spare time. Unfortunately, it costs more than a penny to make a penny, so the whole process seems somewhat counterintuitive.

Next door, at the Royal Bank, the Glooper, an “analogy machine,” has scientifically established that one never has quite as much money at the end of the week as one thinks one should, and the bank’s chairman, one elderly Topsy (née Turvy) Lavish, keeps two loaded crossbows at her desk. Oh, and the chief clerk is probably a vampire.

But before Moist has time to fully consider Vetinari’s question, fate answers it for him. Now he’s not only making money, but enemies too; he’s got to spring a prisoner from jail, break into his own bank vault, stop the new manager from licking his face, and, above all, find out where all the gold has gone—otherwise, his life in banking, while very exciting, is going to be really, really short. . . .

Making Money is set to come out this September, according to Amazon.

Four major characters in the forthcoming Color of Magic and Light Fantastic TV adaptations have been cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Sean Astin, who played Sam Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, is cast for Twoflower, confirming earlier speculation that David Jason (Rincewind) would co-star with an American actor. Says Astin in the article:

"I'm honored to be given the chance to make the part of Twoflower my own, starring in a fantasy tale that has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world."

Also cast is Tim Curry as Ymper Trymon, and Christopher Lee reprises his 1997 role as the voice of Death.

Things look hopeful for further adaptations, as Sky director of programs Richard Woolfe called Hogfather an “unparalleled success in every way we could have imagined” and the cast for The Color of Magic “unbelievable”—though expectations for the adaptations seem high.

The Color of Magic team, with Vadim Jean directing and RHI Entertainment, the Mob Film Co. and Sky One all on board, has stayed pretty constant from Hogfather, though David Jason is now also an executive producer.

Exciting news for American fans: Hogfather may make its U.S. debut as part of RHI Movie Weekend on Ion Television.

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.