The convention

I’m back from my jaunt having spent time down in Nottingham at the BFS’s FantasyCon and a few days away recharging the batteries and working on the outline for a short comic.

This was the first FantasyCon I have ever been to and it was…interesting. It was not quite what I had in mind when I thought about going earlier in the year, certainly less instructive and slightly more amateurish than I was expecting, plus the venue needs a rethink (and if at all possible, pulling down). Dave McKean was guest of honour (and highlight) and along with Vincent Chong provided some interesting insights into art, comics and getting published. He also signed a copy of his book of sketches for me including a drawing of an elf/goblin/alien creature. Simon Guerrier, frequent blogger and Dr Who author was eloquent but I failed to introduce myself, whilst Simon R. Green seemed to be nuttier than a fruitcake.

I’ve spent the rest of the week in the small town of Kirkcudbright on the west coast of Scotland. The weather was wonderful, the company good and the wine plentiful. When I could I wrote in the silence of a cottage only interrupted by the rooks that would gather in the tall trees to caw at one another. I also did plenty of reading.

Pork Pie Hat is a small book I must have picked up in a second hand shop and had on my shelf for some time. It is very well written with Straub picking up the nuances of a Jazz musician at the end of his life reminiscing about what happened to him as a child that seriously effected who he was to become. It’s a haunting story very well rendered.

Carey’s second novel in the Felix Castor series adds to the ‘other’ London he has created. It still has echoes of Constantine but it feels as if Castor is becoming his own man. The city is real and grimy and the story line full of interesting plots twists. Old characters return keeping the series whole whilst the book finishes with enough change in Castor’s circumstances to make the next book eagerly anticipated.

I remember the Triffids TV show which was produced in 1981. I’m not sure if I saw a repeat or not as I would only have been six on its first airing and I’m sure I would not have been allowed to stay up that late, or else gone to bed with nightmares. Before I read the book all I could recall were several jumper wearing hippies living on a farm being surrounded by the Triffids. This I thought was foolish and not very scary as the plants could only shuffle on small legs and must have been as limited as the original Daleks as any grown individual could have easily out run them. Of course I had forgotten that many of the survivors had already been blinded by falling green meteorites and that society had broken down to such a degree that the world had been returned to pre-industrial society.
The book is timely and seems not to have dated too much considering it was published in 1951. It pick up on other well known sci-fi stories (notably H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds) but makes something particularly British in its depiction of the end of the world.

I’m working on a script at the moment as well as answering questions from my publishers. With the re-write of ‘The DarkFather’ starting as well I imagine I should be busy for the next couple of months.

Read this week:
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey
Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub

Odd, we’re still all here…

Having done no lasting damage to my body, I am glad to say that last weeks venture up into the hills passed without hic-cup. It was muddy, wet and cold and we didn’t do it a particularly amazing time (an asthmatic in a bath chair passed us at one point) but we completed all 60km. A big thank you to all the people who sponsored me to the tune of £430. A figure which will be doubled by the bank and shared out amongst the charities.

I’ve added a particularly flattering photo of me in stretch lycra below. If you are easily offended or have a weak stomach, look away now.


Now all that unpleasantness is over we can get back to normal. Still working my way through ‘DarkFather’, and have been told that ‘The Missing’ won’t be back in my hands for another week, which is fine by me as I have plenty on my plate at the moment.
I’m starting work on what will hopefully be my first foray into comics, working with the artist, friend and film ‘know it all’, Looming Gary. We don’t plan to try and sell the work as its more a tryout to see if we work well together, but we might get it put up here once completed. It is early days, but I have an idea that might get worked up into something…watch this space.

As we’re not all dead I can get you all to zoom over to BBC and listen to the Torchwood adventure set at CERN. It’s underground and I assume fills in a bit of missing detail between the end of series 2 and the anticipated new series. Capt. Jack is becoming a darker and more troubled character (at last) which helps this episode very well.

Talking (writing actually) about TV, looks like Dean makes it out of hell in the new series of Supernatural, the first clips of which have made it on to the net (ignore the advert):



Working my way through the second Felix Castor novel which I will discuss here soon, plus I’m now counting down the days until I go to Fantasycon. If you’re going, drop me a line and we’ll meet for a beer.

Going up the mountains

I’m working through ‘DarkFather’ in the two weeks respite I get from the editing of ‘The Missing’. I’m tidying up the story in places and increasing the presence of characters who I think need a little more room to breath. I also want to make the start a little bit punchier.

I’m off to Aviemore this weekend, cycling over mountains raising money for three charities. So far I’ve raised over £400 with all funding matched by the organisers. I imagine it will be hard going as it’s rained constantly throughout August and the weekend forecast does not look much better. I’ll put up some picture next week of me all exhausted and muddy.

Got my tickets through today for a writer event I’ve been waiting some time for. Mr Neil Gaiman is coming to Scotland, and what’s more he’s coming to the book shop just up the road from me. I’m looking forward to his new work as it’s YA and will be an interesting read in line with my own work.

****

The Fourth Bear is Jasper Fford’s latest in the Nursery Crime Division works. As always with Fford (that is his real name by the way) the laughs come hard, fast and often with allusions to other works of literature, music or film. You could spend forever and a day trying to keep up with the wry nods but instead you should enjoy the books for their quirky humour. He is one of the best writers around today for laugh out loud prose.
I was fortunate enough to meet him this summer and you can tell there is a keen mind behind these works, one that enjoys puzzles and word play. I asked him if anyone had ever considered turning the works into comics as they are rich in nursery rhyme characters and he said that many had but nothing had ever happened. If there’s any budding comic book authors reading this, get on to it now.

Rex Mundi is a comic book that started life before Da Vinci Code which is interesting because they contain similar themes. Unlike the Dan Brown book Rex Mundi is set in a world where the American Civil War has ended in stalemate and the Catholic Church controls most of Europe, also sorcery is a real problem.
The story is a little sparse in places, but the artwork by EricJ is lush and precise, turning Paris into a dark mediaeval / 30s inspired city. There are also some good scenes under Paris, travelling along the vast sewers that mimic the street layout above so accurately that they share the same names (true), plus mention of catacombs being found containing the bodies of prior inhabitants (also true). Well worth a read and I’m sure I’ll get book 2.

****
Read this week:
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fford
Rex Mundi: The Guardian of the Temple by Arvid Nelson et al.