Posts
Clearing the Decks before Japan
It’s been a very busy few weeks, and hey, I’m still getting over being given the job of writing Excalibur for Marvel Comics, but we’re off to Japan for three weeks on Tuesday, so I thought I’d better blog now and sum everything up.
Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending MeCon in Belfast. Relaxed to the point of a few of us guests having to get together and invent new panels for luminaries such as Ian McDonald and Catie Murphy to be on (them having been invited, but not scheduled), it was nevertheless a warm and lovely do. Iain Banks was friendly and funny (we added two panels for him too). It’s always good to see Leah Moore and John Reppion. Many new friends were made. And there was an SF pub quiz on the Friday night. My lot came sixth, or was it eighth? Ian’s now the proud producer of the Ulster version of Sesame Street, and has been tasked with designing his own Muppets. So he’s happy. I finished the new Harry Potter in the B&B, just in time to rave about it on a panel. In a short weekend, we got that feeling of how strange it would be not to see a roomful of SF writers every breakfast time, and that’s the mark of a feelgood convention, even if this one wasn’t so much organised as declared.
Midweek, I delivered the second of two ‘how to write comics’ lectures at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, as part of a comics workshop project headed by Dr. Debbie Challis, then spent the late afternoon having drinks with my agent, the current and former editors of SFX magazine, and the great editor Peter Lavery. Then I ambled over to a hastily-organised party of everyone in British comics, all of whom wanted to meet the head honcho of Marvel, Joe Quesada, popping in on his way to Chicago. Joe and his retinue are charming.
Later in the week, I was pleased to surround a lovely birthday dinner with my fellow Doctor Who writer and Best Man Stephen Moffat and his wife with a series of three significant meetings. One was with my agent concerning the first draft of the novel, and was hugely satisfying, putting us very much on course. (I want to jump right in and sort out the second draft, but there are things I have to finish first.) The other two were TV meetings about two of my own series pitches, both of which were also very promising. So it was a good couple of days that way.
Since we’re touring Japan by rail, I’m looking forward to being able to write a bit while on holiday, glancing out the window at the countryside. We’ve sorted out our schedule, and will be journeying as far down south as Hiroshima, and hopefully climbing Mount Fuji to see the dawn there. Interestingly enough, Doctor Who begins its first run on terrestrial Japanese TV while we’re in the country, which should be helpful when it comes to Worldcon in Yokohama, which will take up roughly the last third of our stay.
Here’s a provisional panel listing for what I’ll be up to at the convention itself:
Thu 1200 The Aardvark Panel
The first panel of the convention. We talk about aardvarks or whatever other fancy comes to mind.
Sat 1000 Is Science Fiction Necessary?
Haven't we won? Aren't science-fictional ideas, vocabulary, themes and predictions now deeply embedded in the popular culture? Aren't a disproportionate percentage of popular movies from our genres? Don't mainstream authors dip into the slipstream every day? So, what's our mission now? What worlds are left to conquer, and why?
Sat 1200 Heroes: The TV Series
Heroes has made the world safer for comics culture. The creators say they've got five more seasons scoped: is there enough depth to sustain that? There are more unanswered questions than ever before, not the least of which is who's cuter: Hiro or Niki? (Or Jessica?)
Sun 1000 Writing for TV
So, you want to get something on TV! What does it take: Character? Plot? Action? Romance?! Some industry veterans discuss what it takes to get there.
Sun 1400 A Survey of Readers
Farah Mendelsohn has surveyed 900+ readers. After a summation of her findings, she and the panelists will discuss them.
Mon 1000 The History of Your World
The layers of deep history underlying Lord of the Rings gave it a depth and richness missing from Conan. Does a world need a history which rarely shows up in the stories. If so, how is it built? On what is it based? Can there be too much history?
Or possibly, because this is also on at the same time, and I’m meant to be on it too…
Mon 1000 Blogging and Live Journals in SF
Blogging (and related activities) are having an impact on the world at large, and the SF community in particular. Blogs tell us more about the people in the field, the way the field works, and who is who, and at a pace and a distribution that few if any fanzines ever matched. Blogs influence the directions of our community, can impact awards by making works or their creators better known, and perhaps even influence the works being created. Or is the impact overstated, as all things net related seem to be? Can writers use blogs to market themselves? Are blogs a way to engage the community? And is this true worldwide, or is it just an US-centric fad? Or even the English speaking world?
I’d rather do the second, but I haven’t heard back yet. There are some interesting and wonderful folk with me on each of those panels, but I’m following tradition by not mentioning them before they’ve confirmed that they’ll be there. I also hope that I’ll be able to collect, on behalf of Russell, Toby Whithouse or Moffat, Doctor Who’s second Hugo Award.
At any rate, I’m sure that in Japan I won’t be lacking for wireless internet access, so I may well pop in from time to time. Until then, Cheerio.
Announcements:
ITEM! The band my wife plays bass and sings with, who now call themselves Both Feet Forward, have started a MySpace page with samples of their music:
Here
Which has now gone in a Talking Heads/Red Hot Chilli Peppers direction, amongst other things. They’ll be gigging around Oxfordshire this autumn.
ITEM! I’ve rather ceased to just quote lovely reviews, but this one, concerning Wisdom, rather sums up my own game plan, and it’s good to see someone thinking I’ve already got there:
Here
ITEM! Chris Roberson got there before me on this one, as did Nev Fountain, but those who don’t swim the blog sea might still enjoy this potted history of all Doctor Who in five minutes:
Here
ITEM! This lot have declared that they’re going to be listening to all the Big Finish audios from the beginning and commenting on them:
Here
Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending MeCon in Belfast. Relaxed to the point of a few of us guests having to get together and invent new panels for luminaries such as Ian McDonald and Catie Murphy to be on (them having been invited, but not scheduled), it was nevertheless a warm and lovely do. Iain Banks was friendly and funny (we added two panels for him too). It’s always good to see Leah Moore and John Reppion. Many new friends were made. And there was an SF pub quiz on the Friday night. My lot came sixth, or was it eighth? Ian’s now the proud producer of the Ulster version of Sesame Street, and has been tasked with designing his own Muppets. So he’s happy. I finished the new Harry Potter in the B&B, just in time to rave about it on a panel. In a short weekend, we got that feeling of how strange it would be not to see a roomful of SF writers every breakfast time, and that’s the mark of a feelgood convention, even if this one wasn’t so much organised as declared.
Midweek, I delivered the second of two ‘how to write comics’ lectures at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, as part of a comics workshop project headed by Dr. Debbie Challis, then spent the late afternoon having drinks with my agent, the current and former editors of SFX magazine, and the great editor Peter Lavery. Then I ambled over to a hastily-organised party of everyone in British comics, all of whom wanted to meet the head honcho of Marvel, Joe Quesada, popping in on his way to Chicago. Joe and his retinue are charming.
Later in the week, I was pleased to surround a lovely birthday dinner with my fellow Doctor Who writer and Best Man Stephen Moffat and his wife with a series of three significant meetings. One was with my agent concerning the first draft of the novel, and was hugely satisfying, putting us very much on course. (I want to jump right in and sort out the second draft, but there are things I have to finish first.) The other two were TV meetings about two of my own series pitches, both of which were also very promising. So it was a good couple of days that way.
Since we’re touring Japan by rail, I’m looking forward to being able to write a bit while on holiday, glancing out the window at the countryside. We’ve sorted out our schedule, and will be journeying as far down south as Hiroshima, and hopefully climbing Mount Fuji to see the dawn there. Interestingly enough, Doctor Who begins its first run on terrestrial Japanese TV while we’re in the country, which should be helpful when it comes to Worldcon in Yokohama, which will take up roughly the last third of our stay.
Here’s a provisional panel listing for what I’ll be up to at the convention itself:
Thu 1200 The Aardvark Panel
The first panel of the convention. We talk about aardvarks or whatever other fancy comes to mind.
Sat 1000 Is Science Fiction Necessary?
Haven't we won? Aren't science-fictional ideas, vocabulary, themes and predictions now deeply embedded in the popular culture? Aren't a disproportionate percentage of popular movies from our genres? Don't mainstream authors dip into the slipstream every day? So, what's our mission now? What worlds are left to conquer, and why?
Sat 1200 Heroes: The TV Series
Heroes has made the world safer for comics culture. The creators say they've got five more seasons scoped: is there enough depth to sustain that? There are more unanswered questions than ever before, not the least of which is who's cuter: Hiro or Niki? (Or Jessica?)
Sun 1000 Writing for TV
So, you want to get something on TV! What does it take: Character? Plot? Action? Romance?! Some industry veterans discuss what it takes to get there.
Sun 1400 A Survey of Readers
Farah Mendelsohn has surveyed 900+ readers. After a summation of her findings, she and the panelists will discuss them.
Mon 1000 The History of Your World
The layers of deep history underlying Lord of the Rings gave it a depth and richness missing from Conan. Does a world need a history which rarely shows up in the stories. If so, how is it built? On what is it based? Can there be too much history?
Or possibly, because this is also on at the same time, and I’m meant to be on it too…
Mon 1000 Blogging and Live Journals in SF
Blogging (and related activities) are having an impact on the world at large, and the SF community in particular. Blogs tell us more about the people in the field, the way the field works, and who is who, and at a pace and a distribution that few if any fanzines ever matched. Blogs influence the directions of our community, can impact awards by making works or their creators better known, and perhaps even influence the works being created. Or is the impact overstated, as all things net related seem to be? Can writers use blogs to market themselves? Are blogs a way to engage the community? And is this true worldwide, or is it just an US-centric fad? Or even the English speaking world?
I’d rather do the second, but I haven’t heard back yet. There are some interesting and wonderful folk with me on each of those panels, but I’m following tradition by not mentioning them before they’ve confirmed that they’ll be there. I also hope that I’ll be able to collect, on behalf of Russell, Toby Whithouse or Moffat, Doctor Who’s second Hugo Award.
At any rate, I’m sure that in Japan I won’t be lacking for wireless internet access, so I may well pop in from time to time. Until then, Cheerio.
Announcements:
ITEM! The band my wife plays bass and sings with, who now call themselves Both Feet Forward, have started a MySpace page with samples of their music:
Here
Which has now gone in a Talking Heads/Red Hot Chilli Peppers direction, amongst other things. They’ll be gigging around Oxfordshire this autumn.
ITEM! I’ve rather ceased to just quote lovely reviews, but this one, concerning Wisdom, rather sums up my own game plan, and it’s good to see someone thinking I’ve already got there:
Here
ITEM! Chris Roberson got there before me on this one, as did Nev Fountain, but those who don’t swim the blog sea might still enjoy this potted history of all Doctor Who in five minutes:
Here
ITEM! This lot have declared that they’re going to be listening to all the Big Finish audios from the beginning and commenting on them:
Here
Labels:
BFF,
Big Finish,
Comics,
Doctor Who,
Japan,
Wisdom,
Worldcon
|
Hello. Could I translate this article into Japanese and introduce in my blog? Worldcon is just round the corner, but there is yet little program information so...
I hope you have a nice trip in Japan. :)
Yes, that'd be fine. And thank you!
I've always wanted to go to Japan, very jealous. Make sure you drink your sake with your left hand though, else the locals will think you are the worst kind of reprobate. Have a great time.
Ah, Paul! You're encroaching on my man-crush on CONAN with that comment comparing its history unfavourably with that of LOTR. Granted, R. E. Howard didn't spend years inventing dwarvish runic languages and Elvish, but then old John Ronald Reul didn't put enough lusty barbarians in his epic either!
No, you're right - the Hyborian history is no match for the meticulous backstory of Middle-Earth. But, somehow, I'm not sure why, I prefer the company of the barbarian, and the simplicity of his world. You know where you stand with the Cimmerian.
Have a great time in Japan, and good luck with the original series pitches!!!
Ah, I've heard a lot of these rules, but I'll bet most of them are either common sense or don't matter if you're in the right company. And I can plead not guilty to that line about Conan, because those panel descriptions are written by the organisers, not I. And ta!
Hey,
Just commenting to leave some feedback on the Wisdom series I just finished reading 5 min ago, it´s really really good and had to buy\read it all in a day because of all the new structure and the references you try out in every single issue. Nicely done.
And congrats on the Excalibur stuff it's was a good move to put you in it since it had completely lost my interest since its relaunch. I'll definetly jump into it as soon as you publish it.
Cheers.
Thanks very much, glad you liked Wisdom. Cheers.
That sounds like a really interesting conference, too. I've never had a train trip that wasn't delightful, either. (I've taken them from Chicago to LA, and then from LA to Seattle.) Best sleep of my life on a train.
Thanks for the list of panels- I'll try to get to at least one of them so I can come up after the panel and say hello.
Hope your two weeks in Japan are fun. I leave for London this Friday, but back for Worldcon just before it starts, and doing a bit of touring after the con. It's a pity you couldn't go a little earlier, before the weekend, to get a taste of the chaos that is Comiket, the huge fan comics flea market. That shows yet another side of Japan.
Widya Santoso
(why won't my Blogger password work!?)
I'm looking forward to the trains. And yes, please do say hello. We were thinking about doing Comiket, but our schedule won't really allow for it, and the activity of the Circles isn't usually our cup of tea.
..and i just finished reading Wisdom too! Just wanted to say as a person whose formative years (comic wise) were the 70's, how happy and knocked out I was by the way you brought my two favourite series from that period together. It was a real treat and very unexpected.I wonder what Mr's McGregor and Moench thought?
In comics, they call that era the Bronze Age, and it's where loads of my favourite work comes from. Glad you enjoyed it!
http://c.myspace.com/Groups/00021/97/86/21836879_l.jpg
He is so sweet! I used to have one just like that, and I really adored it, but then it fell off a shelf and shattered.