| |  07 October 2008 In a letter to the Times in early October, Terry Pratchett reiterates his statements on the need for public recognition of Alzheimer’s. He writes: Today, the Alzheimer’s Society publishes a new report, ‘Dementia: out of the shadows’…. I am calling for an end to the stigma and misunderstanding that surround this embuggerance of a condition…. New research shows that half of UK adults believe dementia is a condition plagued by stigma…. That’s why I’m calling for urgent investment in public awareness campaigns on dementia…. If we bring dementia out of the shadows, we can kill it. Dementia: Out Of The Shadows can be found at the Alzheimer’s Society website. 07 October 2008 As part of the launch of a new study in the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s, Out Of The Shadows, Terry Pratchett wrote an essay describing his experiences with Alzheimer’s published by the Daily Mail: Seven hundred thousand people who have dementia in this country are not heard. I’m fortunate; I can be heard. Regrettably, it’s amazing how people listen if you stand up in public and give away $1million for research into the disease, as I have done. Why did I do it? I regarded finding I had a form of Alzheimer’s as an insult and decided to do my best to marshal any kind of forces I could against this wretched disease. To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link. 04 October 2008 (14:35) Express.co.uk reports that according to a list compiled by the market researchers Nielsen, Terry Pratchett is the second best-selling author of adult literature in the U.K. in the past three years, after opinion writer Jeremy Clarkson. Other authors on the list include Katie Price, Ian McEwan, Ian Rankin, Sophie Kinsella, and Alexander McCall Smith. Children’s authors, such as J.K. Rowling, are not included in the list. 02 October 2008 On October 2nd, Terry Pratchett stopped at Broadhurst’s of Southport for a signing. Broadhurst’s won the privilege to host the event by putting together an award-winning Terry Pratchett window display. SouthportVisitor.co.uk interviewed Pratchett at the event. To quote the article: [Terry Pratchett] praised the Southport bookshop and said: “I can’t actually believe it’s real. I find it extremely hard to believe there are still bookshops like this with… books. To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.01 October 2008 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. To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link. 14 October 2008 Terry Pratchett spoke at the September 29th Tory party conference, opening up about his experience with Alzheimer’s and explaining why the U.K. needs to increase its funding for Alzheimer’s research, concluding his speech to a standing ovation. The non-conservative Pratchett slowed several times during the speech, saying the disease was “making the letters dance.” He compared Alzheimer’s to a “slow motion car crash.” “Always, at the back of your mind, [is] the thought that sooner or later you’ll go through the windscreen,” Pratchett said. He continued his ongoing comparison of Alzheimer’s to cancer, saying that while cancer is no longer a taboo subject, Alzheimer’s is still “stuck in a medieval fog of superstition, misunderstanding, and silence.”To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link. 9 October 2008 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.
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link. 29 September 2008 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. |
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