This article quotes Terry Pratchett as saying, “I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along…. It is a shock to find out that funding for Alzheimer's research is just 3% of that to find cancer cures.”
The IWC Media-produced documentary will be aired in January on BBC Two, UK, as part of a documentary series focused on mental health called BBC Headroom.
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.
28 December 2008 Comment!
Several sources are reporting that Danny Boyle, who had previously planned to direct Truckers, has said that the project has been canceled. In a Q & A with SeattlePi.com, Danny Boyle said, “I've been developing a film based on the first book of Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad Trilogy. But the project seems to have fallen apart — a victim of this economic crisis that's not supposed to be affecting the movie business.”
27 December 2008 Comment!
Micro Art Studio is now issuing a series of Discworld miniatures. Miniatures of Death, Granny Weatherwax, Sam Vimes, Nanny Ogg, and Rincewind are already available.
Miniatures of Nobby Nobbs and the Luggage are planned.
The miniatures are based on the artwork of Paul Kidby. According to Micro Art Studio, the miniatures are “30 mm scale high quality metal cast” miniatures and are sold unpainted.
26 December 2008 Comment!
The Orion Publishing Group has published a Discworld calendar for the year 2009. This year's featured artists include Paul Kidby and David Wyatt, who have done several book covers in the Discworld series, Stephen Player, who did conceptual art for the Hogfather mini-series, Les Edwards, David Frankland, Mel Grant, Dominic Harman, Edward Miller, Jackie Morris, Sandy Nightingale, and Jon Sullivan.
The calendar is in full-colour and features scenes and characters from the novels.
26 December 2008 Comment!
A biography about Neil Gaiman, who co-wrote Good Omens with Terry Pratchett, features a foreword by Terry Pratchett. Titled A Slightly Worn But Still Quite Lovely Foreword, the foreword states of Neil Gaiman, “You're in the hands of a master conjurer. Or, quite possibly, a wizard.”
The biography, Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman, was released October 28, 2008.
25 December 2008 Comment!
A University Of Warwick podcast released on September 17, 2008 interviews Colour Of Magic director and screen-writer Vadim Jean.
Jean adapted and directed the first live-action film based on the Discworld novels, Hogfather, and subsequently adapted the first two Discworld novels into another made-for-TV film, titled The Colour Of Magic. The next planned adaptation is Going Postal, based on the book of the same name.
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.
25 December 2008 Comment!
As of October 27, a group of fans (Ankh-Morpork Experience) opened up a world on Second Life based on the city of Ankh-Morpork. In a message sent to members of the Terry Pratchett Fans group, the fans announced “THE GRAND OPENING OF THE ANKH MORPORK EXPERIENCE SIM.”
The Second Life world includes the fans' conceptions of many buildings found in Ankh-Morpork, including the infamous bar The Mended Drum, the patrician's palace, a temple, and some of the guilds' buildings.
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.
25 December 2008 Comment!
Today at 12:00 in England BBC Radio 4 aired a special holiday edition of their program With Great Pleasure, which featured Terry Pratchett and some of his favorite pieces of writing.
A recording of the fifty-three minute show is available via BBC's Listen Again feature, however the BBC site requires Real Player to play. (For those who are worried about Real Player's security holes and intrusive nature, Real Alternative is an open-source software that many users use as an alternative.) (This is in no way an endorsement. Don't blame us if installing either piece of software causes problems with your computer.)
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.
24 December 2008 Comment!
Amazon looks back on the ten years since it started (and subsequently became a book sales juggernaut) with a Hall Of Fame listing the yearly top ten bestsellers, and four of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels make it onto the lists.
Carpe Jugulum is the fourth bestselling title for 1998, The Fifth Elephant is the eighth bestselling title for 1999, Night Watch is the second bestselling title for 2002, and Monstrous Regiment is the seventh bestselling title for 2003.
Other books in the Hall Of Fame are the Harry Potter books, Who Moved My Cheese?, The God Delusion, The Time Traveler's Wife, and The Kite Runner.
24 December 2008 Comment!
South Wales libraries report 53,000 books stolen or not returned in the last two years–and at the forefront of “the most popular books to be taken and never returned” are Terry Pratchett's novels, the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling, and books by Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson.
23 December 2008 Comment!
Terry Pratchett, along with four other recipients, received an honorary degree at Trinity College Dublin at their Winter commencements ceremony on December 12, 2008. He and acclaimed naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough received Doctors in Letters, while astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, researcher Dame Ann Dowling, and criminologist David P. Farrington were awarded degrees in science.
Terry Pratchett gave a public interview the next day (December 13th), at which more than four hundred fifty fans–including the Trinity College Dublin Dean Of Research Dr. David Lloyd–were present. The interview, which was chaired by Lloyd, was followed by a reception.
23 December 2008 Comment!
The website for Tim White, the cover artist for the early Terry Pratchett novels The Dark Side Of The Sun and Strata (New English Library paperback editions), is on-line again after a hiatus. The site features his cover art for Terry Pratchett's novels as well as for Neuromancer by Gibson, Hothouse by Brian Aldiss, and an anthology of Asimov's works.
The artwork for The Dark Side Of The Sun (shown left) is available as a print and a postcard. Interestingly, as the website says, “The robot fly is a miniature surveillance device disguised as an insect. An earlier drawing of a robot fly by the artist coincided almost perfectly with the story and was used with few alterations for the final cover design.”
The cover art for Strata is shown at the right.
Custom prints (of various sizes), cards, t-shirts, jewelry, mugs, and other miscellaneous items are available on the website.
23 December 2008 Comment!
A limited edition of Nation is available for pre-order at Waterstones. The book jacket features stars, constellations, and a telescope.
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.
21 December 2008 Comment!
Random House CEO Markus Dohle stated in a December 18th memo that Terry Pratchett's writing is part of “an amazing lineup” of works to be published in 2009, which he expects to help Random House through a year that economists predict will be bleak.
Dohle mentions that in 2009, Random House's many imprints have plans to publish hardcovers, paperbacks, audiobooks, and e-books with “enormous commercial potential” by many popular authors, including Margaret Atwood, Maeve Binchy, Ann Brashares, Lee Child, Deepak Chopra, Ann Coulter, Richard Dawkins, John Grisham, Stephen Hawking, Carl Hiaasen, Tracy Kidder, Sophie Kinsella, Dean Koontz, Rachael Ray, Danielle Steel, Martha Stewart, Anne Tyler, and of course Terry Pratchett.
To read the rest visit the FromRimToHub.com page for the article by clicking the above large-text link.
