Paul Cornell’s Friday Newsletter
For July 11th. What an amazing week!
My New Social Media Banner
This is my new banner, for use on social media and in vertical form at trade shows. (The designer asked not to be credited because they don’t seek more of this sort of work, it was a favour.) I like how it reminds me of how many original graphic novels I’ve written. I haven’t done so badly! And there are more to come.
Doctor Who: Goth Opera is Out This Month!
My podcast partner Lizbeth Myles, already one of Big Finish’s most acclaimed writers, is going to be adapting into audio drama for them my Doctor Who novel Goth Opera!
This Fifth Doctor vampire adventure with Nyssa and Tegan guest stars Richard Armitage, Natalie Gumede and Micah Balfour, and will be out in July!
You can read all about it here at Sci-Fi Bulletin and pre-order at Big Finish’s site here.
(This lovely final cover art by Sean Longmore.)
I’m a Hugo Awards Finalist!
The graphic novel by myself, artist Valeria Burzo and colour artist Jordie Bellaire, The Witches of World War 2, is a Finalist in the Best Graphic Story or Comic category in this year’s Hugo Awards!
The Awards will be given out at the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow (August 8th-12th), and I’ll be at the ceremony. So wish me luck!
Those of you who are members of the convention, and thus able to vote, will find the complete digital version of the graphic novel in their Voter Packets, courtesy of our kind publishers, TKO.
Thanks again to everyone who nominated us!
The Complete(d) Saucer Country is in Stores in September!
The Syzygy/Image edition of The Complete(d) Saucer Country, which has an entirely different design from the Zoop crowdfunded edition, will be in comic and book stores on September 4th, and is now available for pre-order from Amazon!
We’re Going Back to Thought Bubble!
Lizbeth Myles and I will once more be running at table at the great Thought Bubble comics convention in Harrogate on 16th-17th November! I’m looking forward to meeting once again so many lovely comics fans.
The Death of Wolverine
As announced here on ICv2, on 27th November Marvel will be releasing an omnibus edition of the Death of Wolverine storyline, featuring not only the miniseries of that name, but also my entire run on the comic. I’m very pleased that all this material will now be available in one volume.
There are going to be two covers, this regular one from Alex Ross…
And this direct market exclusive version from Joe Quesada.
It’s available to pre-order on Amazon, and at all good bookstores and comic shops.
I’m In a New Anthology!
I’m one of many authors who’ll have stories in Jendia Gammon’s forthcoming cross-genre anthology, which she’s funding on Ko-fi! Check it out here!
My Ko-fi and eBay Stores
I’ve re-stocked my Ko-fi store, where you can buy my books and comics, signed and personalised, and now I’ve set up shipping to a range of international destinations.
Similarly, I’ve now re-stocked my ebay store, full of Bronze Age Marvel comics at bargain prices.
Hammer House of Podcast
Hammer House of Podcast, in which myself and Lizbeth Myles watch the Hammer horror movies in UK release order, is out on the 13th of every month, with our June episode being about Wake Wood. These modern Hammers will take us until the end of the year, and then we’ll be announcing our sequel podcast!
You can get these episodes free wherever you normally get your podcasts, as well as on our site, but if you sign up to our Patreon, for any sum of money from £1/$1, you get an extra episode every month too, on the 27th, in which we watch Patron requested movies and films from other horror studios of the same era.
(We differ quite a lot about this one.)
Find my Books at Bookshop.Org and Help Out Indie Booksellers!
Bookshop.org is a collective selling tool that sets up a marketplace for all indie bookstores in the UK, functioning exactly like Amazon, except you’re supporting your local bookshop. You can find a selection of my books here, and I get a little cut of the proceeds too if you order from here!
My Linktree
You can now find all my social media links, my website/blog and links to where you can buy my books, in one place here, thanks to Linktree!
The Work of Friends (Play Online D&D With Me!)
Uncanny Magazine, the home to so much excellent cutting-edge SFF, and the home to many of my friends, is having its annual subscription Kickstarter, where among the many backer rewards is the chance to play an online RPG with myself and several other author guests! Check it out here!
My Week
It has been a packed week, and a rather joyous one! The London Comic Festival on Saturday was a wonderfully relaxed experience. I ran a game show called Imaginary Stories, with Mike Carey, Mike Collins, Gary Erskine, Sonia Leong, Rachael Smith and Emma Vieceli. The crowd enjoyed themselves, with Gary’s surreal probing of the other team and Mike Carey’s ability to convince anyone of anything standing out. Thanks to so many of you subscribers who came over to say hi.
On Tuesday I very much enjoyed Develop in Brighton, my first big games convention as a guest. This was a well-organised industry event, with the Meet To Match system in place, a sort of speed dating for freelancers and companies, where rather than do a complex social dance to get a meeting you just indicate your interest on the app. After you’ve met with your prospective employer for half an hour the woman in charge stands up and rings a little bell and the next bunch of aspirants troop in. I had three such meetings in the one day I could be there, and got some exciting potential gigs out of it. The panel I was on, talking about narrative structure as it can apply to games, was great fun, and I enjoyed a long catch-up after with Rhianna Pratchett, who continues to be one of the smartest writers around. I’d got up at 4am to drive in, and my phone, exhausted by my meetings, just had time to suggest an entirely different cross-country route on the way back before bricking. Nevertheless, just going on memory and place names, I tacked back across the English countryside, and enjoyed, just for once, knowing how to get from one place to another.
Liz has been staying this week, and it’s a joy having her around. On Wednesday the three of us went to a cricket match in the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, a fifty over game between Western Storm and The Blaze at Cheltenham College. Sheer relaxation, and watching Liz get into cricket (especially the women’s game) has been extraordinary. I took a couple of photos, mainly because I was so delighted to have England legend Tammy Beaumont right in front of us and chatting to people. But this was the best of the shots and it’s still not that great.
Yesterday, Liz and I went back to Cheltenham and, when we popped into the Proud Lion comic shop, Liz noticed something I never had: they’ve got a plaque up commemorating when I opened the store! (In an entirely different location!) How come I never registered that?
Then last night was Tom’s big performance. Caroline and I went in to to school in the evening to see his turn as Knight #4 in Shrek: The Musical Jr. It was a great show, by the standards of school plays (Pinocchio stole it with great timing and just the right voice). Thomas delighted us by doing the The Play That Goes Wrong thing of turning to grin at us at opportune moments, but otherwise did his running, reacting and joining in the chorus with great concentration, all while wearing his ear defenders. At the end the Headmistress gave a tearful speech about how the staff knew that onstage were a number of pupils who they had not imagined, when they first arrived at the school, would be capable of being part of such a performance, and we knew she was talking in part about Thomas. Afterwards he was justifiably proud of himself, then, feeling it was all a bit too much, quickly switched the conversation back to his engines.
Tonight, Caroline, Liz and I are off to watch Chic and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, which should be amazing. The San Diego Comic Con panels list is going up, one day at a time as always, so I’ve been busy setting up meetings. (With some very promising ones arranged already.) I’m going to dive back into the novel on the plane. Every now and then, I think, a week of fun, particularly in summer, is the refreshment one needs to keep one’s writer brain in good order. Next week is Thomas’ last week of Primary School, so that will be just as busy, but perhaps a little more tearful.
To Be Continued
Goth Opera should be out sometime soon! I’m really looking forward to the audience response to that amazing script.
And I look forward to seeing you all here again next week!
Thanks!
Oh, I love Sophie Ellis-Bextor! Enjoy!