Bonsai Discworld

Just in from Colin Smythe:

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From the latest Transworld catalogue,

THUD!

Koom Valley? That was where the trolls ambushed the dwarves, or the dwarves ambushed the trolls. It was far away. It was a long time ago.

But if he doesn't solve the murder of just one dwarf, Commander Sam Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch is going to see the battle fought again, right outside his office.

With his beloved Watch crumbling around him and war-drums sounding, he must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin and brave any darkness to find the solution. And darkness is following him.

ISBN 0-385-60867-5     1 October 2005

WHERE'S MY COW?

A Discworld picture book. Illustrated by Melvin Grant

At six o'clock every day, without fail, with no excuses, Sam Vimes must go home to read Where's My Cow?, with all the right farmyard noises, to his little boy. There are some things you have to do. It is the most loved and chewed book in the world.

    But his father wonders why it is full of moo-cows and baa-lambs when Young Sam will only ever see them cooked on a plate. He can think of a more useful book for a boy who lives in a city.

    So Sam Vimes starts adapting the story. A story with streets, not fields. A book with rogues and villains. A book about the place where he'll grow up.

ISBN 0-385 60937-X 1 October 2005

A HAT FULL OF SKY has been included in the 2005 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list.

You may wish to have a quick look at www.paulkidby.com, where you can see the cover artwork for the books 'Thud!' and 'The Science of Discworld 3'

The Thud cover is clearly based on the Gaming edition of the Thud set as produced by Bernard 'Cunning Artificer' Pearson. Even in the long life of Discworld Merchandise, this appears to be the first time that the Merchandise was produced LONG before the book was due for release!

If you don't already have a Thud set, then nows the time to get yourself one, as it's sure to become THE thing for all Discworld fans to own on the release of the Book. You wan't to make sure you've had time to develop some strategies! Have a look in the Miscellaneous section of our own Discworld store at www.bonsaitrading.com where the Thud sets are ready and waiting for you.

News just in from Colin Smythe:

The BBC's radio adaptation of MORT, produced by Claire Grove, is being rebroadcast by Radio 4, starting on Tuesday 25th January at 23.00 GMT, continuing at the same time on February 1st, 8th and 15th.

Some news on translations:

Finland. Karisto are taking licences for MEN AT ARMS and SOUL MUSIC

Norway: Tiden Norsk are taking LORDS AND LADIES

France: L'Atalante have just published Patrick Couton's translation of THE AMAZING MAURICE

Germany: Piper will be publishing ERIC in both illustrated and unillustrated formats, as well as issuing The Science of Discworld 2 and 3

Russia: Eksmo will be publishing THE UNADULTERATED CAT. (It was last published in Russian in 1994, jointly by Vagrius (Moscow) and Belvagrius (Minsk)

The estimated audience for Terry's radio satellite tour for HarperCollins in America on 25 May was very nearly 4 million.

Gollancz have licensed Interesting times, Maskerade, Feet of Clay and Hogfather to Varrak in Estonia, and Lords and Ladies to Karisto in Finland

Vuzev/Arhont-V have acquired Bulgarian licences for Night Watch, Monstrous Regiment and Nanny Ogg's Cook Book from Transworld

The Wee Free Men has won the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel of 2003: here's HarperCollin's announcement -

Terry Pratchett's THE WEE FREE MEN wins Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel

The Locus Awards are presented to winners of Locus Magazine's annual readers' poll, which was established in the early 1970s. Over the decades the Locus Awards have often drawn more voters than the Hugo and Nebula awards combined. In recent years Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet, and unlike any other award, explicitly honor publishers of winning works with certificates.

With over 35 million books sold, Terry Pratchett is an international publishing superstar whose work appeals to a broad spectrum of readers. The Wee Free Men is a riveting adventure that is equal parts suspense and humor. Armed with only a frying pan, young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching goes on a quest to save her kidnapped younger brother aided by the rowdy Nac Mac Feegle, a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men.

PRAISE FOR THE WEE FREE MEN

'A lovely romp for Pratchett fans of all ages.' Locus Magazine

'With its wry wit, this is good solid storytelling.' The New York Times

'An enthralling and rewarding read.' Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

'A funny and thought-provoking fantasy.'“ School Library Journal (Starred Review)

'Terry brings skill, talent, and commitment to his children's books, creating rich, thought-provoking stories that, like the true classics of children's literature, resonate with readers of all ages,' says Anne Hoppe, US editor of Pratchett's works for young readers. 'That he does all of this and makes you laugh so hard you fall out of your chair is a tribute to his unique genius. It\s thrilling to see his extraordinary work for young readers honored by Locus Magazine,' she continues.

Announced in the July issue of Locus Magazine, which is currently on newsstands, the awards will officially be presented at a ceremony at Worldcon in Boston, on September 3, 2004.

One of the world's best-selling novelists, Terry Pratchett is known for his brilliantly funny Discworld series. In 2002, he was awarded Britain's Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. His other books for children include The Bromeliad Trilogy and A Hat Full of Sky, the sequel to The Wee Free Men. Mr. Pratchett lives in the English chalk country.

Many of you are probably aware that Terry Pratchett is the Guest of Honour at the upcoming Worldcon 'Noreascon Four'. More information on the event can be found at http://www.noreascon.org/

Well, it's traditional for the Noreascon to publish a book to commemorate their guest of honour, and this time is no different. From a list of his various Short Stories, Articles, Book Introductions etc, Terry has chosen a selection to appear in a volume called 'Once more* with footnotes'. While not a Complete set of every 'non-book' Terry has written, it appears to cover quite a lot of ground.

It's not yet publshed (the Noreascon isn't until September), but it can be seen at: http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Pratchett.html. We believe this book will be available for general purchase after this time, but will bring you more information as soon as we know.

News in from Colin Smythe -

I'm delighted to say that on 16 July Terry receives his fourth honorary doctorate - a LittD from the University of Bristol.

Stephen Briggs featured among the 2004 Audie Award winners, in the Science Fiction category, as reader of Monstrous Regiment, published in the USA by Harper Audio and in Britain by Isis. The Audies are the annual awards handed out by the (American) Audio Publishers Association, so this award went to Harper Audio.

L'Atalante have signed contract for French editions of The Fifth Elephant and The Truth Noesis in Romania are buying Sourcery Borgens in Denmark are buying Mort and Sourcery Pocket Books in France are buying mass market paperback rights in Interesting Times and Maskerade

Proszynski in Poland have just published Feet of Clay, and Terry has just returned from a four day signing which had it been twice as long would not have satisfied Polish fans. They had to be turned away from the shops in their hundreds as there were too many wanting their books signed. At t one time he was signing 20 books a minute; the only way to leave two of the shops to catch the last train was with the help of a column of security guards!

News of these whistle stop 'Hatful of Sky' signings is just in from Colin Smythe :

Friday 30th April
1.00pm            Borders, Birmingham
6.00pm            Waterstones, Stratford on Avon

Saturday 1st May
12.00noon       Same Day Books, Windsor
4.45pm            Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London

Tuesday 4th May
12.30pm          Methvens, Worthing
4.45pm            W.H.Smith, Brighton

Wednesday 5th May
12.45pm          Waterstones, Winchester
5.00pm            Ottakars, Portsmouth

News in from Colin Smythe -

As it was becoming too large and bulky for me to keep at home, about two years ago I gave my main collection of Terry Pratchett's books (in about 30 languages), together with publicity and merchandise material to the University of London Library in Malet Street, where it is known by the rather cumbersome title of "The Colin Smythe Terry Pratchett Archive", and continues to grow as I add new publications, etc. to it.

One of the librarians, Margaret Blackburn, has been cataloguing the archive (on a part-time basis) for the past 18 months, and the Library has now put on display a 'taster' preview of some of the material from the collection. This Pratchett Preview will be open to the public until 5 June 2004.

Mrs Blackburn has so far catalogued nearly eleven hundred of the books in the collection, and has also started work on the models, alcoholic beverages, audio and video material, games (computer and otherwise), t-shirts, jewellery, jigsaws and other Pratchettiana.

Information on how to get to the display in the Senate House, the catalogue and some pictures can be found at the following address http://www.ull.ac.uk/exhibitions/pratchett/exhibition.shtml. Clicking on the images leads to relevant pictures.

I hope a much larger exhibition will be shown in the Library's main display area next year.

Colin

Some general info in from Colin Smythe:

At the same time as A Hat Full of Sky is published at the end of April Corgi are launching The Carpet People, The Truckers and Johnny Maxwell trilogies with new covers, and The Wee Free Men, in two formats, the standard mass-market size, and the slightly larger B-format (both are the same price). The Carpet People and the Truckers trilogy have cover illustrations by David Wyatt, while those for the Johnny Maxwell volumes are designed by Henry Steadman (www.hen.uk.com).

ISBNs The Carpet People: B-format: 0-552-55105-8; mass-market: 0-552-55107-4
Truckers: B-format: 0-552-55100-7; mass-market: 0-552-55108-2
Diggers:B-format: 0-552-55101-5; mass-market: 0-552-55109-0
Wings: B-format: 0-552-55102-3; mass-market: 0-552-55110-4
Only You Can Save Mankind: B-format: 0-552-55103-1; mass-market 0-552-55111-2
Johnny and the Dead:B-format: 0-552-55106-6; mass-market: 0-552-55112-0
Johnny and the Bomb: B-format: 0-552-55104-X; mass-market: 0-552-55104-X
The Amazing Maurice & his Educated Rodents:B-format 0-552-55202-X (the mass market edition remains unchanged)
The Wee Free Men: B-format 0-552-54905-3; mass-market 0-552-55186-4

I've just received a copy of HarperCollins' Hardcover Fall 2004 catalog, containing their announcement of Going Postal, which is described as "A splendid send-up of government, the postal system, and everything that lies in between". It will be published first week of October.

"Convicted con-man and forger Moist van Lipwig is given a choice. Face the hangman's noose, or get Ankh-Morpork's ancient post office up and running efficiently! It was a tough decision....

Now, the former criminal is facing really big problems. There's tons of undelivered mail. Ghosts are talking to him. One of the postmen is 18,000 years old. And you really wouldn't want to know what his new girlfriend can do with a shoe.

To top it off, shadowy characters don't want the mail moved. Instead, they want him dead - deader than all those dead letters. (And here he'd thought that all he'd have to face was rain, snow, and gloom of night..."

New Zealand and Australia tour. Terry says:
"Things are still flexible, but I'll likely fly to NZ at the end of October, do a week there, including South Island, and then go to Oz for the following:
Monday November 8: Brisbane
Tuesday November 9: Sydney
Wednesday November 10: Canberra
Thursday November 11: Melbourne
Friday November 12: Melbourne/Perth
Saturday November 13: Perth signing AM?
PM finish tour

Discworld is now going to be published in Korea; Sigongsa are contracting to publish THE COLOUR OF MAGIC and THE LIGHT FANTASTIC. (Not the first time Terry has been published in Korean - a firm called Game published ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND, but it is now out of print.)

Mondadori are contracting for an Italian edition of Good Omens.

News in from Colin Smythe -

As many will now know, The Wee Free Men was judged winner of the Teen Choice WHSmith Book Award for 2004. For further information, visit http://www.whsmithbookawards.co.uk/whsmith/awards_results.php Photographs of the awards ceremony in the Ballroom at the Dorchester Hotel in London are promised on this site.

For those who are unaware of the site, I'd suggest you look at Transworld's about Terry. Among other things, it reproduces the posters used on Railway stations and the underground for Monstrous Regiment http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/terrypratchett/home.htm

Sekatchev Publishers of Moscow have contracted to publish Russian language editions of STRATA and THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUN, the first volume to be published within the next 18 months, the next within the following year.

Psichogios intend to publish Greek translations of Sourcery and Wyrd Sisters in Autumn 2004

Mondadori will be publishing an Italian language edition of A Hat Full of Sky.

The Crown Players are proud to present their production of Terry Pratchett's Maskerade at The Kings Theatre, Kingsbarton Street, Gloucester, UK Tues 27th April - Sat 1st May, performances start at 7.30pm

Tickets £6 and £5 from 01452 532661, or the Tourist Information office on 01452 396572 (two-for-one on the Tuesday).

News in from Colin Smythe -

American Audie Award Finalists

The Audio Publishers Association has announced the finalists for its 9th Annual Audie Awards, honoring excellence in audio publishing. A total of 125 finalists in 27 categories made the cut. A panel of 100 judges culled this list of contending titles from over 500 initial entries. Audio titles eligible for the award were released between November 1, 2002 and October 31, 2003.

Winners will be announced during the Audie Awards black-tie gala, which will be held Friday, June 4, at the Winter Garden Room in the Harold Washington Public Library Center in Chicago. APA members and their guests, including a varied roster of authors and narrators, will be on hand for the festivities.

Audiobook listeners can feel like part of the Audie process, too, by entering an interactive contest on the APA Web site (http://www.audiopub.org/ ). Beginning April 1, visitors to the site can listen to sound clips of the finalists and vote for their favorites in each category. Everyone who enters the contest will also be entered in a drawing for a Grand Prize of an audiobook collection.

Here's the section of particular interest to Pratchett fans:

Fiction, Unabridged

* All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki, read by Anna Fields (Blackstone Audiobooks)
* The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, read by Erik Singer (Hyperion Audiobooks)
* The Last Detective by Robert Crais, read by James Daniels (Brilliance Audio)
* Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs (Harper Audio)
* The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, read by Sarita Choudhury (Random Audio)

News just in from Colin Smythe -

Terry, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen have signed an agreement with Ebury Press for a third Science of Discworld book, presently called Darwin's Watch. From Amazon's site, I gather the ISBN is 0-09-189823-4 and expected publication date is May 2005.

Bonsai Discworld says: Amazon are well known in the Discworld community to be somewhat prior with their book announcements, so we'll have to wait and see how accurate May 2005 actually is!

Some rights news from Colin Smythe -

Dutch rights: De Boekerij are to publish Night Watch and The Wee Free Men

Finnish: Karisto are to publish Small Gods and are also going to publish paperback editions of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. The had published The Wee Free Men and have contracted A Hat Full of Sky

Slovenia: Vale-Novak are to publish The Colour of Magic

Brazil: Conrad are buying Pyramids and Guards! Guards!

Slovak language: Talpress are to publish Slovak edition of The Light Fantastic and Equal Rights

Japanese: Choeisha are buying Reaper Man

Spanish rights: Random House Mondadori are buying trade rights in Interesting Times and in an unillustrated edition of Eric

Poland: Terry has received the "AS EMPIKU" award (Empik being the major chain of bookstores in Poland) for the best book in the Foreign Fantastic Fiction 2003 category for "Interesting Times". The book won it as a result of voting by Polish readers.

The Wee Free Men is also to be published in Chinese [Taiwan] by Commonwealth; Czech by Talpress; Danish by Borgens and in Greek by Psichogios.

Peter Johnson of ISIS publishing has written a new article for us, looking into the Morality of the Discworld. Peter is keen to hear your views on the subject, or indeed on anything Discworldy that he could write about in future articles, so visit the Features section now and see if it spurs you into putting pen to paper! (ok, fingers to keyboard).

Some news from Paul Kruzycki at BursarVixen -

We are delighted to announce the release of our latest range of mugs featuring the artwork of Josh Kirby.

This exclusive range of mugs features the cover artwork from 7 of the most popular Discworld novels, reproduced in stunning clarity using the latest dye sublimation techniques.

Please visit http://www.bursarvixen.com/ to see the range and start your collection. The mugs are being offered at a special introductory price for one month only.

In addition, our 7th Paul Kidby mug is now available for purchase. Limited to a production run of 100 and only available to those who purchase the full set of 6 Paul Kidby mugs (see our site for details), this is an investment for the future as there is going to be heavy demand once all 100 are sold.

The MR mug replaces the planned Nac Mac Feegle mug initially advertised which we regret could not be produced due to copyright issues.

You can still purchase all 6 Kidby designs as a group or separately and, if you are interested in purchasing the 7th but cannot afford to get the whole set now, mail us and we will look at reserving your limited edition mug for the future. You will be able to purchase 1 or 2 mugs each month until the set is complete.

Those who have already purchased the 6 mugs have already been contacted and given details of how to purchase the 7th Kidby mug.

Thanks for your time.

Paul Kruzycki

Sutton in Ashfield Dramatic Society will be performing The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents from 21st to 24th April 2004 at Sutton Centre Theatre, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. Tickets cost £4.80 / £4.30 concessions, and are available on 01623 457700 or 457666. More information can be gained from rebecca.scott@nottingham.ac.uk .

This voting has started in the WH Smith Book Awards for 2004. Among the nominated books is The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. All those who vote will also be entered into a prize draw to win some great prizes.

You can vote by clicking here, with all votes to be cast by 25-Feb-2004.

Some news just in from Colin Smythe -

Anne Hoppe at HarperCollins has sent me an email listing all the honours that The Wee Free Men has received in the US, and I thought it would be of interest to you. Here's what she wrote:-

We're just through with the American Library Association Midwinter conference here, making it an excellent time to bring you up-to-date on all the year-end-type-honors The Wee Free Men has accrued in the US. A very nice collection!

*An ALA [American Library Association] Notable Book
*An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
*A Horn Book Fanfare Title of Best Books of 2003
*A Kirkus 2003 Editor’s Choice
*A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
*A Parenting Book of Year Award-winner
*A Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book
*A New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing book
Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media, Inc: “Recognizes achievement in children’s books 2003”
starred reviews in Horn Book, Kirkus, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kliatt

ISIS Publishing have released an unabridged recording of Monstrous Regiment and it is once again read by Stephen Briggs.

It is available on 9 cassettes or 10 CD's with the details as follows -

9 cassettes 19.99UKP

10 compact discs 26.99UKP

Postage & packaging is 2.50UKP for one book and 3.50UKP for two or more and can be bought from ISIS either by phoning 0800 731 5637 or by visiting their website at www.isis-publishing.co.uk.

You will also soon be able to buy it from our sister site www.bonsaitrading.com.

If our information is correct (it is, but we like to build up suspense), then today is the 20th anniversary of the publication of 'The Colour Of Magic' - which was of course the first Discworld Novel.

For those of us who were still in short trousers back then, it was likely something that slipped by unmentioned (like Harry Potter should have done), but who could have known the effect it would have.

More books, short stories etc later than even our Merchandise database cares to count, and Terry is still going strong, sending his special brand of comedy and story-telling to an ever growing audience. So, to Terry as always, Bonsai Discworlds Thanks for bringing it all to us, and on this glorious day, our Congratulations!

The next Discworld event on the Calendar is Bernard Pearsons (The Cunning Artificer) Hogswatch gathering in Wincanton, Somerset, on the 6th & 7th of December. (Visit www.artificer.co.uk for more information on the event.)

The big occasion at the Hogswatch event is the Sausage Supper – which is taking place on Saturday 6th December at 7.30pm.

The sausage supper is a true feast, and as such takes some serious planning. Its to this end that Bernard takes bookings as far in advance as possible.

Now, the recent postal strikes have made life a bit difficult, with people avoiding sending in their Booking forms for fear of loss or delay, so Bernard has asked that we broadcast one simple message to all who have yet to reserve their place at the Supper:

‘Phone (01963) 824686 and ask Isobel for a Sausage Booking'

Now, its not the snappiest message in the world, we grant you, and possibly open to dubious interpretation, but it gets to the point. When you add on that you can Email Isobel on Isobel@artificer.co.uk, it gets the point across even better.

A seat at the Sausage supper (which is so large it spreads across several different locations - that’s the event, not the meal itself…) can be yours for the measly sum of £8.50, and you even get to choose whether you want Meat or a Vegetarian meal – who could ask for more.

Get your booking in Now, or you could turn up on the Saturday night and be that lonely one, sat at the bar, pained expressions of hunger on your face, and you don’t want that. (Actually, WE don’t want that either, it puts you off your food…

Some news from Colin Smythe -

F.A.Thorpe have just published a large print edition of THE TRUTH under their Charnwood imprint - ISBN 0-7089-4963-0

The Russian publishers Eksmo have acquired a licence for JINGO, and licences for a number of double volumes - THE COLOUR OF MAGIC with THE LIGHT FANTASTIC, GUARDS! GUARDS! with MEN AT ARMS, and WITCHES ABORAD and LORDS AND LADIES. I believe that PYRAMIDS with SMALL GODS and MORT with REPEAER MAN have already appeared, though I haven't yet seen these.

Tiden Norsk are acquiring Norwegian rights in WITCHES ABROAD and SMALL GODS

The Polish published Proszynski are going to issue SOURCERY and WYRD SISTERS in hardcover format. Hitherto the books have only been available in paperback.

I've just been sent copies of the French (L'Atalante), Polish (Proszynski), Czech (Talpress) and Bulgarian (Vuzev) editions of THE LAST HERO, so they should be available in the relevant countries soon.

Some news from Colin Smythe regarding the recent signing tour cancellations -

As many fans will have discovered, Terry has had to cancel the signings scheduled for this week as a result of a bug he picked up in the US on his signing tour there. I've had a number of concerned emails from anxious people, so I asked Terry for something I could send out for those fans who had not seen the news on afp. He wrote

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Insofar as there is any 'formal' story it's:

I arrived back from the US last week with a sore throat, probably picked up on the flight between Austin and New York;

It blossomed to flu-like proportions by Friday, so I got equipped with prescription painkillers (which did no good at all) and antibiotics.

I managed the Basingstoke signing but fell into bed when I got home, and was so bad on Sunday that we agreed to write Monday off and start touring on Wednesday (Tuesday was off anyway because of Lyn's birthday). By Tuesday things were worse, and while I'm pretty game the thought of the flight to Edinburgh was just too daunting. At this point, we agreed to cancel the tour for the rest of the week, because it'd be fairer on the shops and people to say so right then rather that drag things out.

And that's it, really. Mostly the problem was the throat, which was so bad that until Wednesday I wasn't really sleeping at night at all. I can't really remember much about Monday and Tuesday at all, although I must have had bouts of coherence, usually at 4.30am. Today, Friday, I slept until almost twelve, which was probably the system catching up.

That's it, really. No one takes the decision that that lightly. I've done about sixty tours now without hitting a problem like this, at least to the extent of cancelling anything, but any tour -- especially a big one, with changing time zones and sudden changes of temperatures, erratic sleeping, irregular meals, shops full of people and a regular exposure to the cocktail of germs in the aircraft -- is prone to something like this.

Terry Pratchett
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However, Terry is certain that he'll be able to carry out the signings next wednesday, at noon at Barrett's, 47 Market Street, St Neots, Cambridgeshire and at 6.00pm at Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2

More news from Colin Smythe -

I've mentioned that Terry had five novels in the 100 books most loved by their readers in the BBC's The Big Read, but I see that in the volume published by Dorling Kindersley The Big Read Book of Books (ISBN 1-4053-0405-7) one can learn their relative positions not only in the top 100 but in the second hundred as well, where 10 of Terry's Discworld books featured. The positions are on the basis of numbers of votes cast for each title, which are not given:

65 Mort
68 Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman)
69 Guards! Guards!
73 Night Watch
93 The Colour of Magic

102 Small Gods
126 Reaper Man
135 Wyrd Sisters
137 Hogfather
148 Men at Arms
151 Soul Music
152 Thief of Time
153 The Fifth Elephant
193 The Truth
197 Witches Abroad

Colin

Terry Pratchett will be appearing on the Radio 2 Drivetime show tonight - which means he will be being interviewed by Noel Edmonds - oh dear...

The Drivetime show starts at 5pm, at which point Terry will be in the BBC chatroom (a link to which is on this page.). Guest interviews usually start around 6-6.30pm.

Here are the long awaited dates for Terrys Monstrous Regiment/Night Watch signing tour.

Saturday 18 October
12 noon: Ottakars, Festival Place, Basingstoke

Monday 20 October
12 noon: Border's, Clifton Promenade, Bristol
6pm: WH Smith's, 10-12 Regent Street, Swindon

Wednesday 22 October
1pm: Ottakar's, George St., Edinburgh
6pm: Border's, Buchanan St., Glasgow

Thursday 23 October
5pm: Waterstone's, St. Ann's Square, Manchester

Friday 24 October
c.11.45am: Border's, 1-5 Davygate, York
6pm: Waterstone's, Grand Buildings, Jameson Street, Hull

Saturday 25 October
12.30pm: WH Smith, Listergate, Nottingham

Wednesday 29 October
12pm: Barrett's of St. Neot's, 47 Market Square, St. Neot's, Cambs.
6pm: Forbidden Planet, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Some info from Colin Smythe about the newly released Discworld Calendar:

The 2004 Discworld Calendar - officially 'Terry Pratchett's Discworld Collector's Edition 2004 Calendar' - (ISBN 0-575-07549-X) has now been published by Gollancz at 10.99 pounds including VAT.

The illustrators:-
Cover and July: 'Night Watch', by Paul Kidby
January: 'Thief (Detritus vs. Here 'N' Now)', by David Wyatt
February: 'Leonard of Quirm', by Mark Edwards
March: 'The Witches', by Sandy Nightingale
April: 'A'Tuin', by Gino D'Achille
May: 'The Gods of Discworld', by Angelo Rinaldi
June: 'Mr Brookes' Patented Elf Remedy', by Les Edwards
August: 'Wyrmburg', by Jackie Morris
September: 'Rincewind having trouble with the Octavo', by Stuart Williams
October: 'Carpe Jugulum', by David Frankland
November: 'When books of magic are left to themselves', by Sandy Nightingale
December: 'Mr & Mrs War', by David Wyatt

ISIS Publishing have released an unabridged recording of The Wee Free Men and it is once again read by Stephen Briggs.

It is available on 7 cassettes or CD's with the details as follows -

7 cassettes Â£18.99

7 compact discs Â£23.99

Postage & packaging is Â£2.50 for one book and Â£3.50 for two or more and can be bought from ISIS either by phoning 0800 731 5637 or by visiting their website at www.isis-publishing.co.uk.

You will also soon be able to buy it from our sister site www.bonsaitrading.com.

Some of you may have noticed the recent appreance of 'The Celebrated Discworld Almanac' on Amazon, with a publication date of October 2003.

Many people thought this was connected to the lack of publication of a Discworld Diary this year. Sorry folks, but NEITHER are happening!

Colin Smythe has confirmed to us that there is no Alamanac being published this year.

Paul Kidby has been so busy working on his upcoming Art of the Discworld book, that he couldn't commit to producing illustrations for a new diary this year. Also Terry didn't think any other theme was 'strong' enough for a diary. So, unless any suitable themes present themself, it is in fact unlikely that there will ever be another Discworld Diary produced. A great disappointment to all Kidby fans, and to those of us who have gotten used to using them to plan our lives!

Some news from Colin Smythe -

Terry's second Tiffany Aching novel is to be called A HAT FULL OF SKY. Granny Weatherwax features much more in this book than she did in WEE FREE MEN. It will be published simultaneously in Britain and the US at the end of April or beginning of May 2004.

Some rights news from Colin Smythe -

Marjan Tisak are buying Croatian rights in Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids and Guard! Guards!

Vuzev are acquiring Bulgarian rights in The Last Hero

Proszynski (Poland) are publishing the Thieves Guild Diary for 2004

Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir are acquiring Hebrew rights in Soul Music and Interesting Times

Psychogios are taking a licence for the Greek rights in Sourcery and Wyrd Sisters

Temas & Dabates are planning to published Portuguese editions of Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids and Guards! Guards!

The Unadulterated Cat will be published in French by City Editions of Montesson

Netopejr are going to publish a Czech edition of Guards! Guards! The Big Comic

Noesis will be publishing a Romanian edition of Mort

Talpress will be publishing a collection of Terry's short stories in Czech

More news from Colin Smythe -

Terry is GOH of Worldcom in 2004. A collection of his short stories and other short writings will be published to mark the event

News from BursarVixen on the latest additions to their Discworld Beer range.

'We are releasing two new Discworld beers at the Clarecraft Discworld Event from the 1st - 3rd August 2003.

Bonk Beer (Uberwald Pilsner) and Old Kingdom (Pyramids Ale) will both be available over the weekend. This first edition of the beer is limited to just 500 bottles and is bound to be popular. Both feature fantastic labels incorporating the work of Paul Kidby.

Both beers are ready, bottled and waiting to be consumed.

You can purchase online for dispatch by mail shortly after the official release date or buy the beer and collect it from the event itself.

For full details please visit http://www.bursarvixen.com and find your way to the beer section. You will need an account to purchase the beer, but this is free and easy to create.

We look forward to seeing you at the Event next weekend.'

As is traditional, there are some rare translations of Dave Hodges book (arts of falconrie and hawking) produced whenever a Discworld event comes around.

There is only ever ONE COPY of each book, which is sold by auction to raise money for the Orangutan Foundation.

This years will of course be available to bid on at the Clarecraft event, but if you cant be there you can still bid by proxy.

Editions available to bid on are:
BULGARIAN
POLISH
ORANG UTAN
SPANISH
MORSE CODE

As possibly these editions will also be ready in time:
ROMANIAN
LEONARD OF QUIRM
XXXX
GERMISH

All copies will be signed by the Discworld luminaries attending the event.

If you want to you can leave a bid with WADDY at waddy1@ntlworld.com stating "BID" in the subject and putting the price you want to pay and the name of the edition in the mail. There is a reserve price on all of them just in case. You should get a reply to say if you are the high bidder or not from Waddy.

All advance bids must be in by Midnight on Thursday 31st August 2003.

Following are extracts from the press release fby ISIS publishing regarding their audio book ranges:

Isis Publishing is set to lower the prices of all cassette titles in its series of unabridged audio recordings of Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" novels, release a raft of backlist titles on compact disc- and have secured the rights to publish the much anticipated audio version of The Last Hero!

The change in tape prices has come as a result of a general re-pricing of all Isis and Soundings audio books, the first in nearly a decade. On July 1st, all other new and backlist titles increased in price by £1.00 GBP per audio book. The "Discworld" series, however, will lose it's "loading" of between 3.00GBP and £8.00 GBP, which was applied for historical reasons that no longer apply. Hence, the cost of a 6-tape book will decrease from £19.99 GBP to £17.99 GBP; an 8-tape book, formerly £24.99 GBP will now cost £18.99 GBP.

There were no special prices for "Discworld" CD editions, so these will be subject to the modest price rise, costing £1.00 GBP more per book than previously.

On balance, we think this will be a welcome announcement for lovers of the Nigel Planer and Stephen Briggs superb readings of Terry's timelessly wonderful books.

Isis has also released a new batch of titles from the series in compact disc format in recent weeks. The following are now available on the Isis Publishing website, at the new price scale:

Title Read By No Discs Price Equal Rites, read by Celia Imrie, 7 CDs £23.99 GBP
Mort, read by Nigel Planer, 7 CDs £23.99 GBP
Reaper Man, read by Nigel Planer, 8 CDs £24.99 GBP
Soul Music , read byNigel Planer, 9 CDs £25.99 GBP
Sorcery, read by Nigel Planer, 7 CDs £23.99 GBP

Finally, some good news for all those TP fans who have bombarded us with letters asking about The Last Hero: yes, we have finally acquired the rights to record an unabridged audio edition of the book - with the one and only Mr Briggs in the narrator's chair!

The author wished to be satisfied that full justice could be done to a work in which the wonderful illustrations of Paul Kidby did so much to evoke the wonder and drama of the story. The version Isis will record will remain as faithful as possible to the original text and include virtually all of the text that appeared as footnotes or accompanied illustrations.

With The Wee Free Men due to appear in September, and Monstrous Regiment in the final quarter of 2003, The Last Hero will in all probability be published in the New Year.

---------------------

Obviously these price changes are being incorporated into Bonsai Trading as we speak, but there's a lot of changes to get through! New prices will be online very soon.

From Colin Smythe:

'The blurb about "Monstrous Regiment" in the new Transworld catalogue covering books being published under their various imprints in Summer 2003 to Winter 2004, reads as follows:

"It was a sudden strange fancy ...

"... and now Polly Perks, in her brother's clothes and her hair cut off, has joined up to fight for her country, just like the song says. But who is the enemy? What is she really fighting for? Why does she need a rolled-up pair of socks? War teaches you a lot, she finds, when it turns out that you joined ... the Monstrous Regiment."

and the blurb on the cover of the uncorrected book proof ('not for distribution or resale'):

"It began as a sudden strange fancy...

"Polly Perks had to become a boy in a hurry. Cutting off her hair and wearng trousers was easy. Learning to fart and belch in public and walk like an ape took more time...

"And now she's enlisted in the army, and searching for her lost brother. But there's a war on. There's always a war on. And Polly and her fellow recruits are suddenly in the thick of it, without any training, and the enemy is hunting them.

"All they have on their side is the most artful sergeant in the army and a vampire with a lust for coffee. Well ... they have the Secret. And as they take the war to the heart of the enemy, they have to use all the resources of ... the Monstrous Regiment."

--------------

AND while we are on this subject...

Here's the UK cover of Monstrous Regiment - illustrated by Paul Kidby - for your delectation!

HarperCollins have just released in interview with Terry Pratchett in which he talks about The Wee Free Men. Many thanks to Wiley Saichek who passed this on to us at Bonsai Discworld.

1. When you’re writing a new novel, do you “listen with your eyes” at the world about you, or does a character, or a voice come into your head? What happens to get you to sit down your desk and write the opening words of a new novel?

“I’m not sure. I start with a handful of semi-formed ideas and play around with them until they seem to make some sense. Actually typing is important to me – it kind of tricks my brain into gear. I’ve got a packrat mind, like most writers, and once I starting thinking hard about a new project all kinds of odd facts and recollections shuffle forward to get a place on the bus.”

2. When you were writing The Amazing Maurice, you did a good deal of research into rats and admitted that "I think I have read, in the past few months, more about rats than is good for me.” Now, can you tell us a little about researching those Wee Free Men … and did you have to get “a wee bittie sloshed” to do it?

“Well, ‘no’ to that last question – I actually put some thought into giving the Feegles a language that sounded right, and you need to be sober for that! This time around I didn’t need to do a lot of primary research. It’d be more accurate to say I spent some time checking up to be absolutely certain about things that I remembered from my general reading over many years, like the Yan Tan Tethera (the shepherd’s counting system) and one or two old customs of the Chalk country. The Feegles were easy. They practically created themselves! I can’t stress this enough – the best research is probably the research you’re doing when you don’t think you’re doing research.”

3. “[Tiffany] could put up with monsters. But she didn’t want to face mad boots.” Do you have any particular – or peculiar - fears?

“When I was a kid I was scared rigid of skeletons. So maybe you don’t have to have taken Psychology 101 to see why, in the adult Discworld series, I’ve made the skeletal Death almost a gentle figure.”

4. In The Wee Free Men, Tiffany comments that where she lives there are “a lot of people with a lot to do. There wasn’t enough time for silence.” Would this be as fair a comment from you about life for us all today as it is for Tiffany in the Chalk?

“More so, I think. We’ve banished silence from our lives. We seem to fear it. We fill the world with noise. I’m sure it makes us ill.

“The silence up on the Chalk that I mention in the book—well, we get that where I live. It doesn’t mean no sound at all, though. You hear the buzzards and the wind in the hedgerows and tractor sounds a long way off, and all of this gives the silence a kind of texture, makes it richer somehow.”

5. When you won the Carnegie Medal last year, you commented that “It’s nice to see humor taken seriously." (Actually, you probably commented that “It’s nice to see humour taken seriously” but …) Is writing YA novels something we can look forward to you continuing, and might we meet Tiffany, or any other characters again in future books?

“I’m playing with ideas for a sequel to TWFM, that’s certain. And that means the Feegles will be in it along with Tiffany. I’d like to follow her life for a while. But there are so many other things I want to do, too.”

6. We note with admiration that in a UK national poll conducted by the BBC you have five titles in the list of 100 all-time ‘best loved’ books, the same number as Charles Dickens. Does that make you feel proud?

“A bit. And puzzled, too. It’s only 4.5 titles, though, since one is Good Omens and as far as I know Charles Dickens has never worked with Neil Gaiman. But P.G. Wodehouse isn’t in there, which is strange. Still it was a poll of people’s personal favorites, not the books they objectively considered ‘the best’, so if you don’t like the answer, maybe it’s because you’ve asked the wrong question.

“It’s interesting to try to work out what was going through the voters’ minds, though.”

Readers of the Bonsai Newsletter will have seen the information about the BBCs Big Read vote. Well, on Saturday 17th May at 9.05pm, the results were announced in a special programme on BBC2.

The Top 100 weren't announced in order of votes, simply as a list, from which the top 20 will be announced later in the year. These will then be voted on to find the final number 1. As strange as it sounds, hopefully just 1 of Terrys works will get in the top 20, so we can all focus our voting!

As for the top 100, The Colour of Magic, Good Omens, Guards Guards, Mort & Night Watch all made it into the list. A good selection there.

Getting 5 out of 100 books wasn't quite enough for the BBC to give Terry much time on the programme though (only Dickens matched TP in this!), as focusing on Books that have been made into films gave them plenty of over-used clips to show, much more important on a 'Favourite Book' list...

Oh, you will all be shocked to hear that 4 Harry Potter books made the list.

To see the full list click HERE.

Here is some very important news from Heather Driscoll at BBC southerncounties -

"Just to let you know that we have a Terry Pratchett competition on the website. You'll need to enter quickly as the deadline is the 13th May 2003 but I thought I'd let you know as it is a fab prize for one of his fans. One lucky winner will get to meet PTerry on the 15th May at a VIP meeting prior to the official book signing he is doing at Waterstones in Guildford. After meeting him, they will be given a signed copy of Wee Free Men to take away with them. They will most likely also feature on the BBC Where I Live website for Surrey and Sussex."

If you live in the area and want the chance to win this great prize, then click HERE.

HarperCollins will be releasing the US hardback edition of The Bromeliad on 23-Sep-2003 (ISBN 0060094931, 512 pages).

To mark their 25th birthday, the Fantasy and SF Book Club are releasing a special edition of Good Omens.

This edition contains a special one-off introduction by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, so if you want add something unique to your collection and you are not already a member of the club, visit www.fsf.co.uk and join up.

Those of you who would like to read an extract from the US edition The Wee Free Men can do so by visiting the following link

http://www.harpercollins.com/catalog/excerpt_xml.asp?isbn=0060012366.

An extract from the US edition The Amazing Maurice And His Edicated Rodents ia also available via the following link

http://www.harpercollins.com/catalog/excerpt_xml.asp?isbn=0060012331.

Many thanks to Wiley Saichek who supplied this information.

More right sales news from Colin Smythe

The Last Hero - coeditions are being produced for Proszynski (Polish), Talpress (Czech) and L'Atalante (French).

Proszynski as also going to be publishing a Polish edition of The Unadulterated Cat.

Itallian: Salani are issuing Pier Francesco Paolini's translation of Pyramids as a paperback (originally published by Sonzogno).

Karisto will be publishing a Finnish edition of Moving Pictures.

Pocket are buying French language pocket book rights in Men At Arms and Soul Music.

The Dreaming Theatre Production Company presents the world premiere performance of Terry Pratchett's Eric, adapted by Scott Harrison & Lee Harris, at the historic 13th century castle keep, Clifford's Tower, York from 3rd - 26th July 2003. All performances begin at 7:30pm. This is a professional production.

Tickets are £10 if booked in advance or £12.50 on the door.

For full details of booking visit their website at http://www.thedreaming.co.uk.

You will no doubt have seen this play mentioned in the Bonsai Diary, but we've had some more details through so here's something to help you decide to go along!

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You will be pleased to hear that our next show, Terry Pratchett’s ‘Interesting Times’, is coming soon at a theatre near you…well, that is, if you live near the Compass Theatre in Ickenham! We have had such a great response to the Pratchett plays that we are doing yet another one; and it’s a really great one. The details are:

What: Terry Pratchett’s ‘Interesting Times’

Where: Compass Theatre, Glebe Avenue, Ickenham

When: 30th April to 3rd May at 8pm

How much:
£5 Opening night
£7.50 thereafter
£6.50 concessions (valid only Thursday night)

You’ll chuckle at the escapades of your favourite ‘wizzard’, Rincewind, and giggle at a bunch of OAP Barbarians, the pacifist Red Army, and the Evil Emperor. It’s a great example of Pratchett's humour and is wonderfully tongue-in-cheek. Interesting Times will undoubtedly demonstrate the Purple Theatre Company's reputation for originality, energy and that (un)usual twist! But don’t take my word for it. Come and see for yourselves!

To reserve tickets please contact the Purple Theatre Company, on 07050 605081, or see our website www.purpletheatre.org.uk. If you wish to book by Credit Card please contact The Compass theatre on 01895 673200.

Extract from this months Discworld Monthly:

Night Watch has been selected as one of the finalists for this year's Prometheus Awards, given by the Libertarian Futurist Society.

The awards were created in 1979 by SF writer L. Neil Smith to honour libertarian fiction. Winners will be announced over the Labour Day weekend in Toronto in an awards ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention, Torcon 3.

Other finalists include "Dark Light" by Ken MacLeod, "Escape From Heaven" by J. Neil Schulman, "The Haunted Air" by F. Paul Wilson and "Schild's Ladder" by Greg Egan.

SFX - a science fiction magazine - recently published a poll of the top 100 characters in Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Susan Sto-Helit managed no. 78, Rincewind no. 75, and Samuel Vimes the Discworld leader at no. 44.

Bonsai's vote for Reg Shoe did no good then...

There will be a single signing session ("The Launch of 'The Wee Free Men' in Scotland") at the new Ottakar's Bookshop, 27-31 Union St, Inverness, on 24 April, at 12.00 noon.

Followed by Terry's May tour:

Tuesday 13th May
12.00 Waterstone's, 65-69 New George Street, Plymouth, Devon
18.00 Ottakar's, 11-12 Boscawen Street, Truro, Cornwall

Wednesday 14th May
12.00 WHSmiths, 34-35 The Guildhall Shopping Centre, Exeter, Devon
18.00 Ottakar's, 37a Middle Street, Yeovil, Somerset

Thursday 15th May
12.00 Waterstone's, 50-54 High Street, Guildford, Surrey
18.00 Event at Guildhall Winchester for Winchester Library

Friday 16th May
12.00 Bookcentre, 120 Crockhamwell Road, Woodley, Reading, Berkshire
18.00 Hammicks, 60-62 St Ann's Road, Harrow, Middlesex

Saturday 17th May
12.00 Borders Lakeside, Unit 3 West Thurrock Retail Park, West Thurrock, Essex

Terry will be at the Birmingham Arts Centre reading from Wee Free Men, and being interviewed by poet and Pratchett fan Brendn Read-Brown. He is also signing copies of his books after the event. Early booking is strongly recommended! Ideal for readers aged 9 years and over.

For more details click here.

Some news from Colin Smythe

Stephen Briggs' adaptation of THE AMAZING MAURICE (ISBN 0-19-831494-9) will be published by Oxford University Press on 1st April 2003.

More news from Colin Smythe

Terry has approved my sending out details on sales of rights in Terry's books, so here's some information. I don't know when they'll be published - that information fans will have to find out from the publishers concerned.

German: Bertelsmann/Goldmann have signed up a 3 book contract for NIGHT WATCH, Monstrous Regiment, and Discworld novel 29, as well as THE AMAZING MAURICE

French: L'Atalante have just signed up THE LAST CONTINENT and CARPE JUGULUM

Denmark: Borgen are going to publish THE COLOUR OF MAGIC, THE LIGHT FANTASTIC and EQUAL RITES.

Norway: Tiden Norsk expect to publish MOVING PICTURES in May 2003, and are signing up REAPER MAN. They have already published an unillustrated edition of ERIC.

Spain: Plaza y Janes and DeBolsillo will be publishing trade and pocket-book editions of MEN AT ARMS and SOUL MUSIC, and DeBolsillo will be publishing pocket-book editions of MOVING PICTURES, REAPER MAN and WITCHES ABROAD

Brazil: Conrad, having published the first three Discworld novels have now contracted for SOURCERY and WYRD SISTERS.

Croatia: Marjan Tisak are acquiring licences for THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS, EQUAL RITES and MORT. I believe they have already published COLOUR and LIGHT FANTASTIC but I have not yet seen copies.

Romania: Noesis have published COLOUR OF MAGIC and LIGHT FANTASTIC and are being licensed EQUAL RITES

Estonia: Varrak are buying SMALL GODS, LORDS AND LADES, MEN AT ARMS, SOUL MUSIC and THE DISCWORLD COMPANION.

The new Bonsai Discworld competition has been launched with some great artwork to be won. You do not want to miss out, so visit the competition page and get your entry in by 30-Apr-2003.

Here's the cover for the UK edition of the The Wee Free Men. What can we say, another Kidby triumph!

It's back! Bigger and better than ever.

Gollancz S.F are releasing The New Discworld Companion paperback edition (ISBN 0-575-07467-1) on 27th March 2003. It has 544 pages and has an RRP of £12.99.

The South London Theatre are performing Stephen Briggs adaptation of Carpe Jugulum from Tuesday 3rd June to Saturday 7th June 2003 at the Bell Theatre. For all the details, vist their site at www.southlondontheatre.co.uk/productions/2003/jugs/.

Here's the cover for the US edition of the The Wee Free Men. All of us at Bonsai are big fans of the artwork for the US Amazing Maurice, so it's great to see this following in the same style.

This just in from Colin Smythe:

'Here's the blurb from the advance jacket of the Doubleday edition of the book (which has a superb Paul Kidby cover)' - Colin Smythe

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There's trouble on the Aching farm - a monster in the river, a headless horseman in the driveway and nightmares spreading down from the hills. And now Tiffany Aching's little brother has been stolen by the Queen of the Fairies (although Tiffany doesn't think this is entirely a bad thing).

Tiffany's got to get him back. To help her, she has a weapon (a frying pan), her granny's magic book (well, 'Diseases of the Sheep', actually) and ---

'Crivens! Whut aboot us, ye daftie!'

--- oh yes. She's also got the Nac Mac Feegles, the Wee Free Men, the fightin', thieving', tiny blue-skinned pictsies who were thrown out of Fairyland for being Drunk and Disorderly...

A wise, witty and wonderfully inventive adventure set in the Discworld.

Well, we've finished gathering, and have added details of new prizes from Colin Smythe, Clarecraft and Bernard Pearson.

This means that - as promised - its time to announce the final Prize Lots. The 10 big prizes that you could be in with a chance of winning, for just the price of a ticket. The 1st prize lot alone contains 15 different items!

But that's all we are gonna tell you here. Get along to the raffle page and have a proper look through, and try not to drool too much.

Remember, there is still plenty of time to buy tickets. Our thanks to all of you who already have, but who knows, when you see the full prize list, you might fancy buying a few more!

This just in from Colin Smythe:

The following is the publicity blurb for the American edition of Terry's THE WEE FREE MEN, which is to be published next May.

--------------

"Another world is colliding with this one," said the toad. "All the monsters are coming back."
"Why?" said Tiffany.
"There's no one to stop them."
There was silence for a moment.Then Tiffany said, "There's me."

In a thrilling tale that is equal parts suspense and humor, Carnegie Medallist Terry Pratchett spins the story of a young witch-to-be named Tiffany Aching who must journey through the terrifying and ever-shifting dreamscape of Fairyland to rescue her kidnapped brother.

Armed only with a frying pan, Tiffany is all that stands between the monsters of Fairyland and the chalk country that is her home. Her sole allies are the Wee Free Men - a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men, as fierce as they are funny. Together, they battle through Fairyland, where reality intertwines with nightmare, before confronting its absolute ruler: the Queen of the Elves. And in the ultimate showdown, Tiffany must face her cruel power alone...

--------------

(HarperCollins are planning to publish an edition of TRUCKERS, DIGGERS and WINGS for the American market in Fall 2003.)

Dave Hodges is working away on yet more One-Off editions of his book (see hodges page in the features section for more details). The XXXX edition is nearly ready, with the Heiroyphics and Audio Book version being worked on.

These editions will be put for auction (bids by email) around Easter time, with bidding left open until next years Clarecraft event (themed around Pyramids, hence the Hireoglyphics version!). We will of course bring you more news about how to bid nearer the time.

One of the events of the year, the twinning of Ankh-Morpork and Wincanton, is happening this weekend and the lastest news is now on the BBC web site. Just click on the following link and all will be revealed http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2549557.stm.

Bonsai Discworld are pleased to announce the launch of this years Charity Raffle. Tickets are on sale now, so click here to find out more!

Some snippets of news from Colin Smythe:

Recently published: there's a very good book on internet writing by Jane Dorner, called CREATIVE WEB WRITING (London: A & C Black, 0-7136-5854-1) which has a Foreword by Terry.

BCA {Book Club Associates] have just issued the second three volumes in their Unseen Library, MORT, SOURCERY and WYRD SISTERS.

NIGHT WATCH has now been no.1 in the UK fiction bestsellers list for two weeks, with nearly 31,000 sales recorded in the first week, and over 17,000 sales in the second week.

Anyone wanting to read a rave review of NIGHT WATCH in the Washington Post should go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20884-2002Nov21.html

A lot of you will be aware that there is an event taking place at The Cunning Artificer's Emporium, Wincanton, Somerset on the 7th & 8th of December.

If this is news to you, then please visit www.artificer.co.uk for more information.

Well, as part of the event a Grand Raffle will be taking place. 1st prize is 2 foot tall Ankh-Morpork Coat of Arms in a Bronze finish, one of only 3 in the world! Other prizes from the traditional Discworld luminaries of Clarecraft, CMOT Briggs, Transworld etc will also be dished out.

To get a ticket to the raffle all you have to do is buy a copy of the programme book (£2.50), all proceeds going to a charitable cause (the Balsam Centre, more details are in the programme book).

Obviously, it helps if you are there to buy a programme and see the raffle draw being made, but as we need to raise as much money as possible for the charity, special exception is being made.

If you call, write, email, use the order form on the website etc, and hand over your money/cheque/card details to the Artificers Emporium BEFORE the event, you will get a ticket put into the draw with your name on it. Your copy of the programme will then be posted out to you after the event is over (this is necessary due to the large numbers of them that will be sent out, as it will take ages to do!).

Yes, we know a certain amount of trust is involved, how do you really KNOW that your ticket is getting entered. Well, this is Bernard Pearson, the Artificer himself whose word is beyond compare. Not only that but Isobel Pearson would inflict sever injury if the draw was anything but completely above board. Also a certain Mr Pratchett is involved in drawing the winners, and is there anyone reading this who would dare suggest he would be involved in anything dubious? No. Consider yourself convinced.

Get yourself to www.artificer.co.uk now, read all about the event and then place your order for a programme, in fact order several, the more you buy the more tickets you get in the raffle, the greater your chances are of winning the top prize. You have only 2 weeks to get these tickets, so don't wait.

Remember, everyone who gets the money through WILL receive a programme book, which is almost likely to become a collectable in the far distant future. How many raffles can say that every single person gets something...

Recent snippet from AFP, for those of you who don't lurk around newsgroups, is this post from David Silberstein:

This link is to fan art of the first scene of Good Omens (the one that takes place after Genesis 3:24), by Phil Foglio.

http://www.studiofoglio.com/fun/fun4goodomens1.html.

Phil Foglio is a humourous SF artist/cartoonist who has been around for quite a long time. His own work is really quite good, and I highly recommend "Girl Genius". One of his characters in that story (Baron Wulfenbach) reminds me somewhat of Patrician Vetinari.

He's got a sort of Pratchettian style...

Have a look at http://www.scifi.com/sfw/current/books2.html. for a short review and analysis of Night Watch.

If you have yet to buy Night Watch (shame on you) then be warned, spoilers are lurking everywhere!

Well, ok, he isn't, but headline writing is a strange art...

A book entitled 'Celebrity Child's Play as has been released in aid of Children In Need. In it 100 celebrities have written about a Childhood memory, with our very own Terry P writing about a trip to Gamages in London.

The book costs £4 + £1 postage and packing, with £2 from each copy going to Children In Need. Send your cheque (and address details of course!) to Henry Buckton, PO Box 2770, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9XD.

At the Cunning Artificer event on the 7th & 8th of December, a twinning ceremony will be taking place. Wincanton is being twinned with Ankh-Morpork!

Naturally for such an important occasion, people belonging to news organisations of various kinds will be attending, if only to find out where 'Ankh-Morpork' actually is.

Now, there is a great task ahead, but we know Discworld fandom will pull through.

It's fair that we allow these victims, erm news people, to experience as much of the Discworld as possible. We want as many of you as have the means to turn up in fancy dress! Now we are not talking a pair of vampire teeth leftover from Halloween, full on authentic Discworld costumes are the name of the day.

For your trouble you will receive an Illuminated Certificate signed by the Mayor, the Patrician and Bernard Pearson.

It's also worth remembering that all manner of cameras will likely be catching the occasion for posterity, and you may even find yourself on television. Anyone seen bringing 'Hello Mum' banners will be watched very carefully, and kept off the drink. At least until the cameras have gone, then you can go as crazy as you like.

To keep yourself up-to-date on event happenings, keep an eye on www.artificer.co.uk.

We are pleased to announce a new feature on Bonsai Discworld.

Jay Hurst has kindly agreed to be interviewed by Bonsai about his Discworld art. We will be rolling the interview out in 8 sections (1 part for each of his major works) over the coming months.

It doesn't matter if you own all the Jay Hurst prints, or if you have never even seen his artwork before, this is required reading for every Discworld fan. So click here now, and make a start!

While anyone reading this is bound to already be an avid viewer of the BBC's Question Time every week, particular notice should be paid to the show going out on Thursday 17 October at 10:35pm.

To quote from the Radio Times (other listings websites are available):

Topical debate from Coventry chaired by David Dimbleby. Panellists include secretary of state for trade and industry Patricia Hewitt MP, former Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe MP, and writer Terry Pratchett.

The programme of events for Wadfest 2002 has been announced as follows:

Friday
12.00: Wadfest 2002 opens.

12.00-whenever: Get to meet people, drink make own entertainment, have fun.

Saturday
Children’s Events
10.00-12.00: Painting of the luggage, ready for the luggage wars.

13.00-16.00: Making and painting your kites.

16.30-16.45: Judging the kites, (decoration and flying ability).

Adult Events
11.00-13.00: Live action Thud.

13.30-16.30: Luggage Wars.

17.00-Till too tired to continue, or too late to continue Aargrooha, (bit like footballish).

For Everybody
18.00: Masquerade. (Judged by whoever we can rope into doing it).

19.00: Magic show, by the infamous Lupine.

Decorated tents will be judged throughout the day.

Sunday
10.00: Finish

Other Events During the Weekend:
Vegetable reading.
Carott reading.
Dream Analasis.
Information about Hawking.
Story writing classes
Belly Dancing classes
Who can buy Waddy the most beer?
Auction, all proceeds to charity. (Donations gratefully received).

For those of you who haven't even heard of the Wadfest yet, visit http://www.wadfest.co.uk for more information, but be quick, it's nearly here!

This in from the Discworld Convention 2002 Committee:

We have just opened our third Charity Prize Draw - this time we are raising money for a theatre in Prague, which has greatly impressed Terry with its Discworld productions, and which suffered great damage during the recent floods.

Tickets cost ukp2.50 each, and the prizes include a proof of 'Night Watch', a copy of 'Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature', and limited edition Josh Kirby print. These and the many other prizes have been kindly donated by various people, including Colin Smythe and Stephen Briggs - many thanks to them.

To order your tickets, and to see the rest of the glittering array of prizes, visit http://www.dwcon.org/prize_draw.php3 - you can order online with a credit card, or by post with a cheque/postal order. But don't delay - the Prize Draw closes on 8th October!

Bernard Pearson would like to make a little announcement. Little in this case being 6lb 12oz.

On Friday 30th August 2002, Tom & Trudy Pearson brought another Pearson into the world in the shape of the beautiful Catherine Jasmine. Having already mastered the art of wrapping Bernard around her finger, Bernard is sure Catherine will be an asset to the studio (particularly once she learns to sweep up!).

Rather than beseiging Bernard with congratulation emails (as I am sure you will all do regardless!), on www.artificer.co.uk is a link to a special Baby Book for you all to add your best wishes to.

News from Colin Smythe -

The Night Watch signing schedule is as follows

Saturday 2nd November
1.00pm
Forbidden Planet
71 New Oxford Street
London
WC1A 1DG

Tuesday 5th November
4.30-5.30pm
WH Smith
The Arndale Centre
Manchester
M4 3AD

Wednesday 6th November
12.30-1.30pm
Borders
94-96 Briggate
Leeds
LS1 6NP

5.00-6.00pm
Hammicks
15 James Street
Harrogate
HG1 1QS

Thursday 7th November
4.30pm
Waterstone's
128 New Street
Birmingham
B2 2DB

Friday 8th November
12.30-1.30pm
Waterstone's
22 Cathedral Lanes
Broadgate
Coventry
CV1 1LL

5.00-6.00pm
Ottakar's
9 The Square
Market Harborough
LE16 7PA

Now don't get too excited! We are of course referring to the Charity Auctions that recently took place at the UK Discworld Convention 2002.

The many items (ok, I lost count) included the usual wonderous range of Discworld merchandise, with a considerable number of the items being generously donated by Colin Smythe. The chance to get your hands on 1st edition books, rare Clarecraft pieces, and one-off pieces such an Orangutan tapestry made by one of the convention committee, as well as smaller items such as foreign edition computer games and more posters than you can shake a stick at, was relished by all who attended. The convention auction raised over £12,000 for charity in total, a great result and the money is sure to help the lives of a lot of people.

One of our resident experts, the inemitable Dave Hodges managed to cause considerable uproar with his donated items. The now traditional Hodges Box which you get to bid on without knowing whats inside (it was described only as 'Dwarves Delight', and yes I know what was in it, and no I am not saying...) managed to get auctioned twice. The first winner, happy to now know what was inside, gave it back to be auctioned again! The reaction to Daves other item, Dwarf Nipple rings, was... well, just how your own reaction to them would be really! These items along with the sales of Daves book over the weekend (see the features section for more info on the book) managed to raise a grand total of £281 for charity.

Some news from Colin Smythe

For those who have not yet come across it, Terry has an article called Cult Classic in MEDITATIONS ON MIDDLE-EARTH, edited by Karen Haber, New York: St Martin's Press, 2001, hardcover (ISBN 0-312-27536-6). It will be published in the US in paperback in October 2002. It is already available for download to Adobe and Microsoft readers.

I gather it was published in Britain as a paperback by Earthlight (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in May 2002 (ISBN 0-7432-3100-7). You will find details of the UK version in the merchandise section.

Well, 19.99 really!

After much deliberation, ISIS Publishing have released an unabridged recording of Strata (ISBN 0-7531-1530-1 IAB 020807).

Once again, Stephen Briggs narrates this excellent story which gave us a foretaste of the idea that was to evolve into the Discworld. Watch out for a review appearing in the review section very soon.

This marks their first non-Discworld Terry Pratchett audio book to be published and comes on 6 cassettes lasting approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. You can buy your copy from ISIS for £19.99 UK + p&p either by phoning 0800 731 5637 or by visiting their website at www.isis-publishing.co.uk.

Methuen Drama have just published Stephen Briggs's adaptation of Interesting Times (ISBN 0-413-77115-6) at £7.99.

You can order your copy from Amazon using this link with all referral fees going to the Orangutan Foundation.

Dave Hodges has given his book a bit of a revamp (with a little help!). As well as brand new cover as seen exclusively here first, inside can be seen the new Dave Hodges Coat of Arms and artwork by Désirée Wörner and none other than a certain Paul Kidby. This can be bought directly from Dave for the price of £4 plus 20p postage, with £2 of that going to the Orangutan Foundation.

Dave is carrying on his tradition of producing copies of his book in different languages for auction for the same charity. This year the following languages will be up for grabs, each of them signed by a plethora of Discworld people, with a £20 reserve on each. All of the proceeds of these editions go to the Orangutan Foundation

The Special Editions available are: Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Spanish, Orang, Morse code audio book (requires windows 95 or later ), German and the Leonard of Quirm edition (printed backwards!).

IMPORTANT: Your chance to get your hands these One Copy Only editions of Dave's book is limited. Bids by email must be with Dave BEFORE the start of the Wadfest (visit www.wadfest.co.uk for more info), so get em to him by 26th September 2002.

You may leave an advance bid with Dave by e-mail at realhhg@earthling.net (PLEASE state the following in the subject line "BID" and the name of the language you wish to bid for), if you have the winning bid Dave will pay postage to any U.K. address and send the edition on within 7 days of receiving your cheque. THERE IS ONLY ONE COPY OF EACH LANGUAGE FOR SALE. Any questions please email Dave Hodges at the address above. (News of future editions of the book will of course be posted on Bonsai as soon as they are available.)

As readers of the Discworld Diary on this site will no doubt be aware (ok, so you might have known anyway) Night Watch is due for release on 7th November.

As such, there have been wonderings around the Discworld community as to whether the release will be accompanied by a signing tour as no dates have been published yet.

Bonsai Discworld is assured there will be a short signing tour, but Terry has yet to confirm the exact dates and locations. As soon as they are made public they will be published here, so keep watching!

Bonsai Discworld would like to send it's congratulations to Terry Pratchett, who has just won the 2001 CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Carnegie Medal for THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS.

The Award was announced at a ceremony at the British Library today. He was given the award by the Special Guest Tony Hart whose painting skills have delighted viewers of BBC TV for nigh on 50 years, who also gave the Kate Greenaway award for the best illustrated book to Chris Riddell as illustrator of Richard Platt's PIRATE DIARY.

The following is the PR release sent out by Doubleday:

Terry Pratchett wins coveted Carnegie Medal

The most prestigious award for children’s literature, the Carnegie Medal, has this year been awarded to one of the country’s most popular novelists.

Terry Pratchett’s first novel for children for five years, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents was today announced as the 2001 winner. At a ceremony held at The British Library, Terry Pratchett was presented with his medal by representatives from CILIP, the body responsible for administrating the award.

“Our decision was unanimous,” says Karen Usher, Chair of this year’s judging panel. “This is an outstanding work of literary excellence – a brilliant twist on the tale of the Pied Piper that is funny and irreverent, but also dark and subversive. It is a rich multi-layered story with a pacy plot and excellent characterisation. Terry Pratchett uses his trademark wit and humour to question our society’s attitudes and behaviour in a way that is totally accessible for children of 10 years and over.”

In spite of having 48 books in print and worldwide sales in excess of 27 million, this is the first mainstream literary award that Terry Pratchett has won. “I’m totally delighted and genuinely shocked,” says Terry. “I’d have bet £1000 against me! I’m especially pleased because Maurice isn’t just fantasy but funny fantasy, too. It’s nice to see humour taken seriously.”

Maurice is the first children’s book set in Pratchett’s imaginative creation - Discworld. It is a story within a story; a rich satire of the well-known Pied Piper tale peopled by intelligent rats, an equally intelligent, streetwise tomcat, Maurice, and Keith ‘a stupid looking kid’ with a pipe. Maurice masterminds a moneymaking scam; they infest town after town and until Keith gets paid to pipe them away. All is well until they enter the beleaguered Bad Blintz where they encounter Malicia Grim, a girl who inhabits a world of fairy stories, and a dark and sinister evil - a totally new concept for the rats.

His previous books for children have enjoyed considerable best-selling success and have been shortlisted for many awards including the Carnegie Medal (1994, 1997), The Guardian Children’s Fiction Award (1993, 1997), and the Children’s Book Award (1997). He won the 1993 Writers Guild Award (Children’s Books) for JOHNNY AND THE DEAD and in 1996 was awarded the Smarties Prize Silver Award (9-11 age category) for JOHNNY AND THE BOMB in 1996.

Many thanks to Colin Smythe for providing this announcement.

So, what will Terry win it with next year then...?

Don't let on, but there are some people who HAVEN'T yet bought a ticket for the imminent UK Discworld Convention. No... surely not you?

Well you must be interested in buying a ticket at a reduced rate then. As a couple of people have unfortunately had to drop out, some tickets at £5 off the normal price are available. These will be snapped up quickly, so if you are interested drop a line to membership@dwcon.org straight away, mention you have seen the tickets advertised on Bonsai Discworld, and you will be put in touch with the sellers.

Bernard Pearson has been very busy in the past few months crafting all sorts of weird and wonderful things (more news about them, with pictures, coming soon) and here's a taster.

Pictured left are 3 Painted Fools Guild Eggs, as I'm sure you are all aware tradition has it that members of the Fools' Guild protect their make-up design by painting an egg and placing it in the Hall of Faces. Now ok, these aren't exactly Egg shaped, but how can you complain when they look this good!

These eggs are currently only available (in their unpainted form) from the merchandise section of the Discworld Convention Website, just click the link for more details.

There is to be gathering of Discworld fans at The Cunning Artificer, Wincanton, Somerset, on the 7th and 8th of December 2002. The full range of festive events, masquerade with prizes included, will be taking place, with a supper in the pub on Saturday night. Thud will of course be being played, both for fun and competition. More details will be announced here as soon as the full programme is confirmed.

Any questions just call 01963 824686 or e-mail: bernard@bonsaidiscworld.com

There are those that will say I must be, but never mind. Well, it's now time to do some thinning out and pruning of my collection.

I still cannot fully display all my stuff and there are other Discworld items that I would rather have than some of the things that are on show.

I am going to start the show off by listening to offers for ANY Clarecraft piece I have (including retired and never-released items). Depending on the response, I'll then decide whether to do a straight sale or maybe auction pieces if there seems to be a demand for item/s.

I am in no great hurry to sell stuff which means that I do not have to accept the first offer that comes in ( I always consider serious offers and laugh at the rest). This may be your ideal opportunity to get hold of that very rare or retired item.

Rather than provide a complete list of everything I have, it's fair to say that the Clarecraft merchandise section comprises mainly of stuff that I have.

If anyone is interested in any item, please e-mail any offers which will be dealt with as stated above.

Alan madal@bonsaidiscworld.com