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Twisted Myths in the house
It’s been a bit of an open secret that I’ve written a sequel of sorts to Twisted Fairy Tales, which is called Twisted Myths. It’s been up for pre-order on Amazon.com for a few months, and the eagle-eyed among you will have seen it mentioned at the end of my last interview with Dennis Abrams. Still, sometimes you’re not allowed to discuss these things until the publisher gives you the green light, or the advance copy of the book arrives in the door – which it did this morning. This collection contains twenty myths from around the world, along with an introduction by me. It features artwork by the fabulously-talented…
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Laydeez do Comics Two
Lynda Rucker and I can finally release the details of our second Laydeez do Comics – Dublin event, which we’ve been working on since the success of the first meeting in May. It will be happening from 7pm – 9.30pm on Wednesday, 11 September, 2013 in the Rooftop Bar, 3rd floor, of the Odessa Club, 13 Dame Court, Dublin 2. Our guests for this meeting are: Sarah Bracken, Paddy Lynch, and Arja Kajermo – check out their bios on the web site, as they represent a wide range of experience in the independent comic book/cartoon/zine scene. We’re looking forward to the night already!
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talking fairy tales
Thanks to Dennis Abrams at Publishing Perspectives for his generous words about my collection Twisted Fairy Tales today. I don’t bang on about this often, but of course the book is still available for sale at Amazon, or most independent book shops will order it for you. As part of the review Dennis also conducted a mini-interview with me about fairy tales, and my approach to writing the collection. It still seems a bit incredible to me that this book I enjoyed writing so much, and which has been produced to such a high standard, is out in the world, and people are reading it… I wrote the book over…
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Wonder Women!
I’m extremely pleased to have been asked to appear on one of the Banter discussion panels – which are regularly organised by Irish Times journalist Jim Carroll to discuss cultural topics. During the GAZE International LGBT Film Festival there will be a screening of the fabulous Kristy Guevara-Flanagan documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines, at 4.30pm on Saturday August 3 at the Lighthouse cinema. After the screening there will be a Banter discussing pop culture’s representation of female power on screens and in print, hosted by Jim, and including me, director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, and Film Fatale’s Anna Taylor. The ticket price for the documentary includes the Banter discussion. There are…
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a whole new world…
I’m not new to the concept of Cosplay and multi-media conventions. Last year I attended MCM Expo in London, along with Rob Curley and Stephen Downey, because our comic Jennifer Wilde was nominated for an Eagle Award. It’s one of the biggest cons of this type in the UK, and they got about 60,000+ people through the door. I thoroughly enjoyed the event, even if it was overwhelming at times due to the sheer volume of people attending. And at 2D Comic Book Festival in Derry there’s been an increasing Cosplay presence over the past three years. ArcadeCon is the first convention of this type I’ve attended in the Republic…
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latest audio
I had a fabulous time at ArcadeCon this weekend. I’ll do a proper write-up tomorrow when I have the time. In the meantime I wanted to mention my trip on Friday evening to RTÉ Radio 1 for the broadcast of Arena. I’ve done audio work before – a series of culture discussions for web radio, and some podcasts – but this was new territory in regards to the prestige of the programme and that it was live. I swotted up on Neil Gaiman‘s career in advance, and arrived well prepared at the Donnybrook campus a little keyed up, but at a manageable level. Radio is intimate and much more conducive…
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Little Room of Comics
There’s a festival kicking off today in the capital city called 10 Days in Dublin, which is “a multidisciplinary, open-format, arts festival. This means that the festival includes all types of art or performance: music, comedy, theatre, film, painting, sculpture.” As part of the festival there is an event going on called the ‘Little Room of Comics‘. This will be an exhibition and shop that celebrates home-grown Irish comic book art. “From original characters to crazy caricatures, from superheroes to satire and from the everyday to the bizarre we’ve got it all covered.” They’re also holding comic jams on the 6th, 10th and 12th of July. It’s taking place above…
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ArcadeCon & Arena
I’m very much looking forward to this weekend in Dublin, where I’ll be one of the special guests at ArcadeCon. It’s a multi-media convention so there’s a variety of geeky interests for the fans: cosplay workshops, anime, comic book discussions, pop culture exegesis, music, as well as interviews with actors and actresses from genre TV and film. The FAQ and programme of events is online, and you can even download an Android app with all the details you’ll need for your weekend of fun and entertainment. There are a couple of events starting on Thursday, but the convention kicks off properly on Friday afternoon. I’ve also been asked to appear…
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Hay Festival Kells 2013
The Hay Festival has a heavyweight reputation in the world of literary events, so it’s pleasing to see a chapter open up (appropriately) in Kells, home to one of the most famous books in Ireland. This did not come about by chance, as I discovered over the weekend. The town has been working hard for some years to bring the event to Kells, and it’s a perfect match. Kells is just big enough and has enough facilities to host a variety of events, and small enough so the entire town becomes the Hay Festival in a very intrinsic fashion. Irish people are notorious for their hospitality and charm, but even…
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Independents Day 2013
On Sunday Lynda Rucker and I visited the Dublin Food Co-Op, which was temporary home to Independents Day 2013. We were there to get a sense of the comic book scene that’s bubbling up and often not well reported, and to do a bit of outreach for Laydeez do Comics – Dublin (more news about our September meeting coming soon!). I always have a soft spot for Co-Ops, especially in these tough economic times, so I loved this place. There was a happy punk vibe going on, with a big variety of tables and dealers, along with a café serving delicious, inexpensive food, and live music later on. There were…
