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terminator games
I took this picture at the arcade in Brighton Pier last month when I was attending the British FantasyCon. All those robotic red eyes daring you to chance your money and skill against their programmed reflexes. How can you resist?
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2% is not equality
The comic book blogosphere has been obsessed by one topic of conversation lately: the reboot of the DC Comics Universe that’s coming in September. All the forthcoming 52 titles will be reset to number 1, which (theoretically) will leave the creative teams free to forge new identities for the characters. Information has been released to the fans about the forthcoming changes in a slow-drip fashion. It’s a cunning PR strategy to inflame interest and discussion about the direction DC is taking. They’ll also be offering digital downloads of the comics on the same day as the print release, which is a big indicator of where they think the market is…
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Kapow! – with added women
The Kapow! Comic Book convention is going on this weekend, and it’s good to see that in the face of criticism over its initial all-male line-up the event has adjusted its guest list. I was not the only one who pointed out the lack of women, and I’m not claiming this result is due to my input alone. Honestly, this is a positive response, and I hope it means more women featured at the event (if they hold it again) when they have time to include women in the planning from the very beginning. Millar is even talking up the female angle now, mentioned a 30% female readership in this…
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zap!
I thought this image might catch your attention. I snapped it in Dublin last weekend. This is the window of MAC cosmetics in the large department store Brown Thomas on Grafton Street. Last weekend MAC launched its limited edition Wonder Woman line of cosmetics. To celebrate they had colourful window displays (see below) and body-painted a fit young man to look like a walking piece of comic book art. It was interesting that this event was going on the same weekend as P-Con, with just the length of Exchequer Street between them. Yet, they might as well have been on different worlds (Earth and Themyscira I suppose). When I inquired…
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British women in comics
After blogging about the absence of women in the line-up of the Kapow! comic book convention I had a number of lively discussions about it. I also discovered that Mark Millar twittered about this issue back on the 7th of December 2010, when someone else pointed out there were no female guests. His response, over two tweets: You realise this is being put together by 5 women, don’t you? The reason the comic guests are mostly male is because the biggest names in UK comics are male. Who is the big british female pro they’re missing here? I’m amused by ‘the comic guests are mostly male’ bit, when the guests…
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gynoid and geishas
I’m off to Wexworlds today, so I’m leaving you with a photograph I took yesterday of bric-a-brac at the Gallery Café in Gort. I’m calling it ‘Gynoid and Gesihas’. I may have to write a story to fit with this picture. It would make a cool cover for a book, perhaps a collection of short stories. If nothing else, I think I’ll get a print made and frame it. It will be a colourful addition to the house.
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three secrets of writing
The picture on the right is Sir Terry Pratchett twenty years ago when he attended the first Octocon convention in Ireland as Guest of Honour. It was early in his career, and I remember him as affable, friendly and willing to socialise with the fans (not always the case with authors). The convention introduced me to his work, and I’ve been an admirer of his Discworld novels ever since. Today, Pratchett has sold over 70 million books worldwide and his hair is much whiter. He’s also coping with early-onset Alzheimer’s with rare honesty, as evidenced in last year’s two-part BBC documentary. Pratchett is currently in Trinity College Dublin for a…
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flashback to Greece
Yesterday’s post with its emphasis on sunshine reminded me that this time last year I was in Greece as part of the first World Conference of Screenwriters. I was running the conference blog and social media, and it was a wonderful, if exhausting, few days in Athens. The above picture is of the Parthenon at dusk on the opening evening of the conference. It’s one of the cluster of ancient buildings that make up the Acropolis – which is perched on a flat-topped outcrop 150 meters above Athens. Our international group of screenwriters and Guilds representatives was extremely fortunate to get a private tour of the Acropolis just as twilight…
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not at Bristol, alas
This weekend the Bristol International Comic & Small Press Expo is taking place and I can’t attend, alas. Luckily, my compatriots in crime, Rob Curley and Stephen Daly, will be at Bristol, giving away preview issues of Róisín Dubh. Drop by the Atomic Diner stand, say hello to them and claim your copy! As long as the Icelandic Ash Miasma doesn’t change direction of course. It’s like a fickle supervillian who specialises in ruining holidays. “Ha! You are grounded! Fear my engine-clogging abilities! Cry over your unsigned collectible art!” I’m inundated with work at the moment, and tomorrow I have to attend the AGM of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters…
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sun in the sky you know how I feel
I’ve been getting a constant stream of birthday greetings from people via Facebook and Twitter today, and it’s lovely. Thank you all! People might grumble about social media, but it has its good uses too. I’m just about recovered from my two-week trip with back-to-back convention in the UK. World Horror Convention was probably the highlight because it was a well-run convention, and I met loads of new people at the event since the horror/dark fantasy crowd aren’t well represented at the likes of Eastercon (which focuses more on SF and Fantasy). It’s pretty much confirmed that I’ll have to start attending Fantasy Con in England, and I’ve already joined…
