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Fantasycon 2018
Newly arrived in Chester, UK for the start of the always-fun Fantasycon weekend, I’m dressed appropriately. I’ll be on the following panels: 5 pm on Saturday, 20 October The Horror Writers Association Panel I’m moderating, and also attending is Marie O’Regan, Ramsey Campbell, CC Adams and Phil Sloman 6 pm on Saturday, 20 October Screenwriting for TV I’m moderating a panel with Stephen Volk, Terry Grimwood, Gavin Williams and Stephen Gallagher. 8 pm on Saturday, 20 October Brave New Words I’m on the Brave New Words podcast with Ed Fortune, Anna Stephens, Rebecca Derrick, Anne Fortune and Claire North 1 pm on Sunday, 21 October Strange Fictions I’m on the…
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Discussing The Quatermass Xperiment
The inaugural episode of the Hammered podcast is now available for listening. The host of the series JG Byrne and I talk about The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). It was a fun and nerdy deep dive into the film. Perfect for fans of Hammer films, science fiction, and Nigel Kneale (though of course he didn’t write the movie, but it’s based on his original BBC TV series. I give a lot of love to Kneale in this episode.) You can listen to it online. There will be a different guest with John in the next episode, and I should be returning for more Hammer exegesis with The Mummy (1959). Make…
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Hammered Podcast
I’ll be taking part in an on-going podcast called Hammered, dedicated to examining the more ghoulish output of the British Hammer Film Productions studio. Starting with The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and ending (maybe) with To the Devil a Daughter (1976), the discussions will be hosted by J G Byrne and aided by a rotating guest list. Each episode will work through one film from the studio’s horror releases. The original music for the podcast is created by David Blake. The first batch of films I’ll be chatting about with John are: The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), The Mummy (1959), The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960), The Curse of the Mummy’s…
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Adapting your Voice workshop
At the Junior Film Fleadh in Galway this Saturday I’ll be giving a workshop on Adapting Your Voice: Tailoring Stories for Various Media. It’ll be a two-hour whistlestop overview of the basics of storytelling, with tips and suggestions on how to tailor your story idea for different media: prose, Film/TV/Internet, theatre, games, comics, and radio/podcast. All for €12.50! The Junior Film Fleadh is the young people’s arm of the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh, and offers four days of fun and useful events aimed at budding filmmakers and young film fans.
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Talking Twin Peaks
Thanks to Emmet O’Cuana for inviting me onto The Hopscotch Friday Podcast to discuss my book on Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and the new series, Twin Peaks: The Return. I’ve thought a lot about the series since it aired, and it was great to have a chance to trash through some of the issues – we could have gone on for hours more, and there were aspects we didn’t get a chance to discuss. I think we hit many of the major points, and I’m looking forward to going back to the series after a time apart from it, and pondering it further.
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Kindred – the graphic novel
I recently appeared on RTÉ Radio 1’s culture and arts show, Arena, in which I gave a brief overview of the graphic novel adaptation of Kindred, the award-winning novel by science fiction legend Octavia E. Butler. The graphic novel is adapted by Damian Duffy (writer) and John Jennings (artist), and published by Abrams ComicArts. You can listen to the show as a podcast online, and my segment is at the end. It’s a pity I didn’t have more time as I could have talked for longer about this fine work. Butler was a writer hero of mine when I was a teenager; her sf novels about the struggles with identity,…
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Tea and Jeopardy
Thanks to the fabulous Emma Newman who invited me recently to appear on an episode of her (and Peter Newman’s) utterly charming podcast, Tea and Jeopardy. Where you have tea, cake, conversation, and some mild peril. I started the the wide-ranging chat discussing my vigilant keyboard companion, a colourful statue of Ganesha who watches me write. Here he is: //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js His benevolent, but steely, gaze encourages me daily.
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Reading Territory
‘Territory’, a story written by Julie Steinbacher, has gone up on Podcastle today as a podcast. I read the story, along with Kim Jones, for Podcastle. I’ve done enough radio and podcasts before to know I enjoy this kind of work, so it was a no-brainer when Rachael Jones, the co-editor of Podcastle, approached me with the offer. ‘Territory’ is a rich, beautiful story, so that was a selling point also. It was a fun experience, and I hope people enjoying listening to Julie’s story.
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Old Weird, New Weird, or Just Plain Weird
You can hear a recording of the ‘Old Weird, New Weird, or Just Plain Weird’ panel, which I participated on during the 2015 World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY. It’s hosted on the Project Radio web site. The line-up was: moderator: Thomas F. Monteleone, and panellists: Ellen Datlow, Michael Kelly, me, Anya Martin, and Scott Nicolay. http://www.projectiradio.com/?powerpress_embed=88215-podcast&powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio It was an interesting discussion, but not a surprise considering the range of talent on the table and our passion for the subject.
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witchfinder chat on pop culture hound
Over on Pop Culture Hound, Kim and I are on the latest podcast, episode 81, hosted by Chris Thompson. The 50-minute episode continues on the theme of celebrating Hellboy, so featured on this podcast are Dark Horse Comics Publisher Mike Richardson, Mouse Guard‘s David Petersen, and editor Scott Allie, before Kim and I turn up to talk about working on Witchfinder: The Mysteries of Unland. It’s good listening for those of you who appreciate the Mignolaverse and are interested in some background information on the comics. Perhaps do some ironing and have this on the background! (Personally, I dislike ironing and put it off until it hits crisis point, so…
