Paul Cornell's Friday Newsletter

Thought Bubble

Our application has been accepted, so I’m pleased to say that Lizbeth Myles and I will once more be tabling at the wonderful Thought Bubble comic convention in Harrogate on November 15th and 16th.

Jill Mansell at Fairford Festival

On Saturday, June 7th at 2pm, as part of Fairford Festival in Gloucestershire, I’ll be interviewing bestselling romance author Jill Mansell about her career. (I’ll also be running the Festival Quiz on the Sunday night and doing a couple more bits and pieces too.) You can find out more info and buy tickets here.

Ace Jacket

I’ve contributed a short story to this anthology in aid of autism charities, edited by Sophie Aldred and Shawn J. Levy. It’s out on June 17th. You can read all about it and pre-order a copy here.

‘The Longest War’

That’s the title of the issue of Commando I’ve written, which is tentatively due to be released in August. The artist is the great Steve Yeowell, and it’s amazing work. I’m delighted to have contributed to this very exacting classic format. More news nearer the time!

Gnomes of Lychford and The Lychford Collection

On 9th September, Tor.com Publishing is releasing the sixth book in my Lychford series of rural fantasy novellas, Gnomes of Lychford. It’s a re-editing of the serial I ran on this newsletter, and I’ve taken the opportunity to sort out a couple of little plot problems. I think it’s my best Lychford book, and, weirdly, it’s a great jumping-on point, because everything about the series is explained at the start. You can read all about it here.

“An unlikely group of supernatural creatures terrorizes the sleepy village of Lychford. Okay, they're gnomes. That's not a spoiler: you worked it out it from the title. When an ancient prophecy clashes with an unfortunate modern design aesthetic, the people of Lychford must band together to put out fires (both literal and metaphorical) to save their town before the king of the Gnomes (King Greg, and it's dangerous to laugh at a gnome) calls in the terms of an old promise. Trouble is: no one knows what the promise is, nor how to fulfil it. It's going to be a long night.”

And out on the same day is The Lychford Collection, which contains my first three Lychford novellas. (Cover design for both by FORT.)

Of Intrigue and Espionage

I have a story in this just-announced forthcoming volume from Stars and Sabers publishing, which is due out in October 2026. I’m in good company, as you can see from the full announcement here.

The Mighty Avengers Vs. the 1970s

I’ve got a book coming out from Bloomsbury that’s part of a new range of popular studies of Marvel Comics! The Mighty Avengers vs. the 1970s is fully illustrated with panels from the comics, and is my journey through how Marvel’s main super team navigated that difficult decade. (Release date, etc., TBA.) You can read the announcement here at AP News. This is very much a labour of love for me, a book I’ve wanted to find a way to write for the longest time.

Telefantasy Time Jump

The new podcast from me and Lizbeth Myles covers the history of SFF on TV, from 1953 onward, with our regular episodes (on the 14th of every month) covering a show released that year in the UK, and the Patron Bonus episodes (on the 28th) covering a show from the rest of the world. The shows for March (covering 1955) will be Quatermass 2 and Science Fiction Theatre. The main episode is available free wherever you get your podcasts. To get the bonus episode, you need to follow us on Patreon at £3/$3 or above. (And you get access to seven years of Hammer House of Podcast bonus episodes!) You can find all the info here.

My Ko-fi and eBay Stores

Here’s my Ko-fi store, where you can buy my books and comics, signed and personalised, for shipping worldwide. And here’s my ebay store, full of Bronze Age Marvel comics at bargain prices.

My Linktree

You can now find all my social media links, my website/blog and links to where you can buy my books, in one place here, thanks to Linktree!

The Work of Friends

Peter Bebergal, the great writer who specialises in the weird, has a multimedia online talk coming up, at 3pm EST (8pm BST) on Monday, April 14th. ‘Monster Worlds’, presented by the Last Tuesday Society, will “examine the popularity of monsters in the 1960s and 1970s and the changing face of the mythic and literary creatures as our culture’s own lingering unease began to morph, moving from the shadowed myths of the past into the daytime horrors of serial killers and gore. I will argue that we need monsters again to learn how to reimagine what frightens us in a way that remythologizes our anxieties and will offer a path for re-enchanting our imaginations.”

You can find tickets and more info here.

And the new novel by Jendia Gammon, Doomflower, is out on Tuesday, April 8th. “The meanest teen queen in high school might be the world's only chance against killer plants run amok! Camellia Dume is the meanest teen queen in her Malibu high school, a rich daddy's girl thanks to her father's elaborate scams. But she might be the only hero for humanity as an extraterrestrial mutation sends plants tearing across the country and through people in bloody fashion. As if that weren't enough drama, Camellia just might meet her own personal match or worst enemy, in the new student Wray, as sparks fly and opposites attract. Only by working together can they uproot a deadly conspiracy that may have torn Camellia's family apart. Think HEATHERS meets MEAN GIRLS meets DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS and THE THING: gory, horrific, but hilariously so. Perfect for fans of Grady Hendrix.”

You can check out the novel at the publisher’s site here.

My Week

So Caroline and I didn’t get to see Tom’s lion-tamer act at his school last Friday. We went along to discover that all the other parents had been emailed to say the circus show wasn’t going to be to an audience, because of child anxiety and not enough parents being able to show up. The lovely staff showed us the props in the classroom, and Thomas introduced us to the teacher who’d played the lion. He’d done very well in creating a ticket design and a price list for the drinks he sold at his stall. A little disappointing, perhaps, but we got to see Tom at school, which was pleasing. The Lego Interventions which Thomas has been enjoying every Wednesday, in which he and a couple of other children build a sports car while being asked to chat, have done wonders for his everyday speech, and we’re now surprised by little lectures about the content, for example, of the next Super Tato episode, so it was good to be able to say to the teachers what a good job they were doing.

On Saturday, my share of childcare was five hours in the middle of the day, so I decided on a trip to the nearby airfield. Thomas and I drive up to the gates of it every Sunday as part of our arboretum visit routine. (He recites the text of a sign that hasn’t been there for the last six months.) I’d noticed they were sometimes open to the public, and that was the case when we got there. We absolutely lucked out. Light aircraft were landing and taking off in display fashion, and there were several static displays of bigger aeroplanes, including a 747 and the cockpit of a Harrier. Thomas was utterly delighted, wandering about saying ‘wow, this is amazing’, more than I’d ever seen him enjoy anything we’ve visited. He especially loved standing under the 747. When we went to the fence at the edge of the runway, there was a sign saying ‘aircrew only’ to go further. I said if we passed it we’d have to fly a plane, and Thomas worriedly said ‘no, thanks’, as if that were a genuine possibility. Best outing ever!

Work-wise… it’s so hectic right now. I’m pushing to finish the fantasy novel, but commissioned work is now arriving from several directions. On Wednesday I had what could turn out to be the biggest meeting of my life. (You know how it’ll go: I’ll get all excited and nothing will come of it, then in a year or so someone will ask what that was and I’ll have forgotten.) But among the definitely going to happen are now two new comics projects. My to do list is filling up, and I’m finding it hard to find any downtime.

Which is why tomorrow I intend to take myself off to see the second day of some County Championship cricket. No work! For a whole day! Let’s see if I can manage it.

To Be Continued

Half term hols next week. Let’s see how big a Newsletter I can manage too!

See you all next week!