Paul Cornell's Friday Newsletter

I’m Doing a Games Event in January

On January 18th, I’m going to be on a panel at Narrative Design and Trends Forecast for 2024, a Game Republic event in Leeds. If you’re a member of Game Republic you can get in free, and if you’re not, tickets are on sale at that first link. The other panelists are bigtime games creatives, and I gather there are still some more to be added. If you’re in the industry and seek to mingle, check it out!

Con and On Collected Edition

The collected edition of Con and On, with all five issues plus some lovely extras, will be out from Ahoy on 26th March, and is now available to pre-order from these links at Amazon UK and Amazon US. (And, thanks to reader Bruce Arthurs, here it is at B&N.)

My Ko-fi Store has Re-opened!

Just in time for the festive season, (and after Thought Bubble) I’ve re-stocked my Ko-fi store, where you can buy my books and comics, signed and personalised. I’m only quoting UK postage at the moment, but if you’re elsewhere in the world message me in the store and I’ll quote you a postage price.

My eBay Store is now Fully Stocked!

Similarly, I’ve now re-stocked my ebay store, full of Bronze Age Marvel comics at bargain prices, a Doctor Who item or two and, err, a guide to learning Japanese!

Witches of Lychford: Don’t Forget to Catch Me

That’s the title of the four-part Lychford Christmas Special serial which will be available to paying subscribers to this Newsletter on the four Thursdays of December. (Then a new Lychford novella will start on the first Thursday in January.)

If you subscribe now, you get to read all of the previous episodes, that is the whole last novella, Night of the Gnomes, as well as getting the new episodes going forward. It’s $8 (or the equivalent in your currency) per month, or $80 per year.

Hammer House of Podcast

Hammer House of Podcast, in which myself and Lizbeth Myles watch the Hammer horror movies in UK release order, is out on the 13th of every month, with our November episode being about The Satanic Rites of Dracula. You can get these episodes free wherever you normally get your podcasts, as well as on our site, but if you sign up to our Patreon, for any sum of money from £1/$1, you get an extra episode every month too, on the 27th, in which we watch Patron requested movies and films from other horror studios of the same era.

I mean, that is actually what happens, but it’s… just okay.

Find my Books at Bookshop.Org and Help Out Indie Booksellers!

Bookshop.org is a collective selling tool that sets up a marketplace for all indie bookstores in the UK, functioning exactly like Amazon, except you’re supporting your local bookshop. You can find a selection of my books here, and I get a little cut of the proceeds too if you order from here!

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

My friend the writer Emma Newman has started a new podcast, in partnership with Friends of the Earth. It’s called Imagining Tomorrow and it’s full of practical hope for the future. If you’re in need of an antidote to despair, check it out.

(Oh, and Emma’s also doing a Tea and Sanctuary Advent Calendar podcast!)

My Week

I always refuse to get Christmassy in any way shape or form before December 1st, and then on that day I just go completely festive. So here are my two favourite Christmas tunes of all time, Wizzard doing ‘I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day’, which starts out cynical and then just dissolves into utter 1970s glam rock joy, with chord changes, granny dancing, sax solos and a gorgeous, meaningful, ending. And here’s Bob Dylan doing ‘Must be Santa’ . I love that such a serious artist is willing to share such joy, and the video is very funny.

Thomas opened the first window on his two advent calendars this morning, and here are the results, a lovely Lego snowman on skis and a festive Emily Thomas Mini.

I’m also feeling very festive because of a work-related email relating to my trip to L.A. in February that came in overnight (and yes, between us, I am going to Gallifrey One, and there will be a subscriber meet-up, but they haven’t announced me yet, so hush). And I also have cause for hope because the results of those blood tests came in, and everything’s normal except… I have a low level of vitamin B-12, the lack of which is common in vegetarians (or just about vegetarians) like myself and can cause dizzy spells. So I’ve got myself a supplement, and, well, fingers crossed.

Sitting in my lovely local coffee shop midweek, I suddenly got the plot for the whole of the Lychford Christmas Special, so I’m writing that up at high speed to enable me to get some proper time off over the festive season. (I actually punched the air in public. Which is better than the other way round.) This week I also sent off the script for #3 of my yet-to-be-announced new creator-owned comic. And there was a Zoom meeting where I got commissioned to do something for a property I’ve always wanted to work with. And there was a crowdfunding thing with… anyway, there was lots, and I was neverthess pretty much grumpy and a little dizzy and lost until today. Because today is a promise of Christmas, and beer down the Railway, and curry night, and quiz night at the Cricket Club (yeah, kind of packed) and Liz is coming down next week, and there’s loads to look forward to!

To Be Continued

I hope to see you all next week… and some of you in L.A. in February!