Paul Cornell’s Friday Newsletter

The Collected Project: Cyptid is Out Next Tuesday!

The first collection of Ahoy’s comics anthology series Project: Cryptid, including a Mongolian Death Worm strip by me and artist P.J.Holden as well as the work of many, many other great creators, including the first ever comics work of my friend Melissa Olson, is out next Tuesday, 14th May.

I’m In a New Anthology!

I’m one of many authors who’ll have stories in Jendia Gammon’s forthcoming cross-genre anthology, which she’s funding on Ko-fi! Check it out here!

Joanne Harris at Fairford Festival

So to help out my local Festival, I’ve had a hand in arranging for award-winning author Joanne Harris to make a personal appearance. If you’re going to be in the Cotswolds this summer, why not pop in? She’ll be appearing on Saturday, 8th June at 4pm as part of the Fairford Festival. You can see all the details and get tickets here.

I’m a Speaker at Develop: Brighton

Courtesy of Game Republic, I’m going to be on a panel at the Develop: Brighton gaming conference, which runs from 9th-11th July, though when my panel is still hasn’t been announced.

The panel is called Tips and Insights on Narrative Design from Leading Writers.

“Award-winning writers Rhianna Pratchett, Charles Cecil (Revolution, Broken Sword), Paul Cornell (Doctor Who, Marvel) and Judi Alston (Dreaming Methods) share their experiences, insights, learnings and tips for creating high quality narrative games with Dr Jackie Mulligan (Game Republic). The panelists will explore how to make narrative games on a budget, techniques to explore character, using new technology like AI and VR to enhance storytelling in games and trends in narrative design in particular stories being interpreted across multiple media. The session will also include a Q&A.”

I’m delighted to be part of such an excellent line-up.

Doctor Who: Goth Opera

It’s just been announced that my podcast partner Lizbeth Myles, already one of Big Finish’s most acclaimed writers, is going to be adapting for into audio drama for them my Doctor Who novel Goth Opera!

This Fifth Doctor vampire adventure with Nyssa and Tegan guest stars Richard Armitage, Natalie Gumede and Micah Balfour, and will be out in July!

You can read all about it here at Sci-Fi Bulletin and pre-order at Big Finish’s site here.

(This lovely final cover art by Sean Longmore.)

I’m a Hugo Awards Finalist!

The graphic novel by myself, artist Valeria Burzo and colour artist Jordie Bellaire, The Witches of World War 2, is a Finalist in the Best Graphic Story or Comic category in this year’s Hugo Awards!

The Awards will be given out at the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow (August 8th-12th), and I’ll be at the ceremony. So wish me luck!

Those of you who are members of the convention, and thus able to vote, will find the complete digital version of the graphic novel in their Voter Packets, courtesy of our kind publishers, TKO.

Thanks again to everyone who nominated us!

The Complete(d) Saucer Country is in Stores in September!

The Syzygy/Image edition of The Complete(d) Saucer Country, which has an entirely different design from the Zoop crowdfunded edition, will be in comic and book stores in September, and is now available for pre-order from Amazon! (Amazon release date: September 3rd.)

We’re Going Back to Thought Bubble!

Lizbeth Myles and I will once more be running at table at the great Thought Bubble comics convention in Harrogate on 16th-17th November! I’m looking forward to meeting once again so many lovely comics fans.

The Death of Wolverine

As announced here on ICv2, on 27th November Marvel will be releasing an omnibus edition of the Death of Wolverine storyline, featuring not only the miniseries of that name, but also my entire run on the comic. I’m very pleased that all this material will now be available in one volume.

There are going to be two covers, this regular one from Alex Ross…

And this direct market exclusive version from Joe Quesada.

It’s available to pre-order on Amazon, and at all good bookstores and comic shops.

Witches of Lychford: Fantasy Cricket

That’s the title of the second and final new Lychford novella that paid subscribers to this Newsletter have now started recieving in serial form. (Because of Substack’s platforming of Nazis, I’m getting rid of the paid option when this serial is completed.) Episodes of the new serial will appear, as with the previous ones, at 5pm UK time on the first four Thursdays of every month.

If you subscribe now, you get to read all of the previous episodes, that is the whole last novella, Night of the Gnomes plus the Christmas Special Don’t Forget to Catch Me, as well as getting the new episodes going forward. It’s $8 (or the equivalent in your currency) per month, or $80 per year.

My Ko-fi and eBay Stores

I’ve re-stocked my Ko-fi store, where you can buy my books and comics, signed and personalised, and now I’ve set up shipping to a range of international destinations.

Similarly, I’ve now re-stocked my ebay store, full of Bronze Age Marvel comics at bargain prices.

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 April episode being about Let Me In, the first of the modern Hammer horror movies! These will take us until the end of the year, and then we’ll be announcing our sequel podcast!

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.

(An excellent movie to begin this new run.)

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!

My Week

Last Saturday, for Free Comic Book Day, I took a wander to Proud Lion Comics in Cheltenham, picked up that lovely Flash Gordon issue amongst others (including Spidey and his Amazing Friends for Thomas) and met the most wonderful inflatable Godzilla, who had theme music and roars coming from his body, and would thus stop every now and then to bellow or wave to passing toddlers.

I then drove on to Oxford, very much enjoying having regained the freedom of the roads, and found a little ‘zine fair in a pub. I must try to spend more Saturdays like this, getting out of the house and finding fun.

On Wednesday, on what was very much the first summery evening of the year, I played cricket for the first time this season. Our little local social side faced the might of a nearby village’s pub, the side of which included a handful who actually played for their village team. We, on the other hand, merely know people who play for ours, often through being their parents. I asked the Captain if I could be allowed not to bowl, because I’ve decided my old skills in that department are no longer worth pursuing, and in the nets I’m starting to recover my abilities with the bat. I did well in the field, not taking any catches, but tactically falling down in the path of several balls which would have made it to the boundary as the pub side’s ringers despatched the deliveries sent down to them in any direction they fancied. When it came time to bat, however, in pursuit of a total which looked achieveable, mainly thanks to our tween fast bowler and wicket keeper, while I ran well for my partner at the wicket, I sent the first ball aimed at me straight into the hands of a fielder. I spent the rest of the evening nursing my beer and maintaining the scorecard, watching a very exciting chase as we failed to match their total by a single run. All in all, it was a deeply refreshing and comradely evening which took every weight off my shoulders and let me relax into summer.

Caroline and I heard from Thomas’ prospective senior school this week, and got a date for when one of their teachers is going to come over and see Thomas at his current school. After that, being the specialist autistic school they are, they’ll decide on which of many approaches to use to gradually get him used to his new environment. All this is a huge relief. A lot of my background stress, having been so badly bullied at school that I wrote a horror novel about it, concerns Tom going to senior school. This was the start of that abating also. Or so I fervently hope.

To Be Continued

I’m off for a lovely break this weekend. I hope to see you all here next time!