Podcast

#Pratchat57West5 – Daniel Superbaboon

Leave a Comment

We take a last-minute step (or five) to the West, as Liz and Ben delay their chat about The Long Mars to go back to where it all began: Pratchett’s original 1986 short story “The High Meggas“.

Larry Linsay, who perfected the belt technology that allows humans to move between parallel Earths, has shunned civilisation. He’s living near the coast of what would be France in a world in the “high meggas”, the weirder Earths a million or so removed from the original. Like all the other Earths, it’s devoid of human life – or it was, until two guards from Forward Base, the nearest human settlement many worlds away, arrive in Linsay’s world. The first one he finds, Joshua Valienté, claims he’s chasing the other one: a terrorist who poisoned the other fifty personnel at Forward Base. Trouble is, that’s exactly what she says about him, too…

When we had to change plans at the last minute and delay our episode on The Long Mars, we decided to take the opportunity to produce a bonus episode about the story where it all started. “The High Meggas” was written in between the first two Discworld novels and never published until its ideas became a novel, and it’s a fascinating look at how Pratchett’s idea evolved. Some things are very similar – names like Linsay and Valienté, the concept (though not the name) of the Long Earth. Others are tweaked – the belts become boxes, movin‘ becomes stepping. And then there’s some which are flipped entirely – compare the “Sideways Doctrine” to the idea of US Aegis.

Do you prefer the more technological version of “stepping” in the original story? Does the central drama of the story work for you, or is the villain too obvious? And what do you think Pratchett’s career would have been like if The Colour of Magic hadn’t been a success, and this had been his next big project instead of The Light Fantastic? Join the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat57West5 on social media.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:25 — 26.7MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our website.

This bonus episode won’t stop us from discusses the third Long Earth novel, The Long Mars, with returning guest Joel Martin! …or at least that was the idea. #Pratchat57 was to be released the same month as this one, but unfortunately some further technical problems complicated the editing process, so we’ve delayed it until the 25th of August. For our regular August episode, #Pratchat58, we’ll be reading another short story: 1988’s “Final Reward”. Send us your questions using the appropriate hashtag on social media, or via email to chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat58 – The Barbarian Switch

Leave a Comment

We explore every author’s worst nightmare as writer Penny Love returns to Pratchat and finds the barrier between reality and fiction getting all wibbly-wobbly in Terry Pratchett’s 1988 short story, “Final Reward“.

After a particularly bad row with his girlfriend Nicky – and a pint of wine – author Kevin Dogger decides to kill off the protagonist of his best-selling fantasy series. The next morning, Erdan the Barbarian appears on Dogger’s doorstep with the milk. He was, after all, promised a final reward: an eternity of carousing in the halls of his creator…

Content note: the story “Final Reward” contains discussion of (fictional) suicide.
If you or anyone you know needs help, use the Wikipedia list of crisis lines to find one local to you.

Written for the short-lived roleplaying magazine G.M., “Final Reward” is Pratchett’s go at the age-old tradition of writers writing about writers. But in true Pratchett form, it’s not just about that… Hailing from around the time of Wyrd Sisters and Pyramids, but “tinkered with” before appearing in A Blink of the Screen, it depicts an author ill at ease with the real world and human relationships – by all accounts not much like Pratchett himself at all. And then there’s the way it ends…

What did you think of this one? Have you ever written a character you’d like to meet in person? Would you swap places with them? And is this a dig at any real fantasy authors, and we’ve missed the joke? Join in the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat58 on social media.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:34:45 — 43.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Penelope Love is a writer best known for her roleplaying game work, especially with Chaosium for Call of Cthulhu, including the upcoming Victorian London campaign she mentions this episode. She previously joined us for #Pratchat45, “Hogswatch in Grune“, discussing the quite Lovecraftian “Twenty Pence with Envelope and Seasonal Greeting”. Penny is also part of Campaign Coins, who as well as making gorgeous metal coins for use with tabletop games, publish Penny’s comic fantasy short story collections about “The Three Dungeoneers”, which you can find here. Penny is on Twitter as @PennyLoveWrites, or you can follow @CampaignCoins for more on their projects.

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our website.

As previously advised, due to some technical difficulties – and not a time machine, to Ben’s disappointment – the next episode to be released will be #Pratchat57, discussing the third Long Earth novel, The Long Mars, with Joel Martin. Look for it in the Pratchat podcast feed on August 25.

Next month in #Pratchat59, we’re discussing The Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch with science and fiction writer, Dr Kat Day! And after that, in October, it’s finally time for another general questions episode, #Pratchat60. This is the perfect opportunity to ask us about books you missed first time round, or general questions about Discworld, Pratchett, us and the show! Send in your questions for either of those episodes via social media (using the appropriate hashtag), or send us an email at chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat57 – Get Your Dad to Mars!

Leave a Comment

We prepare to find out why infinite Earths aren’t enough as writer, editor and podcaster Joel Martin returns to the podcast to fire up the fusion engine and have a close encounter of the crustacean kind in the third Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter Long Earth novel, The Long Mars.

It’s 2045 – five years after the eruption of the Yellowstone super-volcano on Datum Earth. The climate has catastrophically changed and there’s been mass migration to stepwise Earths. Maggie Kauffman, captain of the new stepping airship Neil Armstrong II, is sent ten times further into the Long Earth than anyone has gone before, to find out what happened to the ship’s missing predecessor. Meanwhile reclusive stepping pioneer Joshua Valienté is called back to the Datum by the A.I. Lobsang to search for a new kind of human emerging from the Long Earth. And Willis Linsay, who disappeared after giving Stepper box technology to the whole world thirty years ago, sends a message to his super-stepper daughter, Sally. He wants her to go on a mysterious mission to Mars…

The last of Pratchett’s novels to be published before his death, The Long Mars marks a turning point in the series where Pratchett’s involvement was limited after the first draft, and Stephen Baxter did most of the polishing. Like The Long War it skips over the immediate aftermath of the disaster at the end of the previous book to inhabit the world of its longer term consequences. It also continues the tradition of switching between multiple narratives with at least a dozen key characters. There are old friends and new faces, but some of them are barely glimpsed. It’s a book full of big ideas, but not so much plot – and even less emotional and character development.

Does this one feel more Baxter than Pratchett? Is this the troubled middle episode of the series? What did you think of the portrayal of the Next? How cool are those acid snakes? Will any of these awesome ideas return in the final two books? And where the Hell-Knows-Where is Helen? Join in the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat57 on social media.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:29:58 — 69.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Joel Martin is a podcaster and writer who is now our first four-time guest. He previously joined us in #Pratchat14 and #Pratchat44 for The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, and in #Pratchat31 for The Long Earth. His independent podcasts, The Morning Bell and The Youth Vote, are currently on hiatus, but watch out for the new season of The Dementia Podcast from The Dementia Centre, produced by Joel, in September 2022. Find Joel online at thepenofjoel.com or on Twitter at @thepenofjoel.

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our website.

Due to some technical difficulties we ended up delaying this episode until after #Pratchat58, so thank you for your patience! We’ve already recorded our next episode, #Pratchat59, in which we discuss The Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch with science and fiction writer, Dr Kat Day. But in October for our sixtieth episode we’re having an open slather questions-only special, just like we did for #Pratchat30! So please send us your general Pratchett-related questions: about the show, books we’ve already covered, Sir Terry himself, the Discworld in general, the Guild of Recappers & Podcasters, Liz and Ben, being Australian/Fourecksian or anything else even vaguely on-topic. Use the hashtag #Pratchat60 on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, or send us an email at chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat60 – Eyes Turnwise

1 Comment

For our sixtieth episode – our troll’s teeth anniversary – Liz and Ben are once again devoting an entire show to answering your questions, about the Discworld, Pratchett’s other work, and their own – with an eye on what’s still to come. (And yes, we allowed ourselves to break the 2.5 hour limit, just this once.)

What would your ideal Pratchett adaptation look like? Who’s the best Dicsworld villain? If one of your possessions could be made from sapient pearwood, what would it be? Which books have been the worst, the most challenging, and the most surprising? If Vetinari died and the people of Ankh-Morpork could queue up to see his body, what would happen? And which is the most confused bird? You asked these and many more amazing questions!

Plus we specifically asked you: Do you have other people in your life with whom you share your love of Pratchett? How are you reading – or re-reading – the books, if you are? What do you do when you listen to the show? Can you follow the show if you haven’t read the book? Do you have a word or phrase you’ve said most of your life that you discovered was wrong? What joke did you not get until years later?

Use the hashtag #Pratchat60 on social media to answer any of the above. (Thanks again to listener Jodie for this eternally useful idea.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:34:47 — 71.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

You can find Elizabeth on Twitter as @elizabethflux, and on Instagram at @elizabethflux. Watch out for her amazing self-made outfits.

You can find Ben and via his web site benmckenzie.com.au, on Twitter at @McKenzie_Ben and Instagram at @notongotham, where you might catch a glimpse of his T-shirt collection.

Special thanks to our sibling Pratchett podcasts for their questions: Who Watches the Watch, Desert Island Discworld, Wyrd Sisters and The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret.

And thanks to each and every one of you listens, asks questions or sends in answers.

Next month is a special double-header: we’ll be reading the 34th Discworld novel, 2005’s Thud!, with guest Matt Roden. Get your questions in via the hashtag #Pratchat61 by late October! Plus we’re teaming up with Jo and Francine from The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret to tackle the book-within-a-book, Where’s My Cow? Ask questions for this team-up using the hashtag #MakeYeChat.

You’ll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#PratchatPlaysThud – The Troll’s Gambit

Leave a Comment

Things are a bit hectic in Pratchat land this month, so to fill a gap in our schedule while Liz was unavailable, Ben has joined forces with guest academic and professional board game nerd Dr Melissa Rogerson to play and discuss Thud, the game that inspired the novel of the same name!

Have you played Thud? Have you ever won as the dwarfs? Is it true that the trolls have an advantage? Are you a Thudmaster with insight to share about standard openings and endgames? We’d love to hear your Thud stories! (Ben really is keen to play some more, so there may be a follow up on this in future!)

Be sure to check the episode notes for some pictures of the game, and use the hashtag #PratchatPlaysThud on social media to answer join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:32 — 31.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Dr Melissa Rogerson is a Lecturer and Assistant Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne. Her PhD thesis was titled “Between Cardboard and Computer: The hobbyist experience of modern boardgames”. Melissa’s currently studying the use of digital tools in hybrid games – which included the “Biometric D&D” project, where they used a facial recognition algorithm to assign you a Dungeons & Dragons character! You can find out more about her research at her website, melissarogerson.com, or find her on Twitter (or Mastodon – aus.social) at @melissainau, and on BoardGameGeek as melissa. (Ben is on there too, as beejay.)

Our “Thud trilogy” continues in our next two episodes! #Pratchat61 will be a discussion of the 34th Discworld novel, 2005’s Thud!, with guest Matt Roden, scheduled for release in late November. Then, bumped to December 8, we’re teaming up with Jo and Francine from The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret to read a discuss the very meta book-from-the-book, Where’s My Cow? You still have time to ask questions for this one! Use the hashtags #Pratchat62 and/or #MakeYeChat.

You’ll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat61 – What Terry Wrote

Leave a Comment

Designer and educator Matt Roden delves deep under Ankh-Morpork with Liz and Ben as they unravel the mystery of the penultimate City Watch book, 2005’s Thud!.

As the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley approaches, the dwarfs and trolls of Ankh-Morpork find their ancient enmity stirred up – not least by Hamcrusher, a conservative leader of the “Deep Down” dwarfs, who has preached hatred against the trolls. But now Hamcrusher’s dead – not that the other deep downers want the Watch to know about it – and Vimes must solve the puzzle of his murder before tensions explode across the city. On top of that, he’s also been sent a government inspector, he’s had to take on the Watch’s first vampire, someone’s stolen the most talked-about painting in town – and he has to get home at 6 o’clock sharp, every night, to read Where’s My Cow? to his infant son…

While most Watch books have a mystery that needs solving, none so far have felt as much like a contemporary thriller as Thud! There’s an awful lot going on, with politics, religion, art and history all in the mix. Is it too much for one book? Are there threads that get dropped along the way? Is Pratchett having his cake and eating it too with his fantasy abstractions of real world issues? And who do you think should star in Discworld legal drama The Good Dwarf? Join in the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat61 on social media!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:26:22 — 67.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Matt Roden is a graphic designer, educator and the Creative Learning Manager for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Matt has a long history with storytelling and education; he helped set up The Ministry of Stories in London, and was the first volunteer and a long-running Storyteller with Sydney’s Story Factory. You can follow Matt on Instagram (where you can see photos of his dog) at @matthewrodeo.

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

We apologise that this episode has gone out much later than planned. While our schedule has gotten a little out of whack, we’ll still be continuing our “Thud! trilogy” next episode with our special crossover with sibling Pratchett podcast The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret. We’ll be joined by Jo and Francine to discuss Where’s My Cow?, the hottest children’s book in Ankh-Morpork! Plus we have plans to extend our Thud! trilogy to four parts – details coming in our very next episode.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat62 – There’s a Cow in There

Leave a Comment

In this very special episode, Liz and Ben are joined by fellow Discworld podcasters Joanna Hagan and Francine Carrel on an existential journey deep into our very souls! Yes, it’s part three of our Thud!-related trilogy, in which we discuss Where’s My Cow?

Every night at six o’clock, Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, reads the picture book Where’s My Cow? to his one-year-old son, Young Sam. But tonight, in between doing the barnyard noises, Vimes starts to question whether this is really the right story for a child of Ankh-Morpork.

Released at the same time as Thud!, Where’s My Cow? is a picture book based on a novel inspired by a board game. Lavishly illustrated by newcomer to the Discworld Melvyn Grant, it takes the couple of pages explaining the book – and the “Vimes street version” – and brings them vividly to life, along with wonderful new visions of some of our favourite Discworld characters. But is Young Sam cute, or in the uncanny valley? What’s the deal with that flying book? What do you think the Discworld’s answer to duct tape would be? Are are you, in some way, looking for your cow? Join the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat62.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:43 — 45.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guests Joanna Hagan (chef, poet, playwright, author) and Francine Carrel (writer, editor) are the hosts of the Discworld podcast The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret, which is about to reach its 100th episode! Their format splits each novel up into three weekly episodes per month, and they’re going through the Discworld books in mostly publication order, with side trips to Pratchett’s non-Discworld work along the way. Find them wherever good podcasts are available, but also at their website, thetruthshallmakeyefret.com, and on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, TikTok and probably something else by the time you read this. If you like what they do, please consider supporting them on Patreon.

You’ll find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

As mentioned above and at the end of the episode, we’ve decided to cut ourselves some slack in the new year by extending the “Thud! trilogy” to four parts. In January we’ll be welcoming back Matt Roden to discuss the Discworld short story “A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices“, featuring A. E. Pessimal and available in A Blink of the Screen. We’ll also tackle some more of your brilliant Thud! questions! If you have questions about the short story, send them via social media with the hashtag #Pratchat63 or via email to chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Finally, if you want to catch The Amazing Maurice before the rest of the Australia, and you’re in Adelaide, the Australian Discworld Convention’s fundraiser screening is on Saturday, the 10th of December, at 3 PM at the Palace Nova Prospect. Get details and book your tickets here! (We won’t be there, but do tell us if you go!)

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat63 – Decline by Committee

Leave a Comment

In this final fourth part of our Thud! trilogy, Liz and Ben are rejoined by designer and educator Matt Roden. As we wait for the biscuits to arrive, we turn our attention to this month’s agenda items: the 2005 Discworld short story “A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices”, and squeezing in a bit more discussion of Thud!

Every Thursday the senior faculty of Unseen University have a committee meeting, during which they do very little except wait for the biscuits and tea to arrive – much to the annoyance of Ponder Stibbons. But this week, Ridcully announces that their latest magical mishap has annoyed the Patrician – and as a result, they have a few questions to answer from one A. E. Pessimal, newly appointed “Inspector of Universities”...

Written for the Times Higher Education Supplement and published a few months before Thud!, this very short story draws on Pratchett’s own experience on a committee. Does it tally with yours? Are you a Ponder, a Ridcully, or a Pessimal? Do you agree with Matt’s characterisations of the other faculty members? Plus we get back into Thud! – are we off the mark with our thoughts about whether it’s copaganda? What is Pratchett trying to say about religious extremism, if anything? And what Discworld cocktail would you make? Join the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat63.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:59:22 — 55.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Matt Roden was here just two months ago for #Pratchat61 discussing Thud! He is still the Creative Learning Manager for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, as well as an accomplished graphic designer and educator. There are now even more photos of his dog on his Instagram at @matthewrodeo.

You’ll find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

We’re easing into the year slowly with another short story for February, this time one of Pratchett’s earliest: “Rincemangle, the Gnome of Even Moor” from his time at the Bucks Free Press in 1974. Its available in both A Blink of the Screen and The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner. Send us your questions about it using the hashtag #Pratchat64, or via email, which you can send to chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the all-new Pratchat Reading Challenge for 2023! All the details are on our website, and you’ll also find it on the StoryGraph.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat66 – Ol’ No Eyes Is Back

1 Comment

Returning guest, author Amie Kaufman heads back to the Chalk with Liz and Ben to face the rough music in a bumper-size discussion of the penultimate Tiffany Aching book, 2010’s I Shall Wear Midnight.

Tiffany Aching, nearly sixteen, is no longer an apprentice. Now two years under the witch’s hat, she cares for those as can’t care for themselves, and deals with the harsh realities of rural life. But all is not well in the Chalk: the unending need for its only witch is pushing Tiffany to the edge, and an act of violence – and its consequences – test her limits. Roland, the Baron’s son, is engaged – but not to Tiffany. While he’s away, the old Baron dies, and Tiffany must fetch him home to take his place. And on top of all that, something is stirring: something old and evil that stirs up old prejudices and fears about witches – and is aiming them directly at Tiffany Aching…

Content note: this episode contains discussion of (fictional) intimate partner and family violence, miscarriage and suicide.
If you or anyone you know needs help, use the Wikipedia list of crisis lines to find one local to you.

Nearly three years after she danced the Dark Morris and kissed the Wintersmith, we rejoin Tiffany Aching, who is discovering that even fixing her mistakes can have consequences. But is this really a book for younger readers – or even young adults – when it includes some of the heaviest stuff of any Discworld novel? Does it all hang together, or are there a few ideas fighting each other in this plot? Who knew what and when about the Cunning Man, and is he Pratchett’s creepiest villain yet? What spill words do you not say when you’re listening to the show? Join in the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat66 on social media!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:40:30 — 74.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Returning guest Amie Kaufman is the author of (so far) twenty novels for middle grade and young adult audiences, including the Illuminae Files and Aurora Cycle sci-fi trilogies with Jay Kristoff; the Elementals, Starbound and Unearthed series with Meagan Spooner, and the World Between Blinks books with Ryan Graudin. For Pratchett fans she recommends her upcoming YA fantasy novel Isles of the Gods, launching in May 2023. As mentioned in the episode, Amie also produces two podcasts about writing: Amie Kaufman on Writing, a 10-minute masterclass on writing techniques, and Pub Dates, in which she and co-writer Meagan Spooner take you behind the scenes on writing and publishing a novel, and what comes after. For more of Amie’s exploits visit amiekaufman.com or sign up for her Substack newsletter Finding North.

As usual, you can find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Catch Liz in person when she’s one of the speakers for the Sci-Fight science comedy debate “Should we fear AI?” on Thursday, 13 April 2023 at Howler in Melbourne! It’s hosted by previous guest Alanta Colley and features a great line-up of comedians, writers and scientists. Get all the details and book tickets vis moshtix.

Next month, now that we’ve met all the characters who’ll appear in it, we’ll be playing and discussing the 2013 board game The Witches: A Discworld Game, designed by Martin Wallace! Send us your questions using the hashtag #Pratchat67, and if you’re a subscriber, watch out for an unboxing video via our Ko-Fi page soon. And while our plans for #Pratchat68 in June aren’t quite fixed yet, here’s an earlier than usual heads up that in July we’ll be discussing the fourth Long Earth novel, The Long Utopia, with returning guest Deanne Sheldon-Collins. Those books are long, so you might want to get started now! Send in your questions for that one using the hashtag #Pratchat69 – or drop us an email at chat@pratchatpodcast.com.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat65 – Let There Be Gaimans

2 Comments

Liz and Ben are joined by writer and publisher Peter M Ball for Pratchat’s first foray into Pratchett’s nonfiction! We discuss fandom, genre, Sharknado, figgins and even fit in six pieces from “A Scribbling Intruder”, the first section of Pratchett’s 2014 nonfiction anthology A Slip of the Keyboard.

Pratchett writes about the letters he receives from various kinds of fans as a popular genre author in “Kevins” (1993), before revisiting the same topic in the email age and explaining why he quit his own newsgroup in “Wyrd Ideas” (1999), both for The Author magazine. Then its time to discuss fantasy as a genre – both advice for writing it in “Notes From a Successful Fantasy Author: Keep It Real” for the 2007 edition of The Writers and Artists Notebook, and reasons why children should be reading it in “Let There Be Dragons”, a speech given at the Booksellers Association Annual Conference in 1993. Finally, best mates Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman tell us how they feel about each other, Terry in “Neil Gaiman: Amazing Master Conjuror” for the Boskone 39 convention booklet (2002), and Neil in his Foreword for A Slip of the Keyboard (2014).

As we’ve discussed before, Pratchett was never one to let a good idea only be used once – and you may have heard him talk to some of the themes in these pieces when being interviewed. Short stories may have cost him blood, as he used to say, but he never lost his journalistic mojo for writing fact and opinion – or replying to reader mail!

Have you ever written to a famous author (a nauthor, if you will)? Would you want them to read your fanfic? What was the first book you read by choice? Can you pin down exactly what makes Pratchett’s writing almost a genre unto itself, when others could be said to follow his advice? And go on, you can tell us: which of Liz and Ben is the Terry, and which is the Neil? Join the conversation using the hashtag #Pratchat65.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:08:27 — 59.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Peter M Ball is an author, publisher and avid roleplayer based in Meanjin (aka Brisbane) in Queensland. Peter teaches creative writing, worked for the Queensland Writers Centre on the Australian Writers Marketplace and GenreCon, and is currently completing a PhD in Writing at the University of Queensland. You can find all of Peter’s social media links, and discover more about his own work – including a free sampler of some of his writing – at petermball.com.au.

Peter also runs the small press publisher Brain Jar Press, who specialise in shorter works of genre fiction and genre nonfiction. They’ve published Peter’s work, but also that of friends of this podcast Sean Williams (#Pratchat56) and Tansy Rayner Roberts (#PratchatNA7). Peter suggested Pratchett fans might enjoy Tansy’s brand new short story collection about seven women from Greek mythology, Gorgons Deserve Nice Things, or the Writer Chaps series of sci-fi and fantasy writers writing about writing.

You’ll find notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Grab your broom and your pointy hat and watch out for giants and pictsies, because next month we get back to Pratchett’s novels with the fourth Tiffany Aching novel, I Shall Wear Midnight! And we’re delighted to welcome back as a guest author Amie Kaufman, last heard discussing some of Pratchett’s other tiny people nearly five years ago in #Pratchat9, “Upscalator to Heaven”. Get your questions in before the last week of March via email (chat@pratchatpodcast.com) or social media using the hashtag #Pratchat66.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.