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Tuesday 19 April 2011

Interview on Guys Can Read

Brilliant podcasting blog Guys Can Read (does exactly what it says on the tin) has an interview with me today. We're talking about roleplaying, gamebooks, comics and other fun stuff right here.

9 comments:

  1. Sigh. Spent 20 minutes writing bullet-pointed thoughts about the 'blogcast'. And then my computer spasmed, and wiped it from my screen.

    Oh well. The podcast was very entertaining. I still know very little about Mirabilis, in fact - but your description has coaxed me into heading up to the top right of my screen and finding out how I can get a couple of copies onto my iPhone.

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  2. Oh, I know so well how that feels, Paul. Computers - can't work with 'em, can't smash 'em with a hammer. Well, if you have the patience to do the bullet points again I would be interested to read them. And in the meantime - Mirabilis #1 is easy to find out about, with all the background and issue #1 free on the website. Hope you like it.

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  3. A condensed version of the bullet points, half-remembered, copied from a Word document: -

    - to start with, a technical point: is it possible to download these 'blogcasts'? I'll admit I haven't scrutinised the Guys Can Read page for options yet, but 35 minutes is kind of a long time to sit at my desk, effectively listening to the radio – though I could happily listen to it on the metro to work, say. I also listened to the recent blogpodcast (?) interview on the Nail Your Novel blog, and I essentially had to do that one in 'shifts'.

    - Letters pages in comics: were / are they so good? I missed out on that. Much of my comic book reading is done in public libraries, who only buy in the collected volumes. I've managed to talk the staff of my local library into buying in a few volumes of The Walking Dead – but my girlfriend is such a fan that I've gradually bought them all anyway, as relationship-smoothing gifts, and so on. If Mirabilis is getting a print run, maybe that could be the next relationship-smoother (it tends to need a lot of smoothing).

    - Ah, you have a chance to talk about your earlier writing, and yet there's no mention of those beloved Blood Sword or Dragon Warriors books, or even the Knightmare tie-in books (seriously, I don't think I knew a boy my age who DIDN'T want to be on that programme). An aside: I once sold all my Knightmare books to my school librarian for four pounds, then later regretted it and spent years gradually tracking them all down in second-hand bookshops. I once again own them all, now.

    - The Thor movie: Thor was one of the comics I did buy one-by-one, though out of order and years after they'd first come out. The movie could be really good. Or, it could be a CGI frenzy, and yet ultimately quite dull – like, say, the movie 'Hulk'. Surprisingly anxious about this.

    - As I mentioned, my comic book reading is often quite spotty, and depends on my local library. So I've only recently noticed that Nick Fury seems to have morphed into Samuel L. Jackson. The original, definitive Marvel comics are now aping the Marvel movies? So, so wrong.

    Um, that's more or less what the first post said. But in a far more witty, entertaining way, the first time round.

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  4. Thanks, Paul. My bullets on your bullets:

    - I right-clicked on the link, downloaded in 3 minutes, and played over headphones while jogging.
    - It's all about building a community behind the content. The letters pages themselves were not so great, but the fact that they were replied to (often by Stan Lee himself in the early days - there was no-one else there!) and the "tweets" on the Bullpen Bulletin Page.
    - I am worried you may be establishing a dangerous pattern in your relationship. Some smoothing is fine. But don't be a doormat.
    - Having said that, of course buy her Mirabilis in print. This is what all girls want.
    - Kevin and Luke being American, I figured they wouldn't know much about Blood Sword or Dragon Warriors. I should certainly have mentioned DW to Luke as he's a roleplayer, but I don't think he'd be exactly wowed by its 25-year-old game system. (Sad to say, but we must be realistic.)
    - I said to my mate Rob, "Want to go see the Thor movie?" He emailed back: "It will be crap. But we have to go." (I'm still hoping it will be more of an Iron Man than a Hulk. Also quite anxious.)
    - I agree. I like Samuel L Jackson as Samuel L Jackson. Nick Fury is a whole other character.

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  5. Heh heh. I may be exaggerating a little about needed presents to smooth things over with the girlfriend. Don't worry, I can handle her.

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  6. You can as long as she never reads that comment.

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  7. If she does, I'll just buy her another comic book.

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  8. Mirabilis vol 3 should be ready by the end of the year.

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  9. One of your interviewers was extremely annoying. The one who couldn't stop laughing/snickering/making inane comments in response to most of your remarks. The other interviewer, the one who actually knew something about role-playing games and game books, was much better. Interesting interview.

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