Discworld Convention 2006 The Chronicle Volume 4 Issue 2 November 2005 Contents 03 The Thoughts of Chairman MEG 04 So, what’s with the Guilds? 06 The Convention Charity Auction 08 The Changing Faces of the ConCom 10 Membership List 14 Life Imitates Art 18 Answer to last issue’s Teaser 19 Trevor’s Teaser 20 Contacts Volume 4 Issue 2 of The Chronicle was produced on a PC with QuarkXpress, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Layout, design and typesetting by Karen Martin. Image manipulation by Sorcha O’Brien. Cover illustration by Esther Heijn. Printed and bound in Great Britain. This magazine is copyright Star Turtle Limited. Copyright is returned to individual contributors on publication. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, xerographic, photographic, recorded or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holders. Star Turtle Limited is a non-profit company and the Discworld Convention is not actively organised to make a profit. Any funds left when Star Turtle Limited has met its financial commitments will be donated to charity. Discworld is a Registered Trademark. Star Turtle Limited accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of items contained within this publication. 3: The Thoughts of Chairman MEG Welcome to the second Discworld Convention chronicle. This time of year, when it's cold and wet and the t-shirts go back into the drawer for another year, one gets to thinking about when it might be warm once again and what there is to keep me occupied in the meantime? Well, August should be warm in Hinckley[1] and we're keeping our fingers crossed for another novel from Terry in the spring. So that answers those questions. For the convention committee, pace is gathering. Technical equipment is listed, hotel prices fixed, hire bills paid, all the boring stuff is plodding along nicely. The not-so-boring stuff is also going well. Bruce has fleshed out the programme and is calmly putting detail on the timetable for the event; the web site contains updated biographies, merchandise and links; membership has passed the 400 mark and the guest list is pretty much finalised. We're thrilled that Clarecraft have agreed to attend the event despite their ceasing to trade in November. Maybe your collection of figurines has suddenly shot up in value, maybe you've been stumped in your collecting hobby. Either way, it is sad to see that Clarecraft will no longer be producing the figurines we've all come to love. On a happier note, we'll be having a couple of programme items dedicated to those who collect the figures and are interested in the history of Clarecraft. The opening ceremony is always a close-kept secret and Tim on tech, together with Suzi in Productions are putting the final touches on this year's extravaganza as I write. I think it has something to do with a fat lady singing but, hopefully, not too soon. We don't want it to be "over" until the very last attendee is waving and smiling as they leave. Before I leave this chronicle intro, I'd like invite you to make further suggestions to info@dwcon.org for anything you'd like to have included in the programme. I cannot promise that all suggestions will be added - some things can be impractical, unsafe or financially prohibitive - but I can promise that all suggestions will be considered. Keep warm, happy and engrossed in a Discworld novel. [1] The value of your investment may go down as well as up. -MEG 4: So, what’s with the Guilds? It started as a way of organising the start of the Gala dinner. How do you arrange for several hundred people to gather in one room and then move them to another one, filled with tables, without accident or incident? Well, we thought we might try separating the dinner guests into guilds and send them through one guild at a time, with a little pageantry to keep everybody entertained and in the spirit of the occasion. Then somebody suggested that we put everybody into guilds for the duration of the convention, give points to people who wore impressive costumes and so on and announce which guild had won. We argued a bit about whether we would hand out tokens or just keep tally on notepads but that was it. We weren't sure that anybody would care enough to take part, let alone pay attention when the winning guild was announced. Looking back, it is hard to identify the precise moment. Was it when the Assassins started selling life insurance (possessing a policy protected you from assassination by the guild)? Was it when the head of the Guild of Merchants had his people print off counterfeit tokens, which he used to bribe the Assassins to kill their own guild head in an attempt to win control of the Assassins for himself? (Lord Downey had not thought to buy a policy for himself). By the time the head of the Guild of Plumbers and Dunnikin Divers assassinated the resurrected Lord Downey with a plunger (the policies didn't cover assassination by anybody else), it was too late. The Guilds had taken over the convention. Committee members (the sole source of tokens) became a hunted species. The Fools demanded money with menaces ("Give us a token or we'll tell you a joke!"), the Thieves sold us property insurance, the Seamstresses sold us favours (and still came second even when these turned out to be scraps of lace). At the end of it all, people declared that it had been a lot of fun and there was always this convention thing going on in the background if anybody got bored. Are we going to have Guilds again this time? Well, we considered the alternatives and since they all involved us being lynched by an angry mob, we thought we might give it another try. Will the rules be the same? Well, the most impressive thing about last time was how the Guild members made up their own rules. All that activity was devised with no input from the Committee and actually benefited from the absence of formal rules laid down from on high. We do not want to spoil this, so there will be no rulesbeyond the minimum required to ensure that nobody is unnecessarily harassed by the overenthusiastic. The scoring might be different. Maybe. We aren't telling. Will the Guilds be the same? No, not entirely. Of the nine guilds, some were deemed not to have worked as well as the others, for various reasons. Three of the old guilds will go and three new ones will be made available. One thing that will be different is that you will have the chance to sign up with a Guild well before the start of the Convention. This will give you more time to plot mischief and schemes. If you have never been to a Discworld convention before, joining a Guild will give you the opportunity to get to know some people before the event, so that you will not be arriving at a hotel containing seven hundred complete strangers in funny costumes. They'll still be in the funny costumes but it's less intimidating when you know them. Trust me. Another change is that each Guild will be in charge of at least one programme event. We will provide the venue and the time slot, you turn up and put on a show. Now, you might see this as a cynical attempt to make the convention-goers do all the work. Well spotted. You may now consider yourself the brains of the outfit so get plotting! Of course, all of this will take quite some organising. To that end, Guild deputies have been and are being recruited to co-ordinate everything (if I play this right, I won't have to do any work at all). Treat these brave souls kindly, as they surely have no idea what they have signed up for. Full details on the new Guilds will be available on the convention website by the New Year, which is when we plan to open up Guild membership. After that, it's up to you. Surprise me. I'm looking forward to it. Bruce (Programme) 5: The Convention Charity Auction 'Roll up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen, this is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy…..' Well, frequently, yes it is. I've run the Auction at the Convention the past few times and I'm constantly amazed at the quantity and quality of what the donors willingly give - and just how much all you good, generous people are prepared to bid for them. We've had one-off theatre props and costumes, rare model sculptures, unique artworks, stamps, advance proofs (which are fiercely contested), puppets, pins, beer, the (in)famous Hodges' Boxes, and of course THE ONION… * The auction is like the proverbial swan - to glide smoothly, there's a heck of a lot of paddling underneath. For me this starts months ahead as donors supply details of lots, and the catalogue is created. We've found this to be invaluable, particularly for providing detailed descriptions and illustrations for the more unusual items. Near the day there is a rush as lots physically arrive and are ticketed up, and we compile the 'late lots' list. On the day itself the physical movement of over 300 lots, some big and many fragile, from storage to the viewing, and then to the auction and collection, is a major task, and I give my truly heartfelt thanks to Sandra Battye and her crew of gophers who take care of this, especially during the auction itself, when I, as the clerk, am feverishly concentrating on writing all the numbers down correctly. Also, my salute to auctioneers Bernard Pearson and Pat Harkin, who seem able to persuade you all to open your purses wide… The good thing is that there's something for everyone, from the teddy bear we sold for £1 to a child who just loved it, to the £350 'Death of Rats' model donated by Terry from his library. But most lots are well under £20. How do we do? Last time we raised just over £10,000, every penny of which goes to charity. The orang-utans say 'Ook' for all the bananas. See you in 2006! 'Roll up, roll up, ladies and gentlemen, this is your once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy…..' Richard John Artley, Auction Coordinator * If you don’t know the legend that is THE ONION, well, you’ll just have to come to the auction to find out! 6: Request for Help If anyone happens to possess or know the whereabouts of either the original artwork by Stephen Player for the cover of the play edition of 'Lords and Ladies' (ed. Irana Brown, published Samuel French Ltd., 2001), OR the original artwork by Graham Higgins for the cover and/or page 62 of 'Mort: The Big Comic' (published Gollancz, 1994: page 62 is Mort threatening Albert), please could they contact one of the below: Stephen Player - mail@playergallery.com Graham Higgins - g@pokkettz.demon.co.uk Bernard Pearson - bernard@cunningartificer.demon.co.uk Richard Artley - rartley@etech.ch 7: Frappr map - 10 yrs of Conventioneering Discworld Conventions have attracted visitors from very far afield over the years - ten years by 2006. Just for fun we thought we would try, with your help, to map this using the Frappr site to create our own DWCon map. The URL for this is: http://www.frappr.com/discworldconventions1996to2006 You can put yourself on the map with a comment (called a 'shoutout' for some reason!) add a picture if you wish. Perhaps mention the other Cons you attended, your badge name, a special memory or if 2006 will be your first Convention. You could also mention any other Pratchett/DW fan groups you belong to. If you don't find your home town I suggest using the closest and sending the webform back to Frappr with the name to add to their mapping system. The aim is to get as many attendees from the past on the map as well as those of you hoping to come in 2006. 8: The Changing Faces of the ConCom The committee for the 2006 convention is made up of around eleven people, with nearly twenty others on their staff. Of that thirty or so only four have been involved since 1998 and none of them were on the first committee in 1996 (I am one of those four, so I get to write this article). In ten years the convention committee (the ConCom) has become the Philosopher's ConCom, but we'd obviously like to think it's still as sharp. There is, of course, no simple reason for this complete change, no single factor that can be pointed out to explain why one convention is enough for some ConCom members, while others keep on coming back for more year after year [insanity? -Ed]. There is just the simple truth of convention organising; a lot of the people you're working with this time may not be around the next time. Faces and personalities change and those changes are reflected in the direction and atmosphere of the convention. Every part of the overall organisation is shaped by the person in charge and the overall focus and direction is given by the Chair. The Chair is, in many ways, the face of the convention. They are the ones who stand on stage at the beginning and end of the weekend, who MC at the dinner and with whom the buck finally stops. Paul Kruzycki was the first Chair and the only one to do the job more than once. Paul started the whole thing in 1996, reprised the role in 1998 and came back after the cancelled event in 2000 to run the third Discworld Convention in 2002. When Paul finally decided to retire it was not immediately clear who would succeed him. That uncertainty was dispelled as Colm Buckley stepped into the role, but his decision to only do the job once meant that the convention had to get used to a changing face at the helm, something which previously, leaving aside for a moment the events of 2000, had not been a concern. MEG Glover has similarly announced her intention to do the job once, but now it is less of an upheaval. It is not, as one might imagine, an easy job and so it is not surprising that a single go is often enough. Of course the Chair is also the person who picks the ConCom and often a Chair has a certain person in mind for a job, or a certain job in mind for a person and again the faces change. There is probably enough material for a novella in the details of all of the people who have given up their time and effort to make the con run. Unfortunately the editor would not let me take up the entire Chronicle with this information, so I am forced to leave out a lot of names and stories. I have already talked about Paul and Karen and Paul in 2002 so I must mention his partner in, well, all sorts of things, his wife Karen Kruzycka. She was on the Concom in 96, 98 and 2002 and is probably as much to blame for the current success of the conventions as Paul. They, like Mark Lowes, a colleague from 96, are now to be seen in the Dealers Room with their respective businesses, letting other people run the show. The only member of the 96 committee to still be involved is Darrell Ottery, back on the Concom as Hotel Liaison, living proof that the convention bears more than a passing resemblance to the Hotel California. The 1998 Concom is almost entirely gone, but since 2002 there has been remarkable consistency. However, many of those currently involved have expressed a desire to step back and watch from the other side of the curtain for a while and already work is in progress to ensure as smooth a transition as possible as new faces take up old masks. Aspects of the con will change as new personalities mould them and change them, but the quality will remain. As for those of us who've been around longer than most, well, I for one don't intend to stop just yet. Sitting in Ops since 98 I have had the immense pleasure of working with a wide array of talented people and from time to time I miss those who have moved away, either from the ConCom or Discworld fandom as a whole. However one cannot expect something like the convention to be static and changing faces means the opportunity to make new friends and experience new ways of running the event. It also means new people to talk to about how we used to do things in the "old days", a surer method of clearing Ops than any I've ever seen! Brian ‘Go To Ops’ Nisbet Operations 10: Membership List Full list of Convention Members as of 3rd November 2005. Memberships have been flooding in since the beginning of the year, and at the last update, there were around 400 members, including guests and committee! Don't forget to remind friends who are planning to attend that if they wish to benefit from the lower membership rates (£45 full, £30 concessionary), they must send in their applications before 31st December 2005. After that date, prices rise to £50 full, £35 concessionary. If you have any queries about your membership, you can contact Jennifer Delaney at dwcon@clanwilliam.net or membership@dwcon.org. G1 Terry Pratchett G2 Stephen Briggs G3 Colin Smythe G4 Bernard Pearson G5 Isobel Pearson G6 Trevor Truran G7 Jack Cohen G8 Ian Stewart G9 Diane Duane G10 Peter Morwood G11 Lionel Fanthorpe G12 Graham Higgins G13 Dave Langford G14 Frank Foster C15 MEG Glover C16 Colette Reap C17 Jennifer Delaney C18 Jos Dingjan C19 Mike Flynn C20 Suzi Holyoake C21 Karen Hunter-Jones C22 Brian Nisbet C23 Darrell Ottery C24 Bruce Richardson C25 Jonathan Simons C26 Rob Wilkins A41 Ann Flynn A42 Becky Ottery A50 Pam Gower A51 Andrew Nevill A52 Barry Roche A53 Naomi Jacobs A54 Padraig OMealoid A55 Deirdre Walsh A56 Steven Dean A57 John Tierney A58 Chris Griggs A59 Alison Griggs A60 Lucy Jefferies A61 John Hicks A62 Ian Oldroyd S63 Emma Shephard A64 Kate Oldroyd A65 Mandy Oldroyd A66 Christine Russell A67 Ulisa Fletcher A68 Mari Fletcher A69 Sandra Battye A70 Adrian Emery A71 David Ward A72 Christine Ward A73 Martyn Clapham A74 Diane James A75 Ken James A76 Fiona OMahoney A77 Derek Mahony A78 Christine Mahony A79 David Offen-James A80 Susan Offen-James A81 Gillian Egan A82 Keith Wiltshire A83 Jennifer Egan A84 Rachel Egan A85 David Hodges A86 E-J Burr A87 Nico Westerhof A88 Simon Callan A89 Mandy Tonks A90 Andrew Brown A91 Peter Smith A92 Alex Cowley A93 Karen Martin A94 Ian Tuffnell A95 Justin Thompson A96 Tim Williams A97 Paul Tong A98 Patricia E Pickles A99 Beverley Greenhalgh A100 Peter Charles A101 David Lane A102 Michael Lanting A103 John Strong A104 Kai Blake A105 Jacqueline Blake A106 Carolyn Bintley S107 Denise Collier A108 MIchael Clements A109 Christopher Edwards A110 Ruth Charles A111 Jayne Riley A112 Jacqueline Lawrence A113 Vincent Oberheim A114 Jerry Elsmore A115 Jeroen Metselaar A116 Alex Osmond A117 Paul Osmond A118 Lynne Savage A119 Patricia Frobisher-Manners A120 Wayne Roberts A121 Jacqueline Watts A122 Ann Kirkbright A123 Andrew Birtwhistle A124 Neil Summerfield A125 Richard John Artley A126 Keith Ingle A127 Liz Ingle A128 Alistair Hunter-Jones A129 Michael Hunter-Jones A130 Rachel Hunter-Jones A131 Kimberley Verburg A132 Alan Bellingham A133 Alison Willis A134 Hayley Marsden A135 Robert Flach A136 Alec Cawley A137 Bodo Bellut A138 Mark Harrison A139 Andrea Shorrick A140 Lynne Morgan A141 Sally Gurney A142 Eelco Giele A143 Rachel Coleman Finch A144 Tony Finch A145 Patrick (JR) Harkin A146 Patrick Harkin A147 Gaenor Mallender A148 Steve James A149 Pat Harris A150 Olivia Mifflin A151 Andrew Mifflin A152 Eleanor Mifflin A153 Finlay Mifflin A154 Edmund Simons A155 Elaine Simons A156 Simon Knott A157 Stella Royal A158 Brigitte De Smedt A159 Elizabeth Alway A160 Paul Alway A161 Andrea Denninger S162 Ray Smith A163 David Harvey A164 Nick Caulfield A165 Elaine Mein A166 Tony Perkins A167 Kimberley Haddock A168 Astrid Christie A169 Sharon Haddock A170 Peter Haddock A171 Alex Carlton A172 Tracey Durbin A173 Naomi Ratcliffe A174 Claire Gaydon A175 Lewis Abnett A176 Samantha Durbin A177 Katy Telsa Lavender S178 Susannah Barnett A179 Sheila Wicks A180 Reece Robinson A181 Robert Owen A182 Pauline Harris A183 Gary Harris A184 Doreen Knight S185 Angela Wagstaffe A186 Carl Muller A187 Kerry Ann Adamson A188 Deborah Johnson A189 Debra Hayward A190 Phil Minto A191 Stephen Roberts A192 Becky Thomson A193 Sabine Schotel A194 Darren Mintoft A195 Anna Caggiano A196 Steve Hunter A197 Brian Wakeling A198 Clive Troubman S199 Howard Smith S200 Elizabeth Smith A201 Joann Richardson A202 Rosemary Warner A203 Olga Bukreev A204 Edmund Schluessel A205 Osman El-Gothamy A206 Rosanna Day A207 Jennifer Hayward A208 Katrina Baker A209 Stephen Lawson A210 Stuart Wrighton A211 Sue Wrighton A212 Sharon Evans A213 Ruechenda Herd A214 Lola Gudgeon A215 James Gudgeon A216 Alison Finch A217 Gregory Finch A218 Natalie Smith A219 Shaun Main A220 Sorcha OBrien A221 Gideon Holyoake A222 Rich Pedley A223 Mel Pedley A224 Niall Lund A225 Kai Pedley A226 Gabe Krabbe A227 Sabine Krabbe A228 Donal Cunningham A229 Teddy A230 Stephen Scott A231 Elaine Ruth Pearce-Jones A232 Raymond King A233 Colm Buckley A234 Heather Wallace A235 Louisa Bird A236 Graham Bird A237 Sylvie Bird A238 Gemma Richardson A239 Mandy Sleigh A240 Laura Sleigh A241 Kate Sleigh A242 Tim Van Holder A243 Stephen Lewis A244 Tania Lewis A245 Rhys Lewis A246 Briony Lewis S247 Reinier Sjouw S248 Jennifer Sjouw-Bashforth A249 Patricia Sjouw A250 Rolf Milde A251 Uwe Milde A252 Rose Mary Johnston A253 Richard Stellaard A254 Christine Bosman A255 Jane Robinson A256 Stuart Wood A257 Linda Reid A258 Adam Durbin A259 Jason Helstrip A260 Kathryn Wallis A261 Neil Wallis A262 Tricia Williams A263 Nicholas Avenell A264 Diane Serpa A265 Thomas Busha A266 Catherine Hayward A267 Katherine Levin A268 Joanne Mouatt A269 Janette Ward A270 Ingo Korb A271 Glen Robson S272 Martyn Ransom A273 Stephen Best A274 Sally Best A275 Edward Best A276 Carolyn McAdam A277 Mark Burilin A278 Rosemary Fineren A279 Caroline Thorpe A280 Beki Bradwell A281 Wendy Bradwell S282 Helen Highwater S283 Tim Hunt A284 Klyn Matthew A285 Judith Proctor A286 Richard Proctor A287 Henry Proctor A288 Adam Potter A289 Kirsty Reger A290 Susanne Goldmann A291 Joanne Raine A292 Elizabeth Carter S293 Joerg Neidig A294 Divya Gohel A295 Anthony Evershed A296 Ailbhe Leamy A297 Robert Collier A298 Linnea Collier A299 Jeroen Burger A300 Maarten Kreuger A301 Bjorn Bjornsson A302 Helen Nicholls A303 Mark Burbidge A304 Monica Burbidge A305 Daniel Proost A306 Anna Blight A307 Pam Harrison A308 Menno Willemse A309 Vicky Harris A310 Jan Swanton A311 Helen Cousins A312 Lottie Barber A313 Jelmer Graafstra A314 Tamara Rigg A315 Marco Villalta A316 Frank Hirsch A317 George Figerl A318 Neil Sluman A319 Rhys Flynn A320 James Shields A321 John Barberio A322 Stephen Goudge A323 Julia Goudge A324 Lisa Lagergren A325 David Cook A326 Steve Rogerson A327 Kurt Sidaway A328 Graham Strowes A329 Barbara Stewart A330 John Stewart A331 Mary Kay Kare A332 Taz Shanahan A333 Leo Breebaart A334 David Gamble A335 Peter Van Burgh A336 Cheryl Van Burgh A337 Richard Atha-Nicholls A338 Lesley Irwin A339 June Bowden A340 Sarah Finnerty A341 Richard Bince A342 Felicity Knight A343 Matthew Mosse A344 Gill Agnew A345 Karenna Fry A346 Jason Anthony A347 Tom Nanson A348 Peter Mohlin A349 Helene Beasley A350 Natasha Beasley A351 Jean-Christophe Dubacq A352 Juliette Roussel A353 Arthur Kessens A354 Adrian Gosling A355 Anita Barnwell A356 Menne Kosian S357 Natalie Westwood A358 David Watson A359 Pam Wood A360 M Jane Bunting A361 Sarah McEvoy A362 Pierre Borgnat A363 Sonia Fargue A364 Jean-Yves Moyen A365 Kim Burns A366 Sebastian Barwinek A367 Erica Fields A368 Jean Guittet A369 Gideon Hallett A370 David Kennedy A371 Mike Pleasants A372 Interstellar Master Traders A373 Philip Wright A374 Justine Wright A375 Michael Wright A376 Sam Wright A377 Jan van t Ent A378 Peter Chapman A379 Sue Chapman A380 Johanna Laite A381 Marguerite Pywar A382 Sylvia Blundell A383 Mary Blundell A384 Andy Baker S385 Linda Doerksen S386 Einar Gunnarson A387 Annette Bradley A388 Steve Taylor A389 Lizzy Taylor A390 William Taylor A391 Jonathan Taylor A392 Ann Bridger A393 Clare Watson A394 Orjan Westin A395 Ann-Cathrine Loo A396 Carmilla Westin A397 Ulf Westin A398 Jorid Kirkesaether A399 Min Lacey A400 Chris Chalkley A401 Colin Andress A402 Christopher Boote A403 Colin Green A404 Barbara Wyatt A405 Martin Wyatt A406 Annis Laidlaw A665 Patrick Dersjant 13:Life Imitates Art By Bernard Pearson From an article appearing in the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Magazine for November 2005. Well it does you know, sometimes, even when the 'art' in question has a very small 'a' and leans towards the fairytale rather than the heavy duty prose of the classics. It happens probably more times than we are really aware of in a sideways sort of way, without fuss, gently. That's not to say that rubbing a lamp inevitably results in a genie appearing, or planting a bean in the garden bring on a rain of giants, but life does, sometimes, follow ethereal footsteps. It certainly has with our Discworld Stamps. Now I know they are really 'Cinderellas', and that as a genre 'Cinderellas' are the poor mad auntie of real stamp collecting, the sideways look, the never-never land of the philatelic landscape. But reality is only a point of view, and we have created as near to real as you can get when it comes to Cinderella Stamps. And it started with a story. So will I. So if you're sitting comfortably, I'll begin. Once upon a time a writer, who had created a whole world from his skill and imagination, was penning a book based loosely on a postal service. It was also loosely based on technology and its impact on life, and letterboxes. But mostly it was about a post office, and letters, lots and lots of letters. The writer was Terry Pratchett; his readers number over 30 millions world wide, he has written over thirty books, and is a best seller by any standards. He created a world called Discworld that mirrors our own, with added magic, but the same human condition, the same aspirations, fears, and hopes. Well it falls to me to number among Terry's 'Baker Street Irregulars' of researchers, bodgers, and literary bag carriers who root about garnering miscellaneous information that is the grist to any writers mill. He’s also a good friend whose company it is my pleasure to share. It was on one such occasion, when he was talking through the plot of his latest book; 'Going Postal', that we discussed stamps, not what they did, but what they meant. We had both collected stamps as children, had been given the obligatory album filled with small muddy prints of bits of gummed paper that passed for suitable home entertainment for boys in the nineteen fifties. Had sorted through huge bags of stamps, and with unskilled fingers discovered the hidden menace that lurks within the innocuous stamp hinge, had received that subtle education that the humble postage stamp is capable of. To our generation collecting stamps was a sort of rite of passage, like conkers, marbles, and the swapping of same in a wet playground during 'break'. I suppose in that respect we must mirror many thousands of our generation, stamps came into our lives, and never really left, but other things got stacked on top. They were put in the attic of our mind, discarded but not entirely forgotten. When Terry writes a book he turns over every stone in the path that his researches lead him on. Books, pamphlets, papers from obscure sources litter his study, and it was surrounded by these that we sat and talked. Thus the idea was born to create a 'real' stamp to accompany the launch of the new novel 'Going Postal' So I did, for a laugh, a bit of fun, ho, ho, ho. With absolutely no malice aforethought I took components from the original penny black and via the computer drew a head of a character from the book in place of HM Queen Victoria, printed it to scale, stuck it on an envelope, and sent it to Terry, quite expecting him to have to pay the postage as no other stamp adorned the thing. It arrived, franked. Terry's Publishers 'Transworld' took hold of the idea and with the book seller Waterstones commissioned what I know now as a First Day Cover. Discworld is full of 'interesting' characters, the readership is almost as varied, and we network like you wouldn't believe. You can get almost anything by casting your net in the 'Discworld' pond of fans and followers. So finding a graphics man who understood the ways of traditional printing and specialist papers was no problem, and he knew a man who could wield a pen with skill and flare and even engrave where necessary, so creating stamps that had the smell of legitimacy was a challenge but not impossible. Taking our brief from the author, we wove the elements of design into stamps that at first or even second glance would look as though they had the pedigree of a real postal service behind them. Some designs have been printed by Enchede of the Netherlands who really are in the top bracket; others have been printed by a company using an old letter press, and others on the more modern off-set litho. Our collective aim has always been to create stamps that if in a hundred years time someone is rooting around in a big bag of 'real' stamps ours will appear just the same but depicting a currency and a country that existed only in the imagination, and oh what fun they might have in looking up 'Ankh-Morpork' in an old atlas. Putting Cinderella on the street So we have got these stamps; I keep calling them that, I know it's an anathema to the educated collector, but to Discworld fans they're really well, real. They put them on envelopes and postcards, so do we for that matter, and they are treasured, collected, and of course traded. It's that bit of the equation that has taken us by surprise. The original FDC for Waterstone's which was given away free with the hardback edition of 'Going Postal' now fetches something in the region of £25.00, some stamps have made over £100, and a special cover over £400. This is serious money, and it's entirely collector driven, mostly on e-bay. This has happened partly because the fan base for the books are great collectors of memorabilia and the like, and that unknowingly we connected with a huge number of people who have collected stamps and see a synergy with what we have created. Oh and of course we give the rarest stamps away, quite free. Going back to the olden days, well and now I'm told, one would buy a bag of mixed stamps from a dealer or shop, and possibly, sometimes, get something a little rare. It was a lottery, and had the added bonus of always giving you stamps to examine, learn about, look up, and stick in or swap. So we do the same, oh the bags are small because we haven't produced hundreds of different varieties of stamps, but each little envelope contains stamps to or over the value of £4.99, and in a carefully controlled ratio some have rare, very rare, or extremely rare stamps nestling within. All little envelopes look the same on the outside, all have a goodly selection, and our collectors can and do sell enough specials and sports to more than pay for their entire collection. That's without the special covers we now produce such as the recent Rockall FDC which has raised nearly £3000 for charity thanks to the Rockall Times and Mark Valentine of the British Cinderella Society. Sportsman if nothing else Of course being designers fuelled by the genus of a writer with a sense of both history and humour we just had to have our own take on the wonderful world of 'sport' Now again I hang my head in shame, and plead I really didn't know just what would come of it, but, well, er, we actually designed 'sports' into the creative process. Some of them are very subtle, some are blatant, and some down right naughty. We just couldn't not, especially when Terry Pratchett had written some right crackers in the book, we just had to. I won't bore you with exactly what where and how. If you are really interested our web site forum has them all, along with thousands and thousands of posts examining, deconstructing, commenting upon, and being far more knowledgeable about our little efforts that I now am, after all I only draw the ruddy things. These 'sports' are keenly collected, sought after, and garnered, but again, only from our Little Brown Envelopes, throughout which they are distributed with malicious intent. And all this in just over a year since last July (2004) So far we have produced just over 250,000 stamps, I'm told by those far more numerate than myself that if they were laid end to end from the door of Messrs Stanley Gibbons in the Strand then they could stretch from the Strand to Trafalgar Square, south, in to Whitehall, passing the Admiralty, Horse Guards Parade and on to Parliament Square. Down Birdcage Walk and to the Memorial Gardens in front of Buckingham Palace, from there along Constitution Hill to Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch. Then along Knightsbridge into Brompton Road, turning right at the Victoria and Albert Museum, into Exhibition Road. At the top a quick tour of the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial before setting out eastwards along Rotten Row back to Hyde Park Corner. Finally up along Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus and Eros. Or in simpler terms just over six miles, and that's just in a year. We now have albums, thanks to my learned friends in Stanley Gibbons. We have a collector base running into the thousands, and we have stamps making an appearance in the next two Discworld novels, plus a diary, plus a calendar, post cards, and so much fan art that we are going to designate a whole part of our small shop to just showing it. And most of all, we have fun. Such fun as I have not had as a creative designer in thirty years at my craft. We have met some of the nicest people ever from within the stamp collecting community, and although by the very nature of the fantastic landscape we inhabit I know that what we do might well be regarded by some as a complete travesty, we do pay serious homage to designers long dead whose monuments are small sticky bits of paper. And I'm told we have awakened stamp collecting to a new audience, some of whom I know who have dusted off the stamp books of yesterday and are making stamp collecting a real part of their tomorrow. For more information or just a look at all the stamps we have produced go to www.discworldstamps.com 18: Answer to last issue’s Teaser Hotel Notsoparadiso For those of you waiting on the edge of your seats to find out who slept where in the Hotel Notsoparadiso here is the final solution. For those of you who don’t know what’s going on, why not make up your own story to go with the solution below! 19: Trevor’s Teasers Lode of Trouble Letz Diggardersson, the famous gold miner, has found a new lode containing the following seams. No seam is next to another seam in any direction - it is entirely surrounded by rock. No square with a number in it has gold. His map is deliberately less than helpful. It's blank except for a few numbers. Each number tells him how many of the squares in the same row and column as the number contain gold. For example, the 3 in the top row, fifth column tells you that the top row and the fifth column between them contain three squares of gold. Letz thinks his map is foolproof - and so it is. But you're no fool - can you work out where the seams are? Contacts The Discworld Convention 2006 P.O Box 102, Royston, Herts SG8 7ZJ tel/fax: +44 (0) 7092 394940 web: www.dwcon.org email: info@dwcon.org (general enquires) hotel@dwcon.org (hotel queries) volunteers-info@dwcon.org (volunteering) membership@dwcon.org (membership issues) programme@dwcon.org (programme questions/ideas) dealers@dwcon.org (dealer applications/queries) chronicle@dwcon.org (contact the editor) The L-Space Web (Pratchett/Discworld fan site) email: librarian@lspace.org web: www.lspace.org The Orangutan Foundation 7 Kent Terrace, London NW1 4RP email: info@orangutan.org.uk web: www.orangutan.org.uk tel: +44 (0) 207 724 2912 fax: +44 (0) 207 706 2613 The Cunning Artificer’s Discworld Emporium (Pearson sculptures, waxworks, stamps and more) 41 The High Street, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9JU email: isobel@artificer.co.uk web: www.artificer.co.uk tel: +44 (0) 1963 824686 fax: +44 (0) 1963 824671 Discworld Monthly (electronic fanzine) email: oook@discworldmonthly.co.uk web: http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk Clarecraft (figurines) Unit 1, Woolpit Business Park, Woopit IP30 9SH email: info@clarecraft.co.uk web: www.clarecraft.co.uk tel: +44 (0) 1359 241277 fax: +44 (0) 1359 242253 Colin Smythe (Terry’s agent) P.O. Box 6, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire SL9 8XA web: www.colin-smythe.com/ tel: +44 (0) 1753 886000 fax: +44 (0) 1753 886469 Stephen Briggs (CMOT Dibbler) P.O. Box 147, Oxford OX2 8YT email: sbriggs@cix.compulink.co.uk web: www.stephenbriggs.com/ The Guild of Fans and Disciples (unofficial fan club) Sandy Lane Cottage, Runnington, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 0QN email: gofad@btinternet.com web: www.geocities.com/Area51/1777/