The Gondolier Activities

 In a late burst of activity, I have received translations of The Gondolier in Arabic, Japanese, Kannada, Korean and Telugu, taking the total number of languages for this story to 56.

Of these, 20 have been published and the others appear here on this blog. There are possible markets for some of these new languages, but others will appear here in the near future. 

At WorldCon in Dublin in 2019, my display of The Gondolier included 42 languages. I'm hoping to repeat this at the 2024 WorldCon in Glasgow, with a lot more translations.

A Day at Dublin WorldCon

I’ve driven past the Dublin Convention Centre numerous times while I’ve been in Dublin on business, but this was my first time venturing into the huge glass edifice that features endless zigzagging escalators that seemingly reach for the stars. There were 6000 people expected at WorldCon, which meant it was almost impossible to find anyone you were hoping to bump into at random. The programme was also vast, but I’d downloaded the app to help me keep track of which items I wanted to see and when they were on.


Read the rest of my account at SF Crowsnest.

The Gondolier Display

Here's me, next to a photo of me, next to the display of my story The Gondolier in 42 languages, at WorldCon in Dublin.

The Gondolier Goes to Dublin

Many translations of my very short story The Gondolier have appeared here at The Science of Fiction, and 16 different translations have appeared elsewhere. In two weeks time The Gondolier will take to a new stage at WorldCon in Dublin.

All 42 translations of The Gondolier, including a new language I'm very excited about that will be making its debut, will be appearing in the display area.

I shall be there on the Friday to admire my own work!

Gareth D Jones Interviews Gareth P Jones

At WorldCon I was mistaken for Gareth P Jones, which makes a change as usually I'm mistaken for Gareth L Powell. There are a few other Gareths and even some more Gareth Joneses with writing credits to ther name, so I thought I'd track some of them down and ask a few questions about writing and being a Gareth.

First off, Gareth P Jones, author of numerous children's novels.

What do you enjoy about writing for children?

The freedom. Authors who write for adult readers very often end up writing one type of book, but I have written science fiction, gothic, thrillers, funny books and mixtures of all these things. I’ve written about dragon detectives, ninja meerkats, Steampunk pirates, ghosts, werewolves. I love the variety of my job.

 

What books did you enjoy reading when you were young?

Again, I was never very consistent in terms of genre or loyal in terms of author. I have great affection for fantasy books such as Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books but I also remember with great fondness the sheer wonderful silliness of The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. And then there were all the books that were read to me including Watership Down and Mrs Fisby and the Rats of Nimn.

 

What do you enjoy reading now?

Recently I’ve made a conscious effort to read books aimed at the same age group as the novels I write and I’ve very much enjoyed Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell and Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead.

 

As you mentioned, you write in a variety of genres. Do you have a favourite?

Not really, but I do like making myself laugh.

 

What's your writing schedule like?

In terms of deadlines this year is pretty hectic. In terms of my working day, it’s very flexible. I have no set time of day I work better, no set place to write. I set myself weekly targets and work the hours necessary to meet them.

 

Have you ever been mistaken for another author, or another Gareth?

No. I chose to insert the P into my writing name so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for any of the many other Gareth Joneses. Since getting published in 2007 though, another Gareth P Jones has started writing kids books, which just shows you how common this name of ours is. I blame our parents. I have brought this up with my mother but she claims she didn’t know I wanted to be an author when she named me.

 

 

Fin.

The End of Barsoom

I really enjoyed the film John Carter when I saw it a year ago, unlike the critics who didn't like it at all apparently. I didn't realise until I watched it that it was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, and in fact I was only vaguely aware of the books. I enjoyed the film so much that I got the entire 11 book series in omnibus edition.

 

I started them in December, reading each book individually with other books in between, and finished yesterday, 2500 pages later. I enjoyed all of them immensely, even though the plots started to become predictable. They have barely aged at all, despite being started 100 years ago. Barsoom is a fabulous place, and even though we now know nobody lives on Mars, it doesn't matter. I'm quite sad to have come to the end.

At WorldCon I picked p the omnibus edition of the first 3 volumes of Burroughs' Pellucidar series. I'm hoping they will be just as enjoyable.

Futures 2 Anthology Launched

Futures 2 Anthology, featuring the best stories from Nature magazine's Futures column, was launched at WorlCon on Friday evening. The anthology is available in various e formats, and includes my story World Wire Web, along with a host of well known authors and fabulous stories.

I was at the launch party where I met editors Henry Gee again and Colin Sullivan for the first time, as well as several of the other authors.

WorldCon Approaches

LonCon 3 - WorldCon - the World Science Fiction Convention, starts at the Excel Centre in London on Thursday. I'm going on Friday and Saturday - it's only an hour's drive from my house. This will be my first WorldCon so I'm pretty excited, especially as I'll be attending the book launch for the Futures 2 anthology.