July Roundup
This month has both simultaneously felt like it’s whizzed by, and yet the days that made up its first week seem so long ago. I guess that’s what happens when you’re busy and having some of the best, longest days in recent years. Hope you had a good July. This’ll be a long one but hopefully plenty of photos will keep you engaged! I’ll do my usual non-writing news first before launching into the good stuff.
July 4th was a pretty big day for the UK.
The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire was released! It’s an exceptional in-universe Star Wars history book by local (to me) author Dr. Chris Kempshall! (There has been another rise and fall at the election.)
But it was also a day filled with light for me.
I visited an incredible exhibition in Tate Modern by Anthony McCall. Two-dimensional lines of white light are projected through mist, creating three-dimensional tunnels and sculptures. They move too, creating interactive shapes both in the air and on transparent screens which can be viewed from the other side. For me, it was like a cross between what ancient cave art may have felt like to those being initiated, and being within Plato’s cave allegory. There were views created, and light that you could touch and morph with your shadow, that resonated a lot with the mythology of my writing.
But even more than that (and connected to it in some way) came the strange joy of seeing my name in print for the first time, picking up a copy of the comic shop exclusive cover of Star Wars Insider #226 featuring my ancient art-related article ART WARS.
I had my usual browse round the shop first before heading to the desk to get my reserved copy. I’d wondered about saving looking inside but couldn’t help myself. I flicked through briefly while I paid, then went to a quiet section and took in the title page, then the two double page spreads that I hadn’t yet seen.
I knew I wanted to savour it, and feel, though it still didn’t really sink even when I read the whole thing again that evening. Still, I was overjoyed and blown away to see what graphic designer David Colderley had done with my words - beautiful pages with all the artwork and artefacts I’d mentioned and more, some of the real-world sites too like the Cueva de las Manos that I shared with you all in A Long Time Ago… #5.
I’m still blown away looking at this. It still hasn’t sunk in, and I suppose that’s why it’s so special. In case your new (or missed it) I wrote about the article fully here. And for ease, here’s a link to Titan’s webstore where you may be able to back order the physical issue if you’d like a copy of my traditional publishing in-print debut, whilst also supporting a great magazine! (I may be biased…) The comic shop/previews exclusive cover that I got is still available from Forbidden Planet here.
From Star Wars to Star Wars, it seems. There were loads of owls around Chichester, including a Minnerva Roman one and one covered in handprints, but I feel like this guy deserves to make the cut above the others. RHoot-DHoot?
But yes, we went to Chichester, saw the historic buildings, the owls and the museum, the highlight of which was actually not Roman but an amazing iron age helmet, a reconstruction of which is on the right of the image below.
But we also caught a production of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker. We went because of a certain star, really enjoyed the performances and, because of the rain, met all three of the cast members afterwards. They all signed the programme - including Ian McDiarmid (known to Star Wars fans as The Emperor!). It was great to watch him act in person and finally get to meet him, if only briefly.
Then in the second half of the month it was up to Oxfordshire for five nights, three days volunteering again at North Leigh Roman Villa, and two days in between to explore parts of Oxford that we hadn’t yet as a family.
It was fantastic to be back at the tranquil valley site, but even more fantastic to feel part of a team. I didn’t feel I was in training anymore. I could take initiative. I knew where everything went as we set up, all the learning resources and objects we have to show, what to tell visitors. I still learnt a lot from the other volunteers, once again had some great conversations and we must’ve had over two hundred visitors on that Wednesday and weekend.
Wednesday was a day when all the contractors were there either working on the ruins or the new roof, as well as some English Heritage high ups. In fact there were more of us on site that day than total visitors.
But the weekend was even better. In fact, there were a few repeat visitors who we must’ve made a good impression on. There were new activities for children on the Saturday like some sandpits with sherds in so they can practice doing some hands-on and reconstructive archaeology, as well as all the local artefacts to handle, the Roman snails and a mock-up triclinium dining room too. I was also given the keys to the whole operation (literally) so felt pretty chuffed to open up the property and actually guide others on the Sunday morning. It was three full days but I came out of every one energised by sharing my passion with so many people.
The site’s always free to enter and there’s an audio guide, but there’ll be five more open days in August and four in September. I’m going to be having a busy August though, but still hope to make the picnic commemorating five years of the volunteer group on Sunday 25th.
Seeing the old tower and all the different sections of prison throughout its eight centuries of use was very interesting, but I particularly liked the surviving crypt with its medieval column decorations. It’s supposedly a particularly haunted spot, but it’s certainly historic. The church that once stood above was where Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain, which is a mixture of legend and truth that cemented names like King Arthur and King Lear into the minds of people since 1136.
We also went round the amazing Christ Church, basically the pinnacle of Oxford colleges that most imagine, inspiration for many a Potter.
I also went off and completed the Ashmolean, another museum documented, with many inspiring artefacts for my stories or just fascinating objects. I was going to say I won’t bore you— but, oh, go on then, I’ll share a few highlights for those of you that only look at the photos.
And I had no idea that they have a prehistory gallery way better than the British Museum’s (I took photos of nearly everything).
These jadeite axe heads (valuable objects in Neolithic times, like bars of gold that were made in the Alps but reached from Scotland to Sicily) were very special to see, especially after including one as the centre of my first comic short story (news on that later!). There were also antler picks from Stonehenge and Grimes Graves, and great stone artefacts from sites I’ve visited or studied in the Dordogne or a very special pallet from the Grotte du Placard where a certain cave art bird-like symbols was first documented… enough of that.
We visited Arundel last August so it was good to return and see so much borage in the gardens. Borage was a much more widely used medical plant, originating in Roman gardens I think. But it was mentioned in Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy as a cure and features in my novel to a similar extent, so it’s always great to see some of this special plant.
And we finally completed what had been unfinished - visiting the public side of the church there. It’s an unusual situation and I won’t get into the history but the more Gothic chancel is Catholic (and private) whereas the rest of the church is Anglican.
On the way back we popped up the South Downs to see Chanctonbury Ring, a site that’s been in use since the Neolithic, was a Bronze Age henge, maybe a hillfort and then the site of two Roman temples. The main thing to see is the view the ancient people selected really, a site probably off their trackway. All the trees were planted much more recently. We perhaps found where the Roman temple was, a flatter part in the middle of the ring with lots of shards of red clay tile.
“Enough history!” I hear you shout. Okay then, I’ll tell you about my first time attending one of Film Sussex’s Focal Point sessions for local filmmakers. This month there was a great talk by Mike Hewitt, who’s worked in film marketing and distribution for nearly twenty years. Hearing his journey was actually a great education in the changes to the film production and distribution landscape in the last 20 years, from theatrical to DVD to Blu-ray to digital, streaming. He shared experiences of working with Revolver, Universal, Arrow and Warner Bros. and it was great chatting to him afterwards.
Some news from others. Married author dream team Jendia Gammon and Gareth L. Powell’s publishing press Stars and Sabers has officially been announced. And they’ve revealed the cover of their debut cross-genre anthology, featuring short stories from many writers I’ve met and admire - including Paul Cornell who’ll feature in the writing update part of this roundup!
They’re still fundraising, and all money goes directly to the thirty authors. You can get rewards for your donations starting at $5/£4, and be a part of the launch of this press with a great philosophy. Here’s the link to the book’s campaign. Please consider supporting!
I found both Gareth and Jendia through their newsletters, and speaking of newsletters (was that a good segue?)…
Marvel comics editor Tom Brevoort answered my brief question in his great weekly newsletter where he answers many Qs with entertaining As. I asked if Star Wars comics writer Charles Soule had seen all the mini comedic Poe Dameron comics the creative team had fun with.
Comics writer Jim Zub also pointed me towards a podcast appearance in which he talked all about the behind the scenes of writing his Star Wars short story in The Empire Strikes Back: From a Certain Point of View.
Link to both of those here and here.
Writing Update
The main bit of news this month is that I joined the Vlogger Beat team as a contributor! It’s my first sort of online journalism, on a site dedicated to social media and content creators. It’ll be a perfect way for me to channel my knowledge of YouTubers I’ve watched and been inspired by for years. And, it’s run by fellow Insider contributor Meg Dowell. My first article, the first part in a series about jacksepticeye’s multimedia ALTRVERSE just came out!
So please have a read, keep an eye on the site and follow our twitter for new stories every day - including some of mine!
Going chronologically now, I attended London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) and (I’ll talk about all the Star Wars-related stuff first) I met a fellow Insider contributor for the first time. Mark Newbold’s done almost 600 interviews, and almost 200 articles for Insider. The big fan site he runs, Fantha Tracks, is nearing 20,000 articles! So it was great to chat to Mark, to show him his latest in-print interview for the first time.
It was also very inspiring to catch all the Fantha Tracks panels that day, interviewing a range of Star Wars actors. And as you can see there were so many great cosplayers around. I particularly liked the Captain Rex and towering wookiee Black Krrsantan.
Player of tens of droid characters in all the Disney+ shows, Chris Bartlett’s journey from cosplayer to ‘the droid guy’ was great to hear, as was Rissa Kilar’s fantastic career in the stunt world.
I also caught Graham Hancock talking about his new book The Force of Creativity, which celebrates 25 years of Lego Star Wars. It was great to look inside the coffee table book and get a feel for all the concept art inside, the evolution of Lego in those 25 years, and learn about all the interviews he did with Lucasfilm and Lego designers. Graham, whose also the editor of the Blocks Lego magazine, was great to talk to afterwards. We shared the stories of our Star Wars and Lego passions and then I showed him the add for his book in Insider #226, something he didn’t even know about! So we took a photo of him holding the magazine.
But Star Wars was only half of the convention experience. I met and talked to and gathered the signatures of many great people on comics - got a little Batman drawing by Ram V and a Mando helmet sketch by the artist of the Marvel comics Mandalorian adaptation, George Jeanty.
And after being subscribed to his newsletter for about a year, it was great to meet Paul Cornell after his hilarious one truth and two lies panel with six fellow comic creators. When I went to get his autograph, saying my name’s Harvey, he actually recognised me!
So please go and subscribe to his newsletter that I’ve linked above, especially as Paul also very kindly pointed me towards some UK comics publishers and also a literary agent! Let’s just say I’ve been re-reading my whole first novel… (I suppose this all wasn’t so much writing news as making contacts news.)
Sebastien de Castell also continued to be so supportive and I received some great feedback on my writing but not the massive news kind, not yet.
My comics short story that I sent to an anthology was also not picked, but, while I was in Oxfordshire, I saw the amazing news that one of my short stories has been commended!
I sent the Australia-based short story I shared with you all in A Long Time Ago…#8 to the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize Author of Tomorrow category. I suppose commended is like making the longlist (not the shortlist), but I will also get some dedicated feedback.
Here’s the page that revealed the shortlist and commended stories! And here’s the feedback the kind social media team sent my way:
Congratulations, Harvey! Your commendation was very much deserved. One reader said, 'The author has a wonderful voice. I'd say the descriptive language and imagery is exceptional.'
So it’s certainly been a month celebrating the ups and downs of a creative career! Hopefully there’s a general upwards trend, as even doors that close have at least been sighted, and could open again.
Since a number of writers I know are heading to Worldcon in Glasgow this August 8-12th, I’ll be there too! Emma Vieceli who I met at LFCC said this’ll be her first one as well but that she really recommends it, especially as the last time it was in the UK was 2014 in London. This World Science Fiction Convention’s been held nearly every year since 1939.
I finally had some new business cards made for the event that’ll be filled with sci-fi folk from books to comics to TV, films and video games - wish me luck!
And as you’ll have seen in your inboxes, I’ve been continuing to enjoy sharing my passions of Star Wars and ancient art. This month’s releases:
This month's books
This segment showcases the new additions to my research and fiction collections.
When I returned home from London on the 4th with my copy of Insider #226 (top right), I was greeted with two other deliveries. There’s the usual monthly comics, the two mini series on the right and the main Star Wars and Darth Vader which are coming to an end soon with issue 50s. And my copy of Chris Kempshall’s book arrived! A very Star Wars day, to rival the 4th two months before.
Here’s some non-Star Wars stuff. Lincoln Michelle runs a great craft newsletter, so when I saw his highly-praised debut sci-fi novel in Oxford I couldn’t resist. That Kafka was free with an exhibition around his life and works in the Weston Library. Beth Revis’s newsletter is another you should subscribe to, with the potential for freebies! And because she supported my Insider announcement. I can’t wait to launch into her book set in medieval Trier, a city I’ve visited and written about too! The bottom row’s a series of books my parents got me, an interesting prehistoric book, a great one on Pompeii, the latest edition of the London Mithraeum’s guide with new artwork and some Orwell.
The final lot. These are all from some small bookshop in Oxfordshire that my parents visited. I think I’ll enjoy reading some actual (translated) historical texts. The enamel one may have some interesting artefacts and that last one is an old book about Rome, in poetry.
And that's the end of this month’s roundup. Thank you so much to everyone that reads these, especially if you’ve made it this far. Please share with your friends and family and ask them to subscribe - that would mean the world to me. I do love sharing my various exploits with you all, and would treasure having more people with me on my writing (and life) journey, especially now there’s more and more things to share. I can hope they’ll be plenty of equally good news next month!
Cheers,
Harvey