Kim for Dublin 2019!

Many of our US supporters can trace their roots to, or have relatives and family members who are of Irish descent. The connection is so prevalent that the Dublin 2019 Bid have contacted a genealogist who can help supporters do this. (You can read more about doing this here). Kim Burkhardt contacted us a while ago to discuss her own experience when trying to find her ancestors. It’s a fascinating story that lead to the first family reunion for 34 years!

Kim Burkhardt’s experience with Irish genealogy:

I am of Irish descent and live in North America.

My great grandfather emigrated to North America from County Wicklow in 1907. Eight of his nine surviving siblings and his parents followed over the next several years. I started rooting around online for info about his parents in the fall of 2013. I was to eventually discover that 2013 was the centenary of when his parents emigrated with the five youngest of his siblings (the last of the family to emigrate).

I was mostly getting nowhere in my genealogical research in the fall of 2013, but did “piece together” the following:

1) I found his mother’s maiden name.

2) Based on 1901 and 1911 census data that reported age and place of birth, I calculated that his mother was born in County Sligo in approximately 1865. However, the County Sligo genealogy office could find no birth record for her in the years near 1865.

3) I tracked down that she and her husband (my great-great-grandfather) married in Dublin in Sept 1882. I couldn’t find their marriage record online.

I did discover that there are “professional genealogy researchers” in Ireland who will go to Irish records offices for a fee to search for genealogy records. So, I paid one of these paid researchers to go to the Dublin records office in January, 2014. She found my great-great-grandparents marriage record, photocopied it, and sent it to me via email. The information proved absolutely invaluable.

The information included my great-great-grandmother’s father’s name and his profession. That day, I did a Google search for his “name and profession.” Through that search, I was fortunate to find an online genealogy post by one of his descendants living in Dun Laoghaire (South Dublin). I contacted that descendant. That descendant turned out to be my great-great grandmother’s younger brother’s grandson. Turned out that this descendant has been doing family research for 20 years. He had much info to share.

I then organized all that info provided by the relative in Dun Laoghaire into book format AND tracked down ALL of my great- great-grandparents direct descendants (more than 95% of them, anyway).

Six months after contacting the relative in Dun Laoghaire, we published a full-blown genealogy book with a list of our ancestors going back several generations in Ireland, a broad collection of family stories about family life in Ireland, old family letters and family photographs submitted by a good many descendants, a nearly-100% complete list of my gggrandparents descendants (nearly 300 people!), etc. In the end, 50 copies of the genealogy book were printed for private distribution to family members. More copies were distributed via DVD. “What’s more, the printing of the book resulted in the first family reunion in 34 years.

Myself and my relative in Dun Laoghaire are now writing the biography of my great-great-grandmother born in Sligo. We were able to piece together her exact date of birth in Sligo and have much other data about her, based on research and info shared by descendants. We plan to have the book published. She even has her own Facebook page (Harriet Susannah Ellis).”

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Peadar displays his apocalyptic Irish roots by going completely green! 

You can sign up for the course here, and we’ve linked the IWC on our Nerdy Dublin map (below)!

http://www.zeemaps.com/pub?group=1791408&legend=1&list=1&h=sunflower,candle&x=-6.254394&y=53.347319&z=3

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The Model was completed in December 2015, just in time for Brick2015 in London which is why it has an AFOLCON sticker on the front. It took about 9 months to complete. That sticker will be replaced next month for its appearance at Legoworld in Copenhagen, Denmark. The model contains over 50,000 pieces and uses some complex techniques to replicate the glass and front canopy. There are three (revolving) doors, one of which has a surprise minifigure therein.

The building extends to 6 floors with bars and conference room facilities on the first, second and fifth floors. There are three motorised air conditioning fans on the roof of the stage area. There are (non-moving) escalators and lifts to all levels.

The building has a large ‘cut-out’ to allow a peek inside at the almost 300 storm-troopers attending a Star Wars convention which is themed as a Sith v Jedi debate with C3PO as host behind a Dublin Convention Centre shaped podium. The background is ‘Hoth’ themed. The main auditorium uses a rare dark orange colour scheme. The auditorium also has a fully illuminated and manned control room.

There is remote controlled multi-coloured lighting in the glass atrium and other lighting throughout the building, for example to show conference rooms, WC facilities, stage areas and emergency exit signs. There is a rear loading bay for LEGO Group trucks and a small parking area with cobblestone paving dockside.

You can find more pictures of the model on David’s Flickr page under the name Dfenz (here ). Thank you so much David, for sharing this amazing piece of work with us.

The post The CCD in Lego appeared first on Dublin 2019.

The National Irish Science Fiction Film Festival are pleased to announce the nominations for this year’s Golden Blasters. You can read more about the Golden Blasters, which are now in their seventh year, over on their webpage. The festival is usually held at the National Irish Science Fiction Convention; Octocon, so look out for it when the Programme is announced (we’ll be reporting back on that as well as it happens… there may be cake).

Film Title                                       Director

Legacy                                                Josh Mawer
Whisper                                             Jo Lewis
Prelude to Axanar                           Alec Peters
Ravenous                                          Aleksander Szeser
reStart                                               Olga Osorio
wakenings                                        Bhargav Saikia
populace                                            Jamie Pigott
Cyclic                                                  Nelson Dunk
The Detectives of Noir Town         Andrew Chambers
C.T.R.L                                               Mariana Conde
Cosmonaut                                        David John Kelly

The showing of the films will take place on Friday the 9th and the awards will be announced at the closing ceremony of Octocon on Sunday 11th of October.

The post The Golden Blasters 2015 – Nominations and Award Ceremony appeared first on Dublin 2019.

We continue our series of An Comhrá / The Chat with Christopher Golden, who sat down with us to discuss all things Dublin 2019, as well as to talk about his recent work.  Christopher is is the New York Times bestselling author of SNOWBLIND, TIN MEN, DEAD RINGERS, and many other novels. A comic book writer, screenwriter, and editor, he is also the co-creator (with Mike Mignola) of the long-running Dark Horse Comics series BALTIMORE. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family.

How would you describe your work to people who may be unfamiliar with you?

CG: I’m a storyteller first and a genre writer second. I love horror, fantasy, SF, mystery, thriller, westerns, classics, mainstream fiction…and I’ve written in many different genres for both adults and teens. I write comics and screenplays and I’ve written video games and radio plays and an online animated series. Sometimes varying genres has been a boon to my career, and sometimes it’s been the bane. Growing up I had a particular passion for horror (I still do, though my interest are more diverse), so I understand and connect with readers of horror and supernatural fiction on a fundamental level. But I find that most genre fiction has roots that have spread into other genres’ gardens, and we have more in common than we once thought.

Do you have a mentor or another writer who helped to guide you through your writing process or with developing your career? Who do you turn to for advice?

CG: When I was quite young, I had a meaningful phone call from Charles L. Grant, who was rejecting a couple of stories I had submitted for his SHADOWS anthology series, but who was very kind. I think I was a high school senior or a freshman in college at that point. Other writers who were very kind and who took an interest or extended themselves on my behalf – even if just for a few hours – included Craig Shaw Gardner, Philip Nutman, Clive Barker, Harlan Ellison, Rex Miller, Ray Garton, Peter Straub, John Skipp, Craig Spector, Matthew Costello, Joe Lansdale, Stephen King (later on), and most importantly, the late Rick Hautala. Rick had been one of the writers I looked up to in high school and college. Over time, we became very close friends. Even though half the time it was me counseling him rather than the other way around, his knowledge and experience and wisdom were indispensable to me.

I’m fortunate enough to have a lot of writers I can bounce ideas or concerns off of these days, including Thomas Sniegoski, Tim Lebbon, James A. Moore, Charlaine Harris, Jonathan Maberry, Cherie Priest, Amber Benson, Mike Mignola, and people who will be irritated that I forgot to include them. When talking about mentors, though, I’d be remiss not to mention the wonderful editors I’ve had over the past couple of decades, including Anne Groell, GInjer Buchanan, Laura Anne Gilman, Michael Homler, Mark Tavani, Ed Schlesinger, Jennifer Heddle, Diana Gill, Lisa Clancy, Liesa Abrams, Scott Allie, Michelle Nagler…and again, I’ll get in trouble here. I’m grateful to all of them, and to both Lori Perkins, who was my first agent, and Howard Morhaim, who I hope will be my last. I should also say, let’s be clear, there are plenty of people out there who are the opposite – who would rather undermine you and see you fail – but those folks are vastly outnumbered by the ones who want friendship and alliance and who want to succeed together.

What are you working on now? Any new projects, novels, or stories that will be out soon?

CG: My SF thriller TIN MEN came out from Ballantine in June. In October, my horror anthology SEIZE THE NIGHT will be out from Gallery and the second graphic novel in my CEMETERY GIRL trilogy with Charlaine Harris from Penguin. In November, St. Martin’s will pub my new horror thriller, DEAD RINGERS. In January, Dark Horse will publish the hardcover of BALTIMORE: THE CULT OF THE RED KING, which is the sixth volume of that series. After that…nothing for a long stretch of months. It’s a lot at once, but much of that work has been done for a long time and just happens to be arriving in close proximity. I’m working on a new novel called ARARAT and a screenplay for a film franchise that I can’t reveal.

As an author or creator, why is attending conventions important, and what do you love most about them?

CG: It’s probably clear that I love meeting other writers, as well as editors and artists, and of course readers! Conventions are where and how we do that. Yes, it’s important for your career as a writer, but more importantly, it’s how we become part of the fabric of each other’s careers and lives. Meeting someone new with whom you really click is so valuable in life. If it’s a writer whose work you’ve admired, even better. And if it’s someone you’ve never read and whom you then discover is a brilliant writer…that’s the best of all. (Of course, if you discover they’re not, that can be awkward.) Going to a convention at this level is important to your career, yes. But it’s also about that feeling you only ever get when you’re surrounded by people who share your passions – that feeling that says “these are my people.” And then you’re home.

Why do you support the Dublin 2019 Worldcon bid?

CG: The simplest, most selfish reason is that I’m half Irish. I spent three days in Ireland once, at the age of twenty-one, and I’ve longed to return ever since. But heritage is only one part of it. Worldcon in Dublin means writers, editors, and other professionals from Ireland, the UK, and continental Europe will find it easier to attend, and the opportunity to meet them — especially in a place as beautiful as Dublin — is a huge draw.

For more information about Christopher Golden, please visit his web site, Facebook, and Twitter.

The post An Comhrá / The Chat with Christopher Golden appeared first on Dublin 2019.

This year, Journey Planet has been nominated for the fourth time in the Fanzine category, and y’know what, here on IFF we really, really hope he wins. So, to celebrate his nomination and cheer him on a bit, we’ve asked his co-editor and partner in crime, Chris Garcia to write us a special entry for IFF this week. So, take it away Chris, for a tour of Hurricane James Bacon, and how Journey Planet came to be…

On Journey Planet.

Chris Garcia.

I’m still not 100% sure how Journey Planet started.

No wait, that’s a lie. I know EXACTLY how it started, but have no idea how it ended up as what it is today. I attribute that to James Bacon, my man on the other side of the Atlantic, a whirlwind of energy who has the disturbing superpower of being able to ask anyone for anything.

At the 2008 Eastercon, I was the TransAtlantic Fan Fund delegate, which means fandom paid for me to fly to Heathrow and then spend two years raising funds to support the Fund. At the convention, held at the lovely Radisson Edwardian at Heathrow (and right at the start of the Terminal Five fiasco), Eastercon had put a panel on the schedule – Fanzine in an Hour. It was a simple idea, we’d put together a zine by getting a bunch of people to write stuff and I’d lay it out. Well, it went pretty well, save for the fact that it took me roughly 12 hours to lay all the content out! We had writing from some really dope human beings, not to mention art from SMS and Neil Gaiman.

You see, here’s the problem with me, I’m not really good at things like editing, pruf-reeding or the like. You see, I was educated in American Public Schools, thus, I ain’t got the eyes.

Claire Brialey, though, does!

As I understand it, Claire read the issue we put out (still available on eFanzines.com and http://journeyplanet.weebly.com) and determined that it was good, but could be so much better. Apparently Claire asked James if she could edit the material and make it better. Now, one must remember that not too much later Claire became a Hugo winner for Best Fan Writer and was already the co-editor of the multi-time Hugo nominated Banana Wings.

Of course, she may have asked me. Or maybe James asked her. I’m not sure.

This is turning into one of my least-researched historical essays ever, right? OK, moving on…

Somewhere down the line, James got it in his head that this would be a recurring, regular fanzine. I don’t actually remember that conversation. I imagine it went something like this –

James – Chris, we’re gonna do Journey Planet as a regular zine.

Chris – What?

And then the conversation went on. Indian food may have been involved.

The concept that we struck on pretty early, starting with the second issue as I recall, was that each issue would be themed and we’d try and feature at least one guest editor in addition to Claire, James, and me. We’d take a topic and examine it through however many lenses we could get to comment on it, and use our Guest Editors to help bring another point of view to the proceedings. Funny thing is Claire, James, and I are just about the most different people I can think of, and each brought a point of view that bounced off one another, and not always completely harmoniously. James figured the second issue would be The Woman’s Issue. I completely don’t remember him saying that would be the theme, but alas, it was, and we caught some hell for it. Looking back, it was a good issue, and it featured the first cover for us by the great Mo Starkey, who won herself a Hugo in 2012.

Those early issues are still some of my faves. There’s the amazing 1984 issue co-edited with Pete Young. There was a Science Fiction issue that feared some amazing writers including Paul McAuley and National Public Radio’s Peter Sagal. It was a good one, and we got an on impressive run. An Alternate History issue with a Ditmar cover, and words from the likes of John Scalzi. There were some great issues at that point.

We had Claire along with us for the first 10 or so issues, but then she thought we weren’t going in the right direction and dropped off the masthead. It was a shame, as I really think she’s one of the brightest lights in the history of fanzines, and working with her was always great. I admit, it must be maddening to work with James and I. We’re bundles of energy who often leap before we even decide to leap. That takes some doing! We started a more frequent round of guest editors, who we just started to call editors.

Extremely brave and courageous cover for the Dan Dare issue by Michael Carroll.

I will say this about James – the man is the best collaborator since Vichy. He’ll take my crazy ideas, things I KNOW will never work in a million years, and then make it happen. We do an issue about the City of London, then roll in a series of articles about conventions to longer feeling like safe spaces. We do an issue about writing that somehow works! Panel Parity at conventions? Yeah, we’ll wade into that shark pool! James is fearless, a stark contrast to the worrier that is Christopher J Garcia. While I will slowly lower my head down closer and closer to any approaching grindstone, James jumps up and goes into it with both feet, whether or not my nose is in the way! He’s a bold man, James, and the zine wouldn’t exist without him.

Cover through time and space for the Doctor Who issue by Michael Carroll.

We’ve hit major topics in science fiction, from Philip K. Dick and Bladerunner to Doctor Who and Dune. We’ve gone a bit further afield, into fandom several times, into James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, into sports, into super heroes. It’s been a whacky and wild ride. The big thing it’s taught me is that when you have a hurricane that you can send towards anything, you better just find a direction and see how it blows. Hurricane James Bacon may be the most destructive force I’ve ever managed to nudge in once direction or another, but shockingly, it often ends up with the most beautiful dawn the morning after it blows over.

We’ve been nominated for the Hugo 4 times. That’s a wonderful thing. We’ve received nominations for folks who wouldn’t normally be considered fanzine fans, but we’ve also got some great fanzine editors onto the ballot in new areas. We’re lucky enough to have wonderful folks all around who are willing to run with our ideas. I’ve laid out original material from Lauren Beukes, Gail Carriger, Eoin Colfer, Dave Hardy, Tangylwyst de Holloway, Paul McAuley, Sean McMullen, Kim Newman, John Picacio, Alastair Reynolds, Carrie Vaughn,   and on and on. We’ve got work with some amazing co-editors, like Warren Buff, Aurora Celeste, Meg Frank, Colin Harris, Emma King, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Alissa McKersie, Helen Montgomery, Yvonne Rowse, Lynda Rucker, Linda Wenzelburger, and on and on and on. So many I can not possibly remember them all (and, of course, can’t be bothered to look them up!) but each of them have helped make Journey Planet into a zine that really shines, sometimes a little too brightly. The trick of Journey Planet is simple: bring great people together and get them to say something. Often, our guest editors take the lead and bring about amazing things. Some issues I will literally have absolutely nothing to say on, but the folks we team with are so amazing, you’d never know it. Sometimes I’ll get a bug in my pants and take over an issue with my mad rantings (often to the consternation of our co-editors, and often to the EXTREME consternation of Claire Brialey back in the day!). Sometimes it’s James. Once in a while, it rises like the Creature out of the Black Lagoon of some eMail chain. It’s organic, and digital of course, but mostly it’s fun.

And maybe it’s Mr. James Bacon who makes it fun for me.

Even when I’m staying up ’til 3 am fiddling with the layout for the 15th straight hour, I really enjoy it, playing with the content, setting it in place, and everything becomes solid when I get that eMail with James obviously humphing at his keyboard – “Awesome!”

Journey Planet’s got life in it yet. There are topics we need to cover (Like BATMAN! STAR WARS! The HUMPTY DANCE! CHITTY-CHITTY BANG-BANG!) and there is always time and space for more thoughts. I’m looking forward to it.

The post Irish Fiction Friday: James Bacon: Journey Planet. appeared first on Dublin 2019.

One of the most important things for us was seeing the venue in action. An estimated 12000 people came through the doors over the weekend, and the CCD didn’t even break a sweat. In fact, we had staff coming over to check on us regularly, and when we asked for power at one point, they immediately opened up a floor panel and gave us access, as well as a plug terminal to use. Our panel was also handled well – despite the fact that there were literally hundreds of people ‘behind’ us, there was no sound bleed whatsoever, and we were all mic’ed up and ready to go within a minute of arriving. More reasons to get excited about this great venue…

We’d like to thank all of the volunteers and supporters who turned up to help us on the day. Their infectious enthusiasm was really conveyed to all of the people who stopped by to choose a book, and we had great fun telling everyone all about Dublin 2019 and the opportunities to attend conventions and events in Ireland. Photographs were taken by Gareth Kavanagh, Esther MacCallum-Stewart and Raissa Perez. We’d also like to thank all of the amazing cosplayers who allowed us to take their picture; there was an amazing spread of different costumes and characters represented.

Books were provided by Angry Robot, Gollancz, Hodder, O’Brien Press, Penguin Books and Tor. Forbidden Planet in Dublin donated a box of comics which were given out as prizes to anyone who asked a question in a panel – and thanks to the Pubcast for helping us out there! Books were also donated from the Estate of Irish fan Mick O’Connor, and by Michael Carroll, who came down to the table to sign books especially for us.

We’ll see you next year…

The post Dublin Comicon 2015 – SFF Outreach appeared first on Dublin 2019.

This week we bring you an interview by James Bacon with Michael Carroll, who discusses his current 2000AD Dredd series – Blood of Emeralds. This series started in Prog 1934, and continues for six issues. It sees the return of Judge Fintan Joyce, who, as the name suggests, hails from our (post-apocalyptic) shores…

The Ireland of 2000AD has slightly different borders…

Judge Dredd has been a staple of the science fiction comic book scene since 1977. Through its time many Irish creators have worked on the title; Garth Ennis, John McCrea, Will Simpson, Hilary Robinson, Len O’Grady and PJ Holden have all graced its pages.

Currently, Dubliner Michael Carroll – a regular writer on Judge Dredd for 2000AD – is weaving a story that takes the readers back to the Emerald Isle. For more on this Irish angle, and how he has steered it with Irish character Fintan Joyce, I asked him some questions…

Fintan Joyce in Blood of Emeralds (2015) 

– For readers who may not be sure, can you explain what and where the Emerald Isle is, please?

The Emerald Isle is Ireland in Judge Dredd’s time, about 122 years from now (unlike most comic-strips, Judge Dredd advances in real time: a year in Dredd’s life is a year in the life of the readers… Which of course means that Dredd himself is now about seventy years old!).

In the original Emerald Isle strip (published in 2000AD #727-732, April-May 1991, written by Garth Ennis, art by Steve Dillon and Will Simpson) it was established that after the atomic wars much of Ireland was redeveloped as a theme park, to the consternation of many of its citizens. The capital is Murphyville, a huge (by our standards) city that covers the eastern and southern coasts from Dublin down to Cork.

Like many cities and countries in Dredd’s time, the Emerald Isle has its own Judges, though they’re rather more relaxed that the Judges of Dredd’s city, Mega-City One: they’re allowed to have families, to consume alcohol, to socialise… Dredd’s contact in the Emerald Isle is Judge-Sergeant Charlie Joyce, an amiable chap who’s well-respected in Murphyville and more than capable of getting the job done.

The first appearance of Fintan Joyce in Prog 727…complete with a Guinness, of course!

– The 22nd of June marks five years of being a Judge Dredd writer with 2000AD. At what stage did you decide you wanted to bring the character back to Ireland?

I’ve wanted to bring Dredd back to the Emerald Isle since long before I became a Dredd writer! I loved the original strip – the pairing of easy-going Joyce and stick-in-the-mud Dredd is pure magic. Joyce shows up again (in a minor role) in the epic Judgement Day story, and again in Innocents Abroad (2000AD #804-#807, script by Ennis, art by Greg Staples), though that one was very much played for laughs. Aside from a one-off Judge Joyce story that appeared in an annual in 1993, that was, I think, the last we saw of him.

I’ve always felt that more could be done with Judge Joyce, and with the Emerald Isle itself. Certainly, there were some minor aspects of Garth’s stories that didn’t quite sit well with me… In the first one, there’s a big deal made of how a lot of citizens are vehemently opposed to the stereotypical “Oirishness” of the Emerald Isle: leprechauns and shamrocks and “top o’ the mornin’” and all that touristy nonsense. Yet, at the same time, the stories tend to ramp up other Irish stereotypes: everyone drinks Guinness and spends most of their waking time in the pub, the baddies use guns that shoot potatoes, and there’s occasional dialogue along the lines of “That Dredd’s the quare fella.”

When I was invited to be part of the Dredd creative team, I never had any specific story in mind; I just wanted to revisit the Emerald Isle… Especially since it had been twenty years since the last time we were there.

Dredd and Fintan hunting down perps.

– Was the New Tricks storyline and the introduction of a new Judge Joyce part of that plan?

Not as such… That came about because John Wagner (the co-creator of Dredd and still the Main Man behind the character) decided that Mega-City One had grown too big and it was time to break it down… The result was Day of Chaos, a huge story that resulted in most of the city being destroyed, and the population reduced from four hundred million people to only fifty million.

Shortly after Day of Chaos started, John sent an e-mail to us other Dredd writers that explained what Dredd’s world would be like when it was done… A wise move given that most of us already had Dredd stories waiting in the wings – we had to do some pretty hasty rewriting to get the scripts in line!

One of my ideas behind New Tricks was that with so many Mega-City One Judges dead, there would be a call-out to other cities to supply replacement Judges who could be retrained to operate in MC1. Naturally, I thought of Judge Joyce. However, given that Charlie Joyce was probably in his late thirties / early forties in Emerald Isle – and that he and Dredd didn’t exactly part company on the best of terms – I thought it might be better to feature a younger Emerald Isle Judge. So I decided that Charlie’s son would be a good replacement: that gave him a strong connection to Dredd.

In New Tricks, Fintan Joyce is one of several “re-trainee” Judges being mentored / evaluated by Dredd. He’s in his early twenties, and has been an Emerald Isle Judge for only three years. So he’s a little wet behind the ears, and – at first – way out of his depth in Mega-City One. However, he’s a fast learner and quickly proves himself to be worthy of the badge.

I’ve used Joyce quite a few times now: he’s fun to write because he’s got a somewhat less dour attitude than Dredd, and they work well together.

A pensive Fintan

– How does it make you feel to bring Dredd to a future Ireland?

It’s a little daunting because I’m following the path laid down by Garth Ennis… up to a point! My story veers off from that path in many ways. I’ve mostly ignored the “theme park” aspect of the Emerald Isle – but I think I’ll get away with that because two decades have passed since the original story: there’s no reason to assume that everything would stay the same.

Taking Dredd out of his comfort zone is always interesting. In Mega-City One, Dredd knows the score inside and out: it’s his city. Take that away, and we get to see the real Judge Dredd. We get to see him deal with people who aren’t automatically wetting themselves from fear in his presence, and it’s always entertaining to watch Dredd trying not to comment on things that aren’t under his control!

– The Judge Dredd: Blood of Emeralds story: can you tell us a bit about it?

I can’t say too much because the story is still running in 2000AD… But it opens with Judge Fintan Joyce receiving a package of old documents that once belonged to his late father (Charlie Joyce has died by the time Fintan joins the Mega-City One Justice Department, though the exact circumstances of his death have never been covered).

A world-class assassin attempts to kill Joyce when the package is delivered: Joyce manages to defeat him, but the assassin has been trained to resist interrogation. A mind-scan by a Psi-Judge reveals a link to Murphyville, which leads to Dredd and Joyce crossing the Black Atlantic to continue the investigation in the Emerald Isle.

That’s about all I’m comfortable revealing right now… Except to say that in episode 3 (2000AD #1936) we get to see the Joyce family home, and meet Fintan’s mammy!

Cover to Prog 1935

– Is Judge Joyce a character we will get to see more of, part of the wider cast of the Dredd Universe?

He’ll be returning in an upcoming three-part tale in Judge Dredd Megazine, painted by Nick Percival – my collaborator on Judge Dredd: Traumatown, which also featured Joyce (and the ghost of his father…).

After that… I do have a very specific plan for Judge Joyce but that’s a few years down the line so I’m not yet sure how it’s all going to play out: it depends on several factors… After all, one day John Wagner might just decide to finally destroy the entire city once and for all and wipe everyone out (that’s unlikely, but not impossible!)

I would like to do some solo Judge Joyce stories as some point… but they would have to be stories in which only Joyce could be the protagonist: if you can replace him with Dredd and the story still works, then they might as well be Dredd stories.

Unnf!

– The collaboration and creation of a comic involves artists… Scottish Dredd artist Colin MacNeil is on art for Blood of Emeralds. What is that process like, bringing a comic from an idea to a visual story on a page?

In most cases, a comic strip starts with a simple “what if?” idea. It might be something like, “What if a boat smuggling refugees into Mega-City One collides with another boat smuggling refugees out of Mega-City One?” (That’s not a real story, by the way – but it’s still my idea so no one’s allowed to nick it!)

Before I get much further into the process, I check to make sure that the same idea hasn’t already been done. If it hasn’t, I then expand the “what if?” idea, fleshing it out, looking at it from different angles. When I’m satisfied that it’s a strong, original idea (or maybe an old idea with an original approach), I boil it back down to a single paragraph and send that to the editor of 2000AD, the Mighty Tharg (or, rather, Tharg’s representative on Earth, Matt Smith).

Sometimes he’ll just give me the go-ahead, sometimes he’ll reject the idea outright, sometimes he’ll take issue with one aspect of it and suggest alternatives (in which case there’ll be a bit of back-and-forth to nail down the ideas)… But once the go-ahead is given, the next step is to flesh it out once more to create a proper synopsis. The synopsis for a single-episode six-page script will usually come to a little over a page, single-spaced: that’ll list all the major scenes and include important snippets of dialogue. That synopsis then goes to the editor.

Most of the time Matt will approve the synopsis and I move on to the script phase, but now and then he’ll ask for something to be changed. That could be because there’s a strong similarity to an existing story, or conflict with something coming up, or maybe just because that aspect of the tale isn’t working.

Once the synopsis has been passed, the scripting begins. On a good day, if there are no interruptions, I can write a six-page script in about two hours.

Unlike movies, there’s no rigidly defined layout standard for comic-book scripts, but over the years I’ve developed certain rules in order to ensure that the script is as clear as possible for the artist, colourist and letterer (after all: it’s their work that the readers see, not mine!)…

First, I generally try to keep to one script page per page of artwork. That’s partly because I have a tendency to cram too much in and that one-page rule forces me to be more succinct with my scripts, but also it’s because I visited John Higgins’ studio and I saw how he works: for each page he’s drawing, John pins the script pages onto the wall in front of the drawing board. As soon as I saw that, I realised that it makes things a little more awkward for the artist if he or she has to flip back and forth between two script pages!

For the same reason, I put the episode number and page number at the top of every script page, along with the number of panels on that page!

Once the script is done, it goes back to Matt for his approval. Even at this stage, he might still ask for changes, though – thankfully – usually not!

After that, he picks an artist whom he feels would be a good fit for the story and is available (now and then I’ve requested a specific artist, but that decision really is up to Tharg).

And that is where my part in the process usually ends. Sometimes the artist will send me pages of the finished artwork, but there isn’t always time.

When I was writing Jennifer Blood for Dynamite for every issue I’d receive e-mails containing thumbnail sketches, pencilled layouts, inked pages, lettered pages and finally coloured pages: so at every stage of the creation process I could tweak things, correct mistakes, and so on.

But the fast turnaround time for Judge Dredd strips means that often the first time I see the artwork is when the printed comics drop through my letterbox. Sometimes, I don’t even know who the artist, colourist and letterer will be. Some writers will flinch at such a notion, but I usually don’t mind. I have 100% faith in all of them that they will do an exemplary job, and they’ve never let me down. In fact, it’s quite a thrill to open an issue and see my scripts drawn by one of my favourite artists!

Shortly after I delivered the script for Blood of Emeralds I received an e-mail from Colin saying that he would be the artist – and I nearly fell out of my seat! I’ve been a huge fan of his work for so long… I even named the main character of my Quantum Prophecy novels after him and John Wagner.

Like most of my Judge Dredd work, Blood of Emeralds has been coloured by Chris Blythe and lettered by Annie Parkhouse… Absolute professionals who never fail to produce top-quality work!

I could ask Colin to send me the pages in advance of publication and I’m sure he’d oblige (he’s one of the nicest people in the comics industry), but because it’s him I’m more than happy to wait and read each issue as it arrives.

– Have you any future stories coming up in 2000AD and/or set in Ireland?

Nothing more set in Ireland right now, but there is some more upcoming work: a few Dredd one-offs and a six-part Dredd tale that I delivered yesterday for 2000AD, plus the aforementioned three-part Dredd story with Nick Percival and another four-part DeMarco, P.I. story, both for Judge Dredd Megazine. The DeMarco story once again features artwork by the awesome Steve Yeowell – I’ve seen the first two episodes and it’s blown me away!

Thanks very much.

This interview first appeared on the https://dublin2019.com/blog/

Judge Dredd: Blood of Emeralds started in 2000AD Prog 1934 on 10th of June and will run for six weeks. Issues are still available.

Michael Carroll’s website is http://www.michaelowencarroll.com

The post Return to the Emerald Isle – Interview with Michael Carroll appeared first on Dublin 2019.

– How would you describe your work to people who may be unfamiliar with you?

I write and illustrate stories for a range of reading levels, from first-time readers upwards. I’ve published thirty-five books in a range of genres, including eleven novels. My shortest book is about two hundred words long, my longest is about a hundred and forty thousand words. Like most writers, my goal is to have a big effect on my readers, which is why I write for different ages – my aim is to catch readers at those key times when stories can really blow their minds. I particularly love the YA bracket because you know you’re writing for fertile, open imaginations (young adult and old adult alike), but you have to account for short attention spans. It’s great discipline for your storytelling and forces you to be ruthless with words, a great way to develop your craft. And, of all the genres, speculative fiction gives you the greatest scope in terms of concept and the kinds of big questions that make dramatic, engaging stories. Plus, it’s great fun.

– It is said that learning to write well is like experiencing a series of never ending writing related epiphanies. If you had to pick one, what is the most important lesson you have learned, so far?

I think every professional writer is somewhere on the spectrum between being completely spontaneous, but then having to go back and hone the work in successive drafts, or being a meticulous planner up front, and having to do few drafts later on. I tend to be more of a planner than re-drafter, but I think finding the balance between these two extremes is a key part of knowing how to write. Sometimes you have to get a lump of text down that you can then go back and carve into shape, and sometimes you have build from the skeleton outwards to get the right result. Both demand the same trade skills in the end though – skills that should be learned methodically and deliberately. Writing, communicating ideas through squiggles on a page, is a trade first that can be raised to an art and should be taught as such. Some people will always be better than others at writing, because they were passionate about it, applied themselves and started learning early, but anyone can learn to write stories.

– What are you working on now? Any new projects, novels, or stories that will be out soon?

I normally have few things on the go at any one time. At the moment, I’m just finishing up the sequel to my surveillance state thriller, ‘Rat Runners’. The working title for that is ‘Seen Stealer’. I’m also doing the groundwork to a new novel, a near future cold war thriller set mostly at sea, in a world that has been altered by climate change. I’m the Irish writer-in-residence for an international, EU funded project called Weather Stations, working on ways of using storytelling to raise awareness of climate change (I do cartoons for that too). I have a short story coming out with an anthology in September/October, entitled ‘Once Upon a Place’, edited by the Laureate na nÓg Eoin Colfer, where a range of writers have written stories set in different places in Ireland. I’m just editing another promotional novella to tie in ‘Strangled Silence’, which was released recently in the US; it’s a conspiracy thriller, entitled ‘The Need for Fear’, And I have a couple of younger kids’ book projects I’m pitching to publishers at the moment too.

– As an author or creator, why is attending conventions important, and what do you love most about them?

Attending conventions, on one hand, is part of the ongoing promotional work I do for my books, but to put it in perspective, I do about forty to fifty events of different kinds each year, sometimes more, including festivals, schools, libraries, conferences and seminars. I normally only manage to get to one or two conventions a year. I know a lot of writers consider them a way to promote their work and make contacts, but my main motivation is to connect with the genre crowd (and many in other areas of publishing don’t even know our stuff is referred collectively as ‘genre’), have some good conversations and pick up what’s new on the scene. For me, it’s more about the stimulation of the ideas I come across there, really, than spreading the word, but the promotion and networking is always a factor.

– What special or unique experiences do you think the Dublin2019 Worldcon bid has to offer?

For such a small country with a tiny population, Ireland has had a bizarrely disproportionate influence on the world of literature. I think this is due to the fact that a particular combination of history and culture has equipped our people with a capacity for expressing curiosity, outrage, wonder, misery, joy, defiance or profound thought, or just to talk complete shite, all with a lyrical passion. Anyone who’s interested in experiencing that first-hand, should support a bid for Worldcon in Dublin in 2019.

Oisín McGann is a full-time writer and illustrator. He is a winner of the European Science Fiction Society Award, and has been shortlisted for many others, including the Waterstones Childrens’ Book Prize in the UK, le Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire in France and Locus Magazine’s Best First Novel Award in the US.

Website:  www.oisinmcgann.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/oisin.mcgann.writer?ref=hl 

Twitter:  @OisinMcGann

The post An Comhrá / The Chat: Oisin McGann appeared first on Dublin 2019.