I mentioned last week that I was just starting a new book. Well, I'm still working on it. The artwork will be clean and ready to go in the next couple of days and I'm starting to dig around to find out more about the creators. That said, I don't think there will be lengthy introductions in this one as the strip alone fills quite a substantial book, but I do want to make sure that, should I mention anything about the strip or its creators, I'm straight on my facts.
It wasn't all work over the bank holiday weekend; in fact, I've been taking it easy, catching up on a couple of films and reading half a book (which is quick for me, these days). Also a surprise visit from my Mum—I was trying to phone her and wondering why she wasn't answering when the doorbell rang. We were forced (forced, I tell you) to go down the pub and have a nice meal, and then have a little wander along the river and up through the park. Total work done on Wednesday: zero!
I'll get back to it the moment I'm finished here. Promise.
I was interviewed by Tom Fordy of the Daily Telegraph recently and the results appeared at the weekend, which I missed entirely. So if you have the Telegraph or Sunday Telegraph, a decent scan would be appreciated. For once, it was an intelligent discussion of Action and its place in British comics history — although it did have the clickbaity headline: "'More blood, more blood!' The violent 1970s comic that corrupted Britain's boys".
Underneath, however, was a far more reasoned story of Action's origins and demise. Steve MacManus and Garth Ennis were also interviewed, so there was no question about the direction the conversation would take from the viewpoint of the interviewees. Fortunately, Fordy used to work in a comic shop in Bristol, so he was the right guy to write the piece, which he did without making it over-sensational.
The book also got its first review, on Mike Carroll's blog. I'll not quote it at length but it's the kind of review every author hopes for: "[T]he book is extensively illustrated throughout and an absolute must-have for anyone interested in Action, its impact, the British comics industry, or even if you’re just interested in Britain in the mid 1970s. Highly recommended!"
Getting a book reviewed is not easy. Self-published, print-on-demand books especially, as they are ignored by the newspapers that might get a title out to a broader public. Also, I'm the wrong sort of person for Booktube or Booktok—I'm not writing about Romantasy. Also, I'm not sexy. Or young. Or female.
(And now I'm going to be fed a lot of Booktok videos by Youtube because I've mentioned Booktok. It's spoiling all the video recommendations I get for my current obsession, Angine de Poitrine. They are the Ig Nobel Award of math rock... first you think "That's so stupid", then you think "Actually that's not bad", and finally "I must spend a whole afternoon discovering who these guys really are!". It's not too difficult, but I'll leave you with Khn and Glek. Those crazy
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