Tag Archive for 'Douglas Adams'

And Another Thing – The Theme Song!

Published
by
eoin
on August 26, 2009
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 2 Comments

Penguin Press Release: Full Release Follows

On 12th October 2009, the 30th anniversary of the first publication of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by the late, great Douglas Adams, Penguin Books publish the sixth book in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, And Another Thing . . . by bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series, Eoin Colfer.

To celebrate publication Ireland’s multi-platinum selling band The Blizzards have recorded a single inspired by Eoin’s book to be released in October ‘09.

Author Eoin Colfer says, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has always had a musical element, from Joby Talbot’s iconic score for the Hitchhiker’s film to the many bands who have been inspired by the books – Radiohead and Coldplay to name a few. Douglas Adams even jammed with Pink Floyd. I wanted to keep this musical affiliation going so Penguin put out feelers to see if any contemporary acts were Hitchhiker’s fans. Quite a few were apparently, but when the list came back I read no further than the first name which was The Blizzards, one of Ireland’s biggest bands who share a sound engineer with my brother and whose album has five stars on my iphone. Within nano-seconds it seemed Niall Breslin, The Blizzard’s singer/songwriter, and I were around a table being all esoteric about lyrics and stuff. Niall played me the demo for And Another Thing… which was brilliant and now I get to say in a half bored voice – “Oh yah, Niall Breslin, from like The Blizzards just laid down his new Hitchhiker track for me which is named after my book”. The song And Another Thing… is going to be amazing and I am delighted to be associated with it.’

Niall Breslin, lead vocalist for The Blizzards, says, ‘To be involved with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy phenomenon is such an honour for us as a band. We have been massive fans for years and are delighted the Hitchhikers tradition is being continued by such an amazingly creative writer like Eoin Colfer. The quirkiness and oddities so prevalent in Hitchhikers and Eoin’s style, have a symmetry with The Blizzards’ sound. When I finally hunted Eoin down to get the lowdown on what actually happens in the book, our parallel universes connected on an artistic level and we even drafted him in to play percussion on a spaceage china tea set.’

About the Blizzards:

Landing on our shores with a platinum selling album, two Meteor Awards for Best Live Act and an ‘Irelands Sexiest Male’ nod to Bresy (lead vocalist) under their belts, The Blizzards are ready to take the UK by storm. Their album ‘Domino Effect’ is irresistibly catchy, guitar ridden pop music at its best; produced in LA by the remarkable Michael Beinhorn, who is renowned for his work with Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Courtney Love, to name a few. His influence on tracks such as ‘Fantasy’, a frantic, riff heavy explosion of a track and ‘Trouble’, a pounding, rhythmic anthem in the making, is obvious. The band also show their softer side with the heart-wrenching ‘Postcards’, a moving ode to lost love. With Weezer, Fountains of Wayne and The Cars all cited as influences, The Blizzards are becoming ones to watch in the UK. With just one single released so far, the “Irish Weezer” have already attracted attention from MTV, Spotify and Dermot O’Leary to name a few. Their recent performance on the main stage at Oxegen Festival to 60,000 people has garnered much acclaim along with their supports slots with AC/DC and Oasis. The Blizzards release their new single, ‘Trust Me I’m A Doctor’ through Island Records on the 28th September 2009. It precedes the release of their debut UK album ‘Domino Effect’ which will feature the single ‘And Another Thing…’ on 12th October. www.myspace.com/theblizzards

About Eoin Colfer:

Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer has introduced a new generation of readers to the absurdities of life, the universe and everything through his bestselling Artemis Fowl series, in which a teen criminal mastermind wreaks havoc in this world, the next and any others that might happen to be nearby. Total UK sales of Artemis Fowl titles now exceed a staggering 4.5 million copies in the UK and Ireland and over 18 million worldwide. His work is published in 44 countries. The Sunday Times has said, ‘Colfer has the ability to make you laugh twice over; first in sheer subversive joy at the inventiveness of the writing, and again at the energy of the humour.’ Eoin has been a fan of Hitchhiker since his schooldays and said, ‘Being given the chance to write this book is like suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice. For years I have been finishing this incredible story in my head and now I have the opportunity to do it in the real world. It is a gift from the gods. So, thank you Thor and Odin.’ Eoin lives with his wife and two children in Wexford, Ireland.

About The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy started life as a radio series in 1978 and subsequently became five best-selling novels written by the late Douglas Adams, the first being published in paperback by Pan Books on 12th October 1979. It was an instant hit, reaching number one in the bestseller charts two weeks after publication and went on to be translated into over 35 languages. Bigger than Dr Who, Star Trek, Battle Star Galactica and Monty Python, by 2000 it had sold over 14 million copies worldwide. It was also remade as a Bafta-winning TV series, dramatized for the West End stage and made in to a film starring Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, John Malkowich and many more. It combines science fiction with comedy and inspired a whole new genre of Science Fiction humour, Red Dwarf being just one example. Hitchhiker’s has become a part of the cultural Zeitgeist with phrases such as ‘life, don’t talk to me about life’ and ‘life, the universe and everything’ a part of our common vernacular. Actor and writer, Sanjeev Baskhar, recently noted on Desert Island Discs that he was a huge fan of Hitchhiker’s hence the reason for giving his hit TV chat show the name The Kumars at No. 42. The No.42 being, according to Adams, the answer to all the questions of the universe. Douglas was always unhappy with the bleak ending of the fifth book, Mostly Harmless, and always intended to write a sixth book before his untimely death in 2001.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Part 6 of 3 And Another Thing . . .
by Eoin Colfer is published by Michael Joseph (an imprint of Penguin Books) 12th October 09 in hardback priced £18.99

The single And Another Thing… by The Blizzards is released through Island Records in October 2009, preceded by their album ‘Domino Effect’ released on 12th Oct 2009.

For further information contact:
Adele Minchin, Penguin Books
Tel: 020 7010 3072
email adele.minchin@uk.penguingroup.com

Katya Shipster
Tel: 020 7010 3273
email Katya.shipster@uk.penguingroup.com

Sarah Pearson
Wasted Youth PR
Tel: 020 7493 5873
email sarah@wastedyouthpr.com

DON’T PANIC! at www.6of3.com

Wexworlds Sci-Fi and Fantasy Festival 2009

Published
by
Frequency
on August 10, 2009
in Events and hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 6 Comments
Wexworlds Festival

Wexworlds Festival

Get a chance to meet Eoin at the inaugural Wexworlds Sci-Fi and Fantasy Festival in November.

Full press release follows:

Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), Darren Shan (The Saga of Darren Shan) and Oisin McGann (The Goblin of Tara and The Evil Eye) are amongst the many creators attending the first WexWorlds Festival.

WexWorlds is the first Sci Fi and Fantasy Fiction Festival in Wexford supported by Failte Ireland.

Over the course of the weekend a variety of activities will be taking place including, talks and readings, science experiments, comic art workshops, an exhibition on the process of writing for a comic, activities for younger children, discussions about fantastic literature, a selection of competitions and performance events at varied venues in Wexford town to include Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford Library, Bookstores, related businesses and hotels.

As well as books and comics, the weekend is a celebration of all fantastic fiction, and there will be workshops on costuming, to light hearted fun sessions with kids and foam weaponry, movie showing, and it will coincide with an exhibition by Vera Klute.

Situated in the southeast coast of Ireland, Wexford’s history is steeped in myth and legend and makes this a perfect location for an Alternate Worlds festival. A story tells of its origin in the mists of time, when Garman Garbh was drowned on the mudflats by waters released by an Enchantress. The vast expanse of harbour thus created was named “The lake of Garman” or Loch Garman, the Gaelic name for Wexford.

For more information please visit:
http://www.wexworlds.net

Hitchhiker’s Guide to Sequel Writing – Video Interview with Eoin from GalleyCat

Published
by
Frequency
on July 24, 2009
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, interview and Video
. 4 Comments

Eoin share’s his thoughts on writing the sixth book in the Hitchhikers trilogy with Jason Boog of MediaBistro’s GalleyCat blog in this short video clip.

Photos and Vote-os! Sorry!

Published
by
Penguin
on March 12, 2009
in Artemis Fowl, hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and Photos
. 0 Comments

The Penguin Blog now has some great photos of the “And Another Thing” launch event. Click below to see the silver, ladies, Mr Colfer, the very cool cover for the book and some scruffy bloke called Matt hanging around!

And Another Thing Launch Event

Speaking of Matt, the man behind the number one Artemis Fowl fan site, artemis-fowl.com, he has his own selection of photos from the event.

AFC Photos of the ‘And Another Thing” launch event

And finally the Richard and Judy Book Awards for which Eoin has been nominated for Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox is now entering it’s final phase of voting. So if you haven’t voted yet get on over to the site and get clicking

Vote for the Time Paradox

The competition is strong with books from JK Rowling and Stephanie Meyer also in the shortlist but we have faith in the legions of Fowl Fans to get the result!!! : )

Cover Art for Hitchhikers 6 “And Another Thing” Revealed

Published
by
Penguin
on March 10, 2009
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 14 Comments

PENGUIN REVEAL JACKET FOR AND ANOTHER THING … AND ANNOUNCE PLANS TO JOIN FORCES WITH PAN MACMILLAN FOR HITCHHIKER BONANZA THIS AUTUMN

London, 9 March 2009 In what promises to be one of the biggest events in the publishing calendar this year, Penguin is publishing Eoin Colfer’s specially commissioned sequel to Douglas Adams’s remarkable Hitchhiker series,
And Another Thing…

"And Another Thing" Cover Artwork

Publication is timed for 12 October, which marks the 30th Anniversary of the first publication of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams’s so-called trilogy, which in fact ran to five volumes, became one of the biggest cult literary successes of the 20th century. Over the last thirty years, 16 million readers around the world have enjoyed the adventures of Arthur Dent, Trillian, Zaphod Beeblebox and Ford Prefect.

This autumn, Penguin is joining forces with Douglas Adams’s paperback publisher, Pan Macmillan to create huge combined Hitchhiker excitement; bringing together the two vast armies of fans: those of the original Hitchhiker books and the many millions of Eoin Colfer fans. (Colfer’s Artemis Fowl titles have sold more than 18 million copies globally.)

Pan Macmillan and Penguin will be working closely to create a joined-up campaign that leads readers from the original titles – which are all being beautifully repackaged by Pan with new introductions – and then onto the new book. Starting in early September, the campaign will then run in store, online and in the media through the autumn and right up until Christmas.

Penguin is also working with BBC Audiobooks to ensure that the original audio recordings have a place in the anniversary celebrations. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Primary Phase was voted as the public’s number one audio title in a Guardian poll last year, thirty years after the first BBC radio broadcast in 1978.

At an event held at Penguin’s London offices last night the jacket for And Another Thing… was revealed.

Publication details:

And Another Thing… by Eoin Colfer is published in hardback from Michael Joseph on 12th October 2009 ISBN 9780718155148, £20

New anniversary editions of Douglas Adams’ original titles will be available in paperback at £7.99 from Pan with new introductions from notable people in the Hitchhiker world, including Russell T Davies, Dirk Maggs and Terry Jones and with an afterword from Simon Brett, the original commissioner of the radio series on 4th September 2009:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, The Universe and Everything
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
Mostly Harmless

Already available from BBC Audiobooks:
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Primary Phase Special Edition, £17.61
9781408409763
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Secondary Phase Special Edition, £17.61, 9781408409770
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy : Tertiary Phase, £15.65 9780563510437
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Quandary Phase, £12.72 9780563504962
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy : The Quintessential Phase, £12.72, 9780563504078
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy : The Complete Radio Series, £17.01
9780563504191

Hoopy New Year from Eoin!

Published
by
Penguin
on January 1, 2009
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and Video
. 9 Comments

A video message from Eoin covering various topics including a Happy New Year message, towels, seasonal overindulgence and book burning! Note that the dodgy lipsync and audio quality do not mean that this message has been faked by members of the LEP or indeed Vogon intelligence agents!?!

12th OCTOBER 2009 – 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

Published
by
foaly
on December 18, 2008
in Events and hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 4 Comments

As previously announced, Penguin is to publish And Another Thing, the 6th novel in the ever-more increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, by international bestselling children’s writer, Eoin Colfer. Publication has been set for Monday 12th October 09, which is also the 30th anniversary of publication of the first book in the late Douglas Adams’ phenomenally successful series.

 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy started life as a radio series in 1978 and subsequently became five best-selling novels, the first being published in paperback by Pan Books on 12th October 1979. It was an instant hit, reaching number one in the bestseller charts two weeks after publication and went on to be translated into over 35 languages. By 2000 it had sold over 14 million copies worldwide. It was also remade as a Bafta-winning TV series, dramatized for the West End stage and made in to a film starring Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, John Malkowich and many more.
 

Simultaneous global publication of And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer will take place on the 30th anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. So far rights have been sold to Hyperion in the US and to other prominent publishers in Germany, Italy, France, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

 

Alex Clarke, Editorial Director, Penguin UK, said ‘I have been talking to Eoin, who tells us he is busy working out just how it is he is going to bring back Arthur, Ford and Trillian from the dead. We are all hugely looking forward to the publishing event of 2009.’

 

Since the announcement that Eoin Colfer is to continue the Hitchhiker series Artemis Fowl and Hitchhiker fan forums have been buzzing with a mixture of eager anticipation and consternation. Troublerocks on eoincolfer.com says, ‘I love Hitchhiker’s. I’m glad Eoin is doing it. It’s nice to know a great author we know will continue the GttG books.’ Scratch on the Douglas Adams Continuum forum says, ‘Surely this can’t be? Sounds ghastly . . . This whole affair makes me feel like my underpants are made out of wood’ while Duke of Dunstable says, ‘I suppose I am appalledly interested.’

 

Notes:

 

Eoin Colfer and Simon Jones, the original voice of Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series, can be heard talking about publication of And Another Thing at www.penguin.co.uk/eoincolfer and www.penguin.co.uk/simonjones.

Eoin Colfer on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Published
by
eoin
on September 17, 2008
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 56 Comments

from Penguin Press:

I first read the Hitchhiker’s Guide in my late teens when Ted Roche, a libertine friend of mine, pressed it into my sweaty palms and hissed at me with fanatical intensity that I must read it or be ridiculed forever by the school literati. Relax, dude, I remember saying with eighties’ insouciance. Ridicule is nothing to be scared of.

But I was scared. Petrified in fact. If one was not a sportsman, the only other circle to belong to was the readers’ circle. Places were limited and expulsions were swift and ruthless. If one had not read the livre du jour then one would not be offered book swapsies on Friday. If this happened, then a person might be forced to turn to his own siblings for conversation.

So, in this spirit of  quasi-persecution I scuttled home after double chemistry and found a quiet bathroom where I could settle down and read what I was certain would be a thinly veiled version of Star Wars. Vogons destroy the Earth and a single hero survives. Please. I could almost write the rest myself.

Never have I been so happy to be proven wrong.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was like nothing I had read before, or since for that matter. If you have read it then you know exactly what I am talking about. If you haven’t then read it now, moron. The problem is the hyperbole puts people off. If it’s so popular then it must be middle of the road, brimming with clichés and easily digested on the sands of Ibiza.

All false assumptions. The Guide is a slice of satirical genius. A marvel of quantum tomfoolery. A dissection of the absurdities of our human condition. A space odyssey that forces us to face ourselves and collapse in hysterics. Imagine if Messrs. Hawking and Fry were locked in a room with the entire cast of Monty Python and forced to write a book which would subsequently be edited by Pink Floyd, then the result would need a lot of work before it could be cut from Douglas Adams’ first draft.

For the next couple of decades I followed the exploits of Arthur Dent and his intergalactic troupe as they stumbled through space and time befuddled and bereft, drinking tea in the face of impossible odds and generally failing to find enlightenment at every turn. It’s like a quest for the holy grail where the grail is neither holy nor grail-shaped. I travelled with Arthur Dent as he lost his planet, learned to fly, found love, made sandwiches, got to know his daughter, found his planet again briefly and finally got blown to atoms.

Blown to atoms! Surely not, but no need to panic, Douglas Adams would surely reassemble Arthur somehow in the next book.

But as we all know, the next book never came and the legions of Hitchhiker fans were left with their hearts beating a little too quickly for all eternity.

It became a whimsy of mine to finish the story, just for my own peace of mind. I often wondered how Douglas Adams would have resurrected his beloved characters. And now, almost quarter of a century after first reading Hitchhiker, I have been given the incredible opportunity of writing the next chapter in the saga myself. In an actual book rather than in my head.

My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series. But on reflection I realised that this is a wonderful opportunity to work with characters I have loved since childhood and give them something of my own voice while holding onto the spirit of Douglas Adams and not laying a single finger on his five books.

Once again I am terrified by a Hitchhiker book and this time it is my own. I feel more pressure to perform now than I ever have with my own books, and that is why I am bloody determined that this will be the best thing I have ever written. And if it isn’t then I will make sure that the cover is extremely pretty.

For the first time in decades I feel the uncertainty that I last felt in my teenage years. There are people out there that really want to like this book. Ted Roche is one. I will track him down in eight months time, with a proof copy in my sweaty grip, press it into his hands and tell him with fanatical intensity that he really has to read this book. Then I will sit on the corner of his sofa until he is finished and await the verdict.

©Eoin Colfer
Wexford, September 2008

And Another Thing – Full press Release

Published
by
eoin
on September 17, 2008
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 11 Comments

NUMBER-ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR EOIN COLFER IS CHOSEN TO WRITE THE SIXTH HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

 

London, 17 September 2008

 

Penguin announced today that it is to publish the sixth novel in the ever-more increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Eight years after the tragically early death of its creator, Douglas Adams, widow Jane Belson has sanctioned the project to be written by the international number-one bestselling children’s writer, Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl novels. The new book is entitled “And Another Thing…” and will be published in hardback by Penguin in October 2009. The deal was done with Sophie Hicks and Ed Victor of Ed Victor Ltd., agents for both Colfer and the Douglas Adams estate.

 

Douglas Adams himself said in an interview: ‘I suspect at some point in the future I will write a sixth Hitchhiker book … I would love to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note. Five seems to be a wrong kind of number, six is a better kind of number.’ *

Jane Belson, the widow of Douglas Adams said, ‘I am delighted that Eoin Colfer has agreed to continue the Hitchhiker series. I love his books and could not think of a better person to transport Arthur, Zaphod and Marvin to pastures new. The project has my full support.’

 

Eoin Colfer has introduced a new generation of readers to the absurdities of life, the universe and everything through his bestselling Artemis Fowl series, in which a teenage criminal mastermind wreaks havoc in this world, the next and any others that happen to be nearby. The Sunday Times has said, ‘Colfer has the ability to make you laugh twice over: first in sheer subversive joy at the inventiveness of the writing, and again at the energy of the humour.’

 

Colfer has been a fan of Hitchhiker since his schooldays and said, ‘Being given the chance to write this book is like suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice. For years I have been finishing this incredible story in my head and now I have the opportunity to do it in the real world. It is a gift from the gods. So, thank you Thor and Odin.’

 

Penguin Managing Director, Helen Fraser commented, ‘In 1992 I was lucky enough to be involved in the publication of Mostly Harmless – Douglas Adams’s last brilliant volume of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. He was an extraordinary writer, with an ability to come at the reader from the most unexpected angles, knock them off balance and make them laugh at the same time. Eoin Colfer is an inspired choice as Douglas’s successor. Eoin burst on the world in 2001 with his incredibly popular Artemis Fowl series, which is beloved by readers of all ages. He is a huge talent and a fantastically funny writer, and this new book will bring as many new young readers to Douglas Adams’s work as it will introduce adults to the brilliance of Eoin Colfer.’

 

Press Release on Penguin site

Special Announcement : Eoin Colfer to write Hitchhikers Sequel!

Published
by
Penguin
on September 16, 2008
in hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
. 11 Comments

The classic Douglas Adams book series will now have a sixth installment courtesy of Eoin Colfer. Listen to Eoin as he speaks about this amazing news – click on the video below.