Four days in Poland
I just got back from Poland last night, having spent four very full days there on a signing tour. Well, I thought it was a signing tour, but actually it turned out to be something slightly else. My Polish publishers, MAG and Egmont, invited me over both to attend PolCon (Poland’s science fiction convention) and to talk to Polish media about my writing. So it was only at PolCon, on the Saturday, that I did any actual signing: the rest of the time I was doing interviews, exploring the two cities where I stayed (Warsaw and Lodz) and meeting the people who publish my work in Poland.
It was a great trip, all told. It was packed with incident, or at least with interviews. I did about half a dozen each day, with TV, radio, websites and print media. Then at PolCon I also did a panel, a Q and A and a big signing session. At times it felt a little hectic, but the people who were looking after me, Greg (my translator) and Patricia (from Egmont’s PR department), were adept both at keeping the schedule on track and at finding times in between the interviews to show me around and keep me fed and watered.
The first two days were in Warsaw, and the bulk of the interviews were done there. One highlight was meeting Lukasz and Mateusz, two very nice guys who work on the Marvel website there. None of my Marvel work is translated into Polish yet, but it’s available in English, and we had a long and very enjoyable talk about X-Men continuity and where Legacy is going now that it’s Rogue’s book rather than Professor X’s. Lukasz and Mateusz are working on a comic book of their own, in a photo-realist style, and they gave me a print of the first page, which was very cool. They also gave me a bottle of Dubrozka vodka, which contains a blade of grass allegedly urinated on by a bison. I haven’t tasted it yet, but I’m looking forward to doing so tonight.
I had a chance to walk around the old town area of Warsaw, with Greg as a very able and entertaining guide. He turned out to be extremely well informed about Polish history, and opened my eyes to more than a few things I didn’t know or hadn’t thought about – the fact that Poland had once been an elective monarchy; the various medieval partitionings of the country and the way its borders had fluctuated even into the 20th century; and the fact that Margaret Thatcher is widely viewed in Poland as one of the good guys, because of the support and encouragement she gave to the Solidarity movement and her intransigent opposition to the Soviet bloc.
Another highlight of the Warsaw leg of the trip was dinner on Thursday night – traditional Polish cuisine in an old town restaurant, where I got to meet my two hosts, Jacek Rodek (of MAG) and Tomasz Kolodziejczak (of Egmont), along with their wives Kasia (who met me at the airport and planned my itinerary) and Joasia. Both Jacek and Tomasz had been comic writers before they moved into publishing, and we talked comics and sci-fi for three hours, finally moving from the restaurant to the Browarmia bar, where I discovered that Polish stout is both better and stronger than Polish lager.
On Friday night, after more interviews, we took a train to Lodz. This is where Patricia was born and raised, so she decided where we should go in the intervals between interviews and panels. We walked up Piotrkowska Street, which has some of the most beautiful art nouveau buildings I’ve ever seen, and some magnificent sculptures, to a pizza parlour where a sign (in Evrit) read “only Hebrew spoken here.” The pizza was served in the Lodz style, with several sauces on a garnish tray – garlic, chili, tomato and basil – which you can spread on the pizza to enhance the experience. It was, I have to say, spectacularly good pizza: Patricia, who is very proud of her home city, says it makes the best pizza outside of Naples.
Back to PolCon for more interviews, including one with Trashka and Lukas, who turned out (after I spent several minutes happily insulting the rock band Pantera and the comic I once wrote about them) to be hardcore Pantera fans. But they forgave me, and Lukas, who could have folded me into a paper plane without raising a sweat, very kindly didn’t.
I want to share one moment from the Q & A. Tomek, who was hosting, began with a quote from Lucifer. He showed me the relevant page, which was from the third issue of The Morningstar Option, and alarm bells began to ring as I tried to remember the original English dialogue. “So, Mike,” Tomek said, quoting verbatim, “welcome to the sweatstain principalities of Eastern Europe.” After pretending I had another appointment, and being pushed politely but firmly back down into my seat, I explained, red-faced, that it was a demon who’d said that, and demons are good at sowing discord. The audience laughed their collective and individual legs off.
To summarise, anyway: a really enjoyable time, that went by very fast. MAG and Egmont looked after me very well, and Greg and Patricia, if you’re reading this, I’m hugely grateful to you for making everything feel so effortless when I know damn well it wasn’t. It was great meeting you and hanging out with you. I hope we can do it again some day…
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You know of course that is not really a blade of grass urinated on by a bison but the Hierochloe odorata
Now there you go, shattering all my naive illusions…
Tasty stuff, anyway – especially straight from the fridge.
Having been enjoying drinking Bisongrass for a while, I have to admit, I’m slightly relieved that it’s Christof’s version rather than Mike’s
Maybe I should have put more thought in to but, up until now, we’d just been assuming that the inventor of the vodka was called ‘Sir Humphrey Bisongrass’ or some such.
Great tale though, Mike – glad you had such a grand tour!
I’m going to change my name to Sir Humphrey Bisongrass by deed poll. It’s too good a name to waste.
Dear Mr. Carey,
Slightly off topic here, but I did not know where else to write the following.
I have read all your Felix Castor novels. I was fortunate enough to “get in” from the time you published the first one “The Devil you know”.
I have to say that the last one “The naming of beasts” is a masterpiece! It seems like you took the suspense to another level entirely. The stakes are really high in this one. And also, in my opinion, we get to see a slightly softer more pragmatic side of Castor that I like. His collaboration and caring for Juliet etc. It’s cool!
I love how he partners up with Juliet. She is probably the most fascinating character EVER!
I don’t know where you get this from, but please keep it up
I have two questions for you.
1. Since you have the demons, undead, ghost etc. does it not imply the presence of the “other side” as well? What I mean is, if there are demons there must be angels wouldn’t you say? I would love to see your take on angels in the context of the Felix Castor world. Is this ever going to happen?
2. What are your writing routines? You seem to be spitting out these castor novels like I don’t know what.. and I love it! It just baffles me how productive you are. Would you mind sharing your routines and your discipline for writing?
Being an aspiring writer myself I would love to hear this!
All the best
Sincerely
KRB
Really glad you’re enjoying the books, KRB.
Angels in Castor… it could happen, but if it does, it will be outside of the six-book arc I’ve currently got planned. There are some major revelations about Hell and the demons in book 6, which will give you some indication of why I’ve been so reticent about the other side of the equation.
My writing routines? I honestly don’t really have any – or at least, they vary a lot, so it’s hard to define them meaningfully. I do work fairly long hours, often going on until midnight – late, but not insanely late. But there are gaps in my working day, so I kind of work in fits and starts: intensely productive bursts interspersed with periods of wandering around like a moonstruck calf. I suspect that I need the one as much as the other, because as much as I try to cut out the dead time, I can’t.
I plan a lot, tending to nail down most of my plot points well in advance – but then I often end up ditching a fair number of them, because better ideas always pop into your head as you’re writing.
And I set myself short-term targets. If I’m writing Castor, I’m not happy unless I can hit 2000 words a day. If I’m scripting a comic, I try to aim for one day planning, one day roughing, one day scripting. Doesn’t always work, though.
Thank you so much for your reply!
To say that I can’t wait for the next book is the understatement of the year! Especially now after what you just wrote in your reply
I really hope you are not planning to stop after book 6!?? I also hope you are not taking a long break after book 6. Please don’t!
I will try to model some of what you say regarding your writing “routine”. Thanks again.
All the best from here!
KRB
No plans to stop – I want to keep writing Castor for some time to come – but a hiatus after book 6 is possible. It depends whether Orbit pick up this other novel I just pitched to them…
Good luck with your own writing. I think you’ll develop your own rhythms and approaches as you go…
Hi Mike,
Thanks for your time and patience at Orbital Comics. Hopefully I’ll run into you again, your advice and opinions were very much apreciated. Take care and all the best for you and yours during the upcoming holiday season.
Declan
As a big fan of Magneto and Mystique, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed how you write their characters and I really hope you plan on using them again in the future.
I know Mystique’s being used in Dark X-Men and Magneto in Uncanny (though I know he’s appearing in an issue of Legacy) but I hope when either character gets freed up you take the opportunity and grab them. I’d love it if you would write either of them on an ongoing basis like you did with Mystique in X-Men #188-207.
Mike,
I just wanted to let you know that after hearing so much positive buzz surrounding this book, I decided to give in and purchase the entire print run thus far. The final back issue that was missing from the run arrived in pristine condition from mail order. Given that this is a three-day weekend in the US, I’m going to read them all so I can be current.
I must say that The Unwritten is a book that perfectly marries word and art along with intrigue and excitement. I can never anticipate the book’s twist and turns, feints and uppercuts. I feel “knocked out” after every issue.
There was a time when I bought 72 comics a month. Since then, I’ve had to whittle down my comic purchases to about a dozen. However, to the chagrin of both wife and wallet, The Unwritten makes it a Baker’s Dozen. In this case, “13″ is my lucky number.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks, Cole. Really glad you’re enjoying the book.
I sympathise with the whole cutting-back-on-comics thing. I’ve had to do the same thing, mostly because I was running out of places to put them.
Doop – hope you’ve been enjoying Magneto’s appearance in the Necrosha arc…