Karavansara

24 June 2017
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

An unusual writer’s resource – QI

It started because I wanted to dust off my English – because reading and writing is all right, but you need to keep your ear trained for the spoken language.
So I went for a few BBC programs available on Youtube. People talking, with a variety of accents.
Talk shows, comedy shows, and panel shows.

Now, panel shows are something that does not exist in my country.
Basically it is a bunch of guys and girls – usually TV personalities, stand up comedians and actors – sitting around and talking about some kind of subject, following some kind of loose TV game show format.
It was as I was looking for these shows that I discovered one of the best – and most idiosincratic – writer resources on the web.
It’s a show called QI (short for Quite Interesting) and it’s simply great. Continue reading →

22 June 2017
by Davide Mana 6 Comments

You’ll never make it

Today, on a friend’s Facebook profile, my friend Marina wrote a reply to my comment:

Anansi said “Anger gets shit done” but I guess spite is a great motivator too.

Yes it is.
The subject was those characters we often meet and have no compunction in telling us we’ll never make it. We can’t make it. Not worth the bother.
I’ve met people like this all my life.
Oh, mind you, I was pretty good at school – top marks in every subject but Maths.
But they told me I would not make it. Bad attitude, you see – reading strange books and not being “a good team player”. Continue reading →

21 June 2017
by Davide Mana 2 Comments

Other people’s pulps: Roco Vargas

I mentioned The Adventures of Roco Vargas as one of my influences in a post back in 2013, a post I closed saying I’d have to write something about the series.
Well, better late than never, right?

Spanish comic book artist Daniel Torres started writing Roco Vargas in 1983. A specialist in “retrofuturist” settings and stories, Torres referenced streamlined design, Bell Geddes architecture and 1940s-1950s style in his stories.

daniel_NoticiaAmpliada

Roco Vargas, the star of the eponymous series, is a science fiction writer, night-club owner, former space pilot and ladies’ man based in the city of Puerto Bahia. Modeled on classic pulp adventurers, Vargas has a mysterious past, snippets of which we discover throughout the series: he was part of a team of science adventurers, together with Saxxon and Panama Kid, working for professor Kowalski, and they were known as the Space Kids. Continue reading →

20 June 2017
by Davide Mana 1 Comment

Raygun Gothic

So, I did a piece about Raygun Gothic for my Italian blog – why not do another here for Karavansara?

Now, I am not too hot on tags and labels and subgenres.
All the various “-punks” that came after cyberpunk – steampunk, dieselpunk, atompunk…
OK, they can make itr easier to find a book on a shelf, and make for great parlor games, but obsessing about such stuff is dangerous.

So, if dieselpunk is just pulp misspelled, then raygun gothic is basically atompunk without the rust. Continue reading →

19 June 2017
by Davide Mana 5 Comments

Back from the con (and two-fisted art!)

So we (my brother and me, that is) went to the Casale Comics & Games convention, and it was a lot of fun.
Really a lot of fun.
Let me tell you a little story, in order to share part of the fun with you.

We arrived at the wonderful Citadel of Casale, on Saturday morning, and we soon found out that, due to a technical glitch (Google as usual deciding that some mail is spam) Acheron Books did not have a table in the vendors area.
Ouch! Continue reading →

17 June 2017
by Davide Mana Leave a comment

Weekend at the con

This is an automated post.
Sorry if I have not yet published your comments (if any).
Fact is, I’ll spend today and tomorrow in the Medieval citadel of Casale Monferrato, where the Casale Comics and Games convention will take place.
I’ll be manning the Acheron Books table, and possibly seeing a few old friends.

Locandina-Casalecomics-1

I will post photos, as soon as I’m back.

17 June 2017
by Davide Mana 7 Comments

A cartload of books and the Curse of the Pharaoh

I went to a friend’s lecture last night, hosted in the wonderful hall of the local historical society – a former church, now holding an impressive collection of baroque paintings.
We were there early, and we noticed a big 19th century-style cart, in the back, loaded with books.
We found our places, saw some old friends, started chatting.
At this point, the spokesman for the society taps the mike and explains that,while we are waiting, we might like to take a look at the books on the cart.
These are used books.
They come from the local library, and they were retired.