7 – 4 – 1: Mort. A quick chat with the Chairman

by Nitta
When I asked Brian about when he could give me 5 minutes of his time he flipped through the Convention programme, asked someone not to remove the flipchart paper with the day’s schedules, glanced at his watch and said “yes, about now would be the best time”.

I asked what his second most frequently used phrase was (after “Go to Ops!”). He laughed and said. “It’s all good!”
When I asked whether it was true that the next con was going to be held in a desert to fit in all the fans he laughed again and said 900 was a good number. At the last Con the sign-up closed at 800 members – to this one they consulted Terry whether it was OK to add an extra 100 and he agreed, but this really seems to be the outer limit. It’s not easy to find a space that can accommodate so many people, has adequate-sized halls etc.

When I asked who was to be praised or blamed for selecting the Convention’s theme he answered that allegedly that was the chairman’s privilege but in reality it was a joint decision. They pick a book with a strong central theme and build the con around it. Originally Going Postal was picked (“my 2nd favourite book, and also related to my day job”, says Brian), but then they had several meetings discussing the Con theme and came up with The Fifth Elephant instead which had much clearer themes and elements, and it was easier to structure a Convention around it.

I wanted to know how much time he had for his own life between the Conventions. He laughed again and said it varied – the closer the con, the less time for anything else. As everyone among the organisers does this as a voluntary job, time needs to be structured. In the last month before the opening everything revolves around the Con.

I wanted to know whether he read the Discworld novels in hardback or waited until the paperback editions came out. He said he didn’t rush to the books as before, in his teenage years – and as he’s got a limited shelf space, he preferred the smaller, paperback books.
His favourite character is tied with his favourite book: Mort. He has read it first as a teenager and was very much in it; he liked the idea of the boy who goes and gets offered a job by Death, does all those things, nearly rescues a princess, is at the point of beating Death but realises it would be really lonesome afterwards – to Brian this is an awesome story of growing up. He says what was written in 7 volumes in the Harry Potter series and 4 in the Tiffany Aching novels it’s condensed in 1 novel here.
Brian thinks Mort is a greatly underrated character – and what we all remember is his daughter.