November 16, 2012

Terry Pratchett’s daughter will continue Discworld series

by

Terry Pratchett

In an interview with Laurie Penny for the New Statesman, Terry Pratchett has announced that his daughter Rhianna will take over the Discworld series when he’s no longer able to write.

Pratchett has been candid about the decline of his health since 2007, when he was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer’s.

In the interview he tells Penny that he can no longer use a keyboard at all, and that he’s very restricted even in his use of a pen. His last four books have been written by dictation, with the help of software programs and his assistant of twelve years Rob Wilkins. His daughter Rhianna — herself a writer — will be a co-writer on the BBC Discworld series The Watch, and Pratchett tells Penny that he’ll be happy to allow her to continue to write the books, too, saying, “The Discworld is safe in my daughter’s hands.” Pratchett’s fans are fearsomely loyal, so under any other circumstances the announcement that the series would some day be penned by anyone but the man himself would likely attract some howls of displeasure. Maybe keeping it in the family will silence some of those.

 

 

Ellie Robins is an editor at Melville House. Previously, she was managing editor of Hesperus Press.

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