Tag Archives: Teodor Reljic

Mibdul reviewed… in German!

Posted on by under Comics

Our plucky comic book that could — MIBDUL — gets the Teutonic treatment over at Timo Berger (@comic.timo)’s review page on Instagram!

There’s something about this far-flung little book being discovered in equally spontaneous ways that warms the heart. Check out the original post here. (Non-German speakers like myself can avail themselves of Insta’s admittedly efficient automatic translator).

Timo joins the Serbian online publication Strip Blog in giving Mibdul its due. Be sure to read the first and second of an ongoing review series that is thorough and incisively written, courtesy of Strip Blog’s in-house reviewer Ivan Veljković.

MIBDUL ships internationally via the Merlin Publishers website. Inez, Chris, Emmanuel, Faye and myself — that is, the small-but-fierce team behind this six-issue mini-series — would be most delighted to hear what you think of it.

Indie comics thrive on word-of-mouth, and as a particularly ambitious project in that vein — stemming as it does from tiny Malta, engineered and engined with a pioneering streak — Mibdul is as indie as they come.

Talking Camilla & Two on Taħt il-Qoxra | Radio Interview (Maltese)

Posted on by under Films, Two, Uncategorized, Writing

Though the bulk of this weekend was taken up by that annual and very much welcome celebration of rock, punk and metal in my very own adoptive hometown — Rock the South — I also got the chance to make a happy pit stop over at the national broadcasting studio to record an episode of literary radio show Taħt il-Qoxra (‘Under the Cover’), hosted by Rachelle Deguara and broadcast on Sunday on Radju Malta.

It is now online, and you can have a listen by clicking here.

taht il qoxra

Joined by my co-writer on ‘Camilla’, Stephanie Sant (also the short film’s director), we delved into how the short film came to be; from my seizing of that rare and frenzied jolt of inspiration that led me to combine Clare Azzopardi’s subtle-but-cutting short story with Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s ‘Carmilla‘ as I jotted down the treatment; to Stephanie lifting the lid — somewhat — on the historically intricate backstory that served as our ‘true north’ for two key characters.

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Asked about how the indigenous film industry can up both productivity and quality, we jumped on the chance to evangelise the importance of having a solid script, while lamenting the prioritisation of film servicing over production in the local sphere.

All of this is burying the lede somewhat for me though… since the interview had to be done in Maltese given the programme’s format, approach and target audience, I couldn’t exactly wing it. But a spot of rehearsal earlier on seems to have done the trick, and the ensuing interview flowed along quite nicely, I felt.

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Towards the end, I also got a chance to talk a little bit about my debut novel Two — which is about Malta but is in fact written in English — just a few weeks shy of its fifth birthday. I’m glad that people are still keen to hear about its evolution and what it means to me, which is a great deal, even if projects like ‘Camilla’ are shinier and more exciting right about this point in time.

On that note, watch this space for news on future screenings of ‘Camilla’ — more info as soon as we have it, which will hopefully be pretty soon.

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Watch the trailer for ‘Camilla’ here

Find out more about Two here

 

Debut novel jitters: ‘Two’ pre-launch fun

Posted on by under Books, Interview, Malta, Storytelling, Two

Two book launch invite

My debut novel, Two, will be out from Merlin Publishers in just over a week’s time. The promo-machine for the book, such as it is, has been continuing apace, and it’s been great fun so far.

My good friend – the actor, theatre director and stand-up comedian – Philip Leone-Ganado wrote up a great interview on The Sunday Circle, which he also edits (yes, a Renaissance Man if there was one).

Photo by Jacob Sammut for The Sunday Circle.

Photo by Jacob Sammut for The Sunday Circle.

Bolstered by great photos by Jacob Sammut (who seems intent on becoming my unofficial portraitist these days), it delves into the book’s themes, textures and origins, with a coda about the philosophy and day-to-day operations of Schlock. Click here to check it out. 

Following the release of the interview, the guys behind Merlin Publishers and myself activated one of our first ideas for Two’s actual book launch, taking place at the Wignacourt Museum in Rabat, with the aid of Nicole Cuschieri from Creative Island. Seeing as the narrative of Two hinges on a big secret, we’ve decided to make secrets the focal point of the launch.

To this end, we’re inviting everyone to anonymously submit their own secrets online, so that we may use them to ‘decorate’ the launch party’s venue. We’ve already amassed 60 secrets at the time of writing, and you’re still in time to submit your own by clicking here.

(Usage note: if you’re a first-time user of the simplyconfess.com site, you might need to click on the link and ‘enter’ the site — confirming you’re over 18 — then leave the site and re-enter via the same link.)

Finally – for now, anyway, because there’s still a couple of things I’ll be attacking you with in the coming week or so – we’ve also set up a Spotify playlist themed around the novel. I’d like to think that selection accurately reflects the mood of the book, at least to some degree. Click here to listen to it.

After the first couple of drafts of the book were finished, what I found most rewarding was doing my best to ensure that the texture and feel of it was flowing and consistent – a particular challenge in this case, given that the novel is structured on a parallel narrative.

Putting together a playlist that capitalises on that just feels like a (dare I say it?) well-deserved cherry on the cake.

Hope to see you on March 28. Overseas readers: we’ll keep you posted on ebook options for Two as soon as we have them.

Confirm your attendance to the launch on Facebook.