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Being Creative

62 little-known facts about me

Plus, new interviews, events and cool kickstarter campaigns to support

Cavan Scott

• 8 min read
62 little-known facts about me

Hello there,

There's been an influx of new subscribers – no doubt due to the Gwenpool news – so welcome, draw up a chair, pour yourself a cup of tea and have a biscuit. We're a friendly bunch.

Inspired by my friend Joanne Harris' list of little-known facts about herself, I thought it would be the perfect time to reveal some random titbits about myself, so keep scrolling to discover more.

Also in this week's newsletter:

Okay, time for those facts. Here we go...

  1. I am terrified of heights but have flown a plane. 
  2. I cried when I visited Cosgrave Hall animation studios. 
  3. I have three guinea pigs: Wicket, Moon and Grogu. 
  4. Former guinea pigs have included Sally, Anne, Gracy, Stacey, Nibbles and Popcorn. 
  5. Goldfish in my life have included Flipper, Jaws, Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3D, Eric, Ernie, Bert and Fred, plus two loaches called Lilly and Louie.
  6. I am in a Peter Calpadi episode of Doctor Who, but you can’t see me. 
  7. I once went husky-mushing and crashed into a dry stone wall.
  8. I don’t believe in ghosts, but one once messed around with my toothbrush.
  9. I have one tattoo, a present to myself for my 50th birthday. 
  10. I studied Theology and Comparative Religions at university. 
  11. My first job was counting bras. 
  12. Other jobs included running McDonald’s birthday parties, general secretary of the Christian Booksellers Association and dressing up as Bertie Bassett to give out sweets in supermarkets.
  13. My favourite book is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
  14. The Bristol Evening Post once named me the 41st coolest Bristolian alive.
  15. I have been commissioned to write three books that no one will ever read. 
  16. My favourite colours are red and orange.
  17. I used to play timpani in my late teens and would love to again, but they’re not exactly portable.
  18. My first short story was broadcast on the Radio Bristol breakfast show when I was in junior school.
  19. I'm an Aries, but don't really know what that means.
  20. My first official rejection letter came from Doctor Who Magazine when I proposed an awful comic strip featuring the Daleks fighting a demon that was trapped at the centre of a planet.
  21. I still might write it one day...minus the Daleks.
  22. I am attempting to learn the concertina. It is (currently) going (very) badly. 
  23. I have set foot on four continents so far. 
  24. I'm a member of the British Folklore Society.
  25. I adore hares but have never managed to see one in the wild. 
  26. My favourite film is Ghostbusters. 
  27. I collect pin badges. 
  28. I once conducted a seance in a haunted house and was terrified by a cat.  
  29. My nickname at school was Captain Caveman. 
  30. I used to be a magazine editor--
  31. --but find it impossible to spot mistokes in my own work.
  32. I visit the Rollright Stones on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire borders at least once a year.
  33. I have a medical condition called HNPP (Hereditary Neuropathy with Liability to Pressure Palsy) which means I sometimes have to walk with a cane. 
  34. My wife worries my small walking cane collection will develop into a full obsession.
  35. She is right to fear.
  36. I wear a pendant with a bind rune representing joy and harmony around my next.
  37. I have ghostwritten a book for a 1970s children's TV icon. And no I'm not going to tell you which one.
  38. I prefer Yorkshire Tea if possible. Thanks. 
  39. I recently signed up for a course to learn lino printing. 
  40. The oldest object in my possession is a Byzantine ring dating back some 1,000 - 1,200 years.
  41. I also own a scrap of genuine Ewok hair.
  42. I'm a Bristol City Football Club season ticket holder.
  43. My first (unsold) original novel was called The Superhero’s Ghost.
  44. It was about a boy who finds himself haunted by his world’s equivalent of Superman. 
  45. It featured a masked vigilante called the Dark Stranger who I made up in the fourth year of secondary school, and I’m determined to work into something!
  46. I adore Gladiators and have decided my Gladiator name would be ‘Spatula’, for no other reason than it makes me laugh. 
  47. My comfort food of choice is cottage pie, ideally with peas. 
  48. In my time I've written British comic characters Bananaman, the Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Minnie the Minx, Dennis the Menace, Gnasher and Gnipper, Korky the Cat, Beryl Peril and Desperate Dan.
  49. I can never think of anything to write in the 49th place in lists.
  50. I have to say hello to robins whenever I see them. It’s not superstition. They just make me smile.
  51. I've met two of the original Star Trek crew and stood very near a third.
  52. I’m a big fan of musical theatre. 
  53. My go-to musicals are Chicago, Oliver and Guys and Dolls. 
  54. When I was a kid, I spent hours standing in front of a mirror learning how to raise a single eyebrow so I could be like Roger Moore. 
  55. Today, a signed photo of Sir Rog smiles at me from my studio wall every day while I work. 
  56. I cannot stand tinned plum tomatoes. They are the work of the devil. 
  57. Tinned cherry tomatoes are fine though. 
  58. I once edited a magazine about Disney Princesses. 
  59. Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue makes me hoot. It never fails to cheer me up. 
  60. I have played a droid in Star Wars and a grumpy Border Control Guard in Judge Dredd. 
  61. I was also once a munchkin.
  62. My favourite David Bowie Album is Hunky Dory. 

NEW INTERVIEW - TALKING THE RISING STORM WITH STAR WARS NEWS NET

I had a great time talking to the boys at Star Wars News Net about The Rising Storm which incredibly is now four years old! How did that happen?

In the interview, we cover:

  • The High Republic gamble – How we didn’t know if the project would succeed, and the pressure I felt following Light of the Jedi.
  • Darker Star Wars storytelling – Moving from children’s books to horror stories within a galaxy far, far away.
  • Major character deaths – Why a certain character's fate was crucial to the overall story and how we carefully debated every major loss.
  • The Evolution of the Nameless – How I introduced the Jedi predators in The Rising Storm and the challenges of designing their appearance.
  • Avar Kriss’ absence – Why she wasn’t in The Rising Storm and how that shaped her character’s journey elsewhere.
  • Favourite characters to write – Yana Ro, Lourna Dee, and other rebels who defy expectations.
  • What if [REDACTED] had lived? – How he might have changed the Jedi’s decisions post-Rising Storm.
  • The High Republic finale – Nearing the end of a seven-year journey and what comes next.

Check all that and more below!

UPCOMING EVENT IN BRISTOL - THE EXCELSIOR SUPER-SIGNING

Here's a date for your diary! I'm taking part in a super-signing event at Excelsior Comics in my hometown of Bristol, and just look at who else is there!

Hope to see you on 16th March! Here's how you'll find Excelsior!

WORK OF MY PALS - KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGNS TO SUPPORT

I really want this newsletter to be a place where I can shout about the work of my friends, from the regular Perfect Sunday posts (which return this weekend) to the FOC alert I sent out on Monday) so here's a new slot that gives me a chance to break out my megaphone and shout about projects I'm excited about!

This week, I have a couple of Kickstarters that I think look pretty cool! First up is a book that is so far up my alley, I'm annoyed I'm not involved!

Writer Shannon Eric Denton and artist John Cboins bring us Return of the Monsters, a graphic novel that combines all the great monsters of literature and movies. Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Dr. Hyde, The Invisible Man, The Opera Ghost, The Werewolf, The Gillman and The Pharaoh? Yes, please!

The 48-page hardcover graphic novel launched on Kickstarter yesterday!

Also on Kickstarter is this gem of a comic zine, which launched on Monday. Totally Not a Cult celebrates 10-years of the I Read Comic Books podcast and is packed with pin-ups that 'reenvision' one of IRCB's episode titles such as 'Skin Cape', 'If King of the Hill was an Anime' and – ahem – 'Attention to Arouse!' Featuring art from some of the best indy comic artists out there, you can support Totally Not a Cult here!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Myth and Folkery: Jackie Oates, John Spiers and the gothic glory of macabre lacemakers
Songs and squeezeboxes, craft and... corpses?
The CavletterCavan Scott

That's all folks!

Now, as time marches inevitably on with the tenacity of a hungry squirrel frantically searching for the packet of dry-roasted peanuts he buried on the last day of Autumn, it's time for us to go our separate ways.

See you next time and, as always, look after yourself and each other,

UPCOMING BOOKS

WHERE TO FIND ME ONLINE