I need to find some way to get this line into the novel…
(Thanks to DakkaDakka for bringing this to my attention.)
Jumping the Fence
It seems that licensed and tie-in fiction is bubbling around the writerly consciousness at the moment. James Swallow talks about novelisations, Dan Abnett’s guest blog at Borders looks at tie-in fiction and comics, while Dan also had an interesting conversation with Mark Charan Newton about the literary worth (or perceived lack) of tie-in fiction.
It used to be the case that I had one foot on either side of the fence when it came to the Black Library. By day I was a games developer, evening and weekends saw me in my guise of swashbuckling author. One of the roles of the GW games developers is to liaise with Black Library, answering their questions and generally providing consultation. The BL editors are well-versed in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 so it was usually the case that inquiries directed to games dev would concern either very specific questions, or areas where the existing background was unclear or perhaps contradictory.
For the most part these discussions revolved around extrapolations by the authors, extending areas of the backgrounds into subjects that were not relevant to the material needed for tabletop wargames – ‘Does this sound right?’ or ‘Is this how it would work?’. It was rare that we would be passed anything that was so hideously off-the-mark that the story or novel was completely verboten (“we’ve had this story about squats…”). Far from being the black jackboot of authoritarianism, I like to think that we provided possible solutions to problems that cropped up. Sometimes an author or an editor might have a situation they need resolved and would ask for background-friendly suggestions. For instance, an author might want orks invading a moon, but was not sure how the greenies would operate on an airless world. Rather than say that would never happen, we would have a think about it and provided some viable answers (probably something with mobile forcefields in this case…).
That was the day job.
The ability of an author to write within an established setting isn’t about knowing every single detail of the background (though targeted research is always good), it is about understanding the style and ethos of that universe. With a grounding in the principles of that world, an author can extend the logic (or lack) to cover places, people and situations not explicitly detailed in the source material. That’s sort of the point of tie-in fiction; to expand on what is already published, not simply package it up in a slightly different form.
Having been inculcated in the mysteries and ways of Warhammer and 40K for years, I was in the enviable position as an author of being able to say to an editor ‘Yes, that’s exactly how it works’. After all, if they were uncertain about something, it was me they were going to ask… I was going to say this put me in a unique position, but unfortunately those Jonny-Come-Latelies Graham McNeill, Andy Hoare and Ant Reynolds have all made the transition from games developer to author. I’m sure if you ask them on their blogs they’ll be able to tell you about their own experiences in this regard.
Gamekeeper Turned Poacher
Two years ago I abseiled to freedom from my bare cell in the Ivory Tower and embarked on a life of freelance skullduggery. For a while nothing really changed. For a start, the novels I had planned or was working on were all concocted while I was on the ‘inside’.
But that is changing… New books are still being written, new background is still being created. I no longer have the inside track. For the most part this doesn’t make a huge difference. It’s not like those fundamentals I talked about are going to change. Space Marines are still Space Marines, Lizardmen are still Lizardmen. But now there’s more about them. New characters spring into life, new battles are related, new places explored.
For me, this is no more evident than with the Horus Heresy series. I’m aware of the general picture and the major characters involved, but that series is in essence a new universe, with its own rules and logic. My first foray into the HH was the short story Call of the Lion in Tales of Heresy. This was fairly self-contained, and drew on characters and situations I had already created and come to terms with in Angels of Darkness.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my latest effort, Raven’s Flight, had a greater impact on the HH mythology and timeline. While I can blissfully charge my way through the Warhammer 40,00 galaxy and scour the face of the Warhammer world, suddenly there were toes I might be treading on, so I had to watch my step. Graham McNeil was a great help in the process of understanding this new and strange place.
I have to admit, I’m not entirely comfortable with the feeling of being in someone else’s world. Although Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 are creations by others than came before me, for fourteen years I shared in that creation on a daily level and there are parts of it I think I can consider to be mine; creations that I painted on to that ever-expanding canvas. They are places where I feel entirely at home, confident I know my way around. It never felt like I was writing fiction in somebody else’s universe. The Horus Heresy is different. There’s all kinds of stuff going on that I’m not aware of; it’s a darkened room whose interior has been laid out by other people and there’s a good chance I’ll trip over something or stub my toe. I’m not sure I like the idea of someone else making up the rules…
Fire the Canon! – the Advantage of Warhammer as Tie-in Worlds
I think that Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 have a unique advantage in the realm of tie-in backgrounds: they exist to allow personal creativity. Both are backdrops, nothing more. They were created to allow people to collect armies of toy soldiers and fight battles with them. They were conceived with the idea of the player’s creative freedom being directed but not restricted. In Warhammer you can have anything from Ogres to ninjas (and even Ninja Ogres!). Warhammer 40,000 trumpets an ‘Imperium of a Million Worlds’ precisely because that leaves room for everyone to come up with whatever they like. Hobbyists can create armies, places, worlds, colour schemes, characters and stories for themselves.
Often folks ask if Black Library books are ‘canon’. With Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, the notion of canon is a fallacy. There are certainly established facts – the current Emperor is Karl-Franz, the Blood Angels have red armour, Commissar Yarrick defended Hades Hive during the Second Armageddon War. However, to suggest that anything else is non-canon is a disservice to the players and authors who participate in this world. To suggest that Black Library novels are somehow of lesser relevance to the background is to imply that every player who has created a unique Space Marine chapter or invented their own Elector Count is somehow wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 exist as tens of thousands of overlapping realities in the imaginations of games developers, writers, readers and gamers. None of those interpretations is wrong.
Whether a particular author’s take on the world matches up with an individual gamer’s or readers is another matter. The fact that each of us is allowed to take possession of that world and envisage it to our own ideal means that it is inevitable our vision will sometimes clash with the vision of others. Such conflict does not render either vision obsolete.
In this regard it is the job of authors and games developers to illuminate and inspire, not to dictate. Perhaps you disagree with the portrayal of a certain faction, or a facet of their society doesn’t make sense in your version of the world. You may not like the answers presented, but in asking the question you can come up with a solution that matches your vision. As long as certain central themes and principles remain, you can pick and choose which parts you like and dislike.
The same applies to transference from Black Library back into the gaming supplements. If the developers and other creative folks believe a contribution by an author fits the bill and has an appeal to the audience, why not fold it back into the ‘game’ world – such as Gaunt’s Ghosts or characters from the Gotrek and Felix series. On the other hand, if an author has a bit of a wobbly moment, there’s no pressure to feel that it has to be accepted into the worldview promulgated by the codexes and army books. And beside, there simply isn’t enough room in those gaming books to include everything from the hundreds of novels – good, bad or indifferent as we each see them – so the decision must ultimately rest with the taste of individual readers and gamers.
Tie-in Fiction is not Easier
There’s a misconception that writing in somebody else’s world is somehow cheating. Certainly world creation is given a lot of weight in genre fiction circles (too much in my opinion). The fact is, it doesn’t matter how much material there exists for a setting, the world must be created anew by the author every time they write a story or novel. It is the writer’s ability to evoke the world through their words that is important, and that doesn’t get any harder or easier whether you created the world yourself or are borrowing someone else’s.
Having written my first non-BL novel, The Crown of the Blood (out in the summer 
), I can say that the process of portraying the world was exactly the same as it is with Warhammer and 40K fiction. There’s still so much that you need to invent even with a tie-in world just to get a story to work, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing by your rules or someone else’s.
Let me put it another way. Is there any less literary quality in a story set within the real world? Books set in real places, contemporary or historic, receive recognition and awards all the time. They haven’t invented a world at all! ‘All’ the author did was come up with a story and characters, how lame is that? Of course, nobody thinks like that, because such books are judged by the way they evoke the real world, and the same should be true of all types of speculative fiction.
Listen up!
With the recent release of Raven’s Flight and having just delivered the Aenarion text to Black Library, audiobooks have been on my mind lately. There’ve been some people who have expressed disappointment (not to mention a small number displaying unseemly annoyance) that the audiobooks will not be available as printed word.
As far as I know (which isn’t far, I admit) there are no plans to produce printed versions of the Black Library audiobooks. I agree with this completely. Raven’s Flight was conceived and written as an audiobook, which means that it is intended to be listened to, not read. The way it is written is different from the way I would have gone about telling the story if it had been printed, and I am not sure that it would as satisfying an experience in the written form.
Like a screenplay or comic script, an audiobook manuscript must take into account the final form of the piece – in this case one that is read aloud and heard. A listener receives and interprets information in a different way to a reader (this is called ‘parsing’) so an audiobook must be written with these limitations in mind. Dilaogue is more script-like and descriptions shorter and broken down into easier-to-digest chunks. It is harder for a listener than a reader to absorb relevant information if provided in too much bulk, and a traditionally-written story could lead to some rewinding and re-listening that would break the flow of the story.
The same is true of books adapted for audio. Although some are presented as unabridged recordings, most books transferred to audio are edited for the format to aid comprehension. There are also other tricks of presentation that work in audio that would not work on the written page – and vice versa.
The other part of the Black Library audiobooks, and others, is that they are not simply a reading of the text. The story contains a musical score and sound effects (something I was even more conscious of with Aenarion) which all add to a very different experience. The musical score in particular I find intriguing. While writing, certain tracks will come on to my playlist that just absolutely fit with what I am writing. I have mentioned before that ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ was playing whilst I wrote one of the battle scenes of Malekith (and ‘Oh, Fortuna!’ furing others). During Raven’s Flight there is a scene where the Primach Corax surveys the aftermath of the dropsite massacre. It was just as I was starting this piece that my iTunes saw fit to play a section from the Watchmen soundtrack entitled ‘Just Look Around You’. Not only is the title totally fitting, the piece itself is very poignant and struck a chord (ho ho!) with what I was writing. The original score on the audiobook is as much part of that scene as the words.
So, for those that somehow think that audiobooks are less worthy than the printed word, think again. I would recommend putting aside an hour and a quarter and experiencing one in a single sitting, enjoying every element of the production as well as the story. I hope you’ll find it every bit as rewarding as the printed page.
Real live stuff: Reminder that I’ll be at GW Liverpool on Saturday between 12-2pm.
Current Reading: The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes.
Recent Reading: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett, Imperium by Robert Harris, Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (highly recommend) and The Affinity Bridge by BL’s own George Mann.
Watching: Enjoyed the first episode of the new series of Being Human. Highly ambivalent about the Dr Who holiday specials… The most drawn-out regeneration in history! Still, looking forward to more Dr Who in 2010. Not much else been on recently. 24 due to start again soon, and Lost further down the line.
Playing: GTA4. Some of the scripting and voice acting is awesome, and I don’t quite understand the controversy when we have plenty of books, films, TV series and comics that portray and aggrandise gangsters and criminal activity. For example, two of the most acclaimed works of the past decades – The Godfather trilogy and The Sopranos – are about very unsavoury characters with whom the audience are supposed to empathise. Let’s forget the whole ‘computer games are evil’ bollocks shall we?
Welcome to 2010
I’m darned busy at the moment (not helped by the distraction of the cricket over the last few days) so I’ll have to be brief. Happy New Year to everyone, I hope 2010 is a good year for all the hamsterites. It’s gonna be even busier than last year for me. I’m just finishing the first Time of Legends audiobook Aenarion at the moment, and next week it’s straight into Purging of Kadillus, a Space Marine Battles novel loooking at the Dark Angels. There’s going to be rewrites for The Crown of the Blood thrown into the mix I’m sure.
After that I’ve got some hefty planning to do, with both The Crown of the Conqueror and Caledor needing synopsises written, and then I’ll have to actually write them. Meanwhile, I also need to start preparing Path of the Seer (part two of the Eldar Path trilogy)… Busy, busy, busy.
I’ve had a couple of early reviews for Shadow King and the Horus Heresy audiobook Raven’s Flight. I’m very pleased with the reception so far, both from these reviews and the comments of readers I’ve met.
My Favourite Books Shadow King review and Raven’s Flight review
Team Preston Shadow King review
Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review – Raven’s Flight
And don’t forget I have three more signings around the country over the following weekends. All are from 12-2pm in selected Games Workshop stores:
Tomorrow – Plaza, Oxford St, London.
16th Jan – Liverpool
23rd Jan – Leeds
Have a good one!
Wrestling With Shadows*
* a no-Prize for knowing the reference.
With signings underway, it seems a good time to talk a bit about Shadow King. Let’s get the basics out of the way. Shadow King is a Black Library novel in the Time of Legends series, part two of The Sundering trilogy. As I may have explained before, The Sundering is not a purely chronological trilogy, each of the three novels overlaps in the timeline but tells a different part of the greater story.
Shadow King goes back a few decades from the finale of Malekith and continues for about fourteen years after the end of that novel. While Malekith (and the third book Caledor) have a huge canvas of history, Shadow King is in many ways a far more intimate tale set against the epic backdrop of the elven civil war. It concentrates on the infighting between the factions in Nagarythe, most of which happens ‘off-screen’ in Malekith.
One criticism levelled at Malekith is the pace of the ending, which sweeps across a large part of the build-up to civil war so that it concentrates on the most pivotal moments of Malekith’s long life. Hopefully the reasons for this will become clear from reading Shadow King, which fills in a lot of the blanks – similarly there are parts of the story that will only be told in Caledor. So while each book is a standalone read, the entire picture becomes visible only after reading all three novels.
Another change from Malekith is the length. Shadow King clocks in at 150,000 words, half as long again as the first volume. As well as allowing me to delve deeper into the story of Alith Anar, this also enabled me to spend a bit more time with some of the other characters. Most notably, Malekith’s lieutenants Yeasir and Alandrian get more page-space to tell their own stories but there are still some great cameos from Morathi.
Rather than go into the plot in detail – you can read the book for that – I’d like to spend a little time on the development of Alith Anar’s character. The titular character, Alith Anar has been a popular figure in Warhammer since he was introduced roughly a decade ago. When conducting my research, I found that despite this popularity there is very little known about him, much of which are details of his exploits after the events of The Sundering. I was lucky enough to be planning the earlier incarnation of The Sundering trilogy while Adam Troke was writing the latest High Elves army book, and he was good enough to put a little bit more about the life of Alith into the history section (mostly Adam’s ideas, I hasten to add). As with all of the events of the Sundering, Alith’s life is a few moments pinpointed in time that I had to link into a character narrative.
Some of the deeds attributed to the mysterious Shadow King are quite contradictory. On the one hand, Alith Anar is a bitter, dark figure, intent on revenge against the Druchii. On the other hand, there is an element of the trickster about him – he gets up to all sorts of hi-jinks such as dancing with Morathi the sorceress at one of her grotesque soirees. It was these two sides to Alith’s personality that I found intriguing.
By the nature of their emotional sensitivity, there is a sort of bi-polar quality to Warhammer elves, which sees them enjoy the heights of happiness and suffer the depths of woe. As Alith’s world falls apart during the events of Shadow King, I took this to the extreme, to the point that the character becomes two distinct but connected personalities. The first is Alith himself, filled with rage and resentment becase of what has happened to him. The other is the Shadow King, a more frivolous yet still dark persona. The Shadow King and the myths that surround him become Alith’s ‘coping mechanism’ for the tragedy that has befallen him. If Alith’s actions seem inconsistent it is because there are two parts of his pysche at odds with each other.
One of my favourite scenes is later in the book, quite low-key and short but I think emblematic of Alith’s descent. For reasons you’ll discover when reading, Alith is forced to confront his own mortality, which is at odds with the immortal legend of the Shadow King. Fuelled by too much wine, the results are dramatic and highlight the fragility of Alith’s character and the dichotomy that sits at the heart of his personality. It’s a moment that reminds the reader that for all that he has done, Alith is (in our terms) a vulnerable young man who has had a terrible burden of responsibility forced upon him.
I feel that Shadow King is one of the most complete novels I have written, a benefit of the extra length. It has comedy, tragedy and romance, and the experience of writing it has greatly helped me take another step along the path of storytelling – something that was very useful when it came to writing The Crown of the Blood. I’ve railed in the past against doorstep trilogies, and in principle I still hold that much modern fantasy is over-stuffed and long-winded. At 522 pages Shadow King doesn’t quite reach doorstep proportions, though I am aware that I am teetering on the precipice of hypocrisy if any of my future novels get any longer!
Anyway, Shadow King is great, go out and buy it! And if you like, come see me at one of my signings over the next weeks. If you have any questions or such, please leave comments and I’ll see if I can answer them.
Signing Dates
No, I’ll not be putting my moniker on dried fruit, but here’s a list of my signing events through December and January:
Shadow King is out in December
Warhammer World, 5th December
GW Loughborough, 12th December
GW Cheltenham, 19th December
And Raven's Flight is out in Jan
GW Plaza, Oxford St, 9th January
GW Liverpool, 16th January
GW Leeds, 23rd January
Come along to get stuff signed, have a chat and ask whatever you like.
In other news, the finishing line (or ‘dead’line as editors like to call it it) is in sight for The Crown of the Blood. Then I’ve got a very busy December re-writing Path of the Warrior, writing a Space Marines short story and a Warhammer-based audiobook (more of that in the future – exciting stuff). I’ll be launching into a Dark Angels novel in the new year, but will have to find some time to write synopsises for Caledor and The Crown of the Conqueror at some point! Truly there is no rest for the wicked.
And as a parting treat, here’s pic of me meeting some wrasslers before the Smackdown! TV show in Sheffield a couple of weeks ago, with Cryme Tyme and Beth Pheonix. A great night out, and apparently you could see the backs of mine and Adam’s heads on ECW…
Shad, me, the Glamazon and JTG get street
Radio Silence
This is an apology in advance to Hamsterites for a quiet period over the next few weeks while I concentrate on finishing The Crown of the Blood. My first non-Black Library novel is coming on really well and worldwide release has been confirmed for June and July 2010 – see the Angry Robot website for details.
Have no fear, I’m planning a post to celebrate the release of Shadow King, in which I’ll be going into some of the whys and wherefores behind the next installment of The Sundering.
The future is going to be as busy as ever. At the moment future work includes: a Space Marine Battles novel, part two of The Crown of Blood series (Crown of the Conqueror), part three of The Sundering (Caledor), another audiobook, another Space Marines short story, part two of the Eldar Path trilogy (Path of the Seer), as well as a few other top secret bits and bobs. That should see me through 2010 nicely!
Thanks for your continued interest and support.
If You Can’t Take The Heat…
A short while ago a comment asked how, as a writer and games designer, I deal with criticism (apologies to the person that asked the question, I trawled through all of the many comments but couldn’t find you again…). So, this is the Mechanical Hamster Guide to Taking Criticism.
Wheat and Chaff
‘Criticism’ is a much-loaded word these days, and has been mostly superseded by the much friendlier ‘feedback’. It is important to remember that being criticised is not necessarily an attack, and that there are different types of criticism. Learning to negotiate your way around the different responses you’ll get from people is part of being a creative and putting your work out to scrutiny. If you really can’t handle both constructive and destructive criticism, you’re going to be in for a bumpy ride.
The first questions to ask (internally) of any critic is why are they providing criticism, and on what basis is that criticism being made? There are ‘professional’ critics (editors, reviewers) and there are ‘amateur’ critics (readers, gamers, friends). Writers will tell you that you should always pay attention to the former, but it is equally important that you don’t ignore the latter – for all the influence editors and reviewers have, it’s the people that pay money to read your books, play your games that you are attempting to please.
While the person making the criticism should be borne in mind, the content and style of that criticism is equally important. A well-worded, carefully thought-out single comment from a fan is just as useful as a page of notes from an editor. The real distinction usually comes with a better ability of the first group to structure their thoughts and arguments, whereas it can often prove difficult to glean something useful from the second.
There is a third group – the attackers. This isn’t just those folks that are negative about your work, but who include personal insult, negative emotive language and a general level of unpleasantness in their criticism. Ignore them. Seriously, if someone cannot construct their criticism in such a way that they cannot make their points without resorting to abuse, they really aren’t worth your time. It doesn’t matter if there is a valid point beneath the vitriol; their conduct excludes them from rational discourse.
Confirmation Bias
People don’t like to think that they are wrong. Our brains have a trick of seeking out and remembering evidence that supports our views whilst ignoring things that challenge them. This is called confirmation bias and affects everybody, whether talking about their favourite TV show or world politics. As a writer, be aware of confirmation bias. This doesn’t just mean being careful not to focus solely on praise, it equally means don’t just see the criticism. Listening to just your detractors can be as dangerous as paying attention only to your fans.
As a creator, you should be seeking to build on your strengths and guard against your weaknesses. Pay attention to criticism of your strong areas, it will serve to make them even stronger. Equally, look for positive things people have to say about your weaker areas so that you can build on them.
Live and Learn
It is important to actively seek out criticism. This is why many authors will tell aspiring writers to join feedback groups or forums; to enlist the help of knowledgeable associates who can provide constructive criticism.
Criticism is only useful if you act on it properly. Try to understand the processes at work behind a particular remark or piece of feedback. This can prove to be really tricky. Quite often fans, in particular, will say what they like and don’t like, but it is often hard for them to articulate why.
Don’t concentrate solely on criticism of your own work. Look at what other people are saying about other authors and books you’ve read; how do their views overlap and differ from your own opinion. You may find out something that helps with your own work. You may hear someone say that Author A is great at characterisation, but what does that actually mean? Have a look at Author A’s work and try to find out what methods he or she uses to bring individuality to their characters.
Sometimes a reviewer or fan will say what they think is good, but again you may be left wondering what makes it so good. Be prepared to go back to your own work and read it again, bearing in mind the comments others have made. It may be too late for that particular piece, but the lessons can be learnt for future projects. Gaining experience as a writer is a constant process of doing, evaluating and doing again, whether it is rewrites on a single piece or throughout a career.
The important thing to remember is that criticism will make you better. Seek it, embrace it, learn the lessons so that next time around the criticism is different. If you can’t find someone with something bad to say about you, it doesn’t mean you’re perfect, it means you’re just not trying hard enough!
Take a Deep Breath
It doesn’t matter how experienced you are and how much confidence you have in your work, taking criticism can be difficult. After labouring so hard, putting heart and soul into your work, it’s an entirely natural action to push back against criticism. Even now, after years of it, I sometimes have that ‘you’re missing the point!’ reaction. It is also easy to get trapped into a defensive or passive-aggressive mindset when dealing with criticism.
Never respond to criticism immediately. Your thoughts simply aren’t clear enough to consider what it being said, and certainly not rational enough to compose a reasoned response. And I don’t just mean fan comments; the same is true of editorial feedback. There’s usually at least once piece of feedback on every novel I write that gets my back up. On occasion it gets me really agitated – we’re talking the ‘lying awake at 1 am’ sort of agitated. Often you just have to let it lie, for a few hours usually, sometimes for several days. It’s only after you’ve vented the unjustness of it all, called people names in your head and ranted a bit at the wall that you can go back to analyse the criticism and see if it has genuine merits.
When dealing with fans, don’t get tempted into thinking that you can change their minds. You probably can’t. You might be able to point out that a plot hole isn’t really a plot hole, or that a character really would act in such a way because of x, y and z. You might change people’s appreciation of a piece, but you can’t make them like it.
Accepting feedback doesn’t mean being a doormat to everything your editor tells you. If you think you have a case to argue for not making a change or doing something a particular way, then make your point. Many writers, especially when starting out, are craving acceptance and legitimacy of their work and are desperate to please. That can be just as damaging as refusing to take on board any feedback.
When getting back to your editor, do this with a conversation if at all possible – emails usually make it more difficult to explore nuances of ideas. Find a compromise if you can.
Often writers don’t like being told what to do, so perhaps you can acknowledge the problem highlighted but come up with your own solution to it. In this way you can feel that you are still in control of the work.
And always remember this – an editor’s job is to make you, the writer, even better.
Being a Good Critic
I’ll just finish with a few pointers to fans who like to express their views on their favourite games and authors:
Be civil. Manners never hurt nobody, and your point is not made any more relevant by being nasty about it.
Give reasons. This is a tricky one, because sometime we just like or dislike something. If that is the case, just say so, don’t try to rationalise an emotional response. However, if you can put your finger on what it was that swayed your opinion, pass that on.
Give examples. Often as a writer I will read criticism and wonder how somebody came to that conclusion. If you can give two or three examples of what you found to be good or bad, it is a massive help. If you can only find one example in a given work, you might just be nit-picking.
Be balanced. Critics are just as prone to confirmation bias as everybody else. If you like a work, also try to find something that was less than satisfactory that would have made it even better. If you didn’t like it, try to think of something positive you can say amongst the negative (even if it is just a single character or particular scene).
Authors Out and About
This Saturday I and a rabble of other authors will be descending on the Watford Colloseum for GamesFest 4. Not only is the show a celebration of all types of gaming – miniatures, RPGs, computer games, CCGs – it also hosts an impressive array of writers to talk to, get things signed and generally pester. Just have a look at the list here! For old skool fans, it has also just been announced that Steve Jackson, of Fighting Fantasy and GW fame, will be attending (not to be confused with the other, U.S. Steve Jackson!).
I’ll also be on a signing tour of GW stores in December and January for the releases of Shadow King and Raven’s Flight. Currently on the list of venues are: Warhammer World in Nottingham, Loughborough, Cheltenham, London Plaza, Liverpool and Leeds. Dates and times to follow soon.
Come along on Saturday, say hello and meet Dennis and Agent Phalanx!
The Sundering Approaches
Look what Mrs Postie brought today!
Next Installment of The Sundering
Work continues on The Crown of the Blood after some ill health and other distractions. Hitting my stride now and really enjoying it (wrote the first sex scene on friday, that was a fresh experience). Just in the process of signing the deal for a new Space Marine novel for Black Library, and organising a Shadow King/ Raven’s Flight signing tour for December and January. Also don’t forget that I’ll be at GamesFest on 24th Oct along with a cornucopia of other authors.
Addendum: Just found out the artist for the Crown of the Blood cover – Paul Young. I can see how Paul’s flair for the historical mixed with fantasy will lend itself really well to this.
