A few things to tell you about today…

I’ll cut right to the chase of what you’re really after first though, the winners of the competition. Of the entries that were posted, the ones I liked the best or made me laugh the most were:

John: “I would love to be the winner because I've read (almost) every word you've ever wrote and can't get enough! Flattery aside, getting my hands on these glorious artefacts would certainly make me dance some sort of solo quasi-tango in the street wearing nothing but my Duff Beer slippers.”

I liked this one because of the unashamed flattery coupled with the strangeness of the image, which took quite some time to banish to the pits of things best forgotten…

Xhalax: I think you should give me some of your graphic novels as part of my scientific experience to see how many 40K/warhammer based publications it will take to break my bookshelf. 123 books so far and still no dice. BOO!

Never let it be said that I don’t help furthering the cause of science ☺

Stephen G: “By sending them to the land down under, not only do the texts experience a trip around the world (peepholes allow their unique transport experience), but will also ensure that as you sleep at night, you'll be content knowing that in the future, someone will still be enjoying your work!”

You gotta love someone who has the bloody-mindedness to work their words to exactly fifty words, as I was prone to doing during my time in Games Development when I was being warned to watch the word counts on my text. Not only that, but Stephen goes on to give mathematical proof of his right to win…

Stephen G (continued…): If you don't believe me, just look at the maths:

(((Win * Meaning of Life + the Oblige Factor) * hrs in Future) + Time loving Graham Factor + The number of Imperial Worlds ) + (Year 40K appeared + Year fantasy appeared * Chinese lucky 8) + (Current Fantasy Edition Release Date * Current 40K Edition Release Date + Win) + (Total Points of my GW products + years in hobby)

=

(((1337 * 42 + 361780) * 9) + (365 *24*60) + 1000000) + (1987 + 1983 * 8) + ((12*7)*(9*9) + 1337) + (5000 + 10)

Turn the Calculator Upside Down :)

Now if that dedication to winning doesn’t deserve a prize then I don’t know what does! And, yeah, it does work…I tried it.

Anyway, I’ll send an e-mail to those of you that have won, and if you could reply to it with the address you’d like your prizes sent to, I’ll get them despatched forthwith. Well done to everyone that entered and when next I have freebies to give away, I’ll let you know.

In other news, I’ll be in London on the 8th of November to sign advance copies of Mechanicum, the latest novel in the Horus Heresy series. If you can make it to the big smoke on that day, I’ll be at Games Workshop Brent Cross between 12 noon and 1pm, before making my way to the heart of London and the Plaza Games Workshop store in Oxford Street for a 3pm to 5pm signing. Hope to see you there.

And if you’ll permit me a little moment of preening here, I’ve recently learned that my Time of Legends novel, Heldenhammer, has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award for Fantasy. Which is fantastic news and a real honour. To be nominated for an award that bears the name of the man who inspired me to become a writer and whose influence has guided me over the years is simply awesome and I’m inordinately pleased by this. Voting on this award is done by a panel of judges and a reader judge who’ll be chosen on the website (http://gemmellaward.com) so keep an eye out for this. Voting runs from the 26th of December this year to March 09, but don’t worry, I’ll remind you all of this closer to the time! Looking at the competition, I don’t expect to win it, but maybe, just maybe, if all my friends out there join in and give me their support…

Anyway, I’m going to sign off for now, as I’ve got Chapter 3 of the next Uriel novel to get busy on.

Talk to you all soon.

Graham.