Easter has come and gone, and with it the triumph that was Black Library Live! Myself and a pack/library/narrative (what is the collective for writers?) of Black Library authors gathered at Warhammer World with artists editors and fans to talk, sign and generally have a thoroughly nice time. Thanks to living so close, I was able to have a leisurely breakfast and swan in at around eleven in the morning for a coffee and pre-event natter with various folk. I met a few people for the first time; stand up please, Steve Lyons, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Richard Williams’ parents, as well as seeing a few old lags like myself. A round of applause please for Dan Abnett, Neil Roberts, Nick Kyme, James Swallow, Richard Williams, Sandy Mitchell, Gav Thorpe (or as he shall heretofore be known: Gus Thorpo) and Jon Sullivan.

As always it was great to catch up with everyone, but then the event isn’t for us to sit at the back and chat, it’s for you guys. And what a day it turned out to be. After mingling with the BL staff (Hello Caroline, Emma, Mal, Alex, Christian, George, Mark and Nick) for a while, Anita and I had look around the gaming halls, liking that there was a Skull Harvest tourney (Honsou dies?!) and a table based on a big scene from Courage and Honour. It’s still kinda weird seeing a table set up as a scene I wrote only a few months ago…

First up on my to-do list was a reading from Courage and Honour, the latest Ultramarines novel, which – though it’s hard to be sure – seemed to go down very well. I think folk enjoyed it, and I certainly enjoyed reading it (especially Lord Winterbourne’s parts). Then it was straight back upstairs for a hefty, two-hour signing session with the galactic Dan Abnett and the cosmic Neil Roberts. This was scheduled for two hours, with an hour extra for overrun. Naively, I didn’t think we’d need this, but how wrong I was, and to everyone who waited patiently while I blethered to all and sundry, a mighty thank you! It was a great few hours and it was really nice to see many familiar faces, who’ve all become part of the whole dog and pony show. Good work, everyone!

As always, thanks to Xhalax for coming down and spreading your infectious enthusiasm, and thanks to Peter for once again forcing me to raise my game. I have your story here and will drop you a line when I’m done. I promise! All in all, a fantastic day was had, and I can’t wait for the next one.

In other signing news, I should mention that I’m going to be in Paris this weekend for Games Day France. If my skills as a reader of French are up to par, then the event is being held at the Porte de Versailles (Parc des Expositions: Pavillion 5.1). I’ll be there all day at the Bibliothèque Interdite stand, so come along and we’ll fumble our way through the language barrier to have a great time.

And now to answer some questions:

Sam: Yeah, I’m looking forward to the next Slayer album, as I could use some real darkness for the project that follows Empire (featuring a certain character who apparently died in a tourney at this weekend’s BL live event…). And the HH stuff…yeah, the more we delve into the history, the more we find that the waters just get murkier and murkier. Just wait till you read the Prospero duology…

Xhalax: I saw all four issues of Defenders of Ultramar at the weekend, and very nice they look too. And it very definitely fits into the larger picture of things – which should hopefully be clear now that you’ve finally read The Killing Ground.

Stephen G: Ah, my not-so-subtle homage is undone… Yeah, loved Watchmen and now, having seen the finale of BSG, am convinced that it’s the best thing, sci-fi or otherwise, to have graced our televisions in years. The ending was perfect in every way (though it should have ended with Adama on the hillside) and I felt utterly vindicated in my commitment to watching it over the last few years.

Xisor: Glad you’re looking forward to some more Ultramarines goodness, and the WoU x 10 idea is currently percolating away in my mental back burner in a nice, explosive way. You’ll need to wait to next year to see how it turns out though. But you will get to meet lots of bigwigs in the Chapter, that’s for sure. And A Thousand Sons/Prospero Burns is going to be great…we’ve got some awesome ideas to play with, and it won’t disappoint. The Last Church was a story I really wanted to write to give some balance to the anthology, and it seems to be one that people have really responded to, which is just great.

Dju: See you in a couple of days, mate…when all will be revealed. Sort of.

Bastiaan: Thanks for the birthday wishes, and yeah, I had a great day. Thanks also for the praise for the Ultramarines novels, and now that The Killing Ground is in paperback, I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy that too. Even better…pick up Courage and Honour to get you ready for the next one…which is going to be epic in every way. Given what you’re asking, I think you’ll like it.

I knew Mechanicum wasn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea because of the lack of Astartes, but I felt it was necessary to be broadening the Heresy at this point. It may have started as an inter-Legion war, but it soon spread far beyond that, and it’s important to show that.

As to who is the loser in the Heresy…well, it all depends on your point of view ☺

Liam: Hey, missed you at BL Live! That’s high praise indeed for The Last Church, and I’m glad you liked it so much. Are Revelation’s arguments my own…well, that would be telling, but let’s put it this way…creationism is nonsense and I think the theory of evolution removes the need for a creator god.

Aaron: Cool…thanks for the link, I’ll be sure to give them a listen, since I’m always on the lookout for new heavy records!

Right, that ought to do it for now. I’ll speak to you again after Paris, with some exciting news.

Cheers,

Graham