The last project I finished was A Thousand Sons, and you can watch the trailer for it right here. I had literally a minute to think of what to say for this, and I wish I’d had a little more, as I’d have liked to put in some real zingers of soundbites, but there you go. I think it looks great, and the guys at Shroud Films have done a great job on it. You may have seen this already, but if not; enjoy.

In November I went to the Thoughtbubble comic convention in Leeds, which was great fun. Neil Roberts, of the Horus Heresy covers fame, was there too, and we made a fine double act touting our wares and extolling the virtues of the series. It started slowly, but as folk got the vibe we were there, things really picked up.  I’ve worked as a salesman before (albeit for just one day) and loathed it more than anything in the world, but it was actually pretty good fun pitching my books and taking actual money from actual people. I think I enjoyed it because it was something I though people might actually want, rather than trying to frighten them into buying burglar alarms. Thanks to the guys at Traveling Man for having me up there, I’ll definitely be back, and this time I’ll join the queue for Frank Quitely in time to get my copies of The Authority and WE3 signed.

I’ll be doing some signings for A Thousand Sons early next year, and I’ll let you know the exact dates nearer the time, but let’s just say that February is going to be a busy month.

On a bit of a tangent, there’s a post other folk have linked to that I’d like to share. You might have read it already, but I think what's said is useful and interesting enough to read again and again, so have a look here, for some interesting posts on the topic of genre fiction vs ‘proper’ fiction. Though, really, there shouldn't need to be a vs at all.

In other news, Empire, the second book in the Sigmar trilogy has been nominated for the Gemmell Legend Awards, which is a great honour once again. The previous book, Heldenhammer was also nominated, and while it didn’t win, it achieved a respectable place in the rankings, so I was happy. Nathan Long’s Shamanslayer and Richard Williams’ Reiksguard have also been nominated, so check out the Awards page here to vote for your favourite book. I’ll let you know when voting opens, so we can all push towards a BL book being in the top echelons of the placings…

And as Christmas comes upon us with its annual inevitability, it’s nice to fall back on traditional things. But equally it’s nice to throw some of them out. And it’s on that note I was dancing around the living room on Sunday night when I heard that Rage Against the Machine had taken the Christmas No1 spot. I’d done my part and bought a copy of the song, even though I already own all the Rage albums. I haven’t paid any attention to the Christmas No1 since Iron Maiden claimed the top spot back in 1990 with Bring your Daughter to the Slaughter. The memory of watching Maiden singing that number in the tinsel-decked Top of the Pops studio will stay with me till my dying day.

So with that thought uppermost, I’ll wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

See you in 2010 for more books and mayhem in the Warhammer universes. And if they haven’t invented my flying car and jetpack by then, I’ll be most upset.

Cheers,

Graham

ps - I listened to Raven's Flight by Gav Thorpe on the walk into town last weekend, and I'd thoroughly recommend it to you all. Go buy it now!