Hey there,

I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself today, as it’s been a good week. Since I’m in a self-indulgent state of mind, I’m going to share a few things with you today, most of which are shamelessly self-promoting. So sue me…

This week started for me, traditionally enough, on Monday, with three chapters of Empire left to write (as of Wednesday, I have two left to write). As I sat down to work, I received an e-mail from Nick Kyme at the Black Library to tell me that The Killing Ground has been nominated for an Origins Award. This is the second book of mine to be nominated – the first was False Gods – so fingers crossed, eh? Once again, there’s stiff competition, notably from the late Gary Gygax, so I’m not breaking out the victory champagne just yet. In related Ultramarines news, Courage and Honour has just been reviewed at the rather excellent, Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review site. Check it out at:

http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/2009/04/courage-and-honour-graham-mcneill-black.html

Not ten minutes later, Mark Newton e-mails, telling me that just over half a million English language copies of my books have been sold, which I reckon is pretty damn good whichever way you slice it. It’s a number that almost sounds surreal when you think of it, but to have sold that many gives me a great sense of pride, for which I hope you won’t think badly of me.

So, not a bad Monday. Tuesday the postie arrives with a box of comics from the US, issues 3 and 4 of Defenders of Ultramar, together with the trade paperback of the entire series. I love how these turned out and the graphic novel of the collected strip looks great, so kudos to Kev Hopgood and the other artists for making it look so great. If you haven’t seen these, but fancy checking out what happened while Uriel was away…take a look at Boom! Comic’s website and order yourselves the trade paperback or the individual issues at the following address:

http://www.boom-studios.net/warhammer-40-000-defenders-of-ultramar-tpb-1.html

Okay, enough preening already, here’s something that might actually be considered news. Nick Kyme and I recently did an interview with the guys at Shroud Films for Black Library TV, where I desperately tried not to speak too fast while avoiding ‘um’ and ‘er’ as much as possible. We talked all things BL, Ultramarines, Heresy, Dwarfs and so on – though the window cleaner and shutters opening and closing conspired to intrude on the sound quality. Check it out here if you fancy seeing my glorious screen debut:

As I mentioned earlier, I’m nearly finished Empire and if I don’t get it finished by the end of the week, then it’ll certainly get done in the early throes of next week. Then, with a smaller (kind of) project inbetween, I’ll be embarking upon A Thousand Sons, my next Horus Heresy project. Dan and I have had some initial discussions about this, and we’re very excited about this project, as I think we have some fantastic ideas that are going to melt your head in the best tradition of Horus Heresy books. I have a notebook that’s bursting with scribbled notes, which, once Empire is done, I’m going to expand and develop into a treatment I can bash around with Dan. Will let you know how that goes.

Event news: Since I’m not likely to blog between now and next week, I’ll let you know now that I'll be in Baltimore on the 9th of May for Games Day Baltimore. I’ll be there all day with Vince Rospond and I’ll be nattering away to all and sundry who come along, so bring your books (or even better, buy some shiny new ones!) and we’ll talk Heresy, Ultramarines, Time of Legends and anything else that crops up. I think I might get to an Orioles game too while I’m over there, so it promises to be a good trip.

On the Hi-Fi: Well, I’ve a whole host of new records to listen to just now, as Aaron Spuler, a regular correspondent on this website, has just furnished me with a bunch of new metal records from some bands that played in and around Austin, Texas. I’ve only listened to a couple so far, but they’re sounding good and heavy. So I’d like to thank him for sending them to me.

On the Reading Stand: I just finished The Book Thief, which was a really good read. It’s the story of a young girl in Nazi Germany during the war and her kleptomaniac tendencies towards the written word. It reads very innocently, which is surprising given that it’s narrated by Death, and is a very moving story of life in a small town of ordinary folk who are anything but ordinary. Told with great wit and warmth, this was a real gem of a book.

Then I read Peter Fehervari’s most excellent short story, Nightfall, which can be found in the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology. This is Peter’s first published story, and hopefully won’t be the last if the quality of this story is any indication. A thoroughly enjoyable read, well-written and showing a side of Space Marine recruitment we don’t often get to see. Nice work, Peter.

However, next up is Mike Lee’s Fallen Angels, which George Mann was kind enough to give me (especially so, since it was his own copy…). I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and can’t wait to see what Mike’s done with the characters from Descent of Angels. I know many people were unhappy with how Descent of Angels ended, but when read in the context of Fallen Angels…well, let’s just say I think folk will see the first book in a different light.

And one other bit of news…
And last but certainly not least… I’m thrilled to say that Anita, my beautiful girlfriend, is pregnant. Come August, she and I will be parents, which is going to knock my writing schedule for six, I’m sure, but will be well worth it. It’s going to be amazing, scary, fantastic and worth every sleepless night. We’re both over the moon with this, and can’t wait to meet the latest recruit to the 4th Company. So I hope you’ll bear with me in the latter stages of the year if you run into me and I look like a sleep-deprived zombie.

Right, it’s roleplaying night tonight, so I’ll sign off and talk to you either at or after Games Day Baltimore.

See ya,

Graham