Afternoon folks, it’s not been that long since the last blog entry, but after yesterday’s visit to BL towers, I just had to write something. I ventured into the dark towers of BL with Dan Abnett and Jim Swallow to talk with Lindsey, Nick and Alan Merrett about what was next for the Horus Heresy. As always, it was a great fun natter, with us veering wildly along the road marked ‘Topic’ with several detours to ‘Tangent Village' and ‘Aside Town’. All of which was mighty fine fun and meant we came up with loads of very cool ideas for stories and mashed out the specifics and themes of what Dan and I plan to do next…which looks like one of the big, big events.

Much coolness was thrown back and forth, with ideas and new thoughts jostling together in new, exciting ways that got me straining at the bit to get busy on it…even though I’ve a bunch of novels to get written beforehand. Damn you, Schedule and your evil demands on my time! Suffice to say, the next project Dan and I are planning is gonna be big and if I were to mention someone with more than a superficial resemblance to Polyphemus, then I’d be saying too much…

All sorts of cool things came out of the meeting; not least of which was an idea that Jim might take on, which will be exciting if he does. Hell, I already promised him that if he didn’t do something with it, I’d fight Dan for it! It’s always fun having these brainstorming sessions, as there’s a lot of creative energy zinging about and when they collide the result’s normally something you’d never have expected or come to on your own. One of the many reasons I love coming into BL to chat to the guys there is that everyone has their own perception of an idea, and mine is always going to be different to theirs – often in very unexpected ways. When I gave BL the synopsis for Killing Ground, I went in and chatted with Nick and Lindsey about the story and in the course of the chat we came up with loads of cool ideas that weren’t in the original pitch or were new ways of looking at the story that I hadn’t considered. So whenever I’ve a book to do, I always like to go in and chat with them and see how they’ve interpreted the story and how we can work to make it even better.

So with ideas zipping about my head for my next Heresy project, even though the last one’s not yet out, I find myself sat in my usual teashop with a pot of English Breakfast and a white chocolate cookie (hey, I just gave blood, so I reckon I deserve one for being so brave!) working out the nuts and bolts for the next Uriel Ventris adventure. After the last two books of strangeness, this is going to be a balls-to-the-wall, all out action adventure story of Space Marines doing what Space Marines do better then anyone else. It’s been interesting going back to the Space Marine archetype and saying, ‘What is it about Space Marines that makes them so cool?’ I reckon it’s going to be a lot of fun to write, with lots of crowd-pleasing scenes and will, I hope, be a lot of fun to read. A return to family values if you like…so long as the family are seven-foot tall, gene-bulked super warriors…

And stay tuned for news of Games Day. After talking to Caroline at BL, it sounds like this is going to be a fantastic event, so I look forward to seeing you all there. And keep an eye out for the Mechanicum extract in the BL sampler, it’ll give you a taster of what’s to come when the book itself comes out. Oh, and we’re trying to get a signing sorted in London for the book’s release. No firm plans or dates yet, but we’re trying. I’ll let you know as soon as I know something.

On the hi-fi: Been listening to a lot of Scars on Broadway at the moment, which is very good, and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Slipknot album.

On the reading stand: I’ve just finished 3 Para and Making a Killing, two books set in the aftermath of the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively. Both were excellent reads and filled me with admiration for the men and women who have to serve over there in harm’s way and frustration at the mistakes and awe-inspiring incompetence and naivety shown by the decision makers. I’ve just started the Peshawar Lancers, by S.M. Stirling, who writes a decent book, but who looks like someone you’d expect to have numbers under his picture.

Right, the sun is still shining, so if it hold over the weekend, I’ll be grilling meat and drinking beer in the back garden tomorrow. Hope it shines where you are.

Talk to ye soon.

Graham