Hey folks,

Well, it’s been a long time since I put anything up on the site, but I blame the fact that my girlfriend and I were in Australia for three weeks and that jetlag kicked me in the face for about a week.

I won’t bore you with the day to day details of the trip, suffice to say an utterly fantastic time was had, with time spent in Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and Melbourne. We spent a lot of time with friends and all I can say is we were blown away by the hospitality and generosity shown to us. Amazing. It really made the trip unforgettable. Along the way we managed to hang out for Anthony Reynolds’ birthday, go caving, canyoning, white water rafting, horse riding, diving, snorkelling and get attacked at a crocodile ranch. And we also got shown around THQ Brisbane’s studio, where we saw some frankly amazing things they’re doing with 40K and about which I can tell you precisely nothing…pesky NDAs ☺. We did lots more, but I promised not to bore you, so with that grovelling and wholly inadequate opening, what have I to say for myself today?

First off, I received a big box a few days ago, in which was a whole pile of copies of my first Starcraft novel I, Mengsk. And it looks very shiny and impressive, thank you very much (the fantastic cover by Mark Gibbons helps). I’m very pleased with how this turned out and think there’s a lot of depth to this novel, with all sorts of weighty themes dealt with; such as destiny and fate, fathers and sons, family and the pull between duty and free will. Oh, and there’s plenty of explosions and battles too. The novel is out at the beginning of 2009 and you would only be confirming your sagacity by purchasing it as soon as possible. I’ve just this week done an interview regarding I, Mengsk, so if you fancy reading what I’ve got to say about it as a little taster, go to this address at StarCraft Legacy to read all about it:

http://www.sclegacy.com/content/interviews-6/scl-interviews-graham-mcneill-122/

And if you liked that, have a read of an interview I did with the Falcata Times here:

http://members.lycos.co.uk.nyud.net/falcatatimes/falctimes9.pdf

You’ll also find an interview with Gav Thorpe and numerous other writers, all of whom have interesting and relevant things to say. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed. And speaking of Mr Thorpe, he recently posted the thoughts of the late, great Oliver Postgate on the subject of children’s television on his website. If you don’t know who Mr Postgate is, then you’ll almost certainly be aware of his work; Ivor the Engine, the Clangers, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog…and a host of other programmes that showcased his quiet genius for pitch perfect characters, simple, endearing stories and imagery that’s lasted decades. I’d read this only the day before and thought that it was so relevant to the things I do and love that I ought to post a link to it on my website. Like I said, Gav’s already done this, but I think the message is so important that I make no apologies for posting it again. Paste the link below into your browser to read the thoughts of this clever, clever man.

http://www.oliverpostgate.co.uk/archive1.html

Right, back to my own stuff…

Last week Fire and Honour, issues 2 and 3 landed on my doorstep. These are my first serialised comic strip for Boom! Studios, which looks ace, and I can’t wait to get my hands on issue 4 (even though I know how it ends). While I was in Australia, I was being sent pencils for my second comic strip, Defenders of Ultramar, which also look great and I know you’re going to like. So, all in all some good comic goodness coming your way in the new year.

On the novel front, Courage and Honour continues well. I’m well over two thirds of the way through it and expect to finish it in early January, whereupon I’ll embark on book 2 of the Sigmar trilogy. That book is to be called Empire and I’ve lots of cool ideas for it and hopefully you’ll dig it as much as the first book. And after much wrangling, we now have a title for my next Horus Heresy book, which I’ll tell you soon… I guess I’ll be starting it sometime next year, though my scrying ball hasn’t yet seen that far ahead. Dan Abnett (who shall be penning Prospero Burns) and I are planning a little get together at BL towers early next year, which I’m certain will light the engines of my mind towards the machinations of a certain one-eyed primarch.

And as I’m sure it won’t have escaped your attention, Christmas is fast approaching at the speed of a rocketing sled piloted by a Santa wasted on sherry and high on mince pies. I think I’m finally ready for this and am looking forward to spending Christmas in Wales and Hogmanay in Scotland. It’s sure to be a belly-busting time of Christmas dinners, wine and festive gatherings. I can’t wait and hope you all have similarly enjoyable events planned with your nearest and dearest.

So I’ll sign off by wishing all members of the 4th Company a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Until 2009…

Graham