Graham McNeill's Weblog

Sigmar Omnibus Cover

2011-12-08T17:18:59.5455053-06:00

Stef Kopinski's really outdone himself here with his cover for the Legend of Sigmar omnibus, don't you think?

Top job, Mr. Kopinski. Next pint's on me.

The Inquisition hunts me down...

2011-11-28T16:53:23.7310000-06:00

A little while ago, I did an interview with the good folks at BLtv.

Here's the result. Hope you enjoy it!

Graham

The Outcast Dead Trailer

2011-10-06T03:57:36.7320000-05:00

Most of you may already have seen the trailer for The Outcast Dead, but as I only received the link while waiting in Heathrow airport, I haven't had a chance to post the video here. Not to sound too pleased, I think it's definitely the best trailer for a Horus Heresy book Laurie and Josh have done. Enjoy.

Games Day Cometh...

2011-09-22T02:47:37.0000000-05:00

It can't have escaped anyone's notice that it's Games Day this Sunday, the 25th of September. If it has, shame on you, but in order to ensure that you have one last chance to come along to this mighty event, here's some details to whet your appetite...

Games Day is the annual showcase of all things Games Workshop, and as always Black Library will be there with a host of activities and new releases. This year at Games day we have something a little different. As well as all your usual, annual chance to get your hands on pre release books and get them signed by your favourite author, we will also be running limited “Meet the Author” sessions for Black Library fans. In these intimate sessions you will be able to question your favourite author away from the manic excitement of the main Games day area.

In addition there will be two seminars during the day:

The morning seminar will be about writing for Black Library

The afternoon seminar will explore the fantastic art of the Black Library

We’re also going to have all the remaining copies of the extremely limited edition Promethian Sun, as well as the Games Day exclusive Mega Chapbook, only available on the day and packed full of action and carnage.

There will be copies of Dan Abnett’s new Gaunt’s Ghost novel Salvation’s Reach as well as Graham McNeill's Outcast Dead, the latest instalment of the million selling Horus Heresy series. This year’s Games Day will also see the triumphant return of William King, Author of Blood of Aenarion.It’s going to be a fantastic day for any fans of Black Library, so be sure you’re there.

But that's not all... Oh, no...

As if UK Games Day wasn't enough, I'll be jetting off the following day for the southern hemisphere to attend Australian Games Day on the 1st of October. En route, I'll be stopping off at Singapore with the redoubtable Mal Green to sign some books at Paradigm Infinitum Pte Ltd, 220 Orchard Road #03-01, Midpoint Orchard, S238852 on the 27th September. You can catch me there between 8pm and 9pm local time. And as an extra cheeky treat, I'll be back there the following day, the 28th of September between 12.30 and 1.30 local time. If you're out in that neck of the woods, be sure to come along and say hello!

Then, once we hit Sydney, there's even more signing and chatty goodness!

Games Workshop Sydney Graham McNeill meet and greet. On the 30^th of September between 7pm and 8.30pm, I'll be at GW Sydney (222 Clarence St, Sydney, Australia 2000). This is an event for Games Day ticket holders only, and will be a chance to get up close and personal (should you want to...) and chat in more detail over the books and all things BL. It's going to be pretty exclusive, so if you haven't got a ticket and registered with the store, then what are you waiting for, get going!

Then, of course, there's Games Day itself, which is being held on the 1st of October at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney. It's an all day event(ish) and there's going to be limited copies of The Outcast Dead, the very limited Games Day Chapbook, and loads of other tomes that you otherwise won't be able to get your hands on for, like, years and years or something. So get a ticket, come along, and I'll see you there!

Right, I think that's everything. For now.

A Weegie in Florence

2011-09-12T04:12:03.4198649-05:00

Recently, I've been corresponding with David Severeide, a fellow Weegie (a person who hails from the fair city of Glasgow, for all you folk whit disnae speak Scottish, like) who's studying art in Florence. Which sounds very nice and like it's from the time of Byron and Shelley. Anyway, unlike those guys, he's been sending me some bits and bobs of his work, and they've been fantastic. I've seen some of the images from his sketchbook, which are very reminiscent of John Blanche's work, which is high praise indeed, but all through our correspondence, he's been telling me of a picture he's been working on that shows the primarch of the Night Lords, Condrad Curze himself. So, enough of me yakkin, let's take a look at it...

Competition winners!

2011-09-01T10:31:01.2573750-05:00

It’s taken a little while (I had a two Iron Warriors short stories to finish!) but I’ve finally trawled through the mire of wit, threats and outright pleading you all posted to secure yourself a copy of something from my pile of books that need good homes. Some made me laugh, some made me sad, and others made me want to change the locks. But out of over a hundred posts, I picked the following ones because each one of them had something that resonated with me. Here they are in their entirety, and if yours is in there, drop me a line through the website e-mail with your postal address and I’ll get some books sent out to you.

To the winners, well done, to everyone else commiserations, and try again when next I have a cull on my bookshelves. Given that I liked so many of the entries, I've had to raid the bookshelves even harder, so if you get a book that wasn't in the photo, well...sorry, but that'll teach you all to be so clever!

Right, here we go:

Siobhan Robson I'm going to go out on a limb here and be a massive, gushing fangirl - You are one of my favourite authors of all time. I used to absolutely loathe the Ultramarines, but after reading your stories about Uriel Ventris, and seeing a side of the Ultramarines that was much more vulnerable, more human - more approachable, I started to appreciate them a whole lot more. When I read "The Chapter's Due", there were moments in the story when I just had to stop and remember to breathe, I was so wound up in the action. My heart broke for the Unfleshed in The Killing Ground, I actually was brought to tears by that story. I think I would just about die a death of happiness if I managed to get my hands on books that you'd actually had your hands on...

GM: Siobhan gets some books because she got how I wanted readers to feel when the Unfleshed storyline came to its inevitable conclusion.

David Valdemar Krogh I should not get free books per se, but as me and my bodacious fiancee are getting wed on September the first you could consider the latter three Ultramarines books a wedding gift: Something old (ish) something new (to our collection) something borrowed (they might be lent at some point. Maybe.) And, of course, something BLUE!

GM: Never let it be said I let a wedding go by without a gift being presented!

Chris Edgeworth Meyer Hopefully, my sheer amount of 40k fandom will impress you enough to allow me to get a copy of The Outcast Dead. My car's license plate is RAVENOR, and my senior quote was a quote from the Spheres of Longing. I read Storm of Iron, and I was so enthralled by finally having a chaos protagonist I could root for that I quickly picked up the Ultramarines omnibus and read them non stop in my voracious Honsou-fuelled appetite. I even ordered Iron Warrior from BL, even though it cost me eleventy bajillion dollars to get it from Britain. I live in California, on the far side of the US from England. I never get a chance to go to all the sweet events that host cool authors or get books in advance or get my books signed at the sweet events always being held in the UK. However, I am using my savings to go to Games Day 2012 as a graduation present to myself. I have a full Tanith Ghost costume I intend on wearing. If you were to send me a novel, I swear to the Throne when I go to Games Day UK 2012 I will have you sign it for me, so its really like I'm holding onto it for safe keeping until next year. If you send me a book, I am willing to give my son the middle name Graham (must continue the Chris tradition down the line, inherited from my grandfather etc.) as a small token of appreciation for your benevolence. He will be raised on 40k, and I will read him The Outcast Dead as a bedtime story as a baby. He will be raised as a pious servant of the Emperor, and will one day create the great Cult of the Savior God-Emperor and be its first Ecclesiarch, Graham I.

GM: Chris gets one for his sheer devotion to 40k, and if he’s turning up at GDUK in a Tanith costume, I can’t take the risk of him being disgruntled and skewering me with his straight silver.

Greg Smith At the Greg Smith Trust for spare and unwanted Black Library books, we understand that however much you love your books, sometimes they just have to be let go.

*cue soft focus camera shot of a book*

Here we have Dead Sun, Black Sky. 'Deadie', as he likes to be known now, had served faithfully to his former owner for many years, providing hours of reading pleasure. But then came the day when the shiny new 'omnibus' came out, and although Deadie's owner loved him very much, he was tempted by the shiny new puppies that were inluded therein, and was not able to get them any other way. There was no room for the big thick omnibus alongside Deadie, and it looked for a while that he might be consigned to that most brutal of treatments - propping up a wonky leg on the dining table.

The Greg Smith trust took Deadie in, and now he enjoys a loving home, where he is picked up and read at least twice a year, and spends the rest of his time in a warm cosy bookshelf, alongside many other oldies including Storm of Iron (Stormy) and even Inferno! Number 1 (Ferny1 - we have to whisper around him as his binding is becoming very fragile)

*cue banner running at bottom of screen with cute little page number imprints next to a freephone number*

So, if you have books that are out of date, or your space is limited and new books are on the way, contact us at the Greg Smith trust, and we will be happy to provide a warm cosy environment for them to see out their twilight years.

*Cheesy saxophone music*

GM: Made me laugh a lot, Greg. Have some books…

Ross Whitehorn Because I am loquacious.

GM: I loved the simplicity and irony.

Joseph Everett Pearce Graham McNeill sat bolt upright. It was well past noon, evidenced by the hole torn through the ceiling and supporting wall of the room, and the lances of sunlight that filtered through the tinkling plaster. One might also ascertain the time given the position of the shadow cast by the ceramite-clad giant standing at the end of the bed. Stern, patrician features melded with a single stormy eye, hard earned wisdom showing within the depths of it. The gentle hum of well maintained servos sounded as the giant extended an arm, pointing an accusatory finger towards the awestruck teller of tales.

With a voice resonant in bass beyond the pitch of a normal man, the finger swung, gesturing to the neatly stacked novels sitting nearby. "It is His will that a copy of your work 'The Outcast Dead' be mailed to one Joseph Pearce, in the interest of thwarting the schemes of the Great Enemy, and the further enrichment of the life of one of His most worthy servants." A nod followed this statement, the self affirming sort of a man who knows his cause is righteous and takes due pride in it. His arm withdrew, tapping two fingers to a comm-plate in his forehead.

A hum built, followed by a crack of light and the overpowering scent of ozone, and then the armoured giant was gone. The faint, burned treadmarks of two massive boots lingered upon the floor, and as the sudden onrush of air filled the vacuum, a single copy of the aforementioned title was snatched up from it's place of rest, to land summarily in the writer's lap. A hand shaking with joy ran across the engraved lettering upon the novel's cover, and a nod of further affirmation was given to the space which had been occupied moments ago by an Angel of Death. "His will...be done.

GM: I may steal some of that for the next Ultramarines novel!

Christopher Southwell If you send me a book, I'll tell you why cats smile.

GM: And who doesn’t need to know that!?

Stephen Bajza I graduated with an English lit. degree three months ago, and I still can't find a job. I apply every day, and have desperately groped at the likes of McDonalds and Subway sandwiches for any morsel of hourly wages. I have ten dollars to my name minus bills this month, and I may buy some hot sauce as a treat for my daily meals of rice and spam. I tried to apply as a substitute teacher, but besides the $40 certification fee, it costs $106 to apply. Besides that, there are no available positions in my local district. I recently landed an interview to Macy's as a seasonal stockroom worker where I will begin working at 4 a.m., and this excites me. At least, if I can't find work in the next month, my mom has saved enough money selling shoes to help me pay bills (although I'll be on my own for food, meaning I'll be down to just rice in a matter of weeks).

I won't claim that I deserve these books because I can't afford them and I love Warhammer 40,000 so much that I wrote my senior seminar paper on the Horus Heresy (which received an A), but I will say that this is my last, best hope to continue the Horus Heresy, or general 40k, love for at least a month or two. In the interim, I will have to endure my best friend's adulation of Space Marine once it's released. I may be thrown a scrap of time in which I can revel in its glory, but I will otherwise be condemned to a hollow existence that will be very dark and very grim, and not in a cool way. If you don't choose me, I hope you can sleep at night with such a terrible stain upon your immortal soul. (Also, you are one of my favorite authors and I wish I had a chance to see you here in the states.)

GM: Can’t have you reduced to rice and spam while your friends gloat with Space Marine. Have a copy of The Outcast Dead to wave in their smug faces!

Tanja Michel There is no reason why you should pick me. I don't have anything witty or funny to say. I just love books and their ability to bring whole worlds to life in front of my eyes. Reading makes me incredibly happy. It's been this way my whole life. I can't imagine a life without books. When things get rough books help me to deal with reality while taking me away to a different world. Books are a very emotional thing for me. I own all of the books except The Outcast Dead (duh, yeah that's me stating the obvious).

GM: Anyone who loves books this much deserves some more.

The Knight of Taranis

2011-08-04T09:54:10.5260000-05:00

Take a look at this. I know you're going to like it.

Andrew Drescher sent me this picture today, it's his Golden Daemon Award winning representation of Raf Maven's Knight, Equitos Bellum, from my novel, Mechanicum. It's a stunning mode that took Gold in the 40k Large Model category (take special note of the Firedrake carved just below the cockpit!) and he tells me he'll maybe be working on the battle Raf Maven and Leo Cronus fought against the Kaban Machine. Can't wait to see it...

Fantastic work, fella!

A Digression in Praise of the NHS

2011-08-02T10:32:03.2136250-05:00

I know this blog usually (when I’m able to update it) talks about writing, events, signings and the meandering path this writer’s life takes through the strangeness of existence, but today I’m begging your indulgence to give thanks to an institution that has, on occasion, come in for a lot of flak in the news, but which, after the last few weeks, I’m profoundly grateful exists at all; The National Health Service.

It’s been a staple of the UK, that healthcare be freely available to all, which is something we all take for granted. The last two weeks have forced me to re-evaluate that in a way that makes me incredibly glad I live in a country where free healthcare is available. As some of you might know, Anita and I had a baby girl a few weeks ago. We named her Amber, and she was born by c-section in Nottingham’s City Hospital. After a few days to recover in the Bonington Ward, Anita came home with our little girl, and we looked forward to getting to know the newest member of our clan.

But within a day of getting home, Anita began to feel really sick. Really sick, to the point that after a few days of getting steadily worse, I ended up calling 999 to get an ambulance to take her into hospital. As her condition wasn’t considered to be an emergency, I took her in myself, where she was admitted to the Laurence Ward and immediately hooked up to drips to re-hydrate her and pump her full of anti-sickness drugs. She and Amber stayed in there for six days, going through bag after bag of fluids, antibiotics and anti-sickness drugs as a succession of ever-senior healthcare professionals tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with her.

I don’t mind telling you that it was a dark time, as the cause of her sickness remained frustratingly elusive and the sickness and nausea kept coming back to prevent her eating normally. But after six days, it seemed like whatever was afflicting here had done its worst, and we shared a dinner of fish and chips and sandwiches without incident. Eventually, Anita was allowed home, but a day or so later, she was back in hospital with the same symptoms. Though this time, she was home the same day with a rattling grab bag of powerful drugs to get her back on her feet.

Now, you may wonder why I’m telling you this, but after witnessing the attention Anita received on both wards, I was humbled by the care, diligence and professionalism of the people that care for us when we’re sick and injured. The midwives, domestics, auxiliaries, doctors, SHOs, consultants, anaesthetists and orderlies that looked after Anita did a wonderful job and I wanted to say out loud how grateful I am for all they did for her. Anita was really poorly, and though no-one ever came out and said it, I got the impression they were extremely concerned at the state she was in. Everyone at City Hospital (and Nottingham Emergency Medical Services) gave her a level of care that was second to none, so spare a thought for the hard working folk of the NHS, and be thankful for their very existence.

We’ll be taking some tea-break goodies up to the folk on both wards soon, but in the meantime if you work there or have a wife, sister or daughter who is in either the Bonington or Laurence wards or know anyone who works there, be sure to sing their praises and tell them I said they were magnificent. Be patient with them, and thank them every chance you get for the care they’re giving your loved ones.

I’ve been lucky that I’ve not had to see the inside of hospitals much over the course of my life, but in the last three weeks I’ve seen altogether too much of them. And as much as I don’t want to see another ward, I’ve seen a lot that makes me unutterably grateful for the healthcare system we’re lucky enough to have in the UK. I saw the quiet order that fills a maternity ward (which you’d think would be a place of newborn anarchy). I saw the care, compassion and plain decency of the staff that work there at every level. I saw people who genuinely cared about the people in their ward. And most of all, I saw just how hard they all work to make sure everyone goes home happy and healthy. No, it’s not an infallible organisation, and bad stuff does sometimes happen, but speaking from our experiences, I have nothing but praise for the NHS.

So to everyone who works in the NHS, not just City Hospital/Queens Medical (where Evan was born), you have my eternal gratitude for looking after Anita and getting her back to me in the full bloom of health. None of the words I’ve written here can ever say how grateful I am for the work you do, but they’ll have to do for now.

Must Try Harder...

2011-07-29T05:38:59.2021250-05:00

If the Spambots thought this one would fool me, then they must have a very low opinion of me... either that, or they realise I'm in touch with my feminine side. Still, at least it gave me a laugh.

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Alt.Fiction

2011-06-29T23:21:12.5712500-05:00

So, I was at Alt.Fiction over the weekend, and a bloody good weekend it was too. It's one of the best events I've been to, which is saying something, as I've been to a fair few in my time. I was there last year, and though I enjoyed it, I felt a little out of place in much the same way I did at Eastercon - what with having very little to do and not really knowing anyone. That wasn't the case this year, where the organiser, Alex Davis, had me run from pillar to post on podcasts, panels, readings, and workshops! Which was brilliant. I love being useful at events like this, as it makes me feel like a real part of things.

First up was a podcast on Military SF, where we had great fun waxing lyrical about blowing shit up with big guns and huge fleets of space ships. And I got to pitch my In the Night Garden/Blade Runner mash up (the Tomblyboos are all replicants, think about it...). Apparently writing and liking this sub-genre doesn't make us right wing nutters, so that's all good. It was a spirited chat, and I think we all came away a little wiser. Then, with nary a pause for breath it was into Has the Genre moved past Tolkien? panel, run by Juliet McKenna, which was also really interesting. I was on the panel, but learned as much as anyone else in there, I think. After a break for lunch with Anita and Evan, it was back into the fray.

I attended The World of Publishing panel before heading off to do my workshop on writing battles. I'd actually done some prep work for this, and had a cheat sheet to work from so I had something to talk about, and it went really well. Ten eager faces looking at me, Yoda-like, to dispense wisdom is not an easy thing to face, but I rambled on and folk took lots of notes, so I guess it was a little interesting at least. I thought I was all set to be talked out after ten minutes, but was pleasantly surprised to be able to go for the full hour without repeating myself too much! And that was Saturday done with, aside from a celebratory beer and natter with fellow survivors.

Sunday kicked off with a podcast on Genre Fiction, Just for Boys? Turns out it's not. Which is good, as it would be a sterile, testosterone-heavy ghetto for us all to inhabit if it was. Then my confused-fu kicked in when I realised I'd forgotten my schedule and actually had a few hours spare by getting the timing of my appearance on the Comics Panel. So instead, I drank coffees with some folk who'd been at my workshop and carried on where we left off. A few other folk joined us and we had a right good natter and talked about the projects we have on the go. I browbeat them into promising to finish at least one project, as everyone seemed to have ten on the go, but none finished. Let that be a lesson to you all. It's better to have one project written than ten you haven't finished.

The Comics panel was quite an intimidating experience, as I was on it with with Dan Abnett, Paul Cornell and Pat Kelleher, all of whom have written a lot more than me in that medium. Still, I think I held my own, and it was great to listen to the other guys. Then it was straight into my reading, which was sparsely attended (I blame the shift in time-slot...), but the folk who were there seemed to like what I read (a never before seen scene from The Outcast Dead). Pat was there too, reading from The Iron Prophecy, his World War 1, Tommies on an alien planet novel - which has such a great premise that I've ordered a copy already.

With time for one last panel, myself and Sarah Cawkwell headed off to What Next for the Genre? I enjoyed this, as it was the first time I'd had a chance to listen to Alistair Reynolds, who, along with Dan the Man, was one of the guests of honour. Thoroughly enjoyable panel, though it proved to be too much of a challenge to devour the pie I'd gotten for lunch (and which I hadn't had a chance to eat) during the panel as it was too big and too messy to eat with any degree of subtlety. So that was that...

A brilliant weekend, and one which I will be certain to attend next year. Not only did I enjoy doing my bit for the weekend, but as a fan I got a lot out of it too. With a massively friendly atmosphere, everyone was just chatting away to each other all weekend, authors, artists, publishers, editors and fans alike. A real sense of community, which you get all the time at BL events, but which it has to be said, I've often not felt at other events. So a big thank you goes out to Alex and all his volunteers, and everyone who was good enough to come to the panels/podcasts/workshops and readings I did or who just came up and collared me for a chinwag. Oh, and I'll let you know when you can download the podcasts as soon as they're up.

If you want to read more on Alt.Fiction, there's some other perspectives to be found on Sarah Cawkwell's blog and Gav Thorpe's blog.

Back tomorrow with some shiny pictures of new books I have (and which you can get your paws on if you're lucky) and some audiobooks I want to give you too.

Till then.

Graham