Hey folks, been following your conversations on the relative merits of GTA IV and other games and having to restrain myself from purchasing them…as my already slowed workrate would drop to zero. I may indulge myself and get a copy of GTA IV once Mechanicum’s finished, but that could a while yet. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s proving to be a tough nut to crack, but I think I may have found the chink in its armour that’s going to allow me to wedge it open and scoop out to gooey juiciness inside…

As the subject of this post indicates, I’ve spent this last week in the south-west of England, Bristol to be precise, hoping that the change of scenery would do me some good in terms of breaking open Mechanicum, and also just because I could. I brought the laptop down, thinking that I’d be able to hook up to Bristol’s much vaunted free, city-wide wifi network, only to find that most of the places you’d actually want to sit and do some work are all dominated by networks that charge exorbitant rates to log on. As it turns out, it’s the smaller, non-chain pubs that offer the best coverage – something that, after reading No Logo by Naomi Klein, I’m very pleased with. So I’m sitting in the King’s Head pub, just down from Kingswood as I’m typing this and enjoying a pint of the Black Gold (sorry, just read Irvine Welsh’s ‘If you loved school, you’ll love work’ and the novella ‘The Kingdom of Fife’ has once again turned me into (more of) a foul-mouthed, patois-spouting Scotsman).

Over the last few months, I’ve had occasion to visit the south-west more than a few times and, never having had reason to do so before, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much I like it. The folk here are friendly and the city of Bristol itself is attractive, with a vibrant city-centre and some really nice surroundings. I’m not quite ready to move out of Nottingham just yet, but I think I could get to like the south-west in time. I’ll need to see if BL can get me down for a signing in a Bristol GW…I hear there’s one in Cribbs Causeway…

In other work news, I’m now finished the comic strip for Boom! and they seem mighty pleased with it, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that looks – and perhaps doing more work for them. Having said that, I’ve a few things I know are going to be snapping at my heels soon, work-wise, but the giant elephant in the room that is Mechanicum is looming over me like a dirty great looming thing. Next week…oh yes, next week the great white hunter is going to put that lurking pachyderm down with a silver bullet between the eyes, conservation be damned!

In signing news, I’m appearing in a couple of places on Black Library Day, which, if you haven’t seen the announcements on the BL site, is this Saturday…the 17th of May. I’ll be in Warhammer World between 12 noon and 1pm, then I’ll be motoring down to GW Nottingham in Friar Lane to sign books and chat between 1:30pm and 2:30pm (alongside the great Andy Hoare, I believe…). Hope to see you there.

On the reading stand: I’ve just finished ‘If you liked school, you’ll love work,’ a collection of short works by Irvine Welsh, which were typically skewed tales, which often led you to think you were being led to a very dark place, but then veered away at the last moment. Which was kind of odd, given Irvine Welsh’s previous books, but it was a change, so reason enough to do it I suppose. I’ve also just finished Eric Brown’s, ‘Kethani’, which was, as Mal Green described it to me, ‘a science-fiction novel about going down the pub.’ An interesting read about humankind’s first contact with aliens and the ‘gift’ they bring. Enjoyable and easy reading, though not a lot really happens that would be considered sci-fi as such…which I guess is kind of the point. Good stuff and I’d heartily recommend it.

Anyway, I’m off to cook dinner now, so talk to you soon.

Graham

It’s Tuesday and I have a day between travels to get finger to keyboard to let you know what’s been going on recently, so hang on…this one’s going to be a long one. When last I spoke to you, some friends were coming down from Glasgow and that proved to be as tiring and fun weekend as I’d hoped. I picked them up from the airport early on the Friday and the usual banter of the last twenty-odd years picked up right where we’d left it. A top weekend was had of Guitar Hero III, pool tourneys, visits to the pub and a Saturday night’s dancing in Rock City. And my horse won the Grand National (with a name like Comply or Die, I just had to put a bet on it.). Normally, it takes me a few days to recover from a weekend with the lads, but we all dodged a bullet on this one and came out the other side relatively intact.

With the lads gone, I got myself ready for the trip to Chicago and Adepticon 2008, though my foolproof plan of staying awake as long as possible the night before my 6am taxi (so I’d be tired and would therefore sleep on the plane – thus aiding my acclimatisation to US time) failed miserably, since all it meant was that I slept through my alarm and woke up five minutes before Phil Kelly and the taxi were due to pick me up. With a speed that would have done a cartoon character proud, I still made it in time and, though a little bleary-eyed, got down to the taxi in time. The trip over was fine (I watched No Country for Old Men and The Kite Runner – both of which I’d thoroughly recommend) and our first night was a gentle introduction to the US, with a nice steak and pleasant conversation with a few of the organisers. It was to be the last such quiet night…

The following day, Phil and I did a bit of electrical shopping before heading to the Field Museum, where there was an exhibit of Mythological Creatures. This was a great exhibit, with lots of cool monsters I knew and lots I didn’t. It was interesting to see the commonality between the monsters from all across the globe and made me wonder how they became so similar…were they all manifestations of universal fears – the dark, water, the unknown? – or were they simply tales transported around the globe by travellers. Or…were they in fact real…did these creatures exist? It was done really well and if you’re in Chicago or travelling there, I’d urge you to go see this exhibit before it goes. The Field Museum also has the largest, most complete T-Rex skeleton in existence (who goes by the name Sue) and thus Phil and I were in childish heaven as we explored the dinosaur section of the museum – which has some truly amazing skeletal remains of some of the best dinosaurs.

Later that night, after a nice Italian meal, Phil and I explored downtown Chicago, playing pool on the wonkiest table in the world, where – within three shots of the game opening – every ball was clustered on the left side of the table. A little later we were being led to a bar called Underground by a homeless guy named JP, which at the time was a bit of an adventure, but looking back, I feel bad that we were joking about with him and could then go on to a bar, while he was left out in the cold. For what it’s worth, we gave him a fair bit for showing us to a good venue. Wherever you are JP, I hope things are picking up for you.

And then Adepticon 2008 began. I was sharing a table with Vince Rospond, BL’s man in the US, and we had lots and lots of copies of Heldenhammer, which, I’m glad to say, sold like proverbial hotcakes. Despite the fact that 40K was the game of choice for many of the players at Adepticon, Heldenhammer did really well and through talking to the hundreds of folk who came by for a talk, Vince and I were able to convince more than a few that Fantasy might be worth a look. Many of the tables and miniatures on display at Adepticon were stunning, but I have to make special mention of Eric Hagen’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer themed Empire army. It was just great to look at and had some wonderful conversions – most notably a Willowesqe character model. I took a bunch of photos of this model and will try to get them online soon (along with sundry others…). Nice job, Eric, and it was good to talk to you over the weekend.

All through the day (and the two that followed) I was constantly blown away by the level of enthusiasm and sheer drive behind the US players and fans of the hobby. For three solid (and very long) days, the people who’d made the effort to come to Adepticon were unflagging in their determination to have a good time, meet new friends and immerse themselves in every aspect of the hobby. It was a joy to watch and kept me going when my energy levels began to flag. So, hats of to you if you were one of the many people I spoke to while I was in Chicago. Hank, Jeff, Bill and all the other organisers of Adepticon did an amazing job, and I can’t praise or thank them enough for all their efforts and hospitality over the weekend. And I also have to thank all the folk I met over there in the hours after each day’s gaming – the Colorado gamers, the guys from Warstore, Ogre, Jeff, Jason Buyaki of Gale Force Nice (see you next time at Andy Nelson’s), Chopper – who ran me to the mall and back – and everyone else who I’ve left off this list.

With the end of the weekend, I was shattered, but buoyed up by the fact that I’d had such a good time and had been treated like some kind of rock star. The trip back was spent mostly asleep, though I did stay awake long enough to watch Lions for Lambs, which is a thought-provoking movie I’d recommend you watch. The next few days are a bit of a blur, as I suffer from terrible jetlag on the journey east, but by the end of it I was climbing back onto another plane to go to Paris for Games Day France at the invitation of Mathieu Saintout of Bibliothèque Interdite. Myself and Dan Abnett were traveling to this event and, after last year, I knew it would be good fun.

Despite plane troubles, I got there in time and on the Saturday visited the Musée de L’armée to see Napoleon’s Tomb (so 40K it’s untrue…) and lots of suits of armour and weapons that were so outlandish they put the things written in the Warhammer world seem plain. That was great and after a nice dinner, we were ready to face the hordes of French gamers. Once again, the event was held in the Stade de France, a top venue, and this year there were close to five thousand folk at the event. It didn’t take long to see that it was much busier than last year, as Dan and I didn’t stop signing and chatting to people from the moment we started in the morning until the moment we left the venue. A great event, so thanks to Matt and Julien for your hospitality and continued friendship. It’s Julien’s wedding this weekend, so good luck on the day and best wishes to you and Sylvia.

So now I’m back, but my travels aren’t over just yet, as I travel to Copenhagen this Thursday for the wedding of my good friend, Joan Neilsen. I’ve been friends with Joan for many years and I’m over the moon that she’s getting married to such a great guy, so I’ll be kilted up in Denmark this weekend and not signing books for a change. And then after this weekend, I have May pretty much to myself, which will be a nice change of pace after the frantic running around of the last two months. And you never know, I might actually be able to get some work done…which would be nice, as my work rate has dropped off terribly with all these trips. I feel bad about that, but I guess something had to give, so I may try and take it slightly easier with the trips abroad for the foreseeable future, though knowing me, that’s likely to change…

Oh, and I picked up a copy of The Killing Ground yesterday as well from BL. And rather good it looks too, my first hardback book. Is it wrong to feel more pleased with a hardback book as opposed to a softback one? Though I’m proud of all my books, this one seems just that little bit more real, as though it’s now a proper book. Maybe in this case, bigger is better.

Right, I’m off to get the last bits and pieces for Copenhagen organised, so I’ll speak to you on the other side of that trip and let you know how it went.

On the reading stand: Since I’m three months behind with my Empire magazine, I’ve been catching up with that – though I’m also halfway through Naomi Klein’s No Logo, which is an excellent (and infuriating) read.

On the hi-fi: The German rockers of Debauchery have been kind enough to send me a copy of their newest album, Continue to Kill, which is harder and heavier than their last offering, with Thomas’s growling tones threatening to tear through the speakers. Check them out if you’re not squeamish, but be warned, it’s definitely not for the easily offended.

See you soon,

Graham

PS - Since I can't get this blog to post pictures in dimensions smaller than billboards, I've resorted to using Photobucket, so here's a few of the pictures I took while away (though by no means all of them...).Be warned, though, now that I have mastered this...expect to see more in the future...

http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk3/Vonvelten/Album 1/?albumview=slideshow

Hey folks, this is going to be a fairly long blog entry here, since this is probably the last time I’ll get to write for a while, as I’m going to be busy travelling around over the next month. There’s a lot I want to talk about here, and this may go on for some time, so make sure you have a drink and are sitting comfortably.

First off, I want to say thanks to the guys at the Glasgow, Sheffield and Meadowhall stores for really welcoming me and making the signings I did great fun. The Glasgow signing was especially good, which was gratifying as it’s my hometown. I spent two and a half hours signing, chatting and waxing lyrical about books, games and music, and then went out to celebrate my birthday with my pals from Glasgow. We revisited some old haunts from the days I lived there and ended up dancing the night away to the early hours.

The following weekend at Sheffield was also good, though a bit quieter than the Glasgow signing, though that might have been a factor of the rain, which didn’t let up for the entire day. Once the signings were done, I met up with my good mate, Matt Keefe (author of Outlander) and we spent the day chewing the fat and putting the world to rights, before catching the last train back to Nottingham.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on Mechanicum, the latest in the Horus Heresy series. It’s been slow going and is proving to be a hard book to break open – and I’ve not cracked it yet. My work rate is nowhere near what it normally is, and I’m not sure why that is, though it could have something to do with the complete newness of the setting and characters. There are no familiar tropes to fall back on, no easy metaphors to draw on and a landscape that’s never really been trod before. Also, I think I’m not getting a proper run-up to it, thanks to the things going on around it, which I find very important to pacing my work. I’m getting odd days here and there instead of full weeks, and that’s disrupting my flow. So I’m looking forward to May, when my weeks are empty of commitments, except getting on with the novel. Speaking of what I’m up to…

This weekend I have my pals from Glasgow down to stay with me for a weekend of drinking, poker, guitar hero and dancing. We only get together like this for a proper blow out once a year and that’s probably a good idea, since it takes us days to recover from partying so hard. My dad once told me there was too much talk of drinking etc on my blog and, looking back at it, I had to agree, but there’s no way round it when talking about what’s going on this weekend. So if you see a bunch of staggering Glasgow lads out in Nottingham this weekend…then it’s probably wise to give us a wide berth.

After this weekend, I’ll be heading to Chicago on Wednesday for Adepticon, so if you’re going to be in the Windy City between the 11th – 13th of April, then I’ll hope to see you there. I’m over with my mate Phil Kelly (Games Workshop’s Design Studio guest), so that promises to be interesting, as we always have fun when we head out in a foreign country. Let’s hope America is ready for us. It’ll be a busy three days, but it’ll be a chance to hook up with lots of old friends in the States, as well as an opportunity to meet lots of new ones.

Okay, so that’s the travel news dealt with, onto other subjects. Recently Gav Thorpe (mechanicalhamster.wordpress.com) and Matt Keefe (thestarchamber.wordpress.com) have posted lengthy discourses on tense, narrative styles and the like. I read them and digested them, thinking that I’d post my own thoughts on this subject, since much of what they were talking about touched on a project I have on my back burner at the moment. I’m about 40,000 words into the first of three books I want to write about the First Emperor of China, and pretty much all of Matt’s bugbears will crop up at one point or another in it – if they haven’t already. At first was a little disillusioning, but then I realised that, of course, that what Matt was saying about most such novels being ‘universally cack’ wasn’t fact but opinion. Both he and Gav then go on to talk about the relative merits of differing styles and techniques of narrative presentation, all of which is very interesting and you should read once you’ve finished this post. After reading their posts, I had a ponder on the subject and came to the conclusion that, as true and relevant as many of their points are, I didn’t much care. Are the Sharpe novels any less enjoyable for the fact they follow an invented character whose story weaves in and out of history instead of a big, important (and, more crucially, real) character? Not to me. I know this isn’t quite what Matt was talking about, as the Sharpe books aren’t books specifically about Wellington or Bonaparte, but I don’t think they’re any less interesting for that. Likewise, David Gemmell’s Troy trilogy includes well-known figures such as Achilles and Hektor, sometimes using them as point of view characters, and they’re cracking reads too.

Does this negate the value of the books as entertainment? Not in my opinion. After all, that’s all a lot of this is, opinion. Matt’s, mine, Gav’s, publishers or the book buying public. As Matt says, trends, fads or tastes are nigh impossible to predict and what might be considered ‘too risky’ or ‘unpopular’ to succeed often does. One of the books Matt talks about, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, I read and thoroughly enjoyed, but was that because of the narrative style Susanna Clarke had chosen or was it thanks to the engaging story and interesting characters? To be honest, it was a mix of all three (and if you haven’t read this book, go do so, you won’t regret it). Perhaps that undermines my point, perhaps not…all I know is I read it and enjoyed it. Does that make me an unsophisticated reader. No, because I can pick apart the reasons I enjoyed it on several levels if I wanted to, but really, I just want to pick up a book and enjoy reading it. It’s not rocket science. Sorry if this sounds like I’m dumbing down the skill inherent in structuring, planning and writing a great work of fiction, but I think it comes down to what Bender was told when he went flying through the depths of space after being fired from the Planet Express ship… ‘When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.’

I enjoy works of historical fiction, and frankly I don’t care whether the author can possibly get into the mindset of Julius Caesar, Achilles or Stalin(or whoever) thanks to the distance of time and sensibilities that separate them. All I care about is whether the book is any good, which might seem a trite or dismissive comment, but it’s really not. After all, isn’t the point of a book like that for the reader to enjoy it and be entertained? My friend, Ian and I have a semi-regular evening of watching crap movies, all of which, by any method of measurement, are dross, but also immensely entertaining. Most wouldn’t rate a single star from the Empire review team, but they give us an entertaining night and thus are worth the time we took to watch them. The same applies to books of historical fiction in my opinion.

With things like this, there’s a sometimes a tendency to over-analyse and attach significance (or lack of it) to something that’s intended as simple entertainment. Do Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books or Conn Iggulden’s Emperor novels offer us any new perspectives on the Peninsular War or the inner psyche of Julius Caesar? No, but are they fun pieces of escapism where you might learn something of the period they’re set in. Yes, and just because they’re not the Iliad or some work of literature that’s acquired a weight of significance simply due to its age doesn’t render them worthless or pointless.

Okay, so my original plan of not really going into this at length has fallen by the wayside, but that’s often the way with things like this, you get on your soapbox and suddenly you’re over a thousand word deep and sinking fast. Enough’s enough. As I type this, I’ve Counting Crows’ new album on the stereo (very good) and The Big Bang Theory (hilarious for geeks like me) muted on Channel 4+1 (I watched it earlier on Channel 4…). I should be getting to bed to stock up on energy for the coming mayhem of the weekend, but since I know I’m not likely to get another chance to write before I head to Chicago, I want to get this finished before I head off.

Actually, now that I write that, I realise I’m pretty much done.

On the reading stand: I just finished ‘The Great Mortality – an intimate history of the Black Death’, which was an interesting read and has given me lots of ideas for some new Time of Legends stuff I want to run past Lindsey. I don’t want to start reading another book until I’m heading off on the plane to Chicago, and that’ll probably be either ‘No Logo’ by Naomi Klein or ‘If you liked school, you’ll love work’ by Irvine Welsh. Probably the latter, since I’ve just read two heavyweight non-fiction books back to back and I could do with a jolt of the caustic man from Leith’s sly wit.

On the hi-fi: Like I said earlier, it’s Counting Crows’ new record – Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings – which is very good; the usual mix of Adam Duritz’s poetic lyrics set to rocky tunes and mellow grooves. Also Serj Tankian’s latest solo record – Elect the Dead – which is pretty much what you’d expect from System of a Down’s frontman. It’s a nice mix of rock madness and some more laid back tunes, all of which have something interesting to say.

Right, that’s it for me tonight, so I’ll talk to you again when I get back from Chicago (hopefully in the two days I have in the UK before I fly of to Paris for Games Day France). I pick up the lads from Glasgow at the airport tomorrow morning at 9:30am, so if we run into you over the next few days, I’m sorry…

Talk to you soon.

Graham

Morning all,

First off, a big thanks to everyone who came along to GW Plaza and Forbidden Planet in London this weekend to get their copies of Heldenhammer and Legion signed. Dan and I had a great time and enjoyed chatting with you all, so good job all round. And Xhalax, your brother was there with his books, so I expect to hear from you soon about the ones he got for you. There were a lot of people wanting Heldenhammer and Legion signed, so I didn’t get a chance to have a long natter with Dan, but the bits and bobs we did talk about are all sounding exciting. When we’re over in Paris for Games Day France next month (or when he’s up in Nottingham to talk all things heresy) we’ll be sure to firm up some ideas that will please a lot of you I’m sure.

Anyway, I stayed in London that night, heading out for a very nice Indian meal then a few drinks. I’m not sure if there was something else going on in London that weekend or if everyone was away on holiday, but the city felt deserted… Every street seemed bereft of people and that night, the pubs we went into were practically empty. It wasn’t going to be a late night anyway, as I was anticipating an early rise the next day to go get tickets for the First Emperor’s Terracotta warrior exhibition. Having gone to the British Museum earlier on the Saturday afternoon (on the off chance they had tickets for that evening…no way!) the man on the desk told me that I’d need to be outside for about 7am to have any chance of getting a ticket for the day. Fair enough. A pain, but fair enough.

So, after dinner, we went for a drink in the Slug and Lettuce (a chain I’d normally avoid like the plague, but it at least had a couple of people in it…) and got charged £9 for two drinks, nothing fancy either, just spirits and a mixer. Naturally I enquired politely if these were doubles, only to be told – rather curtly – that no, they weren’t. After a lengthy tirade about these rip-off bastards, even for London, we moved on to another pub across the road, but seeing that there were only two guys in it who looked like Fred West’s more unstable brothers, we moved on to somewhere else. Somewhere else turned out to be an okay pub with reasonable prices. So, settling down with a drink just before 11pm, the lights flash for last orders and it’s time to go. At 11pm… Whatever happened to this much-vaunted 24-hour drinking? Not that I wanted to stay out, but even the tiniest, crappest pub in Nottingham stays open far later than that, and this is in London, the supposedly vibrant metropolis that never sleeps…? As my mate, Boney, would say (adopt heavy Leeds accent here): Rubbish! So much for the feared anarchy that would engulf our cities with all these raging drinkers filling themselves with looney juice in the pub all night. Anyway, like I said, I wasn’t planning on a late one, so it was probably for the best.

Next morning I got up at 6:15am and trudged to the British Museum in the drizzling rain and got there at about twenty to seven, to find a queue already formed. Not a bad one, I was about fifty folk from the front, but a queue nonetheless. Everyone else had umbrellas, woolly hats, North Face Everest survival gear, but not me. And the doors didn’t open until 8am. So I stood outside in the cold rain for an hour and a half to get my tickets, which actually was okay, since the folk I was standing with were fun to talk to and we had that very British ‘brothers in adversity’ thing going on as we waited for the doors to open. I got tickets for half eleven and so wandered back to the hotel to get a shower, have breakfast (full English, of course) and get packed for coming back to Nottingham.

The exhibition itself was awesome. And I mean that in the word’s proper meaning, not the debased use it’s fallen into, where a new pair of shoes is awesome. I’m pretty well read on the First Emperor and there wasn’t much of the text I didn’t already know, but then I wasn’t there for that, I was there to see the Terracotta lads themselves. And they didn’t disappoint. It was incredible to see them there, restored and staring out from their display from two thousand years ago. The size of them and the detail and the fact that people I’d connected with through my reading (and writing) were there in front of me was just incredible. I made sure I read every bit of text there, just to be sure I’d got everything, and didn’t want to leave at the end. I’m all booked up for trips away this year, but I think I may be following in my parent’s footsteps and visiting China next year to see the rest of the warriors in situ. So with one bit of culture for the day already under my belt, it was off to the Natural History Museum to see the Dinosaur exhibit, complete with huge skeletons (as you’d expect) and a giant, animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex. This was a great exhibit, accessible and with plenty of things to look at, touch and read. By now, it was getting close to home time and after a quick spin through the underground, I was once again on the train bound for Nottingham.

So that was the weekend. I had a great time in London, at the signings and on my cultural trips, so if I saw you there, either to talk to, sign your books or otherwise natter with, thanks for making it such a great weekend. Of course, I exempt the Slug and Lettuce from any thanks or good wishes.

Right, back to work for me. I’ll be in Glasgow next weekend (22nd of March) for my birthday and to (hopefully) see lots of you at Games Workshop on Union Street between 11am and 1pm. Bring your copies of Heldenhammer, Fulgrim or anything else of mine you fancy for a signing and a chat.

Take care and see you soon,

Graham

Morning all,

I spotted a post today on Warseer by a guy called Daniel - A Wargamer, where he asked folk to have a look at a video he'd made. It's a short video of him talking about wargaming and why we all love it so much, which is going to be broadcast sometime soon on the BBC. I really liked it - and not just because he's reading a copy of Fulgrim at the beginning, honest! Here's the link, so go have watch...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/articles/2008/01/29/war_games_video_feature.shtml

And just a quick reminder that I'll be in London this weekend, signing at GW Plaza in Oxford Street from 11-12 and then moving to Forbidden Planet between 1-2 to join Dan for a joint signing session. Hope to see you sometime during the day...there may be dancing...

Right then, back to Mechanicum.

Graham

For the last seven weeks I’ve been busy working on a novel for Blizzard called I, Mengsk, which is set in the Starcraft universe. It’s been a blast to write, as it’s been a chance to work in a different setting, and deals with themes you don’t often get to explore in the 40K universe. I, Mengsk follows the lives of three generations of Mengsks as we follow the formative years of Arcturus Mengsk, emperor of the Terran Dominion, from his youth on Korhal to the years following the end of the Brood War expansion. It’s been a real change of pace to tell a story like this, though in many ways it’s reminiscent of the Horus Heresy project, where there’s a big backstory you need to fit within. You know, the kind of thing you have to get it right or angry mobs are going to hunt you down with pitchforks and burning brands. ☺

I worked like a demon to get the book finished by Friday, as I really fancied the idea of a weekend off. That might not seem like a big deal, but since this weekend was the last one I’m going to have free until May, I figured I’d like to enjoy it without thinking I needed to get something finished. So, how did I spend my weekend off? Well, I watched movies for the most of it, since I had a backlog of films either taped from the TV or from my LoveFilm rentals. First up was The Kingdom, which was pretty good, and the big shoot out at the end was ace. An intelligent action movie, which was a nice change. That was then followed up by United 93. I didn’t see this when it was at the cinema, but it was a very well done, sensitively made film about what probably happened on that doomed flight. It didn’t make for easy watching, but it did what it needed to do without exploiting the subject matter.

Then I went into town with the idea that I’d buy something as a treat for finishing I, Mengsk, with my eye on an X-box 360. But the more I thought about it, the more I figured that having a top-of-the-line gaming machine in the living room when I’m at home and supposed to be working might not be the cleverest idea… Anyway, I didn’t get anything, but that night I went out with my friends Uli and Jenny to Nottingham Rock City to see Hayseed Dixie. And what a top night that turned out to be. The support act, Instill, were superb and set the place up nicely for Hayseed Dixie themselves, who were wild and had the place jumping with elbow and knees flailing in all directions.

Today, I spent some time getting plans together for Mechanicum and watching the last of the movies I had to watch. This time I watched the Wedding Crashers, which was fun (especially Isla Fisher’s crazy nympho-gal) and then Oliver Twist. I’d taped that one the other night from Film4, since I realised I hadn’t ever actually seen a film version of this story… This was Roman Polanski’s verstion, which was pretty good and stripped out the more ridiculous contrivances of the book. Now I’m sitting here and waiting for the new episode of Lost to come on, so if this entry runs out a bit abruptly…you’ll know it just hit 9pm…

So what else has been happening? I spoke to Dan Abnett last week, as I’d sent him a copy of my synopsis for Mechanicum and he’d seen a number of things in it where there were opportunities for some clever connections between his Titanicus and my Mechanicum. All very clever and (having read parts 1 and 2 of Titanicus) I reckon we’re going to get something pretty damn cool from these two books.

I also had the wooden top of a barrel delivered on Saturday morning. More precisely, it was a barrel carved with a celtic design to be mounted in the back garden. It was made by my friend, Iain Calderwood (you’ll find his carpentry site in the Links section) and will be put up in the garden when the rain finally stops.

On the reading stand: I started reading The Interpretation of Murder, a book about Sigmund Freud’s visit to New York and his involvement in a grisly murder case. Matt Keefe recommended the book to me and I saw it in a second hand book store in Bristol the other week, so figured I’d pick up a copy. So far, it’s good, though I’ve kinda flipped between Titanicus and Mark Frost’s The Six Messiahs (the sequel to The List of Seven, which I told you about a while ago that’s all about Conan Doyle’s involvements with the occult and Cthulhu mythos). And the new issue of Empire’s arrived on my doorstep too, so plenty to be going around.

On the hi-fi: Lots of Chemical Brothers at the moment. I found that it was great to write to, since it was funky, fast and driving, but didn’t distract too much with vocals. I mean, there are vocals there, but they’re not to focus of the music, so I find it really good to write to.

Ok, that’s about it for now, but I’ll finish off with giving you the times for the London signing I’ll be doing with Dan on the 15th of March. From 11am – 12 noon, we’ll be at the Plaza Games Workshop on Oxford Street, then at Forbidden Planet between 1pm and 2pm. I’m sure it’s going to be a very busy day, so I hope we get to see lots of you there. I’m sure Dan and I will have our Laurel and Hardy routine worked out by then, so turn up for all sorts of signing-related shenanigans and fun.

Then I plan to have a night out in London before (hopefully) getting to see the Terracotta warriors the following day. Annyoingly, you can’t book tickets online anymore (my own fault for not getting to see them earlier, I know…) so I’m going to have to get up at the crack of dawn the next day to get a timed entry ticket. So if anyone from the British Museum’s reading this, I’d appreciate any help you can give me… ☺

Right, I’m off to watch Lost and get busy on Mechanicum tomorrow. I’ll let you know what kind of a start that gets off to and how the London signing etc went. Oh, and I’ll get the competition sorted out after the London signing too, I promise…

See you soon

Graham

Ok, first up an earthquake, some work news and some dates for the diary…

It’s just gone 1am and after lying in bed trying to get to sleep without success, I’ve have just experienced my first earthquake. Apparently I’ve slept through a few, but this one was a beauty. Assuming this wasn’t a fleet of HGVs rumbling past my house, then this was pretty cool…and a little bit scary if I’m honest. I felt the rumblings and thought that it was just a big truck going by, before remembering that I live in a cul-de-sac estate and no HGVs go by my house – at least not close enough to shake it. Then I thought it was someone in the house and the more it went on, the more the house shook until things started falling off the bathroom shelves with loud clatters. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it stopped, leaving me with a bit of a racing heartbeat and no chance of getting to sleep for a while. If that’s what a teeny earthquake does, then I’d hate to be in the middle of a real big one as that rated a 5.7 on the sphincter scale.

Anyway, that was the earthquake that was.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here, with the Starcraft novel entering the final straits. I’ve begun the final third of the book and so far it’s going well, the pace is good, the vibe I’m getting from the characters is good, the plot’s moving forward at the right pace and, best of all, Blizzard seem to be liking it so far. I’ve also just handed in the synopsis for Mechanicum, which I’m pleased with and have put in some stuff I think the hardcore Heresy fans are going to like, together with some new and surprising stuff – together with a first for me: a female lead character. We’ll see what the good folks at BL towers make of it all and I’ll get back to you when I start writing it. Also, it looks like I’ll soon be doing a five-part comic strip for Boom! in the next few weeks. Some Imperial Guard action, with tanks, tanks and more tanks.

And those dates for the diary…

I’ll be travelling around quite a bit over the next few months, so hopefully I’ll get to see plenty of you at one or other of these events:

15th March: Myself and the titanic Dan Abnett will be signing at the Plaza Games Workshop in Oxford Street and then at Forbidden Planet. I’m not sure of the times yet, but keep an eye on the Black Library site for when we’ll be around. And, contrary to what Dan says, I’ll be the Ronnie Corbett to his Ronnie Barker. So it’s an Emperor Protects from me, and Emperor Protects from him.

22nd March: A triumphant return to Glasgow for the prodigal son. I’ll be at the Glasgow Games Workshop on Union Street. Ah, I still remember the first GW in Glasgow, tucked away down in Queen Street in a small shoebox…good times. Hopefully lots of you can make this one, as I really want Glasgow to be a great day.

29th March: I’ll be returning to a city I’ve had nothing but good times in. On the 29th I’ll be in Sheffield, signing at both Meadowhall and the Sheffield Games Workshop. And afterwards, I plan on having a night on the town with Matt Keefe, a resident of this fair town and a good mate. The Corporation beckons once more!

11th-13th April: This weekend, I’ll once again be in one of my favourite foreign cities, Chicago, for Adepticon 2008. I love going to Chicago and can’t wait to get over to the USA again, as I always have such a blast over there. As well as friends from GW, I’ll get to meet lots of new people. Oh, and my mate, Phil Kelly will be there too, which promises to keep things interesting… Ask him about Tijuana when you see him.

20th April: Once again I’ll be visiting Paris for Games Day France at the invitation of Mathieu Saintout of Biblioteque Interdite. Last year was a blast and I’m sure this year will be even better. My partner in crime, Dan Abnett will also be in attendance, where I think we may chose a different comedy duo to impersonate. My money’s on Hinge and Bracket, but don’t quote me on that.

And the weekend after that I’ll be in Copenhagen for a friend’s wedding, but I don’t think I’m likely to be signing anything that weekend, unless it’s a guest book. Or I just happen to see a GW store and pop my head around the door…

So, if you’re around or near any of those events, I hope to see you there. Come along, get a book signed and have a blether.

See you soon,

Graham

Ps – I’ve a bunch of books that are causing my shelves to sag and still-in-their-wrapper BL t-shirts that are filling my cupboards …any suggestions as to some kind of competition that would be fun to have so I can give them to worthy homes as prizes…?

Hey guys,

Okay, here’s some answers relating to comments on the previous post….

Dju: Yeah, another book to translate, so get busy! And yeah, I did do some work on Squad Command. I did the voice over scripts that are read out at the beginning of each level. It was a different kind of work and a lot of fun, so hopefully there’ll be more of that kind of work… And I did indeed enjoy my day off.

Sam: I think you might be right, this is gonna be a big year for me in terms of releases, lots of big series books out (as well as some stuff I still can’t tell you about yet. I’m midway through the Starcraft book and having an ace time with it.

Nik: Glad you liked the Killing Ground and looking forward to seeing you both soon.

Xhalax: I’ve missed them too and it was really fun to get to know them again. It has been a while since they’ve ventured forth, so hopefully you’ll dig this latest instalment. I suppose my novels have always had more human character than most, as I think it heightens the contrast and drama of having Space Marines having to deal with mortals. Pasanius comes back with a vengeance in this book and has some lines that even made me laugh, so hopefully you’ll not be disappointed. And a hint about Barzano…I think I must have forgotten that, though if it’s what I’m thinking…then it’ll be the next book before that plays out.

Steve: That’s impressive. Three days…and it’s a BIG book. Glad you like it and you’ll see the next Ultramarines adventure at the beginning of summer, when The Killing Ground is released. As to the time period it takes, well I started writing it around the beginning of November (which was a bit later than I’d have liked) and it’s released in the summer, so you’re looking at about a year between the planning and starting a book until it’s released.

Sam 2: Don’t be too bummed about it being hardback. Look at it this way, it’s a big, impressive looking book and, since it’s the start of a new arc, they’ll all be suitably different from the last three.

Gildor: I can sympathise…my David Gemmell collection is like Peter Kay’s ‘emergency chairs’ sketch, with paperbacks, trade paperbacks and hardbacks…but hey, the words inside are what count, eh?

Okay…I think that takes care of business for now. See you soon.

Graham

ps - news of a whole raft of signings soon... watch this space.