Morning folks,

Just a short blog entry today to remind you that this weekend coming, the 11th of April, is Black Library Live! at Warhammer World in Nottingham. I’ll be there, along with a host of other Black Library authors and editors to sign books, play games and chat with all and sundry who pop along to take part in the day. There’s a series of games being run during the day, and one of them is based on The Skull Harvest, the story I did for the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology. So if you fancy fighting duels to the death on New Badab, come along loaded for bear.

You’ll be able to pick up a free copy of the paperback edition of The Killing Ground, and if you come along to a room known as The Moot between 1:30 and 2pm, you’ll be able to listen to me reading from Courage and Honour, the new Ultramarines novel (if I can figure out what part I want to read). I believe you’ll also be able to buy copies of Courage and Honour if you like. Which is nice.

And then in the Rotunda between 2pm and 4pm, I’ll be signing books alongside Dan Abnett, which is always a hoot, so be sure to bring along plenty of books! That’s all I’m timetabled for, but I’ll be hanging around for the better part of the day, so I’m sure there’ll be plenty of opportunities to chat and swap war stories.

So that’s Black Library Live! Hope you can come along, as it’s shaping up to be an excellent day, with lots going on, plenty of authors travelling from far and wide, and a great variety of stuff to do. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of familiar faces, but let’s hope to see some new ones too, eh?

Work-wise: Empire is going well, and I’m just past the 70,000 word mark and still going strong. Enjoying this book a lot and looking forward to seeing how it all ends. I also had a meeting with Black Library’s Darius Hinks and Adrian Wood last week to talk about a new type of project I’ll tell you more about later. Suffice to say, we all went away really excited about it and it’s a book we can’t wait to get started on.

On the Hi-fi: I received a CD from Thomas Gurrath yesterday, the lead singer and driving force behind Debauchery, a metal band from Germany. Their stuff is very hard, very heavy, and not for the faint-hearted. I mention this, as a great deal of Thomas’s stuff is influenced and inspired by Games Workshop, and particularly Black Library imagery and themes – so expect dark, violent and bloody stuff! I’ve only had a chance to listen a couple of times so far, but it’s good stuff, heavy and operatic in its scale. If Death n’ Roll is your thing, check them out at www.debauchery.de

On the reading stand: I just finished Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box, which I enjoyed immensely. Matt Keefe pointed out to me that Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son, though there is a marked difference in style (the book is less than a thousand pages for a start…). Unlike a lot of ghost stories that unravel their story gradually to a big reveal, it lays its cards out pretty early and the haunting itself becomes the story – though there is a big reveal later on just for good measure. Joe Hill’s book is by turns funny, scary and inventive, and if you like your horror infused with some rock n’ roll humour then this is the book for you.

Okay, that’ll do it for now, so I’d better get back to work. I’ll have more to tell you next week, so talk to you then or, even better, see you at Black Library Live! this weekend.

Until then,

Graham.

It’s traditional for most writer’s blogs to begin with an apology for the gap between posts, citing busy schedules, impending deadlines, playing video games and the like (I'm guilty of all of the above...). So I’m going to dispense with any such apology and get straight to what’s been happening since last I posted. Which was just before Christmas last year…oops.

At the time I was hip-deep in writing Courage and Honour, the fifth Ultramarines novel, but I’ve since finished that and now have six lovely hardback copies of that novel sitting on my shelf. I’m very pleased with how the book turned out, as it neatly brings Uriel and Pasanius back to their Chapter with a bang. With the books that follow the events of the Ultramarines Omnibus, I wanted a definite sense of escalation between each novel. The Killing Ground only features Uriel and Pasanius, while Courage and Honour involves the whole of the 4th company. The final book in this arc…well, you’ll need to wait and see, but there’s gonna be a whole lot of Space Marines and a whole lot of action. Think Warriors of Ultramar. Times ten.

To explain that a bit more, I conceived Courage and Honour very much as a back to basics Space Marine story. I’d had a blast with Dead Sky, Black Sun and The Killing Ground, dropping Uriel and Pasanius on a daemon world and then bringing them back to a planet threatened by the ghosts of its past. They were fun novels to write and allowed me to tell stories that veered from the conventional beaten track of the Astartes, but now it was time to tell a story with Space Marines doing what they do best. Which is stomping alien butt six ways from Sunday in all manner of insanely violent ways. The decision of where to set this novel and which alien butt needed to be stomped came from a chance reading of a line in Nightbringer, where Inquisitor Barzano muses that it’s crazy for Humanity to be fighting one another when so many threats loom on the threshold – Orks, Tyranids…and the Tau. Going back over Nightbringer (a novel I wrote nearly eight years ago!) was an interesting experience as I was able to see how I’ve grown and developed as a writer since then. I have a lot of fondness for Nightbringer, partly because it’s my first novel, but also because it works a number of disparate threads into a satisfying whole – many of which I was able to revisit in Courage and Honour. Have a read of the new book for yourself and see what you think. And if you’re coming to Black Library Live! on April 11th, I’ll be doing a reading from Courage and Honour, so come along and have a listen.

Continuing the theme of all things Ultramarines, issue 3 of Defenders of Ultramar is out now. Dealing with an Ork invasion of Espandor, this series fills in some of the backstory of what’s been happening with the 4th company since Uriel’s exile, and which slots neatly into one of the key threads in Courage and Honour. Almost like I planned it, eh?

And in a seamless segue, I received my trade paperbacks (and hardbacks, which look very fine) of Fire and Honour, the first series of comics I did for Boom! Studios. I think I might bring some of them along with me to Black Library Live! and see if there’s any nice people there I can give them away to…

That’s what I’ve been working on, so what, I hear you cry, am I working on at the moment? This month, I have mostly been working on Empire, the follow up to Heldenhammer, the first novel of the Sigmar trilogy of Time of Legends novels. I handed in the first half of the manuscript on Friday, and I have to say I think it’s going really well. I’m enjoying my return to the haunted forests of Sigmar’s empire, and it’s been a breath of fresh air after the gloomy, gothic darkness of the grim darkness of the far future. It’s also refreshing to take characters we know from the well known aspects of their history and tread new ground. These are tales of Sigmar you don’t know, which makes telling them all the fresher, which can only be a good thing.

Beyond Empire, there’s a few interesting morsels in the distance - potentially another Starcraft novel with Blizzard - and my upcoming collaboration with Dan Abnett on our Prospero duology. You’ll have seen Dan’s book, ‘Prospero Burns’ on the Black Library site, but if you haven’t already heard, mine is to be called ‘A Thousand Sons’, and will focus primarily on the Legion of Magnus. It’s still early days, but the idea we’ve come up with is that each book should stand on its own merits and be enjoyable without needing the other to fulfil its narrative. However, the full scope of the story should only be really appreciated by reading them both (think of the ending to Back to the Future 2…and I promise I’ll explain that if you talk to me in person ). It’s going to be a complex project, but one that we have some fantastic ideas to develop and some fascinating revelations to play with. These novels will have all manner of ramifications, while still maintaining the existing mythos – which is going to get the conspiracy theorists scratching their heads – as if Mechanicum didn’t do that enough! All I’ll say is that everything you think you know about the razing of Prospero is simultaneously right and wrong. Depending on your point of view.

The Starcraft project is still a little nebulous, but from the conversations I’ve had with the folks at Blizzard, it sounds as though it’ll be very exciting and give me a chance to get beyond the game and go deeper into the characters that populate its universe. I’m excited by both projects, and there’s some other stuff in the pipeline that I can’t wait to get started on…Honsou…cough, cough…but they’re for later in the year – a time when I’m going to be busy with something else closer to home, but I’ll save that for another blog entry.

The early part of the year is always quiet for signings, but next month I’ll be out and about a few times, so hopefully I’ll see some of you at one of these signings. No doubt there’ll be others, but these are just the ones I know about so far... I’ll be in Paris on the 19th of April for Games Day France, which is always a great day, and one that I’m looking forward to immensely. Then in May, I’ll be at Games Day Baltimore, before returning to the USA at the end of the month for the New York Book Expo. In between those two trips on the 16th of May, I’m doing a signing in one of the Manchester stores, though I’m not sure which one or when during the day. I’ll let you know closer to the time the exact details of what’s going on.

And while I remember, be sure to drop by the David Gemmell awards to vote for Heldenhammer. Voting closes soon, so make your vote count! You can find out how at: http://gemmellaward.com/page/2323348:Page:6781

Beyond work, it’s been a busy old time at home, as my girlfriend has moved up to live with me, and we’re currently reshaping the house and trying to fit two people’s belongings into one building. That’s never an easy thing to do, but it’s proving to be (mostly) pleasingly simple and stress free.

On the reading stand: I’m just about to start a book called The Book Thief, a novel about which I’ve heard nothing but good things. I’ve just finished this month’s Empire magazine, which has successfully whetted my appetite for Terminator Salvation, despite it being helmed by McG, he of Charlie’s Angels infamy.

On the hi-fi: I recently discovered a website where the album downloads are incredibly cheap, and went on a buying binge. Twenty-eight albums later I stopped hitting the ‘Buy Entire Album’ button and have been largely listening to a lot of Rammstein. It’s great music to work to, because it satisfies my heavy rock urges, without distracting me with English words that might leech into my consciousness via rock osmosis. So if Empire seems like an unduly angry novel, you know why.

Recently seen: Watchmen, which was ace. Go see it just for Rorschach’s line of the show: “You don’t understand…I’m not locked up in here with you, you’re locked up in here with ME!”

And now responses to stuff on the last post...

Xhalax: Hope you enjoyed Fire and Honour, it was my first series for Boom! Studios, and I learned a lot from that, which stood me in good stead for Defenders of Ultramar. How's that one getting on now that you've got to episode 3...?

Matt F: Yeah, next time I get out to Oz, I'll make sure we can hook up for a blether!

Sam: From what I saw, I think you're going to like what THQ is doing with Space Marine. Hopefully by now you've had your copy of Mechanicum and that you enjoyed it. I now have my paperback copies of The Killing Ground, and very fine they look too. And thanks very much for the link, I enjoyed the new song immensely!

Shad: Some high praise indeed! Yeah, Legion is a very good book. Even though I knew the revelation Dan was planning for the novel's end, my jaw still hit the ground when I read it. Only a great storyteller can make you do that. What we've got planned for the Prospero duology will, I hope, do the same. Hope the postman didn't get away and that you've now read and enjoyed Mechanicum. And Fulgrim as a play...I think its a story well suited for it, so let me know if you get to do it, I'd certainly come and see that production...

Mike: Not a problem, I'm always happy to sign books that folk have been good enough to buy, especially in a nice place like Toronto. You will definitely be seeing more of Honsou (if you haven't already in Planetkill and Heroes of the Space Marines) and the story of Perturabo is one that I've toyed with suggesting to the editors at BL towers, but haven't had much of a chance to really get to grips with. Don't rule it out, but don't expect it any time soon.

Dju: Thanks for the timely reminder of the David Gemmell award (and hopefully I'll see you in Paris in a month or so - with some news...).

Gildor: Ah...with that wish, you're going to like one of the story threads in Courage and Honour... As to the spelling of Isstvan/Istvaan, well it swings back and forth because it appears in various guises throughout the old GW literature, and depending on which one I check (as my memory isn't what it used to be) it gets copied as the one I read last. Glad you liked Mechanicum, and if we were to see the Knights of Taranis again, I don't think that would be a bad thing. Certainly, I liked writing those two guys, so I think there's some scope for them to reappear further down the line in a 'take back Mars' kind of way.

Caleb: Glad you liked Mechanicum, and I'm sure there will be an Iron Warriors book in time, though my dance card is pretty full at the moment. As to the Emperor's plans being revealed, well, they're coming to light with every meeting we have to discuss the future of the books, and there's exciting times ahead, that's for sure. As to the Blood Angels, I'm not sure when they'll appear, though I would suspect sooner rather than later. And if I get back to Oz, I'll be sure to let everyone know where I'll be so I can sign some books for you guys.

Elenaria: That's great you enjoyed The Last Church. It was a real departure for me to do something without gunfire and chainswords, that revolves around two guys just talking. The challenge being making what could have been dry and staid into something interesting and revealing was what gave me the spur to write that story. It was a challenge to write, and hopefully it leaves some conflicting emotions in your head when you get to the end.

Matt: It was getting perilously close to being left to next Christmas, but with time on my hands in Wales...here you go, a shiny new blog entry!

Anyway, that’s all for now, so I’ll be back sooner rather than later with some updates on how Empire is getting on and where I’m going to be if you fancy getting your book scrawled with a pawprint.

Until then.

Graham

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

Hey guys,

Just a quick note to thank everyone who came along to the twin signings at Brent Cross and Plaza over the weekend. A thoroughly enjoyable time was had, and it was great to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. Mention must be made in dispatches of some folk who were particularly good to chat to:

Zoheb (who stood firm in the face of the hyper-sugared Stanley and his sixth finger, Bob. And, Stanley, when I get a few spare months, yes, I promise I’ll write the novel of the Second Great Crusade…), Paul and Andrew (who, knowing my weakness for sugary treats, brought me cookies and flapjacks…which were devoured at Gaming Night yesterday), Peter for our always excellently spirited discussions (get writing that damn Night Lords story…if you don’t, I will!), Stewart (for some great military terminology and explaining to me how a Javelin missile shoots), Sam from the Brent Cross store (for the most excellent piece of artwork depicting one of the Knights from Mechanicum), Mark and Allan (for making me very welcome in your stores). And of course, Nikki and Liam for travelling all the way from the northeast to get their books signed and hang out. Always a pleasure, guys. And to everyone else I spoke to, signed a book for or just said hello to…thanks. You make it totally worthwhile coming out to these events.

Anyway, after the signing I went for a couple of pints with Mark and Allan, before heading to St. Pancras to get the train home. The last few times I’ve come back from London, it’s always been on the train that leaves on the hour, so I got there on time for the 10pm train, only to find there wasn’t one. The only train going even vaguely my way was the one to Derby. I saw it stopped at Long Eaton, which isn’t too far from where I live, so I figured I’d just get that. On the way north, I asked the conductor about getting to Nottingham and he told me to get off at Leicester, whereupon I could get the bus from the station. Nil points, do not pass Go, do not collect £200.

Getting off at Leicester turned out be A Bad Idea. No buses from the station and the train I’d just left turned out to be the last one… So after asking a bemused-looking maintenance guy, I hotfooted it down to the bus station through the centre of Leicester at midnight. I quite liked the look of the place, but being sober in a town centre where everyone and their dog is totally wasted was…interesting… Anyway, I got to the bus station to find it locked up tight. Uh-oh. Was I going to have to shell out for a taxi all the way to Nottingham? I didn’t like the sound of that. Then I saw the shuttle bus that goes to East Midlands Airport and figured I’d get that and then take the Nottingham airport bus back home. As I was about to swallow that bitter pill, I saw a National Express bus pull up…and guess what, it was bound for Nottingham.

And in a moment of downright cheek, I waited until the driver was lugging folks suitcases etc out of the hold to nip on board and go to the back of the bus like a real bad boy and hunker down out of sight. Cue one free ride home and though the driver gave me an odd look when I got off, I marched quickly away before he said anything. And even though it was after 1am by the time I got home, I felt pretty pleased with my luck and blaggage, so all’s well that ended well. Apologies to National Express, but the bus was damn near empty and I only had £2.43 on me, which I didn’t think would get me too far...

So, that was the London signings. Great fun and a free bus ride. It doesn’t get much better than that. Oh, wait, I’m off to Australia tomorrow for three weeks. I guess it does!

Cheers and talk to you when I get back.

Graham.

PS – Sam, I have big plans for the sixth Ultramarines novel, but we’ll wait to see how the dust settles after it's done before deciding what's next for Uriel. But I think it’s safe to say we’ll see more of him after the sixth book. I think we can bet on that…

Hey folks,

Just Added!: In the last couple of days I did an interview with Kris Sherriff of The Gaming Kingdom, a Fife-based wargames club, and you can find that interview here: http://www.thegamingkingdom.org.uk/blogs.htm

I’ve a few things to talk about today. First off, I’m going to be in London on Saturday 8th of November, signing copies of the brand new Horus Heresy book, Mechanicum, at a couple of Games Workshop stores. Between 12 Noon and 1pm I’ll be at Brent Cross and then between 3pm and 5pm I’ll be at the Plaza store in Oxford Street. If you can make it along to one (or both) of those events, it would be great to see you there and if you happen to have any other of my books with you, I’ll happily stick a pawprint on those as well. Or if you just fancy a natter then that’ll be nice too. Hope to see you in London.

Anyway, that’s business dealt with.

If you look at a rather excellent website called SF Signal (http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/007350.html) then you can read a small piece I did for their Mind Meld section, where a number of writers are asked to respond to a particular SF-related question. In this case, the question was:

“Astronaut Buzz Aldrin said fantastic space science fiction shows and movies are partly responsible for the lack of interest in real-life space exploration among young people. Do you agree with this assessment? Why?”

Follow the link and you’ll read my answer (as well those of people far cleverer than me). Thanks to John DeNardo for allowing me to participate in this, it was quite a challenge and was a lot of fun to do.

Okay, what else is new? Ah, well, I’ve just handed over the first half of Courage and Honour, the fifth novel in the Ultramarines series, which was a lot of fun to write and involves getting the Space Marines back to basics of doing what they do best. I’m really pleased with it so far, having learned the hard lessons taught by the struggle of Mechanicum, and I’m remembering why I love doing what I do. I’ve put together the (very) detailed timeline for the back half of the book now that the pieces are in place and it’s going to be a rockin’ good ride to the finish line.

This may be the last blog entry for a little while, as my girlfriend and I are off to Australia on Wednesday night for three weeks of well-earned holiday. We’re off to see Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Cairns for what we’re hoping is going to be an adventure, with trips out to sea, exploration of caves, trips into rain forests and some white water rafting amongst the sightseeing. We’re also going to hang out with my very good bud, Anthony Reynolds, which will be ace – since I’ve not seen him since he left the UK to go back to Oz two years ago. I’m taking the laptop with me, so I may get the chance to do some random bloggage, but if we’re having as much fun as I hope we’re going to be having, then I wouldn’t bet on it. Anyway, I’ll be sure to let you know how it all went when I get back (if I come back…).

Right, on to answers to your questions.

Xhalax: Yeah, I spent the first few reads of the graphic novel and comic just looking at the great artwork too. And no, it’s not wrong to find Dark Elves yummy…but just remember, they’re mother and son and any such feelings should fade away. Look forward to seeing you on Saturday. And thanks for the Defenders of Ulthuan purchase. I’ll be doing the final book of that next year, I promise.

Andy: Good luck with the competitions and there’s something about our hobby that seems destined always to be stuck in small rooms. Weird, huh?

Gildor: Glad I could shed some light on Uriel’s name. Just remember that the way you decide to pronounce Uriel’s name is the right one for you. And thanks for the nugget of info on pronunciation.

John: You never know your luck. The worst that can happen is you don’t win, so what have you got to lose? And cheers for the best wishes for the award!

Stephen G: You’re welcome. And hopefully there’s not too many critters getting ready to come out in Australia, since I’m heading that way in a few days. The Emperor better bloody protect!

Liam: Yeah, will see you on Saturday and glad you’re there to lend helping hands to unbalanced siblings (and I mean that in the nicest way…). And the fate of Dalia…I guarantee it’s not what you’ll expect. I’ve always pronounced Vaanes in the same way as Van-ez, but then read it however it works for you. But we’ll chat more on Saturday…

Ben: Thank you very much for that. A simpler, more direct compliment than that would be hard to imagine. I’m glad you enjoyed the book and look forward to seeing you on many more adventures in fiction.

Okay, that’s all for now, so see you on the other side of the world.

Cheers,

Graham.

Ps – Congratulations Obama!

Hey guys,

Just a quick entry today. As if the graphic novel giveaway last month wasn’t enough, there’s now even more free things you can get your mitts on if you’re lucky. The good folk at Black Library have teamed up with Fantasy Book Critic website to organise a giveaway of four sets of signed copies of my latest Ultramarines novel, The Killing Ground, and Dan Abnett’s Titanicus. How good is that? You can find out how you might win one of these fantastic books by going to:

http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2008/10/giveaway-win-signed-copies-of-dan.html

And if that wasn’t enough, BL has also joined forces with Bookspot Central to arrange a giveaway of the full set of Horus Heresy novels to two lucky winners, everything from Horus Rising to Mechanicum. Find out how by visiting:

http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2008/10/contest-warhammer-40000-horus-heresy-all-9-books-2-sets/

Not bad, eh? Have a wander over to both those sites and see how you get on. There, aren’t I good to you?

Okay, now that the free stuff’s dealt with, I’ll answer a few more of your questions. Oh, and thanks for all the good wishes about the David Gemmell Legend Award. I’ll mobilise you all closer to the time…

Gildor: Uriel’s name was chosen because I read somewhere that Uriel was the name of the angel who was given the task of guarding the gates of the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were chucked out. I liked that notion, imagining that ‘my’ Uriel, was the guardian of the Imperium, keeping it safe for when humanity was, one day, ready to inherit the Emperor’s grand dream. As to Ventris…I’ve no idea where I got that one from, though Alessio Cavatore told me once that it means ‘of the belly’ in Italian, Not sure what to make of that…

Xhalax: There was no fix, you simply had an entry that made me laugh, which is reason enough for a prize. And people have to learn that if you’re mean, then you don’t get books lent to you. Simple really. And I’ll see ye in London (on time, hopefully!). By the sound of things, you’ve got your prizes, so I hope you’re enjoying them, and be sure to let me know what you think of them.

Andy: Thankfully, I’m not chained in a basement, Misery-style, but I sometimes feel like it. I have a good-sized, three bedroom house, yet I choose to work in the smallest room in the house (no, not the toilet). Go figure…

Sam: Cheers and it’s nice to know folk are liking what I’m doing, though having looked at the names of the other entrants for the Gemmell Award…it’s some stiff competition. I have a copy of Nagash and Malekith on my ‘to read’ piles and once I finish Planet of the Warlord, I’ll be getting on to them. Funnily enough, Vince Rospond, BL’s man in the US mentioned Andrzej Sapkowski’s books when we hooked up for dinner the other night. Synchronicity at work methinks…I may have to pick them up today.

Bastiaan: Thanks for your kinds words and by the time you get to the end of The Killing Ground (the fourth in the series) I’ll have finished Courage and Honour, so there’ll be a new Ultramarines book for you to read. Hurrah! That’s incredibly flattering stuff you say and if my and the other authors’ work for the Black Library are a help in difficult times, then that’s great stuff and one of the best things anyone’s ever said to me about my books. Thank you.

In answer to your questions, I think it’s unlikely Solomon Demeter will appear again, unless there’s good reason to show him in an earlier scene that needs him there. I think it might be a bit gimmicky to have him show up in a cameo role that doesn’t need him, but, as with all things Heresy related, never say never…

As to Space Marines in Mechanicum… Originally, yeah, there was going to be a lot of Space Marine action, but as the story progressed, I realised that there shouldn’t be. It’s not their book and though there are a few bits with Space Marines in them, the Astartes aren’t front and centre. After all, it’s a book about the Martian civil war, not the fall of the Space Marines…

Right, that’s all for now, I’m off to work. Talk to you soon.

Graham.

Hey folks,

A few things to tell you about today…

I’ll cut right to the chase of what you’re really after first though, the winners of the competition. Of the entries that were posted, the ones I liked the best or made me laugh the most were:

John: “I would love to be the winner because I've read (almost) every word you've ever wrote and can't get enough! Flattery aside, getting my hands on these glorious artefacts would certainly make me dance some sort of solo quasi-tango in the street wearing nothing but my Duff Beer slippers.”

I liked this one because of the unashamed flattery coupled with the strangeness of the image, which took quite some time to banish to the pits of things best forgotten…

Xhalax: I think you should give me some of your graphic novels as part of my scientific experience to see how many 40K/warhammer based publications it will take to break my bookshelf. 123 books so far and still no dice. BOO!

Never let it be said that I don’t help furthering the cause of science ☺

Stephen G: “By sending them to the land down under, not only do the texts experience a trip around the world (peepholes allow their unique transport experience), but will also ensure that as you sleep at night, you'll be content knowing that in the future, someone will still be enjoying your work!”

You gotta love someone who has the bloody-mindedness to work their words to exactly fifty words, as I was prone to doing during my time in Games Development when I was being warned to watch the word counts on my text. Not only that, but Stephen goes on to give mathematical proof of his right to win…

Stephen G (continued…): If you don't believe me, just look at the maths:

(((Win * Meaning of Life + the Oblige Factor) * hrs in Future) + Time loving Graham Factor + The number of Imperial Worlds ) + (Year 40K appeared + Year fantasy appeared * Chinese lucky 8) + (Current Fantasy Edition Release Date * Current 40K Edition Release Date + Win) + (Total Points of my GW products + years in hobby)

=

(((1337 * 42 + 361780) * 9) + (365 *24*60) + 1000000) + (1987 + 1983 * 8) + ((12*7)*(9*9) + 1337) + (5000 + 10)

Turn the Calculator Upside Down :)

Now if that dedication to winning doesn’t deserve a prize then I don’t know what does! And, yeah, it does work…I tried it.

Anyway, I’ll send an e-mail to those of you that have won, and if you could reply to it with the address you’d like your prizes sent to, I’ll get them despatched forthwith. Well done to everyone that entered and when next I have freebies to give away, I’ll let you know.

In other news, I’ll be in London on the 8th of November to sign advance copies of Mechanicum, the latest novel in the Horus Heresy series. If you can make it to the big smoke on that day, I’ll be at Games Workshop Brent Cross between 12 noon and 1pm, before making my way to the heart of London and the Plaza Games Workshop store in Oxford Street for a 3pm to 5pm signing. Hope to see you there.

And if you’ll permit me a little moment of preening here, I’ve recently learned that my Time of Legends novel, Heldenhammer, has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award for Fantasy. Which is fantastic news and a real honour. To be nominated for an award that bears the name of the man who inspired me to become a writer and whose influence has guided me over the years is simply awesome and I’m inordinately pleased by this. Voting on this award is done by a panel of judges and a reader judge who’ll be chosen on the website (http://gemmellaward.com) so keep an eye out for this. Voting runs from the 26th of December this year to March 09, but don’t worry, I’ll remind you all of this closer to the time! Looking at the competition, I don’t expect to win it, but maybe, just maybe, if all my friends out there join in and give me their support…

Anyway, I’m going to sign off for now, as I’ve got Chapter 3 of the next Uriel novel to get busy on.

Talk to you all soon.

Graham.

Morning folks,

As I’m sure a lot of you know, it was Games Day on the 14th of September, and what a day it was. My Games Day weekend began on the Saturday, when we drove to a little place called Hazeley to stay the night, since we were meeting up with Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent for dinner and didn’t fancy a late night followed by a long drive back to Nottingham followed by a long drive back to Birmingham the next day. And what a difference it made to have only a ten-minute drive to the NEC as opposed to the crack of dawn journey I used to have to make with the Design Studio (though there was an enjoyable ‘brothers in adversity’ camaraderie shared by everyone getting up that early I kind of liked). Anyway, we got to the NEC and made our way into the building through the staff entrance and headed towards the Black Library stand. Upon reaching the stairs to the area, we were stopped by burly security guards who told us that we couldn’t go any further, since we didn’t have staff bands on our wrists.

I explained that I was here for a signing and was met with sceptical looks that said, ‘Sure you are, mate…’ I resisted the urge to swoon and cry, “Don’t you know who I am?!” as I’m sure the answer would have been a resounding, “No.”. However, after a quick radio call to the BL stand we were admitted. This years BL area was a bit of a change from normal and, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced that it would work, though anything had to be better than the ‘conveyer belt’ system we’ve had before now, where you feel like you’re just signing books on an assembly line and you don’t have the chance to talk to anyone without holding up the queue. Suffice to say, I’ve had my slice of humble pie and eaten my hat, as the new arrangement worked fantastically well and made the day so much more enjoyable and personal.

Anyway, once the BL area opened it was quickly very busy and I had loads of people standing in orderly fashion before me to get their books signed and have a natter. And have a natter we most definitely did. I love Games Days, as it gives me the chance to talk to the people who’ve been good enough to buy my books and read them and come to get them signed. It’s great to hear what people are reading, what they like, what they’re not so keen on and what kinds of thing they’re hoping to see in the future. Of course, the Horus Heresy books were getting a lot of love and I was overjoyed to hear how much people are looking forward to the Prospero books. Just as well we have such cool plans for them…

I chatted with loads of very cool people and it was an amazing day, really busy and hectic, but then that’s the way Games Days are supposed to be isn’t it? I saw loads of familiar faces and got to sign pretty much all the books I’ve written, which was very gratifying. As the day went on, I kept getting signs from the BL staff to wrap things up, but I didn’t like the idea of giving the folk who’d waited for the longest in the queue less time to chat, and though that meant the sessions were a good bit longer than intended (and I had a croaky voice for days afterwards) it was all worth it. So, to all the many, many people I talked to over the course of the day, thank you so much for being so patient, gracious and passionate about this hobby we all love. It was great to meet you all and I hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did.

The day after Games Day is always a bit quiet, as the day itself is tiring and the after-party more so, but I bravely hauled myself into GW the next day for a Time of Legends chat with Mike Lee (a true gent), Nathan Long (my LA compadre) and Gav Thorpe (no Dennis though…) where we talked about all kinds of stories and links we want to draw together to make the series really fly. Hearing what Mike’s got planned for the next couple of Nagash books, as well as what Gav’s thinking of for his Sundering novels was very interesting and I know you’re going to like them. Nathan was talking of his plans and there’s one in there of which I’m insanely jealous, as it’s one I had my eye on. But since I’m telling the story of Sigmar, and I’ve got loads of great stories to tell, I guess I can’t be too downhearted, eh? The Time of Legends has, I think, got off to a great start and from the sound of what else is planned it’s only going to go from strength to strength.

Work-wise, I’ve just finished a short story for the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology, called The Skull Harvest, which features everyone’s favourite Iron Warrior badass. It’s in at BL now and only just this week I started the next Ultramarines novel, the title of which I’ll let you know soon… Going well so far, and I’m enjoying the real ‘back-to-basics’ of it.

Free Stuff

I’ve been talking recently about the work I’ve done for Boom! Studios, but in case you missed it, my Imperial Guard vs Tau comic strip, Fire and Honour #1 is out now and available from all good comic shops (and probably a few disreputable ones…). In addition to that, I recently got my hardback copies of the Warhammer: Age of Reckoning graphic novel I wrote for the special edition of the game. I’m enormously pleased with how these have turned out and to show you how much, I’ve three copies of the graphic novel and three copies of the comic strip sitting on my desk that I want to give away to you.

How can you get your hands on these wonderful items I hear you ask? Simple, really. Just post a reply to this blog entry and tell my why you should be the one to get them in no more than fifty words. Be as direct, funny, inventive or downright odd as you like, but remember anyone could be reading this, so try and keep it at least vaguely above the belt. The last date for posts will be end of play Tuesday 7th of October, so good luck and I’ll let you know the identities of the three winners who’ll be getting these goodies within a few days of that date.

Talk to you soon,

Graham.