Morning folks, it’s a lovely day and I thought I’d take this brief moment to slap a few words down on the page since it’s been a good, busy month, some cool things have happened and I’m about to embark on a project I’ve been salivating about for quite some time.

The Time of Legends continues
Anyway, to begin with I’ve recently had my copies of Empire delivered, and mighty fine they look too. Empire is the second in the Sigmar trilogy, and is in many ways it’s a darker book. I know these days people are contractually bound to make sequels darker, but this one is darker in what I feel is a more necessary way. Looking at the arc of the three books, I look at them as thematically representing the three ages of Man. I know that sounds very pompous, but bear with me. Heldenhammer is the ‘Child’ part of the trilogy, where the characters are bursting with optimism, full of hope for the future and suffused with the immortality of the young. Empire is the ‘Grown Man’ book where the some of the edge of teir optimism has been worn down by life experiences, concerns of family, mortality and the looming threat of age rearing its head. I haven’t written the final book yet – I’m not scheduled to start that until early next year – but I already see that as the ‘Autumn Years’ book, where the characters are staring death in the face (literally), and are looking back over their lives with a sensation of things coming to an end. That makes it sound like the third book is going to be really depressing, and it will be full of darkness, but I also expect it to be uplifting and triumphant.

So, to celebrate the release of Empire, I’m going to be doing a signing in Warhammer World early in August (most likely the 1st, but check back and/or keep an eye on the Black Library website for confirmation and times).

A Signing in Bristol
While we’re on the subject of signings, I’m going to be visiting the South West soon. I’ll be appearing at Games Workshop Cribbs Causeway in Bristol on Saturday the 18th of July. I’ll be there from 1pm to 3pm (and possibly a little longer), so I hope to see you there! You can contact the store on 0117 959 2520 for more details.

Iron Warrior
But…as I said, Iron Warrior is finished. And what, pray tell, is Iron Warrior, I hear you ask. Well, it’s something of a new venture, and I don’t want to say too much, but I think you’re going to really like it. No prizes for guessing which traitor legion it’s about, but the stuff the design guys have got going on for this book is making my mouth water just thinking about it.

Okay, to give you a little taster of the book, here’s a few lines from Chapter 1.

“Only that the Thrice Born is the bane of the Gatekeeper of Zalathras,” said Honsou, letting his frustration show as Moriana crouched beside the purple fire. “And that it would rise again in the Time of Ending to wreak bloody revenge on those who paid homage to his sons.”

There, don’t say I’m not good to you. And as that project sails off into the editorial sunset, my attentions turn to A Thousand Sons, my latest Horus Heresy novel.

A Thousand Sons
I’ve written the synopsis for A Thousand Sons, got the characters sorted in my mind, and have planned out the themes and approach I want to take to its style and vibe. So, with the opening monologue written, it’s full speed ahead to get as much done before our first baby arrives. I’ve asked Anita if she can hold onto the little tyke for a couple of weeks, as that would really help me out with my deadlines, but she just gave me a funny look.

As with any Heresy book, I’m really excited about getting into this one, as we’ve had several meetings about this and all things Heresy. The stuff Dan Abnett and I have planned for these books are, even if I do say so, mind-blowing. The story of the Space Wolves and the Thousand Sons you think you know is like catching a fragment of a tv show when you flick onto the channel just before the credits roll. There’s so much more going on that we’ve worked into the story that enhances it, embellishes it, gives it meaning and depths we couldn’t have imagined when we started, but which all fits neatly into the existing storyline. It’s a fragile, finely balanced thing at the moment, existing only as fantastic concepts, and I just hope I can do justice to the amazing things we have planned.

And in a seamless leap from A Thousand Sons to other matters Heresy. If you’ve been reading the blogs of various BL writers or keeping up with events on the BL site, then you’ll know that we had a Horus Heresy meeting a few weeks ago. As usual, it was a fantastic day, with ideas and concepts thrown onto the table that are, no word of a lie, goose-bump moments when I think of what they mean to the background. It all fits, it all makes sense, it doesn’t materially change the Imperium of the 41st Millennium, but boy does it skew your perception of it. Naturally, after such a tease, I can’t actually tell you anything about it, though it’s given me no end of gentle amusement to see how people have reacted to the words: ‘Dark Ages of the Horus Heresy’, deciding that it’s the wrong phrase for something when we’ve given them no clues as to what it is. Trust me, it’s the right phrase and when we get onto that part of the story, you’ll be gasping for air, since we’ll have taken your breath away.

WFRP 3
A coupe of weeks ago, our regular roleplaying group was privileged enough to playtest 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. The guys from Fantasy Flight Games were over at Games Workshop HQ, and Jay Little very kindly did a show and tell for us over at Alessio Cavatore’s house, where we saw how much the game has changed from its previous incarnation. Our gaming group has been going for some time and we were all interested to see what was new with WFRP, since we’d playtested the previous edition also. It was in interesting evening, and the game was very different to anything I’ve played before, with a lot of table space taken up by character sheets, action and ability cards, dice etc. It felt like a strange hybrid of board game and roleplaying game at first, but once the notions of the new mechanics took hold, it felt very natural. Likewise, the new dice pool system felt odd at first, but once we’d rolled a few dice it immediately became very intuitive, which is surely the holy grail of any roleplaying system.

By the time we’d despatched the goblins and rescued the coachman, we didn’t have much time left to play out the more interpersonal encounters of the intro game, but we’d already gotten our heads around the system and were already looking to develop our characters – which is a good sign in any playtest. Overall, I really liked the changes to the game, and it makes a nice change from sitting with my Players Handbook and a grubby character sheet. I’m liking what Jay has done with the game, and there’s a clear desire to make it fit properly with the Warhammer World, where a lot of the previous edition’s books, with the best will in the world, just didn’t.

Romance beckons
As I mentioned in my last post about BookExpo America, the ladies of the Romance Writers of America took a keen interest in the gothic horror of the 40k universe. True to their word, I was sent a book; Sleepless at Midnight by Jacquie D’Allesandro. It looks exactly as I’d imagined, with a winsome heroine wrapped in a gossamer sheet on the front cover, with a big, shirtless guy embracing her on the inner cover. I’ve not read it yet, but I intend to, as it’s only right and proper. The ladies of the RWA were so nice to me that it’s the least I can do to read the book after Jacquie was good enough to send her book across the Atlantic. What ramifications this will have for the worlds of Warhammer of 40k I can’t say, but don’t expect to see a book with the subtitle, “The heat of battle was no match for the heat of their passion…”

Random stuff
Anita and I went with some friends to see AC/DC at Wembley Stadium last Friday, and what a great gig that was! The boys rocked the place (though their sound system was a bit crap to begin with) and played a set that, with the exception of a smattering of songs from the new album, was pretty much the same set they’ve played for the last twenty years. And thank the Brazen Gods of Metal for that. We had the fifteen-minute solo from Angus Young, the striptease at The Jack, the finale of Highway to Hell and For Those About to Rock. Just what I’d been looking forward to. Anita fled the final song, as the booming cannons seemed to be upsetting the little one she’s carrying, but I say it’s acclimatisation for the rock it’ll be hearing when it decides to make an appearance.

We also went to see Terminator Salvation, which I’d heard mixed reviews of, but which we went to with an open mind. I have to say, I really enjoyed it and thought it was an excellent kick up the backside of a franchise that had somewhat stalled after T3 (an average movie that simply retreads the ground of T2, and is only saved by its utterly killer ending). I’ve only seen a few episodes of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but wasn’t impressed by it, so it was with real relish that I watched this movie break out of the conventional ‘chase’ structure and become its own movie, with everyone getting to do cool stuff, be it Moon Bloodgood’s fighter pilot, Marcus the Terminator or John Connor himself. And it was nice to see ‘Arnie’ in the movie, albeit as a digitally mapped face on another body. The only bit where I though there was an opportunity missed was the ending. I liked the ending, it was good, it fitted the story and keeps us trundling on to the next movie, but I was left with a lingering sensation that there was a better ending in there…

[SPOILER ALERT – DON’T READ ON IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE!]

At the end of the movie, when John Connor and the Arnie Terminator are battling in the Terminator production facility, Connor gets badly skewered by a spike of metal and is close to death. Marcus saves the day and kills the bad guy Terminator. And here was a moment where, had the writer/director/studio had been bold enough they could have done something wonderful. I, and I’m sure others, saw the potential for John Connor dying at this moment and Marcus taking his face for his own. How cool would that be? No-one else was there to see it, and who’d have blinked an eye to see John Connor staggering from the wreckage? The idea that the ‘John Connor’ who goes on to save humanity from the machines was himself a Terminator had me smiling all the way home. It fits perfectly, doesn’t mess with continuity and would have phenomenal dramatic potential in the later movies, leading to real weighty issues, like what it means to be human, the truth of identity and whether a machine can truly evolve.

Now, I heard bits and pieces of a ‘controversial’ ending to the movie before it was even finished, and if this is what it was originally intended to be, then I’m disappointed they didn’t go for it – though I’m not surprised. It smacks of the raging fanboy outcry that derails so many well-intentioned movies. Directors and movie-makers should just ignore the fans and make the movie they want to make. Sounds harsh, but look what happened to Wolverine, Blade Trinity and Spiderman 3 when the fans clamoured for cameos from their favourite characters or studios insisted on the inclusion of villains who didn’t need to be there (or demanded potential for spin offs). Wolverine was hamstrung by the introduction of too many characters who added nothing to the story and were simply introduced as sops to the fans. The result? None of them were served as well as their characters demanded, and the whole movie became a sprawling mess that lost its focus. It’s a Wolverine movie, I want to be about Wolverine. It’s a Blade movie, I want it to be about Blade, not some naff vampire hunting team who may or may not get a spin off. Keep your focus, ignore the fans, stay true to the lore and get on with making the movie that needs to be made.

Competition Winner
A while back I ran a competition to give away a copy of Mechanicum signed to ‘The Bob’. Looking at the entries, I’ve decided to give the book to Elenaria, for this response:

++Begin transmission++

It would be like sacred oil to the cogitators of Adept Bob, youngest brother-adept of Runepriest Elenaria, to in his archive have the holy tome of Mechanicum signed with his name, by the revered Fabricator General McNeill.

++All praise the Omnissiah++
++End transmission++

Elenaria, drop me a line through the website with your address and I’ll get the book and a few other goodies posted out to you.

Reader Responses

Alexander “Scud”: Thanks for the kind words on The Last Church, it’s a story that seems to have gone down well with folk. And I hadn’t heard about that movie, but it’s one I think I’ll definitely check out.

Sam: We are well indeed, thanks. That was very much the challenge I set myself, to tell an interesting story without any guns blazing or chainswords chopping. Great review too and the site’s looking good.

Bastiaan: Thanks for the congratulations, much appreciated. Glad you liked The Killing Ground, and hope you enjoy the building towards the third book in the arc (Iron Warrior will give you some clues as to what to expect). Hopefully the above post will shed some light on the Heresy (though probably not…) but, trust me, Dan and I have some great things planned, some you’ll never expect, and others that will leave your jaw hanging slackly… And I will do my best to continue with books you enjoy.

Steven G: Yeah, I’ve read a bit of World War Z, when I snuck a read of a few pages when Kirsten Williams left it next to her suitcase on the way back from Games Day Chicago. It looked really interesting, so I guess I should pick up a copy. And as much as I loved Australia, the USA does hold a special place in my heart. I love going over there and there’s something about American cities and American people I really like.

Dju: Really? Scandalous that you don’t have a copy. I’m make sure Matt has one to take back to France after Games Day this year, though I have a chunky French version of the book on my shelf now too. Thanks Natalie!

Jeff Hall: Yeah, great to see you and Jason and the rest of the lads in Baltimore. Looking forward to the next time, as it was a blast chatting at the event and in the bar afterwards.

Xhalax: An Adeptus Mechanicus costume…now that would have been great. Oh, well, just have to spot you with a frog bag/sheep bag or will there be a new animal bag this year?

Gav: It may well have been, but I think I see what books you have in your shelf near where you write. Explains a lot…

On the Reading Stand: I’ve just finished George Mann’s excellent The Affinity Bridge, which was a thrilling adventure in steampunk Victorian England. Well worth a read, so hustle to your nearest bookstore and procure yourself a copy! With that book finished, I’m hip deep in the collected comics of The Savage Sword of Conan 1, which I borrowed from Alessio a while back and have only now got round to reading.

On the Hi-fi: As I type this, I’m listening to Fear Factory, but Rebel Meets Rebel, Soulfly and Bloodsimple have been getting some good airtime.

Okay, that’s enough bloggage for one day. Talk to you soon, hopefully at one of the signings…so keep your diary free on the 18th of July if you’re anywhere near Cribbs Causeway, the 1st of August if you’re near Warhammer World.

Cheers,

Graham

Well I’m back from BookExpo America in New York in once piece, and it was a hell of a trip. George Mann – the head of the Black Library – and I flew with Virgin Atlantic, and were in the cabin area of a stewardess who barked orders like she was running a Space Marine boot camp. Our seats were located next to a man we dubbed ‘The Mad Georgian’, and he proved to be a character indeed. An opera singer from Georgia, who lived in London and was good friends with Katie Melua, who travelled on an Irish Passport after marrying his Irish wife at the age of fifteen. Our Georgian pal carried a wealth of bizarre items in his carry-on, the creepiest of which was a strage bejewelled mask, like something from Eyes Wide Shut. While I watched Anvil: The story of Anvil (brilliant!), the Mad Georgian delighted in winding up our domineering stewardess, asking for extra food, drinks and behaving mischievously enough to annoy her without doing anything overtly irritating.

On arrival in New York, George and I got to our hotel and took a wander around Times Square at night, which is an interesting place and looks just like it does in the movies.



Next day we headed down to the Javits Centre to meet Vince Rospond, BL’s man in the US, to help set up the booth, which, as you can see from the picture below, looked great.



Since most of the work had been done for us, all we needed to do was put out the books. After dropping Vince's bags at the hotel and getting a picture of the Naked Cowboy...



...we headed towards Madison Square Gardens, where I was going to be signing their stock of new books for the shelves, on the way passing the mist-wreathed Empire State Building, and the New Yorker Hotel – a very cool example of an art deco architecture that just oozes character.



Next up, we got a taxi down to South Ferry, hoping to see the Statue of Liberty, but as you can see from this picture, the mist defeated us – though we did see a very cool haunted-looking pier.


If you look closely, and angle your screen just right, you can see the blob that is the Statue of Liberty...

The rain was falling pretty steadily by now, so we took refuge in a bar and had a few beers before heading back to the hotel to dry out. Earlier in the day, we’d seen signs for a free gig where Taylor Swift was playing down by the NBC building, and I joked that I wanted to go see her. The idea was nixed, but turns out we got to see her anyway…

For dinner we went to Little Italy, and had a lovely pasta dish followed by a Cannoli (which I’d only had for the first time recently in Baltimore). As we were finishing dinner, a large posse of folk came into the restaurant who all looked very showbiz, and as we were looking at them, a tall blonde girl came in with them, none other than Taylor Swift herself. They went to their table, and I resisted the urge to be uncool and ask her for a photo, which, given how the rest of the trip turned out, I’m regretting.

Anyway, it was Book Expo the next day, and the event itself was really busy, with lots of folk coming over to the booth, getting their books signed and chatting about what the 40K universe was all about. It was quite an experience to talk to people who knew little or nothng about Warhammer and trying to explain it to them in a way that wouldn’t turn them off it and get them excited enough to stock BL books in their library/school/book shop. Overall, I think I succeeded, and everyone who took a book away looked very happy with their new possession. Interest in BL was high, and we could have gone through our entire stock of books on the first day. We’d brought a load of Courage and Honour, as well as The Killing Ground and Heldenhammer, but we also had Henry Zou’s novel, Emperor’s Mercy. The piles of books you saw in the picture of the booth had been severely dented by the time day one came to an end.

Inbetween signing and chatting, I took a look around the show, which was pretty damn big (though apparently it was smaller than last year) and picked up some freebies along the way, some comics, some books and some flyers. I managed to see China Miéville and get a signed copy of his latest book, The City and the City. I also managed to get down to see Julianne Moore, who was signing her latest book, Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully. Not my usual kind of book, but I figured with a wee one on the way, having a signed children’s book might be a neat little present or memory to show them one day.



I got Karin Slaughter’s audio book signed and picked up a load of novels from authors I didn’t know, but whose books looked interesting. I also talked to lots of people at various stands, who, it turned out, were all the heads of those imprints. Thankfully, I acquitted myself well (I think) and didn’t make any gross faux-pas that will come back to haunt me.

With day one over, we went for dinner at a Brazilian restaurant that brings you meat until you tell them to stop. We made it through the ten meat feast and never once turned the little red/green drum to red. Feeling suitably sated, we had a nightcap in Hurleys before turning in for the night.

The next day was just as busy for us, and we gave out virtually all of our books to a very appreciative crowd. Strangely, the Saturday didn’t seem as busy as the Friday, but it was still a full-on day. Across from us, were the Romance Writers of America and just around the corner were the ladies from Ellora’s Cave – who, I’m told, write women’s erotica. They seemed very taken with the darkness of the 40K universe (and my accent) and have promised to send me some of their books, so you may see a steamier side to the dark millennium soon! George is convinced that their next books are all going to feature a brooding Scotsman…so part of me is a bit scared of what might come through the post ☺.

George did a signing for his book, The Affinity Bridge (an instant steampunk zombie classic) which went really well and was a mightily queued indeed. Kyle, George’s publicity gal, did a great job managing the queue, getting books ready and making sure everyone got their names signed correctly. I even managed to snag a copy, signed with our word of the weekend, which we had immense, purile fun getting Americans to say as a toast. The only sour note of that day was that I missed getting a book signed by James Ellroy, who I only saw was doing a signing ten minutes after it ended. Despite that, the day was great fun and we ended on another high note.

After getting changed, we headed to the St. Andrews bar to the Osprey party, which was great fun and the folk there were really nice. Turned out the barman was Scottish too, and I was able to get a pint of heavy there, which amazed me, as it’s getting hard enough to get a pint of heavy in Scotland, let alone New York. Dinner that night was in a great barbeque place Vince knew, though it took us a while to get to it, as we had to go all the way round the block to get there, since half the streets were blocked off. Only when we got to the restaurant did we find out why. President Obama and his wife had decided to visit the theatre that night and we ate in the shadow of armoured cars and scary Secret Service man in black suits and shades.

After dinner, George and I headed to a place called Blue Fin for a couple of drinks and we had a great time there, becoming a centre of gravity for several couples who formed a big circle of conversation and laughs with us. At closing time, the barmaid gave us directions to a secret bar within the hotel, telling us to tell the doorman that she’d sent us. Following the stairs and secret elevator to the top of the building, we nervously said the barmaid sent us to the guy on the door and he let us in no problem. Inside was a bar like you see on tv shows like Dirty, Sexy, Money or Ugly Betty, filled with the beautiful people and strange men in white Stetsons. It was all quite bizarre and the drinks were ruinously priced, but its was a great night, and we ended up talking to loads of people, as George and I had our writerly-rock-star-swagger going on and, buoyed up by the success of the day, we were a force of nature – even if I do say so myself.

As you might suspect, Sunday was a little more subdued, with the day being pretty quiet. We’d given away most of our books, and spent most of the day wandering the other stalls and chatting to other exhibitors. I did a signing that morning, and we managed to go through all two hundred copies of Courage and Honour. Sunday was a shorter day than the others, so with all our books gone and a feeling of a job well done glowing in our hearts, we headed out to dinner after a few hours rest back at the hotel. This time, we headed to another New York landmark, Katz’s Diner. That name might not mean much to you until I tell you it was the setting for the famous scene in When Harry met Sally, where the old lady leans over and says, ‘I’ll have what she’s having,’ after Meg Ryan’s shown that men might not always know when a woman’s faking… The food was great and Vince then showed us around the Village, where we saw lots of cool buildings and went to Washington Square Park, where, hoping I was continuing the Famous People theme of our trip, I took a picture of this guy playing guitar to a crowd of folk. I don’t know who he was, but everyone seemed to really like him, and there were lots of people taking pictures, so if you recognise him, please let me know!



Vince left on Monday morning, so George and I headed for breakfast and Toys R Us, where he spent loads on bits and pieces for his son, and I spent money on Bobba Fett and a Storm Trooper…for research purposes…



After that, we took a trip uptown to the Flatiron Building, where George’s publisher, Tor, is based. After getting some cool pictures of the building, we went out for lunch with Liz Gorinsky, George’s editor, and spent a very pleasant afternoon with her. We also met a few of the editors at Tor, who were all really nice and it was good to chat to them about their current and forthcoming projects.

With lunch over, it was time to head home, and the voyage back across the Atlantic was thankfully a quiet one. It’s been a couple of days now, and I’m back in the groove of UK time, so it’s time to get back to work. This was a long post, but I hope you enjoyed my little travelogue…

Cheers and talk to you soon with more work-related stuff…

Graham.

Yes, it’s a cliché to begin a blog about New York with that subject, but I prefer to think of it as tradition, so sue me.

So, yeah, I’m off to New York tomorrow to go to BookExpo America, which runs from Friday May 29th to Sunday May 31st. It’s a first for me, and I’m really looking forward to the trip. I’m heading out there with George Mann, head of the Black Library, so it promises to be an interesting trip. I’m not entirely sure what to expect of the BookExpo, as I’ve never done a show like this before. It won’t be like a Games Day, with hordes of fans needing to be beaten back with pitchforks and flaming brands, apparently it’s more along the lines of book sellers, librarians and shop owners, so I expect it to be a bit quieter and rather few folk dressed up as Orks or cakes in the form of Squigs. Though who knows… I’ll bring back some photos of anything that particularly catches my eye. And if you’re planning to come to the event, be sure to drop by and say hello. We’ll be at Booth 4047, and I’m quite friendly really, and always up for a blether. And if you have a book you want a scribble on, I’ll be doing a signing on Sunday 31st at Table 6 between 10am and 11am.

New York is a city I’ve always wanted to visit, as I’ve seen it in so many tv shows, movies and news items. It’s also a city in which I set a Call of Cthulhu adventure I ran way back in the dim and distant past, so I’m keen to see if any of the locations match up to my visions of them from back then. Come to think of it, as they were part of a Cthulhu campaign, I kind of hope they don’t. There’s lots I want to see, but as we only have one day to do the tourist thing, I’m not sure how many we’ll get to see. Amongst the tourist stuff, I’ll be dropping into Borders at Union Station to sign some stock for them, and hopefully I can get a taste for the city that never sleeps; enough to have an idea for the next time…I want to see the Empire State Building, Madison Square Gardens, Times Square, Central Park. I also want to see the Flatiron building, as it was one of my favourite buildings during  my time as an architecture student, and is the set of 30 Rock (Tina Fey is my new comedy god).

There’s also Ground Zero too, but I’m not sure I really want to see that, as it feels a bit ghoulish to make a point of going to see a place where so many people lost their lives. On the other hand, it does no good to flinch from these kinds of things through squeamishness, so perhaps I should go, as it’s important to remember terrible events so they don’t happen again. I suppose that’s why we have war memorials, not just to remember the dead, but to remember how and why they died.

So, that’s New York, what else has been happening? The Manchester signing went well, and I spoke to lots of people, signed their books, and generally hung out for the afternoon with lots of very friendly people who made me feel very welcome. So, thanks to all the staff at the GW store in the Arndale Centre and all the people who brought armfuls of their books along.

My new flag
After seeing Richard Williams flag at BL Live, and not wanting me to feel left out, Vince Rospond had his hooded scriveners prepare this symbol for me, which I think has just the right edge for me. It’s like the sniper’s badge, but where they slay with bullets, I do my work with words. You have to say that in an appropriately gravely, voice-over-man way for it to work…

Fan art
Jayson Hotchkiss has done a lovely piece of art that I’d like to share with you, a picture of Uriel laying the holy smackdown on a filthy piece of xenos scum.



If you like that, check out Jayson's page at:

http://pnutink.deviantart.com

On the reading stand: I’m currently reading Future Bristol, a book of sci-fi short stories centred around the theme of, you guessed it, Bristol. Over the last year and a half, I’ve gotten to know Bristol reasonably well, so thought that would give me a leg up on it (which it has). I’m only a few stories into it, but it’s okay so far, a mixed bag with some stories stronger than others – as you’d expect. I took a break from Twelve, a vampire novel set during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. I liked the concept and the scale promised on the back of the book, and though it’s still early days yet, the story has yet to sink its fangs into me. I’ll let you know how it goes….

On the hi-fi: Too much to mention… My Brother in Metal from Austin, Texas; Aaron Spuler, hooked me up with more metal than is healthy and I’m currently wading through a host of new bands and rediscovering old ones. My current favourites are Static-X, Fear Factory and Soulfly. Right now, some ZZ Top is echoing through the house, so I’ve got my rock n’ blues head on right now, ya’ll.

Anyway, on that note, I’m off to get back to work.

Talk soon,

Graham

Ps- Don’t forget the competition on the last post if you fancy a signed copy of Mechanicum (so long as you want it signed to Bob…) and some other free goodies.

Afternoon folks,

I'm just back from Baltimore Games Day, which was a really good event, even though gremlins in the warp conspired to lose a pallet containing Courage and Honour and The Killing Ground as well as Nathan's Battle for Skull Pass. Oh well, regardless of that, it was yet another event of lovely, enthusiastic fans and lots of signing. So, thanks to everyone for coming along and saying hi and making Nathan and I feel very welcome. We enjoyed the seminar a lot, as it was a good mix of questions and discussions, and didn't get entirely hijacked by Horus Heresy stuff, so good work everyone! Also, thanks to the guy who singled me out for a question with the words, 'This question's for the guy in grey...' That made me laugh. You know when you've arrived, when you're known as the guy in grey. Or perhaps it's like a Johnny Cash thing...like the Man in Black, just not as dark. So, all in all, a great show, and here's some pics to show you what you missed if you weren't there.



The Red Orktober, which was awesomely well built and the photo doesn't really do it justice.


The Squig cake the guys at Mythic had made. It was cut up later in the day, and though I begged them to let me to 'cut' it with an axe, they said no...


The 404th Remnant Legion, who probably spent more time posing for pictures than seeing what was on show at Games Day.


Nathan and I after dinner at the Rusty Scupper and posing in one of Baltimore's picturesque fallout shelters. Anyone who finds Nathan's missing leg will be suitably rewarded...

In other signing news
I'll be in Manchester this weekend, May 16th. I'll be signing copies of Courage and Honour (or anything else of mine for that matter) on May 16th from 12-2pm at the Manchester Arndale Centre store. Hope to see you there!

And a mini competition for you...
While at Games Day Baltimore, I was signing a copy of Mechanicum for a nice man called 'The Jim', but caught a snippet of conversation from Nathan next to me and ended up signing the book to 'The Bob'. Rather than waste this copy of the book, I figured it could make a good prize, together with some other goodies I have here. So if you're called Bob and would like to win a signed copy of Mechanicum, or have some other pressing reason why you need a book signed to Bob, reply to this post with your reasoning in 50 words or less. In a couple of weeks, I'll pick a winner and send some stuff on to you. Good luck!

Cheers and speak to you soon,

Graham

Hey there,

I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself today, as it’s been a good week. Since I’m in a self-indulgent state of mind, I’m going to share a few things with you today, most of which are shamelessly self-promoting. So sue me…

This week started for me, traditionally enough, on Monday, with three chapters of Empire left to write (as of Wednesday, I have two left to write). As I sat down to work, I received an e-mail from Nick Kyme at the Black Library to tell me that The Killing Ground has been nominated for an Origins Award. This is the second book of mine to be nominated – the first was False Gods – so fingers crossed, eh? Once again, there’s stiff competition, notably from the late Gary Gygax, so I’m not breaking out the victory champagne just yet. In related Ultramarines news, Courage and Honour has just been reviewed at the rather excellent, Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review site. Check it out at:

http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/2009/04/courage-and-honour-graham-mcneill-black.html

Not ten minutes later, Mark Newton e-mails, telling me that just over half a million English language copies of my books have been sold, which I reckon is pretty damn good whichever way you slice it. It’s a number that almost sounds surreal when you think of it, but to have sold that many gives me a great sense of pride, for which I hope you won’t think badly of me.

So, not a bad Monday. Tuesday the postie arrives with a box of comics from the US, issues 3 and 4 of Defenders of Ultramar, together with the trade paperback of the entire series. I love how these turned out and the graphic novel of the collected strip looks great, so kudos to Kev Hopgood and the other artists for making it look so great. If you haven’t seen these, but fancy checking out what happened while Uriel was away…take a look at Boom! Comic’s website and order yourselves the trade paperback or the individual issues at the following address:

http://www.boom-studios.net/warhammer-40-000-defenders-of-ultramar-tpb-1.html

Okay, enough preening already, here’s something that might actually be considered news. Nick Kyme and I recently did an interview with the guys at Shroud Films for Black Library TV, where I desperately tried not to speak too fast while avoiding ‘um’ and ‘er’ as much as possible. We talked all things BL, Ultramarines, Heresy, Dwarfs and so on – though the window cleaner and shutters opening and closing conspired to intrude on the sound quality. Check it out here if you fancy seeing my glorious screen debut:

As I mentioned earlier, I’m nearly finished Empire and if I don’t get it finished by the end of the week, then it’ll certainly get done in the early throes of next week. Then, with a smaller (kind of) project inbetween, I’ll be embarking upon A Thousand Sons, my next Horus Heresy project. Dan and I have had some initial discussions about this, and we’re very excited about this project, as I think we have some fantastic ideas that are going to melt your head in the best tradition of Horus Heresy books. I have a notebook that’s bursting with scribbled notes, which, once Empire is done, I’m going to expand and develop into a treatment I can bash around with Dan. Will let you know how that goes.

Event news: Since I’m not likely to blog between now and next week, I’ll let you know now that I'll be in Baltimore on the 9th of May for Games Day Baltimore. I’ll be there all day with Vince Rospond and I’ll be nattering away to all and sundry who come along, so bring your books (or even better, buy some shiny new ones!) and we’ll talk Heresy, Ultramarines, Time of Legends and anything else that crops up. I think I might get to an Orioles game too while I’m over there, so it promises to be a good trip.

On the Hi-Fi: Well, I’ve a whole host of new records to listen to just now, as Aaron Spuler, a regular correspondent on this website, has just furnished me with a bunch of new metal records from some bands that played in and around Austin, Texas. I’ve only listened to a couple so far, but they’re sounding good and heavy. So I’d like to thank him for sending them to me.

On the Reading Stand: I just finished The Book Thief, which was a really good read. It’s the story of a young girl in Nazi Germany during the war and her kleptomaniac tendencies towards the written word. It reads very innocently, which is surprising given that it’s narrated by Death, and is a very moving story of life in a small town of ordinary folk who are anything but ordinary. Told with great wit and warmth, this was a real gem of a book.

Then I read Peter Fehervari’s most excellent short story, Nightfall, which can be found in the Heroes of the Space Marines anthology. This is Peter’s first published story, and hopefully won’t be the last if the quality of this story is any indication. A thoroughly enjoyable read, well-written and showing a side of Space Marine recruitment we don’t often get to see. Nice work, Peter.

However, next up is Mike Lee’s Fallen Angels, which George Mann was kind enough to give me (especially so, since it was his own copy…). I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and can’t wait to see what Mike’s done with the characters from Descent of Angels. I know many people were unhappy with how Descent of Angels ended, but when read in the context of Fallen Angels…well, let’s just say I think folk will see the first book in a different light.

And one other bit of news…
And last but certainly not least… I’m thrilled to say that Anita, my beautiful girlfriend, is pregnant. Come August, she and I will be parents, which is going to knock my writing schedule for six, I’m sure, but will be well worth it. It’s going to be amazing, scary, fantastic and worth every sleepless night. We’re both over the moon with this, and can’t wait to meet the latest recruit to the 4th Company. So I hope you’ll bear with me in the latter stages of the year if you run into me and I look like a sleep-deprived zombie.

Right, it’s roleplaying night tonight, so I’ll sign off and talk to you either at or after Games Day Baltimore.

See ya,

Graham

Hi there,

This is just a short entry to issue a profound apology to my French fans who were expecting to see me at Games Day France this weekend. Due to reasons too stupid to go into just now, I'm not going to be there, so I'm really, really sorry if you've carted your books to the event in the hope of getting me to sign them.

But Matt (of Bibliotheque Interdite fame) and I have talked about getting a signing organised for the FNAC bookstores later this year (perhaps when Mechanicum is released) so I'll be able to get over to France and make up for this weekend's absence.

Anyway, I'm really sorry for any disappointment, and I promise to make it up to those of you who were planning to get your books signed and come for a chat.

Till next time,

Graham

Easter has come and gone, and with it the triumph that was Black Library Live! Myself and a pack/library/narrative (what is the collective for writers?) of Black Library authors gathered at Warhammer World with artists editors and fans to talk, sign and generally have a thoroughly nice time. Thanks to living so close, I was able to have a leisurely breakfast and swan in at around eleven in the morning for a coffee and pre-event natter with various folk. I met a few people for the first time; stand up please, Steve Lyons, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Richard Williams’ parents, as well as seeing a few old lags like myself. A round of applause please for Dan Abnett, Neil Roberts, Nick Kyme, James Swallow, Richard Williams, Sandy Mitchell, Gav Thorpe (or as he shall heretofore be known: Gus Thorpo) and Jon Sullivan.

As always it was great to catch up with everyone, but then the event isn’t for us to sit at the back and chat, it’s for you guys. And what a day it turned out to be. After mingling with the BL staff (Hello Caroline, Emma, Mal, Alex, Christian, George, Mark and Nick) for a while, Anita and I had look around the gaming halls, liking that there was a Skull Harvest tourney (Honsou dies?!) and a table based on a big scene from Courage and Honour. It’s still kinda weird seeing a table set up as a scene I wrote only a few months ago…

First up on my to-do list was a reading from Courage and Honour, the latest Ultramarines novel, which – though it’s hard to be sure – seemed to go down very well. I think folk enjoyed it, and I certainly enjoyed reading it (especially Lord Winterbourne’s parts). Then it was straight back upstairs for a hefty, two-hour signing session with the galactic Dan Abnett and the cosmic Neil Roberts. This was scheduled for two hours, with an hour extra for overrun. Naively, I didn’t think we’d need this, but how wrong I was, and to everyone who waited patiently while I blethered to all and sundry, a mighty thank you! It was a great few hours and it was really nice to see many familiar faces, who’ve all become part of the whole dog and pony show. Good work, everyone!

As always, thanks to Xhalax for coming down and spreading your infectious enthusiasm, and thanks to Peter for once again forcing me to raise my game. I have your story here and will drop you a line when I’m done. I promise! All in all, a fantastic day was had, and I can’t wait for the next one.

In other signing news, I should mention that I’m going to be in Paris this weekend for Games Day France. If my skills as a reader of French are up to par, then the event is being held at the Porte de Versailles (Parc des Expositions: Pavillion 5.1). I’ll be there all day at the Bibliothèque Interdite stand, so come along and we’ll fumble our way through the language barrier to have a great time.

And now to answer some questions:

Sam: Yeah, I’m looking forward to the next Slayer album, as I could use some real darkness for the project that follows Empire (featuring a certain character who apparently died in a tourney at this weekend’s BL live event…). And the HH stuff…yeah, the more we delve into the history, the more we find that the waters just get murkier and murkier. Just wait till you read the Prospero duology…

Xhalax: I saw all four issues of Defenders of Ultramar at the weekend, and very nice they look too. And it very definitely fits into the larger picture of things – which should hopefully be clear now that you’ve finally read The Killing Ground.

Stephen G: Ah, my not-so-subtle homage is undone… Yeah, loved Watchmen and now, having seen the finale of BSG, am convinced that it’s the best thing, sci-fi or otherwise, to have graced our televisions in years. The ending was perfect in every way (though it should have ended with Adama on the hillside) and I felt utterly vindicated in my commitment to watching it over the last few years.

Xisor: Glad you’re looking forward to some more Ultramarines goodness, and the WoU x 10 idea is currently percolating away in my mental back burner in a nice, explosive way. You’ll need to wait to next year to see how it turns out though. But you will get to meet lots of bigwigs in the Chapter, that’s for sure. And A Thousand Sons/Prospero Burns is going to be great…we’ve got some awesome ideas to play with, and it won’t disappoint. The Last Church was a story I really wanted to write to give some balance to the anthology, and it seems to be one that people have really responded to, which is just great.

Dju: See you in a couple of days, mate…when all will be revealed. Sort of.

Bastiaan: Thanks for the birthday wishes, and yeah, I had a great day. Thanks also for the praise for the Ultramarines novels, and now that The Killing Ground is in paperback, I hope you get a chance to read and enjoy that too. Even better…pick up Courage and Honour to get you ready for the next one…which is going to be epic in every way. Given what you’re asking, I think you’ll like it.

I knew Mechanicum wasn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea because of the lack of Astartes, but I felt it was necessary to be broadening the Heresy at this point. It may have started as an inter-Legion war, but it soon spread far beyond that, and it’s important to show that.

As to who is the loser in the Heresy…well, it all depends on your point of view ☺

Liam: Hey, missed you at BL Live! That’s high praise indeed for The Last Church, and I’m glad you liked it so much. Are Revelation’s arguments my own…well, that would be telling, but let’s put it this way…creationism is nonsense and I think the theory of evolution removes the need for a creator god.

Aaron: Cool…thanks for the link, I’ll be sure to give them a listen, since I’m always on the lookout for new heavy records!

Right, that ought to do it for now. I’ll speak to you again after Paris, with some exciting news.

Cheers,

Graham

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.