First up, hope you all had a great Christmas and have exciting plans for New Year's. It's New Year's Eve here in Sydney, and tonight should be a lot of fun, with lots of drinks, good company and a top view of the fireworks over one of the most beautiful harbours in the world. Top Stuff. Thanks to all of you who made it out to my book signings in Brisbane and Sydney. Both days were awesome, with heaps of my books and Henry's books sold and signed, and it was a pleasure as always to meet the folks that enjoy them. Lots of advance copies of Dark Creed got picked up, which was great to see. It was fantastic to meet so many new faces, as well as seeing some of the 'regulars' (hi Morph!). Kudos to the Games Workshop guys for putting on a great couple of events, and to Mal from BL who was on good form.
Right, I thought I'd end the year by responding to some questions/comments I've received in the last few months but have yet to answer. That will allow me to start 2010 with a clean slate, and resolutions to blog more often! Apologies if I missed your question - give me a nudge to remind me if I did.
Xhalax:
Thanks for the good wishes re the signings, they went well! Sorry you missed out on an early copy of Dark Creed, but it must be available in the UK any day now, so hope you like it when you get it! Several characters do indeed become bloody smears, not sure if it is the ones you want though... Yep, I always make sure I read dedications too, BTW. Oh, and yeah, I'd love to get back over the UK. I miss all my mates over there heaps, and it would be great to do some signings. No plans at the moment however.
Mrki:
The three Word Bearer books are a self-contained trilogy, though as I said previously I do intend to write a couple of short stories to fill in a few gaps. There are stirrings as the end of Dark Creed that open up some interesting possibilities for future Word Bearers action, but for now, I'm going to take a break from them. I'm definitely keen to come back to them at some point, but exactly when that is, I'm not sure.
Bastiaan:
Hi! Five Word Bearers Hosts, and five Dark Apostles, yessir! But yes, the White Consuls are not facing them alone - in fact, they have a rather daunting list of allies eager to come to their aid as soon as the Word Bearer invasion is realised. As well as substantial Imperial Guard forces and Imperial Navy fleets, the White Consuls are part of the Adeptus Praeses, a coalition of twenty Space Marine chapters that guard the Eye of Terror. That is some pretty heavy-duty reinforcements... Sabtec and Khalaxis definitely have their roles to play, and some of the bigger players are in the mix too (even if their roles are 'unseen').
Andy Aitch:
Hey mate! Hope all is going well with you and your writing!
Jessie Badilo:
The Warmonger is one of my favourites in the series, and he plays a bigger part in Dark Creed than he did in Dark Disciple (but then you already know, that having read it in three days! Glad you liked it, thanks heaps for the high praise!) I always wanted the Warmonger to play a bigger part in Dark Disciple, but a giant death-dealing mechanical monster with Alzheimer's is not exactly the ideal companion on an under-the-radar stealth mission...
Martin Rice:
Oh yes, lots of conniving between the lead characters in Dark Creed. As to how damaged a Necron lord would get travelling through the warp - who says they travel through the warp at all? (cue spooky music)
Bob Beyer:
Greetings from Australia to Denmark! Skol!
Morph:
Great seeing you again, thanks for popping in. Glad that you enjoyed Dark Creed!
Uncle Le:
I suspect interweb chinese whispers at play... I said that I was writing a heresy book called something like 'The Fall of Lorgar'?? Errr, that is news to me. Possibly this is a mix up with the Heresy short story I wrote for Tales of Heresy? Or perhaps there was an assumption that I would write a Word Bearer heresy book, since I've been writing them in 40K. Who knows.To set the record straight, there are currently no plans involving me writing a Heresy title, nor has there been in the past. Regarding Aaron's book, The First Heretic, I know nothing more about it than anyone else, I'm afraid, so I cannot shed any light there. Glad you've enjoyed the Word Bearers books!
Right, I better get my arse back to work writing the follow-up to Knight of the Realm, which is progressing well but a bit slower than I'd like!
Cheers all, and speak to you in 2010!
Ant