Games Day US 2013

The last two and half weeks have been pretty crazy. I've been in Chicago, Memphis, California, Colorado and back to Chicago, and this evening I am flying out to the UK, which will be the first time I've been back there since 2006. Crazy! I've also been doing quite a bit of writing, having handed over a few short projects to BL, finished up working through the rules for Twelve Elements of War, and been doing some work on synopsises for two novels that I hope to start work on later in the year. So... Games Day US 2013 in Memphis, which was held a couple of weeks ago. It really was an awful lot of fun. Exhausting, but fun.

The weekend started well when I met someone on the plane from Chicago who was heading to Games Day - a friendly bloke called Jeff Durham. Jeff was kind enough to drive me from the airport to the hotel, and helped out with a number of other things over the weekend - so thank you Jeff, you are a star.

Games Day kicked off the night before Games Day really (Games Day eve), with the GW folks hosting a BBQ at their Memphis HQ for ticket holders and guests. I headed over there with author Mike Lee. I'd not met Mike before, and it was great to hang out. If you ever get a chance to chat with him, ask him about the time he almost died at the hands (or rather, hooves) of an angry warhorse. Yikes.

The BBQ was fun, and it was great to catch up with folk I used to work with in the Design Studio, chat with Dan and Mike, as well as the BL and GW staff, and meet some of the people who were coming to Games Day. After the BBQ I headed downtown to Beale Street, a pedestrian-only street filled with blues bars, street performers and seemingly everyone in Memphis) and met up with my good mate Dave Taylor. Beers were drunk, and later in the night we caught up with the other BL folk. Good times.

This was my first ever Games Day US, and I was really looking forward to it. Writing can be such an isolating past time that it's always great to go to things like Games Days and meet people who are genuinely passionate about what you've written. They are always both exhausting and energising for me. Exhausting simply because being 'on' all day, chatting to folks is surprisingly tiring, and energising because they always re-excite me about what I get to do simply through the sheer weight of enthusiasm that the fans exude. I'm getting paid to make up stories about Space Marines at the end of the day, and that's pretty damn cool.

I Talked lots about Word Bearers and World Eaters (was really pleased that people seemed to *really* like 'Chosen of Khorne'), as well as about future projects that are in the works (including HH, which I'll talk about in a future post...).

All in all, it was a brilliant day. We signed lots of books, ran seminars, and chatted to heaps of people (and Dan's line, as ever, was an impressive monster). I met loads of wonderful people who said nice things about my books. Everyone was really friendly and enthusiastic. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello, you really made me feel very welcome and made the day very enjoyable. Thanks also to Desi and the US GW folks for hosting a great event, and to Claudia, Ead and the folks at BL for making sure us authors were fed and watered.

I also got a chance to look at the Golden Demon entries, which I usually don't get a chance to do, which was really cool. Some freaking amazing entries and winners.

The traditional post-Games Day drink turned into an epic night out, which was heaps of fun, though left me feeling a little worse for wear the next day. There were drinks, there were blues bars, there was karaoke, there were bizarre moments, and there was a lot of laughter. The term of the day was 'lobe stench', though I cannot really remember why, now. A highlight was swapping ghost stories/bigfoot stories with Dan and Mike. My skin was crawling for days.

As I said, I'm now getting packed up to head to the UK - and I'll be around in the UK for long enough to go to UK Games Day in late September. Hopefully it will be just as much fun as US Games Day!

And we have a winner!

There were some great entries into the competition I put up last week. Matt's suggestion of "A Pig" made me laugh the most, though Chris's suggestion of Scout Sergeant Cyrus from Dawn of War II certainly made me chuckle (I played way too much of that game). I loved Boltorange's idea of wanting to see Kharn take on the Skulltaker - I think there is definitely a story in that.

But there can be only one, and while I've deliberated back and forth, and loved all the entries... The winner is Gil Fuhr, with this suggestion:

"Lucius the Eternal! Not only because they make up 40K’s dichotomy of violence, but because they both have such personal tales of betrayal; so much in common & so different. And there is such backstory with Fabius Bile and Angron’s Legion wide implants. Then again, Fabius Bile would be a fun fight. What would his Rod of Torment feel like to Kharn?"

Kharn vs Lucius, huh. I like it. You sir, are the winner! I'll be in contact with you shortly!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Wanna win a signed copy of Chosen of Khorne?

So, my beautiful girlfriend and I are off travelling the world in 3 weeks time (and I'm planning to do lots of writing along the way) - so I am currently doing lots of cleaning, boxing up, storing, chucking out and selling stuff. Fun. While doing this, I came across a spare copy of Chosen of Khorne that I'd not given to friends or family, and thought it'd give it away to someone.

So, here's the deal. To score yourself this copy, I want you to tell me who, in a Black Library story/novel/audio/whatever,  you would most like to see Khârn fight, why, and who you reckon would be the victor. 30k, 40k - whatever. Bring on the smack-down!

I'll leave this comp open for a week, so will pick my favourite response next Monday evening, Sydney time. Make sure to leave your details so I can get in touch and find out where to send the signed audio if I choose your entry as the coolest/funniest/most generally rad.

"KILL! MAIM! BURN! KILL! MAIM! BURN!"

My new Horus Heresy short story

Dark Heart, the Horus Heresy story that I wrote for the forthcoming anthology Mark of Calth is now available to download here.

The story is set during the Word Bearers' attack on Calth, and is designed to tie in with Dan Abnett's awesome Know No Fear. It features a certain young Word Bearer called Marduk  taking part in the attack on the Zetsun Verid Yard - and the subsequent counter-attack against the Word Bearers led by the big man in blue himself...

I've also written a short blog about writing this story for the Black Library site - check it out.

Oz Games Day 2012

Oz Games Day was held a few months back (geez, where did that time go?), and once again, it was an absolute cracker of a day. This year on the BL stand I was joined by my good mate Gav Thorpe (aka the Gavinthrope, the Thorpinator, the Spleen, or Captain Nosebag – take your pick), as well as the mighty Matt Farrer and the fearsome Henry Zou (he’s not actually that fearsome – he’s rather nice, really).

On the Studio stand there was Jes Goodwin, Jeremy Vetock and artist Kevin Chin.

One of the reasons I love Games Day is catching up with old mates. It was fantastic to hang out with Gav again, as well as with Jes and Jerm, who are all friends that I worked with in the UK. It was also good to meet Kevin for the first time, and to catch up with Matt and Henry, and Mal and Michael from BL. Good times.

I love Oz Games Day. The venue is awesome (just check out that picture up above - how 40K is that?). The GW staff always take care of us – thanks  guys, especially to Matt Farrer (who provided me these pics) and the big man, the one and only Craig O’Neill. And most of all, the fans – who are the ones that make the day a success – are awesome.

Chosen of Khorne was released on the day. I’m really happy with how it turned out – love Kharn’s voice – and it seems to have been pretty well received. Would love to write some more about Kharn in the future...

Writing can be a pretty lonely pastime. It’s hard sometimes to have a sense that people are actually reading your books until you go somewhere like a Games Day and are blown away by having folks coming up to you to talk about how much they enjoyed your work.

Thanks everyone who came, it was great talking to you all!

Shiny!

Hey folks, Received this in the post yesterday, and thought I'd share...

It's always a great feeling to finally hold a book in your hands that you've toiled over - it makes it all seem worthwhile, and actually real. I can't believe I've finished my first trilogy of 40K novels - it really only feels like yesterday when I was first pitching BL with a handful of Chaos Space Marine novel ideas, having just finished writing my first novel, Mark of Chaos. I pitched ideas for the Alpha Legion, the Deathguard, and the Word Bearers - I'm glad that BL liked the Word Bearers one most.

I've come to really like the set of characters I created for the Word Bearers series, and I'd love to come back to them at some point. In the near future, that will most likely involve one or more short stories, allowing me to tell some cool little sideline stories involving Marduk and co. I'm definitely keen to explore what happens after Dark Creed - things were set in motion at the end of the latest book that will lead to some interesting confrontations... But that is a tale for another day.

For those of you in Australia, I'll be doing a few book signings in early December. I think the plan is to have some early copies of Dark Creed on sale (but I'll confirm that closer to the dates). It looks like I'll be signing in Brisbane and Sydney, on the 4th and 5th of December. I'll post details when I get 'em. It would be great to see some you there.

What am I reading at the moment?

Re-reading Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. Essential reading for anyone with even a passing interest in improving their writing.

I'm also reading an early version of a piece of work by my good mate, Graham McNeill. Not sure if it has been announced yet, so I will keep schtum on what it actually is , but believe me when I say it is mighty fine indeed.

Finally, I'm also reading Robert Holdstock's Lavondyss. I love his Ryhope Wood novels. The Hollowing is probably my favourite (yes, I've read the series all out of order, but don't think it matters too much), but they are all fantastic, wonderfully written and incredibly rich books. I'd love to write fantasy like his.

What am I listening to?

Alice In Chains's new one, Black Gives Way to Blue. Loving it. Current fav's are 'Check My Brain' and 'A Looking In View'. 'Last Of My Kind' really sounds like the Melvins to me, which is not a bad thing at all.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog since it went up a few weeks ago, and especially to all those who left comments. It's great to get such support, so a big thanks to all of you! Please feel free to ask any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. So, without further ado, here are some answers:

Mrki: Glad you are enjoying the Word Bearers series! You are keen on getting an insider scoop on Dark Creed, eh? Hmm... The story revolves around a system called the Boros Gate, which houses a series of rare, stable paths through the warp. The system would be the ideal staging ground to launch attacks into the heart of the Imperium. White Consuls of the Adeptus Praeses guard the system. The Word Bearers want it... Carnage ensues. How's that?

Xisor: Frasier is indeed pure awesome. We are halfway through season 8 at the moment. I don't want it to end!

Pyroriffic: Yeah, the autobiographical section at the start of On Writing is great. Amazing to think how tough he did it in the early days, living out of a caravan with his missus and kid, frantically writing and paying the bills with cleaning jobs. Inspiring stuff.

Bennylicious: Cheers mate, glad you are liking my Bretonnnian sequence. Warhammer kind of gets overshadowed by 40K, and the Bretonnians are hardly mainstream for Warhammer either, but they have always been one of my favourites factions. The next story takes Calard to the cursed realm of Mousillon, which is looking like a lot of fun to write.

The Gavinthrope: Definitely looking forward to Zombieland. It's not out here yet, but looks like comedy gold. Hope all is going well with Crown of Blood, I'm really looking forward to reading that. Let's get skype going, huh? Oh, and I might just use your post for the 'about' section of my blog, it cracked me up. Were-Wallaby. There Wallaby.

Bastiaan Vergoossen: Awesome, thank you very much for the high praise! Are there going to be more Word Bearers? See above. The short answer is probably, but most likely not for a little while. Would I like to write about Heresy-era Word Bearers? I'd love to write a novel for the Heresy, but there are no plans to do so at the moment. I will be sure to let you know if things change! As to the Word Bearers in 30K, I believe another author is currently working on something focussing on them, which I'm sure will be great.

Nick: Good stuff! If you do give the Word Bearers a go, hope you like 'em!

And lastly Matt: cheers mate, I don't think I would have started the blog without your encouragement, so thanks. Oh, and 'drink yer ain'.

Till next time.