Thank you for signing up to my newsletter at gavthorpe.co.uk. If you have received this email in error you can unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of the mail. In this newsletter:
- Warbeast: David Gemmell Legend Award WINNER!
- Hello!
- Lorgar: Bearer of the Word
- Newsletter Q&A - Gyrinx
- Kickstarter - Cthulhu Wars Onslaught 3
- Blog Round-Up
- Upcoming Events
- Hard Drive Hot List (or, My Current Projects)
- Submissions Alert - Space Marine Midwives
- Bi-Monthly Competition Winner
I know I've already emailed about winning the David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel, but...
Umm... so thank you again to everyone who voted, your support for the Gemmell Award - and for reading my books - is truly appreciated. In case you missed it, you can read my blog about the ceremony here:
Official photo by Sandy Auden.
Hello!
With all the exciting news and work on the writing front, I haven’t written much concerning the games design side of things lately. In particular, I haven’t posted a blog or sent a newsletter for Big Stompy Robots in a while.
The main reason for that is the unfortunate cancellation of the DaffCon event. My original plan was to take version 2.0 (sort of) to DaffCon in early August. With DaffCon no longer happening that milestone disappeared and to be honest I’ve turned my attention to some other hobby projects instead for the last couple of months. I’ve been painting and playing with a Dwarfs Blood Bowl team, for example. No wins as yet, I’m afraid, but it’s only halfway through the season and I think dwarfs fare best over the longer term. Biggest learning point was that I should have started with a runner not a slayer, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
I’ve also started a campaign for Shadow War: Armageddon, and for that I’m painting up some Eldar Harlequins. Not only are the models great, they’re not the sort of paint scheme you can get away with just drybrush-and-wash techniques, so I’ve been practising my highlighting and blending skills, which have got rusty over the last few years.
It’s a shame that DaffCon isn’t happening as it was a great event last year. If the idea of playing some of the lesser known games at an event appeals, then you’ll be pleased to know that a version of DaffCon is rising Phoenix-like from the embers as the Fools Daily Butterfly House at BoneCon in the New Year (formerly SmogCon). I haven’t confirmed yet but I hope I’ll be taking Big Stompy Robots as part of that.
And to keep me on track with the development, I’ve arranged to run participation games at Derby Worlds 2017. That gives me a deadline to aim for to get a new version of the game in order – my next priority now that it seems the basic mechanics work is to sort out the contracts system so that we can play something a bit more varied than ‘blow up the other mechs’.
I also squeezed in a first game of the new Strontium Dog rules that Andy Chambers is writing for Warlord Games (and I am assisting). Much like the first test of BSR, there was a lot of discussion about the central mechanics and Andy has gone away to rebuild the system with some different ideas. It’s always good to get that first game out of the way, so that you know whether the ideas that have been floating around in your head actually have any utility or not. So although there’s a lot to be worked on, at least the Strontium Dog game will be heading in the right direction. As someone once said, ‘Fail faster.’
I’m lining up a whole bunch of gaming-related events in 2018 so if I don’t see you at Derby Worlds, maybe next year instead. For details of all the other events I'll be attending, check out the 'Upcoming Events' section below.
Lorgar: Bearer of the Word
July saw the publication of my first entry in the Horus Heresy Primarchs series, with Lorgar: Bearer of the Word. Many people were surprised that I wasn't writing Corax or the Lion, so I've blogged about my decision to choose Lorgar, and how I went about it, in my Author's Notes.
I've also published two writing advice posts about how the physical structure of your story can add to the reader's experience, using Lorgar: Bearer of the Word as an example (for those who haven't read it yet, Lorgar has chapter styles similar to the Christian bible). You can read Part One and Part Two here.
There are fewer than 500 copies left of the Limited Edition - you can watch this video of me unboxing my author copy if you want to see what you get for your money.
"On the world of Colchis, mighty religions rule a decaying society in the name of absent gods – until the arrival of Lorgar. Primarch, prophet, leader of destiny, the Golden One is raised by Kor Phaeron, priest of the Covenant, to be his weapon in a quest for power.
As religious war spreads across the planet, spearheaded by the Brotherhood of Lorgar, the primarch is plagued by visions of the future and the coming of the Emperor. To find his place in this new order, he must reach balance between the teachings of his adopted father Kor Phaeron, and the fate that he knows awaits him among the stars."
Newsletter Q&A
John asked on Facebook (following my cover reveal for Ghost Warrior): Gav, how do you pronounce Gyrinx (which autocorrect wants to call Gurkin's!)?
Hard 'g'* - eer- rinks.
*(as in 'get')
Might be different in the Eye of Night audio!
If you want to ask a question, just reply to the newsletter and I'll get back to you as soon as my schedule allows. I'll pick a question to go in the next newsletter, and combine them all into a blog post for the website. Click the buttons below for the full Q&A round-ups for July.
Kickstarter - Cthulhu Wars Onslaught 3
I've got many games that have been lovingly admired on arrival, and then put away until that all illusive 'free time', but there are some games that just won't be ignored. In the case of Cthulhu Wars it's because the boxes are so big they won't fit in a cupboard, and I have to literally step over them to get to my desk. Onslaught 3 has come at just the right time as we're currently having an extension built...
The Kickstarter for Cthulhu Wars Onslaught 3 has already reached its funding goal, and ends on 15th August.
Blog Round-Up
I've already covered all my blog posts this month, apart from part three of my Eldar Q&A, which you can read here.
! Submissions Alert !
Escape Artists, the people behind podcasts such as Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and Cast of Wonders, have published the submission guidelines for an anthology they intend to fund via Kickstarter in the near future:
Space Marine Midwives
"Pretty much what it says on the tin - space marine midwives. Bringing forth new life under (space) battle conditions. The juxtaposition of war and creation. Issues surrounding women's access to medical care in times of political / military upheaval.Crossing genres is fine - we’re open to horror, crime, humor and YA in our science fiction. "
You can find out more details of what they are looking for - and what to avoid - by clicking on the button below.
I know many readers of this newsletter will be Games Workshop fans, so I'll also point out what they DON'T want:
"Use of the Games Workshop Warhammer 40k intellectual property. This is NOT a Games Workshop licensed anthology. We can't and won't use stories set in that universe. We're using the term 'space marine' in a generic sense to mean 'a member of the military in a science fiction setting'. GW has a long history of trademark defense we intend to avoid."
One of the most common questions I get asked is "What are you working on?", so here's my (sorry, sometimes cryptic) list of works in progress, plus future releases.
Hard Drive Hot List
- Frontier Worlds - Hostile Takeover (Snowbooks)
- Cryptid Clash - Conquest of the Nu-world: Ban-manush versus Buru (18th Wall Productions)
- The Journal (publisher to be announced)
- Ghost Warrior (Black Library)
- Ashes of Prospero (Black Library)
- Imperator (Black Library)
- Strontium Dog (Warlord Games)
- Big Stompy Robots (Original Game)
- Sword In Ritual Splendor (Original Fiction)
Bi-Monthly Competition Winner
All subscribers to my mailing list are entered into the bi-monthly draw to win a personalised, signed copy of one of my books. This month's winner is Saul Painter from the UK, who will receive a copy of my original fiction trilogy, Empire of the Blood. The next draw will be in September, and the winner will receive a copy ofGhost Warrior.
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