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- Hello!
- The Board is Set & Fireheart
- Q&A: Imperium & Aeldari - Best Friends?
- What Do You Do All Day?
- Blog Round-Up
- Upcoming Events
- Submissions Alert - Black Library (& The Bolthole)
- Kickstarter - Heavy Gear Blitz!
- Hard Drive Hot List (or, My Current Projects)
- Bi-Monthly Competition
Hello!
Remember back in September when I said that being a freelancer means that you have to be a good project manager? Yes, well, if anyone knows how to do that, please could you drop me a line...
As of writing this today, I've finished the first draft of Wild Rider, book two in my Rise of the Ynnari series - I just need to give it a read through, do my first edits, and send it off to Black Library next week. I'm also working on a video game and table-top game, both with work to be finished this side Christmas, and further deadlines in the first few months of 2018. Then there are three story pitches that need to be ready by the end of January (one novella, an audio series, and a short story), and a synopsis for my next Black Library novel to be fleshed out and submitted.
Added to all this, I'm planning on using the first couple of months in January to continue writing my original fiction series Sword in Ritual Splendour (the eagle-eye among you may have noticed that it has been on my 'Hard-Drive Hotlist' for a loooooong time).
So this newsletter intro is going to be short and sweet, and all the above work will be mostly fuelled by mince pies and mulled wine. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my work in 2017 - I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas, and a fun-filled 2018.
Gav
The Board is Set & Fireheart
I have two stories in the Black Library Advent Calendar this year - Fireheart was released on the 20th, and my Horus Heresy story The Board is Set will be released tomorrow (23rd December). Fireheart is an Aeldari short story that serves as a stepping stone between Ghost Warrior and Wild Rider.
"The clans of Craftworld Saim Hann gather in council, but it is the outsider in their midst who draws the most attention – and ire. Druthkhala Shadowspite, once a soulthief of the Dark City, now serves Yvraine, the Emissary of the Death God Ynnead – and she asks much of the Saim Hann people.
Only one would grant her wish for an expedition to the world of Agarimethea, where one of the ancient Croneswords may lie. So Nuadhu Fireheart and the Ynnari embark on a mission that could change all their fates…"
Featuring Malcador the Sigilite, The Board is Set takes place on Terra in the hours leading up to the arrival of Horus' fleet in the Sol system. You can find out more about The Board is Set over on the Black Library website tomorrow.
Newsletter Q&A
Dmitry asked: In regards to how the Aeldari are now interacting with the Imperium, is it still openly hostile or has Yvrainne’s assistance in the resurrection of Guilliman created an understanding between the two sides.
I’d say a little more understanding in some quarters, but bear in mind that the Ynnari are quite divisive within eldar society itself, including their contact with Guilliman. This may form one of the themes to book 2 [Wild Rider, book two in my Rise of the Ynnari series].
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. Click the button below for the full December Q&A.
What Do You Do All Day?
A budding writer recently asked about the practicalities of putting pen to paper, and being a freelance author. Questions like:
- 'Do you have a daily word count?'
- 'What timeline do you adhere to for research, structuring, writing, and editing?'
- 'How do you still have a mortgage after all the books you've written?'
"My current aim is to type 2,000 words a day, four days a week, which works out at 10 weeks to finish an 80,000 word novel. I add a week at the beginning for fleshing out the synopsis into a chapter and scene plan on Scrivener, and a week at the end to read through and edit. I get another chance to edit when the edits come back from Black Library, but hopefully at that stage there won’t be any significant changes I want to make.
You can read my full reply by clicking the button below.
Blog Round-Up
Two interviews for you to listen to this month. In this Paint All The Minis podcast we talk about my history in the Design Studio at Games Workshop, and then it's on to everything Eldar in my latest interview with Combat Phase.
Upcoming Events
If you are coming to any of these events, do come and say hello.
! Submissions Alert !
At the Black Library Weekender in November, it was announced that there will be another open submissions window in the new year (I don't have any insight into when, so don't ask!).
I know writing for Black Library is a goal for many people, so in preparation, you might want to check out the Black Library Bolthole - a forum and blog dedicated to all things, well, Black Library!
Members of the Bolthole support each other in their writing, and many have gone on to be successfully published, including Bolthole Alumni Robbie MacNiven. You can find out more about the Bolthole in this guest post that I hosted on my blog this month, or click below to go straight to the Bolthole.
The Bolthole will also be running a competition to win a signed copy of my novel Jain Zar: The Storm of Silence, so if you'd like a chance to win, keep an eye on the forum.
Kickstarter - Heavy Gear Blitz!
Dream Pod 9, the company behind the Heavy Gear Blitz! game, have launched a Kickstarter to fund the moulds for three additional armies of plastic miniatures. At the time of writing, they are already half way to meeting their funding goal.
I've got three Heavy Gear mechs for the Big Stompy Robots game I'm developing, and I'm hoping this project will fund so I can add to the collection. The Kickstarter ends on January 7th.
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)
- Ashes of Prospero (Black Library)
- Imperator: Wrath of the Omnissiah (Black Library)
- Strontium Dog (Warlord Games)
- Big Stompy Robots (Original Game)
- A Deadly Wit (Black Library)
- Sword In Ritual Splendor (Original Fiction)
- Wild Rider (Black Library)
- Tabletop Game Background (TBA)
- Very Exciting But I Can't Tell You! (Black Library)
Bi-Monthly Competition
All subscribers to my mailing list are entered into the bi-monthly draw to win a personalised, signed copy of one of my books. The next winner will be picked in January, and will receive a signed copy of The Sundering, which is being re-released as part of the Warhammer Chronicles series.
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