Gav Thorpe's Blog, page 32
June 3, 2015
A Legendary Launch
A Legendary Launch
I may have mentioned before that I am really proud to have a story in the Legends 2 Anthology, a celebration of the work of fantasy author David Gemmell. The ebook version of Legends 2 is now available for pre-order. What’s more, if you order in advance you get this amazing anthology for just £1.99!
For less than a cup of good coffee, you get all of this fantasy goodness:
1. Introduction – Stan Nicholls
2. The Blessed and the Cursed – Gav Thorpe
3. A Rescue – Mark Lawrence
4. The Lowest Place – Edward Cox
5. The Giant’s Lady – Rowena Cory Daniels
6. An Oath Given – John Gwynne
7. The Singer – Stella Gemmell
8. Sandrunners – Anthony Ryan
9. Smokestack Lightning – Gavin Smith
10. Oak – Lou Morgan
11. An Owl in Moonlight – Freda Warrington
12. Heaven of Animals – John Hornor Jacobs
13. The Iron Wolves: Retribution – Andy Remic
That’s a pretty good line-up, yeah?
In fact, Legends 2 is already proving popular, and is riding high in the anthology best sellers and hot new releases charts!
If you like something more tree-based to hold while reading, you can pre-order the paperback or the deluxe signed hardback edition at Spacewitch.com.
The David Gemmel Legends award axe
Really chuffed to be involved, and looking forward to the official release alongside the David Gemmel Awards ceremony at Nine Worlds this year.
May 18, 2015
Brave New Warhammer World
This weekend saw the grand re-opening of Warhammer World, Games Workshop’s events centre, pub, flagship store and exhibition space. I was there to celebrate the occasion along with other Black Library authors John French and Guy Haley, cover artist Neil Roberts, and members of the Design Studio and Forge World division.
This imposing facade belies the warm welcome inside
For most folks that indulge in a bit of Warhammery goodness, Warhammer World is best known as the events destination where tournaments, campaign weekends and Open Day events are held. The spacious hall is usually filled with a multitude of gaming tables representing Imperial and alien worlds or far-flung regions of middle-earth or the war-torn battlefields of the Warhammer world.
Warhammer World was also home to a Games Workshop store, unsurprisingly. Now it is home to three! As well as the regular toy soldiers and paint department, there are now retail spaces dedicated to Forge World and the Black Library.
As well as all of the in-print range of Black Library books, you can also pick up audio dramas, high quality art prints and BL-themed merchandise.
But it’s mostly about the books. Lots of books. Quite incredible, really, seeing them all in one space.
As well as the chance to pick up pretty much any current BL title, the store is also the only place fans can buy the special venue-only edition of Meduson. This Horus Heresy anthology features tales of the Shattered Legions – mainly the Iron hands and Salamanders with a few Raven Guard along for the fun – penned by me, Nick Kyme, Dan Abnett, John French, Guy Haley, Chris Wraight, Graham McNeill and David Annandale.
Contains my story ‘Deeds Endure’ among many other fine tales.
For many visitors, the real highlight of Warhammer World is the exhibition space. Over previous years this has undergone many changes, but has always been a celebration of the history of Citadel Miniatures and the fictional worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, using miniatures, art, dioramas and other displays.
The new incarnation of the exhibition is no different, including cabinet after cabinet of beautifully designed and painted miniatures from the earliest days of Warhammer right up to the current incarnations of the games. Thirty-year veterans like me will smile to see old favourites, including ancient Regiments of Renown and the amazing Mike McVey dioramas from years past. There are thousands of models painted by the ‘Eavy Metal team as featured in White Dwarf magazines past and present, along with some amazing Forge World displays showcasing the most impressive models of that range.
Alongside these are a number of large displays, assembled and painted by the Warhammer World team and volunteers. These are incredible battle scenes from Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, ranging in scope from a few feet across to… Well, you need to go and see the ‘Battle for Angelus Prime’ yourselves to appreciate the full spectacle! Also be sure to check out the hidden ‘Tomb Spyder underground assault’ section of the Necron vs Blood Angels diorama, and the fantastic Dwarfs vs Skaven subterranean battle.
It’s May Day on Cadia and everyone turns out for Creed’s acceptance of the colours.
Note how the middle echelon of tanks and soldiers have all turned in salute to their officers!
It was great to see a lot of Black Library fans, many of them familiar faces from previous Weekenders and Black Library Live events. Folks seemed very excited by the developments in the Horus Heresy, as well as my forthcoming titles on the Eldar and Dark Angels. Thanks to all that came along to say hello, get something signed or just chat about books and stuff.
And I leave you with some truly impressive cosplay, one of the fan highlights of the whole event.
The Crimson Fists and Dark Angels join forces.
Notice Alan Bligh (of Forge World) to the left, trying not to attract the attention of this Black Templar.
May 14, 2015
Reality and Reviews
Reality and Reviews
I’ve been writing for over two decades, and writing fiction for eighteen years. Over that time I’ve developed a thick skin, and hopefully simultaneously managed to keep my ego in check (publically, at least…). I have fans and I have critics, and that’s exactly what you would expect. Would I like more of the critics to be fans? Of course. Would I change what I write about and how I write to do it? No.
The biggest benefit of experience is confidence. Not just self-confidence, but confidence in the professional and personal interactions that surround the life of the writer. I trust editors to give me honest feedback, I trust the fans that talk to me at events and post reviews online, and I trust my peers that give and listen to advice and war stories every time I see them.
As much as it can frustrate me, I like getting stuff put through the editorial wringer, because at the end of the process I am confident that I have delivered something worthwhile (even if sometimes it doesn’t seem that way when I first open the email).
But confidence does require topping up. Though I wouldn’t like to speak for anyone else, there’s been so many times I’ve heard writers of all experiences utter a version of the ‘I am a fraud’ fear, it must be near-universal. I expect J K Rowling and George R R Martin still wake up some days thinking someone will knock on the door and tell them, ‘Actually, we were kidding, just being nice to you. Your writing sucks, can we all have our money back please?”
This is one of the reasons I’ve been giving time to short fiction outside of the Black Library, both to work on ideas for some original fiction series I hope to work on later and also to spread the net for different feedback, different audiences.
It’s nerve-wracking in a way that sending in the latest 40K or Horus Heresy story can never be. Whatever the reaction from the editors, there is always some pre-arrangement with Black Library, I never send anything that hasn’t been agreed on. Only the quality of the writing remains to be scrutinised, the idea has already been judged sound.
With original fiction there is always the possibility of outright rejection. Of the fraud being uncovered. Not only does your writing suck, but your ideas are bad too!
But the reward is there as well. The praise is not tempered by working in someone else’s universe, addressing a group of fans already dedicated to it. Folks will like it (or not) wholly based on what is within the words on the page.
Which is a really, really long-winded way of saying that I was very happy to see this review of Reality Bites, which contains my short story End Transmission.
This is a well-executed short with more than enough energy, imagination, and action rammed into it to keep absolutely anyone entertained. A superb contribution.
You can read the whole thing here: http://www.dlsreviews.com/reality-bites.php
Just the sort of thing to top up the old confidence jar, energising me to do even more short stories in the future.
May 7, 2015
Periscope Up!
Okay, so I’ve been busy doing stuff – quite a lot of it family things and such, but I’ve been writing too. This, in fact:
Note, that is not the confirmed tagline, but I like it.
It’s very tempting to get dragged away in all directions; blogging, promoting, generally procrastinating. I find it very difficult to concentrate on writing the thing at hand if part of me is wondering if I have emails to answer, whether anyone has posted a question on Goodreads, if there’s an amusing picture of a cat I need to retweet.
I can get away with some of this, being a full-time writer, but for those that have evenings and weekends to ply their craft it’s vital that you create a space and time where the writing comes first. I’ve been using Freedom for a while, which is a useful way to make sure I’m not tempted to go Wiki-surfing at an inopportune time. It does have the downside that occasionally I genuinely have to look up something or do some research mid-write, but in such times I can still use the iPad or my phone. (Worth noting that turning off your phone can be a very useful thing too.)
It’s equally important that others know when it’s time for ‘periscope down’ and that you are not to be disturbed, except with the odd cup of coffee or snifter of your favourite liquor (assuming it’s after five, naturally). The onus is then on you to make the most of this bubble to be as productive as possible, be it writing or editing or (and this is quite important) thinking about what you are about to write.
And that last one can’t be overlooked. If you have limited access to time at a keyboard, make sure you create times during your daily routine to engage your brain (or disengage it, depending on your process and day job!) so that when you have those periods of typing you already have a good idea what you want to write. I find that manual, semi-conscious tasks like housework and cooking help my mind achieve that nice state between thinking about a thing and not-quite-thinking-about-a-thing. For you it might be the bus ride, walking the dog, bungee-jumping over the Rio Grande.
To put it another way, make sure you give your writing the respect it deserves, with a place and time for your stories, but don’t confine your creativity to just those allotted times at the computer.
As well as working on my latest Horus heresy book, work is progressing on the shiny new Gav Thorpe website. I’ve also been kept on my toes with a healthy dose of releases recently , so much so that I want to make sure I’ve properly mentioned them all. I could try to be fancy and do the soft sell and all that but, you know, busy and everything, so here’s what you should be looking out for!
June 2015 – Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan available for reminder, and you can read an extract on the BL page (http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/asurmen-hand-of-asuryan-1st-ed.html). (This is fifty thousand words long, so about half the length of Malekith, but nearly twice as long as Catechism of Hate.)
May 2015 – All of the Horus Heresy books released to date are now available in eBook collections (five novels for the price of four in each collection). Deliverance Lost is available in Volume 4, along with Age of Darkness (contains The Face of Treachery), The Outcast Dead, Know No Fear, and The Primarchs (including The Lion). (http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/the-horus-heresy-volume-4-ebook.html)
April 2015 – The Shadowmasters available as an mp3, and you can listen to an extract on the BL page (http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/the-shadowmasters-mp3.html)
April 2015 – Corax: Soulforge available as a hardback, eBook, and mp3 and you can read and listen to extracts on the BL page (http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/corax-soulforge-hardback.html)
April 2015 – Raptor available as CD and mp3, and you can listen to an extract on the BL page (http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/raptor-cd.html)
March 31, 2015
Choosing a Side
March 27, 2015
A Short (Story) Update
March 11, 2015
2015 The Year of Hobby: Update Two
Meeples & Miniatures – Episode 141 – Open Combat Kickstarter
Download Episode 141 Welcome to episode 141 of the Meeples & Miniatures Podcast In this show, hosts Neil Shuck & Mike Hobbs chat to Carl Brown and Gavin Thorpe of Second Thunder about their Kickstarter project to produce a print edition of the Open Combat skirmish rules We hope…
