That Was The Year That Was
‘A Brief History of the Deathwatch’ was one of my most popular blog posts in 2016
As has become tradition, I’m starting the year with a look-back over the last 12 months (and a slightly expanded Christmas cake-related waistline).I’ll write another blog shortly, looking forward to what 2017 will bring.
My Blog
My five most popular blog posts in 2016 were:
1) My Author’s Notes for Warbeast: Age of Sigmar was – and still is for some – a source of great unrest, so it was no surprise that this blog which talked about my own journey with Age of Sigmar, became a place for people to vent their feelings about the new setting.
2) My Three Top Tips For Black Library Submissions: It is clear from my in-box, and from speaking to people at Black Library events, that there are many aspiring writers amongst the readership. I wrote this blog post to help those applying to Black Library’s open submissions window, and have received several notes of thanks from people who have made it through to various stages of the process.
3) A Brief History of the Deathwatch: With the release of two boxed games, an army, and various accompanying short stories and novels, I thought it was time to give some history to how the Deathwatch came about.
4) Angels of Caliban – The Story So Far: In preparation for the release of my Horus Heresy novel Angels of Caliban, this blog post summarised the most pertinent points from Descent of Angels, Fallen Angels, Savage Weapons, The Lion, Prince of Crows, Cypher: Guardian of Order, Master of the First, Unremembered Empire, By the Lion’s Command and (take a breath) Pharos.
5) More Dark Angels Secrets Revealed: Despite first being published in September 2015, this blog post still makes it into the top five for 2016. Answering questions about the Dark Angels, it was a follow up to the also popular blog post ‘Dark Angels Secrets Revealed‘.
Books
I had quite a few significant titles released in 2016, including Angels of Caliban, Corax, Azrael, Warbeast, and my two instalments to The Beast Arises series, The Emperor Expects and The Beast Must Die. But I wanted to draw attention to three of my stories published outside of Black Library.
Nu Thai Screw Job – a cyber-punk story about sex and power, and the dangers when both are abused – was written for Grimdark Magazine, and published in April. You can still buy the eMagazine here.
Stick & Woo was my second story for Voodooworx Miniatures, delving into the mysterious and dangerous world of Tir-Dagrau. You can find out more about this project over on my Voodooworx games page.
Lastly, A Fistful of Dirt was written for Parallax Miniatures’ Kickstarter campaign, to bring to life their unique races of Cayads, Minotaurs, Hadjen, Sicarius, Tir, and Devoid. You can read the story, which was serialised during the campaign, on the Kickstarter page.
Of course 2016 wasn’t all about book releases, it also included much writing for titles that have yet to be published or announced. I made little progress on the original fiction work I’m writing, mostly because paid work always come first, but the down-time over Christmas gave me the opportunity to consider it further and perhaps change my approach to the story. I’m sure I said this at the start of last year, but *this* year I WILL finish it.
Games
I think games design is in my blood – it’s something I started as a 9 or 10-year old, and was fortunate enough to make it my job for 14 years at Games Workshop. Although I’ve had to focus on my writing in recent years, I’ve continued to do bits and pieces of games design and consultancy when I’ve had the time. My notebook of game mechanics and rules has continued to grow however, and now that Sammy is a bit older, I’ve found more time to develop my ideas into something playable. The first of these will see the light of day at Red On Blue In Nottingham (ROBIN) the new Wargaming Event taking place on February 12th 2017.
2016 also saw the release of Space Hulk: Deathwing, a first-person shooter video game. I was involved with story development, and wrote the ‘battle hymn’ used in the trailer for Gamescom 2016. You can find out more about my involvement here.
Hobby
2016 was not good for my wallet. As well as my Kickstarter habit, I’ve bought several miniatures and some Games Workshop board games (including Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower, Bloodbowl, and Gorechosen). I’ve even managed to do some painting and play some games!
Unplanned and surprise hit this year has been Gorechosen. For a game that puts battle-mad champions of the Blood God against each other, there is a satisfying subtlety to the design and gameplay, making it one of the best gladiatorial games out there. The models are incredible too.
My game of the year for 2016 would be Scythe, I think. Amazing production, really slick design. It is one of those games that it is hard to imagine how one would start creating it – so many interleaving mechanics and ideas it seems like it sprang into being fully formed. I hope to play it quite a bit more in 2017, along with more Cthulhu Wars, and my little games group are also starting a Blood Bowl league. And… Well, that’s what the 2017 update is for, let’s not get distracted!
Interviews
Looking over the Interviews section of my website, it looks like I did 22 interviews in 2016 – apologies to those who have experienced Gav overload.
In case you missed them, here are a few you might like to read / listen to:
1) Here’s an interview with the Combat Phase podcast where we discuss in depth Angels of Caliban, including the Lion, the end of Imperium Secundus, and the character of Luther.
2) In this Mob Rules podcast, we talk about The Emperor Expects (book three in The Beast Arises series), wrestling, and my geeking out with Samoa Joe.
3) I discuss how I found out about Age of Sigmar, why I chose the Celestial Vindicators, and being able to include Easter Eggs in Warbeast, in this interview with Mengel Miniatures.
4) Here’s a short interview with Jousting with the Imagination website, where I discuss how I feel about writing for a living, what being freelance means to me, and that terrible moment my computer ate half a novel one week before deadline.
Thank you to everyone who invited me to be interviewed – I’m always happy to chat about my books or the hobby in general, so please just get in touch if you’d like an interview.
Sammy
I’ll end this blog post with a bit of self-indulgence.
My life as a freelancer working from home means I get to spend lots of time with Sammy, watching him grow into a kind, clever, and funny boy. He has a growing collection of board games, as well as two big shelves of books – his imagination is brilliant, and coupled with his language skills, it means we’re treated to daily stories about what his toys are up to.
I’m so proud of him.
I’ll write another blog post soon about what I’ll be up to in 2017.
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