The Day I Met Joe
One of the best parts about being a writer, and before that a games developer for an international company like Games Workshop, is that I’ve had lots of opportunities to travel to interesting places and meet great people.
There are, of course, all the amazing and lovely gamers and readers I’ve met over the years. I’ve been privileged to spend time with other authors and games designers, some of whom have done work I have admired and respected for many years. I’ve been on panels and hung around convention bars with some fantastic writers, and at UK Games Expo I was sat next to Ian Livingstone for a signing and got to chat to him at some length, which was both cool and very informative. At the San Francisco-based event Kublacon many years ago I tested game competition entries with the likes of James Earnest (of Cheap Ass Games notoriety) and had a brief conversation with Reiner Knizia, to pluck one random example out of history.
It’s no secret that I am a fan of professional wrestling, and in the past I’ve blogged about the time I queued up to see the legendary Brett Hart to get a book signed. I was also fortunate enough to attend a phenomenally funny and eye-opening ‘evening with…’ type event with the late, great Rowdy Roddy Piper last year, not long before he passed away. Both were truly memorable occasions.
Over the last couple of years I’ve made some great connections on social media – like connecting with the likes of Gary Chalk and Joe Dever, whose work at GW and on the Lone Wolf series was exceptionally formative in my early delving into fantasy (I remember one particular cub scout camp where I spent the better part of the week with fellow geek-in-waiting Graham hacking our way though giak-infested woods with sticks for swords…). It gives me a genuine thrill to think that these creators that were so influential on me might have even a passing interest in my work.
Another surprise but welcome addition to my social media ‘giants’ was professional wrestler Samoa Joe, who is a big fan of the 40K universe, among many geeky enthusiasms.
Thanks to some well-meaning prods from my partner Kez, I contacted Joe when it became apparent he would be touring in the UK with the NXT brand, including a stop in Nottingham. In a shamelessly unEnglish fashion I pointed out that he was within spitting distance of Warhammer World, and it would also be cool to meet up if he was so inclined.
He was.
This week I was able to combine all of my geekisms – wrestling, SF and Fantasy, and toy soldiers – in one great package – meeting Samoa Joe.
Monday night I was invited ‘backstage’ by Joe before the show started and spent some time chatting about the wresting biz, writing books and the joys of toy soldiering. I may have looked cool as a cucumber on the surface as I casually greeted up-and-coming stars like Big Cass and Finn Bálor, and when we stood in the arena itself while several other wrestlers went through their pre-show routines, but inside I was geeking out something terrible! Damn that English reserve, should’ve taken more photos! Next time I’m just going to snap away like a mad person!
The next day I met up with Joe again, and in the company of Adam Troke we toured around Warhammer World. A year ago I would never have thought I would be talking about Horus telling jokes to Ferrus Manus’ head in a jar, standing in front of the Isstvan massacre display of Warhammer World, with the Samoan Submission Machine.
Joe was thoroughly nice despite his well-honed grumpy persona around and in the ring, and sharing his energy for both the squared circle and the Grim Darkness of the Far Future has renewed my enthusiasm for them too.
And if like me you are a fan of fantasy, miniatures and wrestling, you might want to check out Rumbleslam on Kickstarter.
Oh, and here are a couple of sneak peeks of the impressive new Age of Sigmar display.
**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books. The next draw is for the new Ultramarines anthology which includes my novella Catechism of Hate.**
