Looking ahead to 2016 – The Worky Bit

So it’s that time when we look back and forward, travelling the time continuum like office chair-bound Timelords. The retrospective on 2015 has been done here, it must be time to tap a few keys about what 2016 has in store. Not having a crystal ball or TARDIS, this will obviously only touch on those things already in motion or that I have definite plans for – a year is a long time and who knows what might appear on my desk in the coming months. Plus there are already a couple of really cool things I can’t talk about yet…

Black Library

As have most years, 2016 is already starting to fill up with a steady flow of commissions and potential commissions from Black Library, as well as a few bits and bobs of rewrites left over from my pre-Christmas submissions. The most pressing of these will likely be the redraft of volume 8 for The Beast Arises, my second contribution to that epic series. There will also be some tweaks to be done on a forthcoming Age of Sigmar short story.

After that I’m looking at a couple of Horus Heresy-related projects. The first is a return to Corax and the Raven Guard, following up on Ravenlord (which is now on general release, plug-plug-plug). The story ties into new events currently being explored by Forge World, although at the same time it also harks back to the origins of the Horus Heresy background from the Adeptus Titanicus game. Expect big battles, treachery and clashing Primarchs.

The other project is a return to the audio format, in the vein of Raven’s Flight, Honour to the Dead and Raptor. I can’t reveal the subject for the moment, but it will cover a pretty pivotal and infamous event. I’m currently getting my head around the general concept and thinking how best it might be exploited with audio narration and sound effects.

To round off the first half of the year, I’ll be revisiting a well known character for the Legends of the Dark Millennium series. I couldn’t possibly spill the beans on who it is yet, but suffice to say it is someone with whom I have become quite well acquainted in recent years.

You may be able to see from the copyright notice in the top right, that I started this in 2013

Original Fiction

Aside from the rewrites and preparation for a couple of the titles I’ve just mentioned, the start of this year is all about finishing the first novel in my next original fantasy series. I wanted to do this back in October last year but events and work took over, so I made the decision to put a break in my other work to give myself time.

This will only be the first draft complete. I already have much in mind I want to look at when I come to the first round of editing, but I’m determined not to look at the start of the manuscript until that first draft is finished; otherwise I’ll spend the time I’ve set aside on rewrites rather than completing the novel. When that’s done I can come back in the summer, redraft the work and get it ready to send out to potential agents and publishers.

And that will be a whole new experience…

I also have a couple of short stories ready for publication. The first is Psychopomp and Ceremony coming in the Weird Ales anthology from Knightwatch (who have released two of my short stories last year – A Wild Affair and End Transmission).

The other is The Nu-Thai Screwjob, penned especially for Grimdark Magazine – a cyberpunkish sci-fi tale of sexual power and corporate politics. You’ll see that Grimdark already has an impressive list of contributors and participants – the likes of Brandon Sanderson and Peter V. Brett as well as fellow BL/GW alumni Graham Mcneill, Matthew Ward, Sarah Cawkwell and David Annandale. I’m very pleased to be included in such company.

Weird Ales is currently slated for release in February and Grimdark Magazine issue 7 comes out on 1st April.

I can also exclusively reveal now that I will also be writing a novella-length fiction for the forthcoming Cryptid Clash series. The brain-child of author Josh Reynolds, this series of books combines ‘monster mash’-style movies and the world of Cryptozoology to pit the strangest creatures against each other in fantastic tales. The series will be published by 18th Wall Productions. Other contributors, aside from Josh himself, include David Annandale, C L Werner, William Meikle, Nikki Nelson-Hicks, Frank Larnerd and Derrick Ferguson. I’ll be revealing as bit more about my tale in the months to come.

I’m hoping there will be some games design work along the way – I’ve certainly been chewing through enough ideas with Carl about Open Combat I really should write them down properly… And maybe a few other things that have been bubbling around that I need to release into the wild in some fashion.

So that’s the work, what about the play? Next week’s post will be about my hobby goals for 2016. Until then, I hope you have a productive and fun year! Let me know your plans and what you’re looking forward to in the comments.

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