Review of the Year - 2015

This time last year I posted a blog wondering what the future had in store for 2015. "Will it be the Year of Sharkpunk? The Year of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain? Or theYear of Steampunks vs Zombies? Only time will tell..."

Well, as it turned out, one of those projects has yet to materialise but what's funny, looking back now, is that Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland never even got a mention, because I hadn't come up with the idea at the time. It just goes to show what a difference a year can make.

2013 was the Year of Moshi Monsters, while 2014 was the Year of YOU ARE THE HERO, and 2015 will now go down in my memory as the Year of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland. However, my gamebook re-imagining of Lewis Carroll's classic wasn't the only highlight of my writing year.

First off 2015 was the year I first edited and compiled a short story anthology, and not just one but two. May saw the launch of SHARKPUNK, a month before the 40th anniversary of the movie Jaws, and in August GAME OVER was published.

In 2015 LEGO was named the brand of the year, and 2015 also just happened to be the year I contributed to my first LEGO book and that I wrote my first Twelfth Doctor book, who ended up immortalised in LEGO this year too. 2015 was also the year my first work for World of Warriors saw print.

But December was the biggest month for me, with The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus Volume 2 seeing print, along with Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland and the spin-off adult colouring book, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland Colouring Book.

I already have a number of new projects lined up for next year, so what will 2016 be remembered as? The Year of Robin of Sherwood? The Year of Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu? Or the Year of Dorothy's Nightmare in Oz*? Only time will tell...

* Or should I call it The Warmonger of Oz? I'm not sure...

New Book Day! I Love That Minifigure!

Meet the most sought-after LEGO® minifigures of all time, I Love That Minifigure brings together 200 of the coolest, rarest and most collectible minifigures.

I Love That Minifigure is your indispensable guide to the LEGO® world's unique characters. Whether you want to check your collection or read-up on all your favourite LEGO® minifigures, I Love That Minifigure covers more than 35 years of LEGO history, and comes with its own new and exclusive LEGO minifigure for your collection.

Find out the key features of each minifigure, their original availability and rarity rating perfect for any budding LEGO minifigure collectors.

And I wrote about a quarter of it. :-)

 Skeleton Guy - one of the new Series 14 Monsters LEGO minifigures - posing in front of the book he appears in.

My first credit in a Dorling Kindersley book, as well as my first credit in a LEGO book.

 I wrote this...

 And this...

  And this!

All published since May 2015.

Tie-in Tuesday: Coming this autumn...

3rd September 2015

1st October 2015

29th October 2015

Tie-in Tuesday: Still to come in 2015...

Tie-in Tuesday: Under Construction

Steampunk Thursday: Lego Goes Steampunk

It's official - Lego is going to release its first official Steampunk set.

Lego has dabbled with Steampunk before - my son still refers to one of the Monster Fighters as Ulysses Quicksilver - but now the company is going legit.

Here's the official news 'leak' that has appeared on the Lego Club website.

The line will be part of the Lego Master Builder Academy, specifically Level 4, titled Invention Designer. (It's just a shame the official literature has fallen foul of the incorrect use of apostrophes in dates that is so prevalent now.)

TRAVEL TO THE PAST… AND DESIGN THE FUTURE!

Launch your Invention Designer adventure! LEGO Master Builders merge the futuristic idea of time-travel with the clockwork gears and puffing steam-engines of the Victorian 1800′s – Steampunk! Steampunk is a science-fiction art-form that imagines the future as people might have in the past. Let it inspire all kinds of new ideas, and pick up some tips from professional LEGO designers on how to make your creations look futuristic, industrial or just plain cool!

As followers of this blog will probably already know, I've been encouraging people to create their own Pax Britannia kits for years. Now it looks like we'll actually have some bespoke Steampunk pieces to use in such creations in the future. :-)

Warhammer Wednesday: Gaunt's Ghosts a la Lego

As long time readers of this blog will already know, I am a fan of Dan Abnett's writing. Never was this more true that when it comes to his Black Library Inquisitor novels and the Gaunt's Ghosts series.

I didn't think it was possible to love the Ghosts more than I do already, and then I came across this via Dan's blog.

Enjoy!

Steampunk Thursday: The Lord of Time's Arrow

 

Yes, I know, I'm doing the Lego thing again. But the reason this time is because Matt Zitron* very kindly sent me a Lord of the Rings Lego kit of Frodo relaxing at home, as a thank you for dedicating Time's Arrow to his son Isaac.










So it only remains for me to say, "Thanks, Matt!"

* Who won the chance to 'appear' in my latest Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow in the Genre for Japan auction.

Gamebook Friday: Lego of the Spider God

Yes, I've been at it again, but this time it's a sort-of-scene from my Gamebook Adventures app Temple of the Spider God.

 

In case you didn't know Minifigures Series 8 is out, which includes the Conquistador above, not to mention a Deep Sea Diver, Man-Bat-thing and Pirate - so you can expect some more scenes from my gamebooks/novels to be realised in Lego very soon...

In the meantime, if you've not checked out my very first gamebook app before, you can do so here. (And I am assured that it is coming to Android users and French speakers very soon.)

Warhammer Wednesday: Lego 40K

Check out these bad boys...

You can see more Lego 40K figures here*.


* Thanks to David Annandale for the link.

Gamebook Friday: My Fighting Fantasy creations immortalised in Lego - Howl of the Werewolf

If you remember this...

... and you liked these...



... then you'll probably like this too...

The Werebat and Countess Isolde

(from Howl of the Werewolf)

That's right - I'm back to immortalising characters and scenes from my Fighting Fantasy books in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene polymer*!

You can pick up your own copy of Howl of the Werewolf here.


* A.k.a. Lego!

LEGO Batman 2

Batman's very last line gets me every time!

The Anatomy of a Lego Man

Lego Monster Hunters / PB Lego Sets

Coming soon from Lego, the Pax Britannia range... No, sorry, that should read Monster Fighters, not Pax Britannia. (What was I thinking?)

Lego Steampunk Clock

As anyone who has read this blog for more that about five minutes will know, I have a bit of a thing for Lego. My passion for the little plastic brick has only been enhanced by the fact that my son is now old enough to enjoy proper Lego for himself.

I also have a bit of a thing for steampunk. (No! Really?) Carry out a quick search on this blog and you're find links to all manner of steampunk devices, vehicles and characters rendered in Lego.

And here's another one for the collection.

This time it's a Lego Steampunk Clock, created by Matt “monsterbrick” Armstrong. You can find out more about this incredible invention here.

Lego Minifig Game by legendary games designer James Wallis

Like this?

And this?

And this?

They're all Lego figures based on characters from my various books but they're also all based on (or, in some cases, exactly the same as) various minifigs from the collectible series that have been out for a while now.

Well James Wallis (of Hogshead Publishing and Magnum Opus Press) created a great game utilising these fabulous figures for the recent GameCamp held at the London South Bank University.

And you can read all about his experiences of creating the game here.

Who's who in the world of Pax Britannia 2

Anno Frankenstein is launched on an unsuspecting world next Thursday and, to help get you in the mood, here are a couple of characters from the book realised in Lego. But which characters are they?

Only time - and a thorough read of the book - will tell...

Lego Fighting Fantasy Villains

Inspired by my efforts so far - realising Akharis from Curse of the Mummy and Count Varcolac from Howl of the Werewolf in Lego form - I spent the Easter break scouring Ebay for all manner of Lego pieces in order to be able to recreate some more of my memorable Fighting Fantasy villains in little plastic bricks.

So, I started off with this little lot...

The raw materials

I then selected the pieces I needed...

To make one undead Chaos Knight Lord you will need...

And put them together to create the Dread Lord Belgaroth, riding his demonic Nightmare into battle at the climax of my second Fighting Fantasy gamebook Knights of Doom. The undead Chaos sorcerer is preparing to unleash a dark bolt of energy at our hero - YOU!

Belgaroth riding into battle upon the hellish Nightmare

And here's Tony Hough's original illustration that inspired the build above

And here he is on foot, his blighted weapon in hand.

Belgaroth, the Dread Lord of Caer Skaal

Having realised Belgaroth in Lego, I then turned my attention to creating Nazek the Warlock from my first ever Fighting Fantasy adventure Spellbreaker.

Here he is reading the Spell of Unlocking from the Black Grimoire in order to open the Casket of Shadows from which pour forth all manner of gribbly nasties.

Nazek the Warlock unleashes the horrors of the Casket of Shadows