Gamebook Monday: Jonathan Green meets Jordan Sorcery

I was recently interviewed by Jordan Sorcery about my work for Fighting Fantasy and the Black Library, and the video went live yesterday. And you can watch it here...

It was nice to be given the opportunity to talk about things people don't often ask me out, such as my involvement with Games Workshop and the early days of the Black Library. However, having watched the interview back, I must apologise for the number of times I use the word 'fun' during the course of our conversation.

Jordan Sorcery has been putting out some fantastic content on his YouTube channel and has interviewed the likes of Sir Ian Livingstone, Rick Priestley, Alessio Cavatore, Gav Thorpe and Andy Chambers, to name but a few. You will also find an interactive history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks on there.

Warhammer Wednesday: Audio Week 2017

I received a promotional email from the Black Library on Monday that rather took me by surprise. Apparently, this week is Audio Week 2017, and the story - or rather, two stories - serialised for the occasion are Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness by m'colleague Gav Thorpe. Here's the blurb for the two stories:

Now the funny thing about these stories, and the reason for me being prompted to write this blog post, is because the Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness are two creations of mine, even if I only really came up with the names*.

From 1994-96, after leaving university, I moved to Nottingham to become a freelance writer. It was then that I started working for Games Workshop, in a freelance capacity, writing colour text and short stories for the Warhammer Armies books and Warhammer 40,000 Codexes**. During that time I contributed words to the Epic 40,000 game as well as Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves and Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves, and Codex: Tyranids, Codex: Angels of Death, and Codex: Chaos.

It was whilst writing the interlinking stories that appeared through Codex: Chaos that I came up with the aforementioned Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness. The connected tales related the invasion of the planet Purgatory by the forces of Chaos, and at the end Inquisitor Horst discovers that the Hand of Darkness has been taken from its hiding place beneath the planet's crust.

In my mind, the Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness were powerful weapons, although unspecified, and GW took those ideas and ran with them*** when they created the backstory for the game Battlefleet Gothic, placing the alien artefacts at the heart of the story, a story which Gav is clearing continuing now.

It will be interesting to see what he does with those powerful weapons of antiquity next.

* Which, let's face it, aren't that original!

** I know it should be Codicies, but GW call them Codexes.

*** And it's not the only time this has happened.

Thought for the Day

"Writers write – authors finish – published authors submit."

~ Gav Thorpe, author

Short Story Saturday: Game Over

GAME OVER came out last year and has received some very positive reviews, including this one:

Short story collections are problematic .Too loose thematically and there may be only one or two works of interest. Too tight and every story can be a carbon copy.

Game Over neatly overcomes these difficulties and easily takes its place among the high scores. It does this due to editor Jonathan Green being brave enough to collect together stories and authors which in turn are brave enough to push the boundaries of the stated subject of computer games and produce stories which are relevant to this without being constrained by it.

All the stories are excellent and involving. It Was Beauty by Gav Thorpe pulls your heart strings when you least expect it and Simon Bestwick's The Face Of The Deep scored a total bull's eye with me perfectly evoking my memories of the game which inspired it while taking it in directions you wouldn't have imagined previously.

Most of all it made me remember that when I played these games ,when I hastily reached in my pocket for more coins and eagerly pressed chunky start buttons 90% of what took place while playing was in my imagination.

Buy this book!

You can pick up a copy of GAME OVER for yourself here.

Short Story Saturday: GAME OVER

While Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland still has over two days left to run, it's time that I drew your attention to another new project of mine.

GAME OVER is a collection of horror stories inspired by classic arcade games. And in the sinister seaside amusement arcades of the British coast, as well as the surreal worlds of the 8-bit shoot-'em-ups and platformers, there is much horror to be found.

This anthology draws together a veritable High Score table of writers, including the 'Godfather of Indie Games' Design James Wallis, and BAFTA-nominated scriptwriter and New York Times bestselling author James Swallow, as well as Simon Bestwick, one of "the most important writers of contemporary British horror” (according to Ramsey Campbell), and Judge Dredd scriptwriter Michael Carroll, while games designer and one-time Warhammer Loremaster Gav Thorpe has taken a break from dragon-riding elves and the grim darkness of the far future to contribute a tale.

After swimming with sharks and lived to tell the tale, a number of SHARKPUNK contributors are back to harry us with tales inspired by arcade games as well as arcade gaming, including multi-award winning editor (and writer) Jonathan Oliver, mistress of the macabre Sarah Peploe, and co-editor of Holdfast Magazine Laurel Sills.

GAME OVER also introduces you to some writers you may not have heard of - yet! The likes of Tim Major, Alexandra Peel, George Pickett, and Adam Chillman.

GAME OVER is published by the award winning UK publisher Snowbooks Ltd and will be booting up and invading your reality very soon!

Gav Thorpe on Why Writing Is Great

As I recover from the Sci-Fi Weekender and get back to some proper writing work, for the rest of this week I'm handing my blog over to other blogs, as it were.

Today, I'd like to direct your attention to Gav Thorp's blog, in particular this piece about why he thinks writing is the best job in the world.

JG at the Sci-Fi Weekender

One week today I shall be at the Sci-Fi Weekender in North Wales, along with some of you, I hope.

You're best to check the timetables there (in case of any last minute changes) but I'm currently chairing two panels. As of writing, the timing for these is as follows:


Friday 1 March - 4.00-5.00pm
No Airships Required: Creating Steampunk Worlds. With Robert Rankin, Sam Stone and Raven Dane.

Saturday 2 March - 4.00-5.00pm
Shared Worlds: Writing into a known universe. With Gav Thorpe and Graham McNeill.


I will also be signing copies of my new Path to Victory gamebook Shadows Over Sylvania at the Black Library stand over the course of the weekend and selling my Pax Britannia titles at my own little table. I am also down to conduct a Q&A session with a certain 'star'.

If you see me, stop me and say hello, and if you see me at my stand, drop by and buy a book (or even a badge).

Maybe I'll see you there...

Forthcoming Events

I shall be attending Dragonmeet this Saturday 1 December, and generally hanging out with the Tin Man and the Warlock at the Fighting Fantasy stand. Also in attendance will be Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone, Ralph Horsley, Sarah Newton, and the guys from Cubicle 7 (who are actually organising everything). If you see me on Saturday, do come and say "Hi!"

I shall also be a guest at next year's Sci-Fi Weekender - 1-3 March 2013 - where I shall hosting at least one panel, taking part in a signing session or two, and hopefully selling some of my books. Gav Thorpe is also going, and the two of us have been cooking up some ideas for the weekend - but more on that another time. The doyenne of crime-horror Sarah Pinborough herself shall also be in attendance.

And that's your lot for now. Until next time...

Gav Thorpe on overwriting...

"Never, ever (and I mean ever) overwrite. If description is too lean, it can be expanded. If dialogue is too sparse, it can be lengthened. Like putting salt in a recipe, you can always add more but it’s really hard to take it out."

Wise words indeed - and most timely in my case...

Alt.Fiction 2011

There's barely a week to go before Alt.Fiction hits Derby QUAD, bringing you the very best in speculative fiction, including panels featuring your favourite genre authors and workshops to help you improve your craft.

I went a few years ago with Abaddon Books to launch the Pax Britannia line but have unfortunately been unable to get back since. This year is no exception (although various of m'colleagues are going), but if I was able to attend I would be checking out the following:

Saturday

10am - Military Science Fiction podcast - featuring m'colleagues Graham McNeill and Gav Thorpe

11am - The Infamous Horror Panel - including Sarah Pinborough and Adam Nevill

12pm - Guest of Honour - Dan Abnett

2pm - Steampunk podcast

3pm - Editing an anthology - featuring one of my editors Christian Dunn

4pm - The World of Publishing Panel

5pm - I'd be torn between the BBC Books Panel and the Tie-in Fiction and Shared Worlds podcast

6pm - Workshop with Graham McNeill

8pm - Audio Books Panel - featuring Christian Dunn and Dan Abnett

Sunday

10am - Is the Genre just for Boys? podcast - I have a pretty good idea what another of my editors who's on the panel, Jenni Hill, will have to say about that

11am - Genre Classics podcast - Dan Abnett again

12pm - Workshop with Dan Abnett - do you see a pattern forming here?

2pm - Torn again, this time between the Using Mythology in Writing podcast and the Comics Panel (featuring Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill and Paul Cornell)

3pm - How Not to Get Published podcast - featuring former collaborator, editor and publisher of mine Marc Gascoigne and current editor of mine Jenni Hill

4pm - What Next for the Genre? - featuring - oh, surprise-surprise - Dan Abnett

You can pore over the (very) full programme of events on offer here, and you can purchase your tickets here.

More writing routines

On the subject of writers' writing routines (which I mentioned here the other day), Scott Andrews had posted about how he finds time to write whilst working the 9 to 5 here, and here Gav Thorpe talks about how to maintain the effort for prolonged periods of time.

Would-be writers take note!

Wise words from Gav Thorpe

Gav Thorpe has some very wise words on writing on his blog today. This part particularly rang true for me:

Sometimes the best thing to do as a writer is to focus on the writing… It’s not just about hitting deadlines. Maintaining focus makes the writing process run more smoothly overall. If your head is somewhere else – like thinking about that review or worrying that someone on the internet has said something you don’t agree with – then it isn’t in the story and characters.

However, this bit didn't:

Still, the novel is well on track for the midway point next week, and I’m keeping to my (for me) leisurely schedule of 20,000 words a week after that.

A leisurely 20,000 words a week?!? I wish!

Anyway, I need to take his advice on board in particular this week. After all, this monster isn't going to write itself, you know?

Hammer & Bolter - Issue #2

The second issue of Black Library’s monthly digital-exclusive anthology is available to pre-order now for an astonishing £2.50!

Bursting at the seams with the best in Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 fiction, Hammer & Bolter #2 features Steve Parker's Deathwatch story Exhumed, Chapter 3 of Ben Counter’s Phalanx, Richard Ford's The Rat Catcher’s Tail, and Gav Thorpe's The Dark Path, while James Swallow faces The Inquisition.

Pre-order yours here, now.

The Appeal of Warhammer 40K

If you want to discover why the likes of James Swallow, Graham McNeill, Nick Kyme, Gav Thorpe and Dan Abnett all love reading and writing books set within the 40k universe, then simply follow this link to SF Signal's Mind Meld feature on that very topic.

UK Games Expo 2010

I had a very enjoyable weekend up in Birmingham at the 2010 UK Games Expo. This was my first visit, and I was taken aback by the size and accomplishment of the event. As well as the expected traders, demo games and tournaments, there were no less than three Daleks, three different Doctors, stormtroopers and Darth Vadar, as well as Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone!

In fact, Fighting Fantasy had a notable presence at the event. Not only was there an FF stand, hosted by Wizard Books, and the aforementioned Jackson and Livingstone, there were also fans, old and new, by the score, and me. And best of all, the cover of the programme was Emerson Tung's glorious painting of the Eye of the Storm from Stormslayer! That gave me a real buzz, I can tell you.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the talk on Saturday give by Steve and Ian about the history of Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy. It was very amusing and not only because of all the photos from the 70s. I even got an honourable mention and a round of applause - which was nice.

Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone and yours truly - what a fine collection of shirts.

The crowds waiting to meet Steve and Ian (the queue went out the door!) whilst Gav Thorpe and Alessio Cavatore sign too.

FF editor Nick Sidwell proudly displaying his wares.

His wares - the brand-spanking-new FF gamebooks!

I also caught up with Ralph Horsley (who I collaborated with a couple of times back in the day), chatted jungle maintenance and work avoidance tactics with Gav Thorpe, and met Alessio Cavatore who was there promoting his new board game Shuuro (which I heard a punter describe as 'Chesshammer').

Ralph Horsley surrounded by his phenomenal body of (vibrantly colourful) work.

Alessio demonstrates Shuuro.

So all that remains now is for me to thank all those who organised the weekend (Tony and his team), everyone who dropped by and said "Hi!" and let me deface their new books, and Nick Sidwell, the FF editor, who manned the stand all weekend, doing sterling work, and who scored me a pass for the event.

Writing is a lonely business... isn't it?

When people envisage the life of a writer they probably picture somebody scratching away in their notebook in a draughty garret somewhere, but most importantly, by themselves!

Well, I work in a garret of sorts (our loft conversion - but there is a draught!) and I tap away at my laptop rather than wear out nib pens on a daily basis, and, yes, I'm there by myself. I spend hours at a time immersed in my own thoughts (an interesting place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there) and then, when I've got something that I feel is worth showing to others, I send it to an editor.

From there on in, writing is anything but a solitary business, as Juliet McKenna explains over at the Solaris Books blog.

Another (vague) acquaintance of mine, Gav Thorpe (ex-Games Workshop games developer and now full-time freelance writer) also has this to say about why we choose to pursue such a (seemingly) lonely profession in the first place.

Enjoy.

Pax Britannia at Forbidden Planet

So last night I went along to the Forbidden Planet store in London to sign copies of my latest Pax Britannia novel Human Nature. As it turned out, mine was the first signing of 2009. And the first signing of 2008 was... Henry 'The Fonz' Winkler!

I must have signed around 70 copies of Human Nature but a special shout-out goes to Sundaram. I even got to sign the signing desk, joining such luminaries as Robert Rankin, Graham McNeill, Dan Abnett and many others.

Talking of the 'many others', Gav Thorpe will be signing copies of his new Warhammer Time of Legends novel Malekith today (Saturday 10 January) from 1.00-2.00pm.

Thanks to Matt (for the delicious hot chocolate), John Harrison (for his support during the course of the evening) and Danie Ware (for sorting it out). Hopefully I'll see you guys there again when the next book comes out!