Warhammer Wednesday: Inferno! Volume 4

So this arrived in the post today...

I have a long history with Inferno! - I had a short story published in Issue Zero as well as pieces in Issues #1, #2 and #3, all of which came out 22 years ago, in 1997 - but this is the first time I've had a story published in its modern, paperback anthology format. And it's nice that the editors have included an introduction to both myself and my story*.

Journey of the Magi is another of my sort-of-Christmas-themed stories, but what I am most proud about is that it is my first Thousand Sons story, and yet the word 'Chaos' doesn't appear in it once. It also features one of the races I have returned to again and again over the years - the Necrons.

Inferno! Volume 4 is a hefty beast - the biggest yet - and contains 12 stories in total, which include George Mann's Inferno! debut, and a tale by Guy Haley, who contributed to the Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu anthology that I put together.

Inferno! Volume 4 goes on general release on 31st October 2019.

 Inferno! Volume 4 alongside the other anthologies I've been published in this year.

* Even if they have got the year wrong. ;-)

Shakespeare Sunday: Guy Haley - A Reckoning

As you may already know, if you have been following my posts about my latest short story anthology, there are three stories contained with Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu that deal with the life of the Bard, and the lives of those who knew him. Josh Reynolds' A Tiger's Heart, A Player's Hide has already been teased so today it's the turn of a dark tale woven by another Black Library fan favourite, Guy Haley.

Guy's A Reckoning takes as its subject matter the mystery surrounding the murder of Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe, Shakespeare's friend and rival playwright.

So, let me set the scene...

A Rooming House in Deptford, 1593...

Eleanor Bull owned the house.  

Small places full of vice and sin, with such houses Marlowe was well acquainted. Mistress Bull's was low-beamed and dark with smoke, a place where light did not penetrate easily on the brightest day, and on the darkest not at all.

Within three others awaited him, his death upon their right shoulders surely as ravens perch upon the gibbets of unrepentant men. Fellows so sick with a malignancy of the soul, from whom the caladrius would turn its snowy face without demur. All three his comrades once, some soon to be his enemies.

Still he must meet them, and so he responded favourably to the invitation to a feast. Red blood flowed in Marlowe's veins, not whey. Under a lintel borne down by sorrow's weight and desperation's call, Marlowe stooped, his hand upon his sword's pommel, a smile upon his lips.

Guy Haley

A writer of science fiction and fantasy, Guy Haley is the author of Crash, Champion of Mars, the Richards and Klein series and others. He is also a prolific contributor to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.  

Previously a science fiction journalist and editor, Guy finds making his own strange worlds up even more fun than writing about those created by other people.

You can find hundreds of reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, free pieces of fiction and more on Guy's blog.

Short Story Saturday: The Black Library Advent Calendar

In the run up to Christmas, Black Library are releasing a new short story every day. The theme? The Lords of the Space Marines*.

Today's story is Guy Haley's The Crusader, about High Marshal Helbrecht of the Black Templars Chapter. Those of you who follow this blog will already know that I've written a thing or two (or, to put it another way, 120,000+ words) about the Black Templars myself.

So if you enjoy today's Advent Calendar offering, why not consider purchasing The Armageddon Omnibus for yourself this Christmas, or downloading The Relic, a story about Dreadnought Brother Jarold of the Solemnus Crusade?

* Yup, more 40K. I sometimes wonder whether BL will ever publish another Warhammer short story. ;-)

Guy Haley on Artificial Intelligence

Things are a bit busy right now, in the lives of Family Green, so over the next few days I'll be handing over the blog to wiser minds than mine and sending you to read their blogs instead.

Today it's the turn of Guy Haley, who discusses whether the creation of an AI would be a good or a bad thing.

The Legacy of Firetop Mountain... and the SFX Fantasy Special

Colour me happy. Very happy. Delighted, in fact.

And the reason? Because the SFX Special Edition Fantasy: The Ultimate Celebration is released today, featuring twelve pages of Fighting Fantasy goodness - Count them! Twelve! - written by Yours Truly.

The Legacy of Firetop Mountain is an article about the 30 year history of Fighting Fantasy and a well-deserved celebration of the classic gamebook series that set many of us in the business today on the path to fame and fortune - or at least publication and the occasional guest appearance at the SFX Weekender.

As well as being filled with pictures of the covers of my various gamebooks, there's all sorts of other great stuff in there too, including Guy Haley's piece of fantasy world-building, Mike Molcher's interview with Pat Mills about the comic strip Slaine, and pages of Black Library Warhammer art and a book round-up too.

So if you don't already subscribe to the SFX Specials, get yourself down to your local newsagents today and pick up a copy. (You'll even find three free gifts included inside!)

Thanks to editor Jes Bickham for making my words look so damn fine and to all those who contributed to the article, but especially Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

Oh, and let me know what you think of my article by clicking on 'Comments' at the bottom of this post.

More writers on writing

This time we've got Chris Wraight talking about getting to the end of a project, and then there's Nick Kyme talking about how his writing has matured over time.

Guy Haley's posted a bit about world-building and writing his first novel. And we'll end with the inestimable William King talking about colour coding the dramatic structure of a story.

I'll have to try that myself some time...

A writer's lot...

The Write Stuff with Guy Haley

Guy Haley's posted a piece he originally wrote for (the now unfortunately defunct) Death Ray magazine. It's about his struggles to become a published author (something which he has now achieved) and is full of useful advice for the would-be writer.

You can read it for yourself here.