Nick Kyme

I’ll admit it, I’ve been slightly crap of late.

There, it’s out there, I said it. Bad me.

Very few blog posts, very little writing.

I guess I’d earned a break, given that I’d not only finished Grimblades (my new Empire army novel released in June – shameless plug, but I’ve a feeling the book will need it as soldiers of the Empire never get as much attention as Space Marines), but that I’d also, rather heroically, finished up a second (yes, that’s now two I’ve done – more than anyone else) audio book (incidentally, I understand that Fireborn was recorded last Wednesday – I wasn’t there, but can’t wait to hear the rushes etc).

But, even so, I’ve been slack. I could go into all the reasons for that. I could bemoan the fact I’ve been ill (risking Cecilia’s ire once again, no doubt – bless you, I need telling when I’m in a mope ), but who cares about that crap. It doesn’t change anything worth a damn, now does it. I had a poster on my bedroom wall (in fact, I still have  – it’s the bedroom I had growing up at my mum’s as a kid – last time I went over it was still there). On it was a picture of the legendary Bruce Lee. Now, I’m not a huge martial arts fan or anything like that, but I did admire the man’s style. The poster carries a quote as well as a picture that reads something like (and I’m paraphrasing a little): Will is nothing. Doing is everything.

It’s fighting talk, all right. Well, here’s to doing. Something that’s not really been happening for me lately.

It’s changing, people, like a slow-shifting ice berg it is changing. Finally, I’ve made some real headway on ‘Prometheus Requiem’, my short story for Fear the Alien. I’ve almost reached the halfway mark and things are going very well, I think (never easy to tell when you’re as close to this to something).

I’m hoping to get this one done by the end of the first week in December, which will then allow me the rest of the time to find a way into Firedrake and hit my midway.

I wouldn’t say I’m full steam ahead or anything, but I have at least discovered the coal bucket and am starting to load up the engine again. Running on empty is hard to do, believe me. I think it’s probably the reason I was ill in the first place. Living hard when you’re finding it hard to live is tough – I don’t recommend it. Regroup, give it time, heal.

Thanks to all for the kind messages and keeping the faith. You are all my rocks, everyone of you.

I’ll keep you posted with further updates as and when…

You’d be forgiven, I think, for not recognising the name in the subject bar, but Lance Reddick is one of those TV genre-show actors that deserves some recognition in my book.

His list of film acting credits (at least according to Wikipedia) is modest but it’s in TV where Lance Reddick excels. He first came to my attention in Fringe as Agent Philip Broyles, masterclassing a combination of dour and cool that really made me sit up and take notice. But in actual fact, I’d seen him before in an earlier show, one that you might know the name of… He also plays Matthew Abaddon (such a cool character name) in Lost, exuding a faint air of menace and ‘ends justifying the means’ mentality.

Lately, I’ve been a student of The Wire (okay, so it’s taken me a little time to start watching and see what all the fuss was about, but I’ve finished season one and am into season two) and here Reddick looms large again as the supposedly career-obsessed Officer Cedric Daniels.

It seems whatever Reddick turns his hand to he  really makes it work. I can’t claim that any of his characters, leastways those mentioned above, are that different from each other. There’s a detached, almost cold air to his performances (with splashes of warmth, made more real due to his default persona) that really put me in mind of a character I’ve included in one of my novels.

What regular readers of the blog may know is that when coming up with a cast to populate the Salamander series of novels and short stories (which, day by day, is growing into something of an opus) I actually tried to put names to faces by imagining who the actors would be that would play them. That’s not to say I wanted to envisage ‘Salamander the Movie’ or anything like that, I just wanted to anchor my abstract idea of the characters (the main ones, anyway) by giving them faces. Lance Reddick has an extremely interesting and unusual face. It’s intense, as is his manner and he has one of those really characterful voices that’s instantly recognisable and really makes him stand out. This was a man I wanted as part of my cast of Space Marines.

Okay, so most people will know that Kratos in God of War formed a big part of the inspiration for Tsu’gan – who seems to be known in a lot of circles as the Salamanders’ ‘angry man’. Quite right, too – that’s exactly what he is. On my laptop I’ve actually got an entire folder with headshots of the various actors that I revisit whenever I’m writing something significant involving a particular character in it.

Lance Reddick is part of that folder. He, in fact, was one of the first characters I ‘got down’ as it were. He was actually the inspiration for Apothecary Fugis (who will return, folks, oh yes). Thin-faced, intimidating but with the capacity for warmth and compassion, it was a perfect fit for the character.

It is strange sometimes to think about where inspiration can come from. I can certainly say it’s helped me immeasurably in the conceptualisation of Salamander and all the stories within and surrounding it.

So, I woke up yesterday morning to the annoying fact that somewhere during the weekend’s revelry I had contracted a cold.

This has pissed me off no end A) because I’ve been hammering the gym of late and feeling pretty good as a result and B) because it’s thrown me off my writing stride (which was more of stroll to be fair).

I’m a pretty healthy guy, by and large (nobody mention swine flu – ‘kay), and nothing annoys me more than not being able to do what I want to do because of a bloody virus, or whatever this fug is that’s affecting me.

It’s not too bad at the moment, but I’m dreading when it’s time to go to bed and all that lovely mucous rolls up again to really spoil my evening. I reckon I’ll shake it in a few days and fully plan on heading into work tomorrow (I tend to find if I stay at home when I’m ill I just end up feeling sorry for myself, ergo – worse). I was supposed to be working at home today, donning my editor’s hat and doing some reading. That got kiboshed after about fifty pages I’m afraid, too much snot, too much like my throat and head really didn’t want me to do it. When you’ve got to concentrate on a novel, examining it as thoroughly as you can and you start skipping bits because you’re head is a lump it’s time to stop.

I ended up watching four episodes of 24 instead (though I did get a skype chat in in the morning; apologies Steve, I was a sniffing, coughing mess wasn’t I). Thoroughly enjoyable. It’s the new season (or, the latest one to DVD) and although it’s very silly and just a little far-fetched (disengage sarcasm now), it’s great fun. Gawd bless ya, Jack Bauer – that guy is indestructible, I think.

So, there you have it. No excuses really. I’m trying my damnedest to get ‘Prometheus Requiem’ finished, but I’m still at the just under 3,000 word mark. Then it’s another little job and I’ll be on to Firedrake – almost two months late… Well, I did ask for a longer deadline on it, so I should still be okay.

Again, sorry folks that I’m just not blogging as prolifically as I used to and that the entries are quite short. I’ll get back there, I will…

Anyway, just a quick progress report for you and a juicy extra that put a smile on my face. Fireborn the new Salamander audio drama released next year has been signed off and the short story is currently being reformatted into a script (something I didn’t have to do this time -yay!). I wrote the piece with it being committed to audio in mind but my editor also asked me just to submit it in short story format for a potential ‘in print’ re-release later down the line. Good news for all you people campaigning to see all of the audio dramas in print.

With that now out of the way (though I do need to write a couple of short bios for Tsu’gan and Praetor who star in it), I’ve started work on my Fear the Alien short story, ‘Prometheus Requiem’. After a slow start, I’m now about a quarter of the way through and making good progress. I even managed a trip to Waterstones yesterday with the netbook and got a 1,000 words down over a gingerbread latte (I make no apologies for my coffee choice), something I haven’t done in a while. On a high when I left, I was slightly disconcerted by the wretched weather and glad to get home again.

In related news, I had the good fortune to discover that Salamander is now into its 3rd printing – huzzah! So a huge thanks to all of you who bought the book (and keep on buying it, it seems). Cheers! Don’t think I’ve ever had a novel go into a 3rd printing, so it’s a real confidence boost to me that it’s doing so well. It actually really inspires me and fires me up for Firedrake, the sequel I’ll be working on after all these short stories are out of the way. It might have to go on hold a little longer, though, as I may be doing something for Black Library Live in February, which has a shorter deadline. Watch this space for more.

So that’s about it for now. Working hard, lots more in the pipe, trying to increase the bloggage.

See ya later.

Just unearthed this review of Salamander from Falcatta Times.

It’s nice to see, despite the book having been out for a few months now that it still generates some attention. Short and sweet, but a good review.

In related news, I recently discovered that Salamander only just missed out on the Locus best-seller list. You’ll have to check out the blurb right at the bottom of the page for the mention of the book, but it’s there.

Always a little nerve-wracking when you have a new book out that you want it to do well and get some good reviews. I’m very pleased with how Salamander has been received. It certainly gives me the impetus I need to get going with Firedrake.

And on the subject of the series, I think now is as good a time as any to list all of the published and planned* Salamander stories and novels that I’m writing and what publications they appear in (this is not necessarily in chronological order…):

Salamander (novel – Book One of the Tome of Fire trilogy)
Firedrake (novel – Book Two of the Tome of Fire trilogy)*
Nocturne tbc ((novel – Book Three of the Tome of Fire trilogy)*
Fires of War (short story from the anthology Heroes of the Space Marines)
Hell Night (short story from the anthology Legends of the Space Marines)*
Prometheus Requiem (short story from the anthology Fear the Alien)*
Fireborn (audio drama)
Vulkan’s Shield (short story available as a Games Day 2009 special giveaway and also free as a PDF download on this site)

That’s your lot. Hope that was useful to the collectors.