Nick Kyme

It’s not been a great start to the new year, to be honest. I found out a couple of days ago that the reason I’ve been feeling so crappy is because I have bronchitis. Say fooking what?! Isn’t that something that usually only effects old folks and ‘ickle babies? Nope. I got it too. Balls. So not only am I full of evil lurgy, I am also ignorant of the disease in general. Well, I’ve become well acquainted with it over the last few weeks, let me tell you.

Copious amounts of mucous – check. Disgusting chesty cough – check. Cotton wool stuffed in ears, head and sinuses – check. General fatigue – check. Feeling like I’ve just gone ten rounds with Hulk in place of Loki – big check.

Ugh! It sucks.

The doctor was actually really surprised I even made it into the surgery. I was running a temperature and inflamed in my throat, even my ears! God bless the powers of Lemsip to mask all symptoms, I suppose.

In the days prior to my illness revelation (sounds like the title to a crap Bourne film), I had been online checking out the right foods to eat, the best diet and lifestyle. Of course, none of the so-called experts could agree, oh, except for the fact that there is no cure nor preventative measure for the common cold. Ah we’ll, seems there was nothing common about what I was suffering with.

So, I am sat at home, feeling shitty, bored out of my mind and trying not to answer too many work emails (bloody hell but I’ve got a lot on at work right now and not being there is actually only increasingly my anxiety levels and general restiveness – calm, calm).

I did many to finish off a couple of much shorter, and thus easier to manage, writing projects that had begun prior to and in the early stages of the bronchitis so at least I feel a little bit productive. Got a new Salamanders short story done, which is now two new pieces I have finished for 2013. One’s a micro short (and I reckon that’s what I’m going to call these types of pieces from now one), clocking in at just over 1k (I always liked the idea of writing an entire anthology of micro shorts, 100 stories in all – is that mental?) and the other is just over the 5k mark, so a normal short story then.

Like I say, fans should see these in 2013. I’d like to do more and I’ve got an idea for a long short story and a couple of sideways tie-ins featuring the Marines Malevolent (I’ve had this one in my head for a while – it was originally slated for Treacheries of the Space Marines but my schedule simply wouldn’t allow for it) and the Raven Guard character from Vulkan’s Shield.

On the subject of short stories, I just want to reiterate for anyone who wasn’t listening the first few times that Tome of Fire is a collection of all the Salamander short stories to date. There is only one story that is unique to the collection (but it’s a long one) that hasn’t been seen anywhere else, in any other form or medium, and that’s The Firebrand. You will find a bunch of other stories that are hard to get hold of (because they were in limited edition chapbooks, only available as audios or downloads and have never been in print etc, etc).

If you’re expecting an entire book of all-new stories then that’s not what you’ll get. It’s everything combined so far into one volume with a brand new short and some hard to find stuff. I don’t know about you but as a collector I like this kind of thing, where I can conveniently have my entire collection all together in one series of four books. If that’s not you and you’d prefer to trawl through Heroes of the Space Marines or if you have diligently tracked down all the shorts thus far in all their forms (and, sincerely, thank you for that) then you’re likely to be disappointed but please don’t beat me down for the book’s existence, especially if you’re a fan, just because it wasn’t what you were expecting.

Alternatively, if you loved the fact all these stories (plus new and hard to find stuff) are now available in one handy, shiny new package then please tell the world so (I.e. go review the book on Amazon). I thank you.

The demand was there for the book, my publisher and I decided it would be great to release the stories as a collection. Had we not, there’d be no Salamander book at all as I was busy writing The Great Betrayal at the time. But do fear not, as I will be returning to the Salamanders either later this year to early-ish next (not counting 30k Salamanders, which I am in the midst of writing now).

Also, on the subject of The Great Betrayal, it has come to my attention (through re-reading and some snarky, but perfectly justified, blog posts) that there are a handful of continuity… slip ups, shall we say. Nothing major, and mainly elf related, but it’s annoying (for me too, believe it or not – I have my pride too and want to get this stuff right). I’m going to see about tweaking the text to iron out these background snafoos so that e-book versions and reprints of the novel can be amended. Sincere apologies, I do really mean that – this stuff matters to me… A LOT. A quick note, however, that some of it was deliberate and will be addressed in the third novel in the series (and it’s six books, not three as some people are still stating), Elfdoom.

Okies, I’m going to get back to coughing and spluttering. Feel free to sound off about any and all of that on here, and I’ll do my best to get back to you with comments.