A quick note about characters

Something that's just occurred to me that might be of interest to the reading public is how I cement characters in my mind. As well as trying to come up with someone that's interesting, with flaws desires, unique qualities etc, etc something that I've done for Salamander is try and based the image of my characters (face, build etc) around well-known actors, or, at the very least, use them as inspiration so that I can build a better mental picture of them in my mind.

When describing a scene with a certain character in it, their reactions to things, thoughts etc it can be extremely helpful to have a visual cue on hand just to get your brain going. For all of my Salamander characters (the main ones, at least), I have done a kind of casting call and set certain actors who I think look akin to how I imagine them (even if it's just based on an idea or a theme I have in mind) to certain characters.

Currently, I have them all arrayed on my desktop but I plan to blow them up, print them out and stick them to my notice board (or my door, if that proves to be full) with their names beneath and salient notes about their personality, history and weapons etc. So far, it has been a great way to help these characters come to life as I make the movie in my mind of the narrative I'm describing on the page.

And just as a little treat, here's one of the faces that is currently serving as inspiration (oddly, it's not an actor at all but rather another character that I felt evoked the right mood purely in terms of its visual - and I can't stress this enough - it's ALL about the visual and NOT the character or the characters the actors may have played. Incidentally, I am a big fan of the game this character came from and his classic visual style is just perfect). Faces are probably the most expressive part of the body, so that's what I've focused on in each case.

I'll not say who the character is that bears a resemblance to this one (facially), and if you haven't read the short story or the novel you won't know anyway. But, take a look at Fires of War once that's released in Heroes of the Space Marines and see if you can peg which one it inspired in my mind (oh, and ignore the face paint and the scar down the right side of the face. And remember to add jet-black skin and burning red eyes...).

Salamander - 30,000 words down and counting...

Just a quick update the progress of Salamander. As you can read, I am now over the 30,000 word mark.

Whenever I write a novel I always have these little milestones in word counts that I like to try and hit by a certain date; it could also be a certain number of words per day (usually 1,000 or 3-5,000 over the weekend). My goal for Salamander was 30,000+ by the time I go back to work on the 5th. Thankfully, I've hit that with some change too. I've still got a lot of work ahead of me as this is a 100,000 word novel (thought I suspect it will turn out longer, possibly around the 110-120,000 mark depending on how creative the production team can be with the typeset).

Chapter-wise, this puts almost at the end of chapter three (yes, they are long chapters but I'm breaking them up into parts so as to be more easily digestible - chapter three is just a 'part one' at the moment, but I'll go in and retroactively insert at least one more part. It's actually not that hard to do as the way I write tends to break down nicely into themes/scenes etc, so this is where I look for my break points, even subconsciously putting them in whilst I'm writing sometimes).

The end of this chapter will also herald the end of the involvement of a secondary group of characters I've been really enjoying writing about and developing. You'll have to read the novel to find out how all of that works out, though...

Got to say, I am really pleased with how it's going so far. I reckon this might be some of my best work to date, but I don't want to nix it, so let's leave it there.

More updates to follow...

Confessions of a Filofax

Okay, so I get a lot of banter about this at work but fact is: I still use a filofax. And no, it's not because I'm trapped in 1986 or anything, I just like having things written down and writing them down. I once used a PDA but it screwed up so many times and lost all my information, I was pretty much done with it.

Anyway, I digress... I've just been cycling through said filofax removing the old 2008 pages and putting in the 2009 insert. It's a little ritual I do each year, checking back over the dates, making sure I've got birthdays and anniversaries in etc, etc and in so doing sort of 're-lived' my 2008 in microcosm. It's actually really nice to review the last 365/6 days and a few things stuck out for me.

It was the year when Louise and I got Shakespeare, our awesome but mischievous little house rabbit (the little fella is probably snoozing downstairs right now, either that or he's got behind my TV and is currently destroying all the wires... thinking about it, I should just go check on him, one moment... Yep, still snoozing, laid out by the radiator).




I spent quite a bit in the capital in 2008, hopping on a train and meeting George (my uber-boss at BL) in London to go talk audio books. This was pretty exciting for me and it was great to see The Lightning Tower and The Dark King Horus Heresy audio hit the GW shelves before year end. So successful was it that Slayer of the Storm God and Heart of Rage are coming in 2009. It was a genuine thrill to take part in this; one, because I was at the forefront of something totally new for BL; and 2, because it was fascinating to go to a recording studio and see the actor and the whole creative process at work.

Woolaton Park near where I live was the site for my first 10K run (and only so far, something I plan to rectify in 2009). This was knackering, but I felt a great sense of achievement at the end of it and the memory of that lives on fondly.

A good friend of mine, Tim (who also did the run and several others, as it happens), headed off for sunnier climes and began his African odyssey. I salute him for going and going on such a fantastic journey, but you always miss your good buddies when they're not around.

Like any year, 2008 was one of anniversaries. Louise and I celebrated six years together and six in Nottingham, since we moved from Grimsby and I took up a position at White Dwarf (seems like a LONG time ago now). It also marked ten years since I sadly lost my father. An entire decade has passed and it barely seems like yesterday. I miss you dad.

On a lighter note, it was the year when I did my first interview for 40K Radio. What a great experience - my thanks to Spencer for that one (hope to chat to you again in 2009...).

Movies had a pretty good year in 2008. I'm a huge graphic novel/super heroes fan so to get Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk in the same year was pretty special. Eclipsing both, however, was the superb Dark Knight, possibly one of my favourite movies of all time. Chris Nolan you are a legend, sir.



A melange of other remembrances sprang up, too, as I was flicking through those dog-eared, daubed-on pages: the Fantasy Football league and the planned transfers and changes I wanted to make (I was a winner last season, but I currently trail in third place at the moment - I shall have to rectify that as well); an absolutely storming Kaiser Chiefs gig at the Nottingham Arena; I met Chris Wraight for the first time face-to-face (what a gent); and spoke to one of my literary idols Lee Child at a Waterstones signing - what a great experience, and one I shall never forget.

Anyway, I think that's probably enough procrastinating for now. I've given the blog a good battering this morning - it's about time I got on with some writing.

Salamander Chapter Three & New Year's Resolutions

A Happy New Year to one and all! I hope all your festivities went well and you saw the New Year in with style. I had a fairly quiet affair, with a few friends over, one or two beverages and a bit of Jools Holland's Hootenanny to count us all down. Good stuff.

Benefits of a quiet-ish New Year? No hang over, of course - bonus. It means I'm back at the keyboard (relatively) bright and early for the continuation of chapter three of Salamander. By way of a very brief preview, this chapter is titled 'Malevolence' and introduces a certain Space Marine Chapter that has had, let's say, a 'run in' with the Salamanders in the established history. As this story is actually set prior to the campaign when this altercation takes place I wanted to throw in some potential clues to explain and deepen the rift between them. All very cryptic, I know, but those blog readers who know the background will probably (hopefully) catch on.

It's actually quite interesting writing secondary/peripheral characters like this as in background terms there's not a whole lot written about them. This basically meant I had to come up with an identity for them, something that made them stand out but still rooted them firmly in the lore of Space Marines. In the end, my imagination was stirred by the circumstances the characters found themselves in and their motives. I was very pleased that it all happened kind of organically. They also serve as a wonderful foil for the Salamanders themselves who, up until this point, have only been viewed in isolation to give me a chance to establish a bit of character for them too.

Work beckons on Monday (the editorial day job), and I'm planning to have a fairly modest 30,000 words down by then. I've deliberately given myself a relatively easy/short target to hit as I find if you try to overreach yourself or set up a mountain to climb you inevitably won't do it - and that never feels good. As a writer, I'm buoyed along by my sense of achievement at the end of each writing day and if I thought I wasn't hitting my deadlines then that would affect my morale, I think. I always set a minimum of 2,000 words for a full day (again, very modest) as this might incorporate some reading and research too, or the odd spot of re-writing. I suppose it adheres to the old adage of 'under promise, over deliver' - if I manage to write more then I'm really pumped about it and it'll spur on the next day. It's a kind of weird psychological strategy, but I've found it works just fine for me.

So resolutions then, since it's the New Year and that's the somewhat erroneous title of this post. I'll stick to the writing ones I think, as that's directly relevant. I have two books released this year and a short story, so that's one in the bag already. With Honourkeeper in April and Salamander in September (plus the short in Heroes of the Space Marines in July), I have things pretty well covered. In terms of what I'm actually writing, I'd like to give myself a little more time for projects. Last year (and the first part of this incidentally, but I'm not counting that as it's a tail back from 2008) I found myself rushed on too many occasions when finishing novels/stories etc. This year I'm going to take the time I need, through a combination of getting synopses in earlier (and approved) and giving myself realistic deadlines to hit, so I'm not too pushed. A good writer has to be prolific, I think - well, if they want to be successful at least - but I want to do that whilst taking the time I need to develop and hone. Saying that, I'm pretty darn pleased with both Honourkeeper and Fires of War (and Salamander so far too) - I hope you feel the same.

Two books again would suit me just fine. I have a couple of things in the pipe, but need to firm some details up so I can't really disclose anything here. I'd also like to spread my wings a little, too. Something I started but didn't finish last year was Wyrd Dreams. Necromunda fans, I WILL finish this, I'm just having a hard time finding some time to do it. The plan is in place, I just need to write it. I think possibly a blitz and then posting the whole thing up as a PDF is the way to go. I also have a hankering to write some more mainstream crime fiction. I'm a huge fan of the genre (my favourite author at present is John Connolly - I've just finished Bad Men [excellent, and truly chilling in places] and am about halfway through Dark Hollow) and have, for some time, had a plan to write a full crime novel. I think given my BL commitments that might be stretching it a bit (remember what I was saying about 'under promise, over deliver...), so I going to write a couple of short stories instead and submit them to a couple of crime anthologies and see how I go. I actually started one last year (it sounds weird saying that on only the first day of the New Year) called Death by Seven Samurai (working title). I got about 5,000 words in (halfway, I reckon) and then Fires of War came along. So I hope to pick that up again (I still have all my notes safely enshrined in my moleskin), and write another crime story I've got buzzing around my head.

All in all, a great 2008 - Assault on Black Reach the Novel was released (my first foray into 40K); earlier in the year I had Oathbreaker, my first novel about dwarfs and my first novel since Back from the Dead. I'm very proud of Grudgelore, written together with Gav Thorpe, which was released alongside Oathbreaker; my website was born (soon to be undergoing a bit of a revamp - the remit: more stuff on it); Games Day UK was awesome for me as I actually got to sign something that wasn't just old White Dwarf magazines (though I do appreciate your support, Dwarfer fans), plus I got my first gift from a fan - a wonderful dwarf illustration that was blogged in September; and I had my first signing trip overseas to Holland. Phew! A busy old year in many respects. Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that 2009 will be even busier...

Onwards and upwards...

Salamander - two chapters down...

A belated 'Merry Christmas!' to one and all reading the blog. I had a fairly quiet one this year, with the 25th spent in Nottingham with my good lady, Louise, and resident house rabbit, Shakespeare. A few hours of Guitar Hero World Tour certainly took its toll on my voice, though. Boxing Day I drove up north to my mum's, where the rest of the family got together for a few beverages, some Christmas nosh and a bit of Wii bashing (a term I use to describe playing said console, not actually destroying it).

I gave myself two days off in total, and come the 26th I was back at the laptop thrashing out more words for Salamander. Challenging though it's been so far, I am thoroughly enjoying writing this book. I'll confess, I found it exceptionally tough as first but I put this down to a short break in writing (I was fairly exhausted after the marathon that was Fires of War) and the fact that I was starting again from fresh. (Personally, I think it takes about 10,000 - 20,000 words to break the seal, so to speak, before the narrative really starts to flow in your head.)

As indicated then, I'm just over 20,000 words in and a couple of chapters almost down (and yes, your mathematical acumen does not deceive you, that's about 10,000 words a chapter - it is a lot, but I've decided to maintain chapter integrity, rather than impose a lot of false thematic breaks, and break them up into parts instead, an approach which is working rather well at present). By the end of my writing stint today I hope to have reached the 25,000 word mark, which I think is reasonable given I'm researching and planning as I go along (to add to all the researching and planning I had already done for the book - phew!).

On average, I get through about 2,000 - 5,000 words each session, depending on if I've been at work or if there's a lot of dialogue (which seems to fill up the word count real fast). I am a little behind, but then I started slightly later given that I've been run off my feet with my day job. Still, all is progressing very well now (fingers crossed), so I thought it best that I provide a short update highlighting this very fact.

I'll be back in the New Year (or possibly, New Year's Eve, tomorrow with some other gubbins).

Until then...

Witness the Warp?

Wow - just been trawling through some news stories on MSN and came across this image from 'this week in pictures'.


Is it just me, or does it look like there's a figure amidst all those stellar gases and cosmic particles. Kind of makes me think of the warp.

Spooky...

Stray Dog Swordsman on Redemption Road, by Steve Parker - a review

'I have staunched the flow from my belly as well as I am able.'

Whoah. What an opening line. It says it all really, and yet poses so many questions. A man (woman?) watches his life blood flow from his body, unable to safe enough to save themselves. It has a fatalistic edge, this one line that I love. It's dark and conveys much in just fourteen little words. Who is this individual? Victim? Slayer? Avenger?

If you've not visited the website of fellow author and good friend of mine, Steve Parker then shame on you. The line above is from one of his excellent short stories Stray Dog Swordsman on Redemption Road. What's more, it's free on his website. So stop reading this and get over there right now and read it...

You're back? Read it? Good. Mind if I share some thoughts on it with you? Well, I'm going to anyway.

Whenever I read Steve's fiction I am taken over by the spirit and the atmosphere of his settings. This one was no different, and much like Starfish (another superb story, also for free), I loved it.

It's a personal story, of Iwata Shinosuke, a former samurai who has lost his honour and become a ronin - a sword for hire. Steeped in the milieu of feudal Japan and eastern myth, it's a tale of one's redemption, of his eyes being opened to a wider purpose and the sins of his largess and failing spirit.

I won't spoil the story for those who haven't read it (get over to red-stevie.com right now you fools!), but suffice it so say, I found this a moving and chilling tale. I rejoiced as Iwata rediscovered his purpose and regained his honour; I was frozen in place inside the frost-bitten woods as he was confronted by the wraith of the girl (easily one of my favourite scenes, and genuinely eerie - I felt the temperature change just as Iwata came to the realisation that what he confronted in those benighted woods was not entirely of this world); I was reviled by the hideous kappa and distraught at the story's bleak denouement.

Any tale that elicits such an emotive response is well crafted. Let it be said: Steve has crafted a great story here, so beautifully written that I had goosebumps. Believe me, as an author and editor myself, it is always a genuine pleasure to read something of this quality. Such control and careful weighting of words, too. Everything felt just right as I was transported back hundreds of years into feudal Japan and the plight of a samurai who had lost everything, little more than a ghost himself, but found succour and release in the travail of a young girl-spirit.

Truly stirring stuff.