Sir Alec of McQuay linked me in this, and so I shall endeavour to continue, albeit with a little difference.
What is the working title of your book?
At the moment, it is 'Spirit Warriors Saga: Book One'. A tad assumptive, I know, but In the process of writing I realised that If I had included the entire story that I wanted to write, it was going to be a rather large tome, so cut it into managable book-size chunks.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I guess the idea for this book came out of a love of fantasy and dragons. I decided to participate in this years NaNoWriMo, and felt that the first thing I attempted to properly write should be of a genre I know pretty well. Therefore, I went with fantasy. The rest kind of just fell into place along the way...
What genre does your book fall under?
Fantasy, can't you read? Seriously though, maybe High Fantasy, if we're being technical. There's not a lot of high fantasy that's really grabbed the market at the moment, nothing major has been released and taken hold that I've noticed since Christopher Paolini's Inheritance cycle finished.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
This one, I couldn't possibly speculate. My characters are very much themselves, and in a movie renditon I'd have to let the director decide who best to represent who. Though I can definitely see Tom Hiddleston playing the part of the Necromancer. He has that crazy-face down to a tee.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When Will and his friends are sucked into another universe, they find themselves in the warpath of an evil Necromancer - can they survive his wrath and find a way back home?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Well, I've seen several publishers that are open to novel-length submissions at the moment, so I aim to get it submitted to them as soon as possible. Ideally, I'd get a contract with them for the book (hopefully for both/all three of the books), but if that fails who knows. I may look into self-publishing.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
27 days exactly. I averaged 2,318 words a day throughout the month of November, and managed to finish off the manuscript at a fair 69,544 words. Of course this number will increase as I get further through the rewrite/editing process.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Narnia, for the sheer fact that young people get sucked into another dimension and thrown into a conflict there. It has a large range of fantasy creatures involved in it, and more to come in the subsequent novels, so maybe a piece of Tolkein's Middle Earth stuff too - he has a diverse range of races also.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
NaNoWriMo got me thinking of doing it, but when push came to shove it was my dear other half, Katie Wright, that pushed me on throughout the month of writing to get it done and finished. Thanks should also go to my university friends, who asked me almost every single day how it was going, and to Alec McQuay (mentioned above) and Abhinav Jain, both of whom encouraged me throughout the process.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I think the characters are well-rounded and interesting, and there's certainly a lot left to be answered where the book ends, hell even when the book begins, so I'd hope that they would be drawn in by the originality of the story.
Now for the slight deviance from Alec's - unfortunately I don't have as many friends that are writing novels, aside from Connor Edwards - you should definitely check his stuff out. So there's just that one link I am afraid! Happy Monday.
Monday 10 December 2012
Saturday 1 December 2012
The End!
So, NaNoWriMo has come to a close. BUT, I did finish my novel, and have since begun editing it. The prologue has been dropped entirely, and the editing process has begun on the first chapter, with at least two people reading it through for me right this moment! The editing process would have been held off until January at the earliest, but there are several publishers I've discovered (four I believe, to be precise), that all have open submission windows that are asking for things suitable for my story to fit into. Therefore, I hope to get the first three chapters edited and polished and sent off (in some cases just the first one - they vary in what they ask for).
NaNoWriMo has taught me so much about writing in general, and more specifically about myself as a writer. For instance, I know my best writing hours are 10pm - Midnight, where I've often managed to crank my measly 200-500 word count up to 2-4k. I now also have found that, if I don't read over what I've already written (bar searching back using the find button for specific things I need for continuity) I get alot more done! Other things have penetrated my brain too, like I can now 'read' my brain, and determine when I really do have writers block and need to go do something else, or if my muse is feigning death and hiding around the corner, waiting to be dragged kicking and screaming back into work. One of the most important things NaNo has given me, however, is the ability to write to a deadline.
Having finished my novel a few days prior to the end of November, I began searching around for other things to occupy my writing time in the leui between November and editing in January. I found a fair few, and listed them down in a handy excel spreadsheet; one of which was an anthology submission for the 30th of November. Now, it got to Friday night, approximately half ten, and I still hadn't done anything towards my submission. I had a vague idea of what I was going to write about, but nothing more. The urge took me to try, and so I sat at my pc, and managed to finish a short story of 2,700 words (approximately) by 11:50pm. I gave it two looks over and adjusted one or two words to make it flow better but, all in all, it was pretty decent attempt (so I thought then - I'm not going to go back and read it now just in case I find mistakes that I missed). At 11:55pm I had it sent off via email, all the formatting guidelines followed. I now just have to twiddle my thumbs and wait for a response.
I know what you're thinking - I've said that I was going to wait until Januray to edit my NaNo novel, and I've said that I decided not to wait and have already started doing that. I've also said that I have a list of anthology submissions to attempt in the meantime between now and editing my novel. So, I've decided to do both. Editing is less like writing and more like reading (at the moment, I've yet to find something big that needs changing), and so I'm reviewing my novel when my creative writing muse gives up. Currently, I'm working on two pieces - one steampunk-style short-ish (10-20k) and one quadrilogy of short stories (four 2000-word pieces that tie together and would be released as a serial if they get through selection). So I'm keeping busy. I'm actually quite excited about the steampunk one, as I've never tried anything like that type of fiction before, so its all new and spangly and I get to play with some cool ideas within it.
Back to my novel submissions - If it doesn't get an acceptance through a publishing company before April/May, I'll be utilising a NaNoWriMo partnership company that gives all NaNo "Winners" five free printed copies of their manuscript, and offers them the chance to set it up as a self-published print on demand/ebook via amazon. This I'll do, in the vain hope that someone somewhere will want to read it; if this is the case, I'll be setting it at a low price, somewhere in the region of £2-3. Who knows. I'll be back sometime this week with further updates on my whereabouts with my stories and whatever else is going on in my life at present. Peace!
NaNoWriMo has taught me so much about writing in general, and more specifically about myself as a writer. For instance, I know my best writing hours are 10pm - Midnight, where I've often managed to crank my measly 200-500 word count up to 2-4k. I now also have found that, if I don't read over what I've already written (bar searching back using the find button for specific things I need for continuity) I get alot more done! Other things have penetrated my brain too, like I can now 'read' my brain, and determine when I really do have writers block and need to go do something else, or if my muse is feigning death and hiding around the corner, waiting to be dragged kicking and screaming back into work. One of the most important things NaNo has given me, however, is the ability to write to a deadline.
Having finished my novel a few days prior to the end of November, I began searching around for other things to occupy my writing time in the leui between November and editing in January. I found a fair few, and listed them down in a handy excel spreadsheet; one of which was an anthology submission for the 30th of November. Now, it got to Friday night, approximately half ten, and I still hadn't done anything towards my submission. I had a vague idea of what I was going to write about, but nothing more. The urge took me to try, and so I sat at my pc, and managed to finish a short story of 2,700 words (approximately) by 11:50pm. I gave it two looks over and adjusted one or two words to make it flow better but, all in all, it was pretty decent attempt (so I thought then - I'm not going to go back and read it now just in case I find mistakes that I missed). At 11:55pm I had it sent off via email, all the formatting guidelines followed. I now just have to twiddle my thumbs and wait for a response.
I know what you're thinking - I've said that I was going to wait until Januray to edit my NaNo novel, and I've said that I decided not to wait and have already started doing that. I've also said that I have a list of anthology submissions to attempt in the meantime between now and editing my novel. So, I've decided to do both. Editing is less like writing and more like reading (at the moment, I've yet to find something big that needs changing), and so I'm reviewing my novel when my creative writing muse gives up. Currently, I'm working on two pieces - one steampunk-style short-ish (10-20k) and one quadrilogy of short stories (four 2000-word pieces that tie together and would be released as a serial if they get through selection). So I'm keeping busy. I'm actually quite excited about the steampunk one, as I've never tried anything like that type of fiction before, so its all new and spangly and I get to play with some cool ideas within it.
Back to my novel submissions - If it doesn't get an acceptance through a publishing company before April/May, I'll be utilising a NaNoWriMo partnership company that gives all NaNo "Winners" five free printed copies of their manuscript, and offers them the chance to set it up as a self-published print on demand/ebook via amazon. This I'll do, in the vain hope that someone somewhere will want to read it; if this is the case, I'll be setting it at a low price, somewhere in the region of £2-3. Who knows. I'll be back sometime this week with further updates on my whereabouts with my stories and whatever else is going on in my life at present. Peace!
Monday 26 November 2012
Decisions, Decisions
So; hurrah! I have validated my story on NaNoWriMo and have found it to be a full 63 thousand words long (and in splicing all the chapters together for said validation, found out that I have 104 pages of material - a personal record!). I have officially become a NaNoWriMo Winner (see below)!
Tadaaaah!
I was at work today, and idly passing the time planning my next chapter, and it got me thinking about how the rest of the story will play out. Jotting a few ideas down onto a scrap piece of paper I soon realised that there is probably way too much information that needed to be dropped onto the reader before I could properly say "The End". As soon as I accepted that, I came to the conclusion that I could end the book relatively soon (a chapter to away, as it happens).
Once THAT realisation hit me, I found that I could very easily split the whole story that I had in mind into two books, three if random things keep dropping in like they have been in this first part. If I continued with the way I was going, and included everything that I wished to (and it all quite informs the final conclusion - there's not alot I believe could be cut without seriously altering the story) then I wouldn't be finished until gone New Year.
So, in conclusion, I will be finishing my story in a chapter or two's time, and polishing what I've got as the first of a pair/trilogy. Whether I continue the story in my own time (after editing this first one), or if it'll be next year's NaNo project - I guess it depends on how much I get finished editing its predecessor. In light of this; woohoo! Less work straight after NaNo finishes for me! With that announcement/revelation, I shall leave you be!
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Winner!!
I did it! I 'won' NaNoWriMo! I have broken the fifty-thousand word barrier! This is me right now!
See - total likeness
I feel great, I topped the 50k word count, and guess what? Found that the story is nowhere near finished yet.
I know how you feel, Captain
BUT it's ok; you know why? Because I've written those 50,000 words in just twenty days. That's right, 20. Count 'em. So, in my estimation, there's probably a good 30-40k more to go until I have gotten through the majority of the story and can safely write "The End". That's ok - I have another ten days to go! I can also console myself that, I KNOW that I can keep writing a minimum of 2,000 words a day; hell just today I've written 2.5k, and I know I have another few hundred, possibly thousand, in me for later this evening. So, you know what, unfinished story?
Yeah! Leonidus-ed
So, whilst I may have "finished" NaNoWriMo, I'm not going to kick-back and end my story early, making it (even more) sub-par (than it already is). No, I'm going to keep on hacking away at this granite block until I find myself looking at a (extremely roughly hewn) copy of Michalangelo's David. In book format. Obviously. So, I'll leave you until the end of November, this'll be me-
http://gifguppy.com/movies/brucealmighty/typing.html
Wednesday 14 November 2012
NaNoWriMo! V 2.0
So, this time it's been even longer!! I do apologise to all of you who read this regularly (so, Katie and Mum - I'm sorry). NaNoWriMo has, well and truly taken over all of my writing life this past 13 days. But that's not a bad thing (except for my blog, but hey, you knew this would happen - I warned you back in my post 'NaNoWriMo', hereafter referred to as V 1.0), in fact, its an extremely good thing. Not only am I cruising along with the story at a very nice pace, but I am also breaking both the NaNoWriMo recommended target AND my own target (There's was 1667 per day, mine was and still is 2000 per day, which I'm easily reaching each day so far!).
Currently, having just reached todays target, my novel stands at 33, 766 words. That's fully three times as much as I've ever managed to write on a story, and it feels like I'm going to easily reach the 50,000 NaNoWriMo target to become a NaNo 'Winner'. I actually feel like my story is going to be alot longer than 50,000 words, and I am definitely going to keep on trucking once I've reached it in an attempt to finish it and write "The End" on the 30th of November.
I'm finding the process of writing without editing very liberating, and in general the story is seeming extremely fun to write. I'm enjoying how the characters are evolving, and love how random things keep popping up in my writing that I didn't see coming - early on in the novel I had giant ice wasps suddenly appear on my page without warning! I know some loose places that I want the story to go to, and a couple of things that I want to happen, but I'm leaving the processes by which the characters go there/do them completely up to them - hopefully it'll let the story flow more naturally to those points, or to completely new ones that are better than that (as I found with a certain four-tier waterfall that magically arrived in my character's way more recently in my writing).
I have a host of notes and sketches building up; where I started with just six post-it notes (one for each character), now I have a notepad with ideas and random snippets of prose I want to include (or could include), and roughly- sketched maps and diagrams to help my mind organise and describe various things (see below). Back in V 1.0, I never dreamed of how well this would be going...obviously I hoped it would go well, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much just in case my interest fizzled as per normal after almost 10k of writing it. I didn't, and it hasn't and it doesn't feel like it's going to anytime soon. I honestly think the 2k target is very freeing, not to mention the no- editing rule.
A few people have read what I've written so far, and I'm getting some good responses (they're not allowed to point of mistakes or errors of any kind, for fear of reigniting my drive for self-editing)., and at least one super-enthusiastic response, which is lovely for fuelling my writing drive. So, anyway, can't write too much here, I have a NaNo to complete! Until next time!
Currently, having just reached todays target, my novel stands at 33, 766 words. That's fully three times as much as I've ever managed to write on a story, and it feels like I'm going to easily reach the 50,000 NaNoWriMo target to become a NaNo 'Winner'. I actually feel like my story is going to be alot longer than 50,000 words, and I am definitely going to keep on trucking once I've reached it in an attempt to finish it and write "The End" on the 30th of November.
I'm finding the process of writing without editing very liberating, and in general the story is seeming extremely fun to write. I'm enjoying how the characters are evolving, and love how random things keep popping up in my writing that I didn't see coming - early on in the novel I had giant ice wasps suddenly appear on my page without warning! I know some loose places that I want the story to go to, and a couple of things that I want to happen, but I'm leaving the processes by which the characters go there/do them completely up to them - hopefully it'll let the story flow more naturally to those points, or to completely new ones that are better than that (as I found with a certain four-tier waterfall that magically arrived in my character's way more recently in my writing).
I have a host of notes and sketches building up; where I started with just six post-it notes (one for each character), now I have a notepad with ideas and random snippets of prose I want to include (or could include), and roughly- sketched maps and diagrams to help my mind organise and describe various things (see below). Back in V 1.0, I never dreamed of how well this would be going...obviously I hoped it would go well, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much just in case my interest fizzled as per normal after almost 10k of writing it. I didn't, and it hasn't and it doesn't feel like it's going to anytime soon. I honestly think the 2k target is very freeing, not to mention the no- editing rule.
A few people have read what I've written so far, and I'm getting some good responses (they're not allowed to point of mistakes or errors of any kind, for fear of reigniting my drive for self-editing)., and at least one super-enthusiastic response, which is lovely for fuelling my writing drive. So, anyway, can't write too much here, I have a NaNo to complete! Until next time!
Friday 2 November 2012
NaNo No Blog!
So, it's been over a week since I last posted - slacker that I am! To be fair to me or, at least, to give some reasons as to why I haven't blogged sooner, I have been busy. I last posted on Thursday week; Friday I worked, Saturday I worked. Sunday, I was in town all day at training for a volunteer post I'm taking on. Monday I was working, and I spent the evening out on the front of Blackpool town with my fellow Lancashire NaNoWriMo-ers. It was lovely to meet them, and a great boost for the challenge to come - it really helps to know my fellows (at least a few of them) from the website and be able to connect with others that are in the same boat this month.
Tuesday was my only real no-commitment day, which I spent cleaning the entire flat from top to bottom; doing loads of washing, did a huge load of washing up, tidied up all three bedrooms, changed bed clothes in the two other rooms (i.e. not my room) and took all the rubbish and recycling down (quite a big feat when you consider we're on the second floor and the bins are all around the back of the large building)! Then I waited for two of my best friends to arrive from Peterborough before we had dinner.
Wednesday was a dreary day weather-wise, but we stuck two fingers up at that and went into Blackpool town anyway (though we hid in the crazy golf course whilst the worst of the downpour took place), playing on amusements and ambling around showing them the area (sea, buildings, tower...that's it really to be honest!). James and I had a go on this cool laser maze where you have to get through it without breaking the beams entrapment-style (I broke two, James three), which was really fun!
We then had the evening drinking and watching Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted (and laughing at both to be honest) in celebration of Halloween. Oh, and I should mention we were dressed up. James was the Joker, which was an amusing set-up to do I tell you! Sara was a bloody red riding hood, which didn't serve her well when we went for a walk along the lights (she got a bit cold bless her). And I dressed up as a zombie doctor. The looks on some of the driver's faces that passed us - it was worth the money for the costume and make-up just for those!
Thursday was a day spent in limbo really, not really doing anything bar going to slimming world in the evening. Both Katie and I reached our half stone loss mark, and gained certificates and stickers to prove. Aside from that the only thing I really did was my first day of NaNoWriMo! I managed a solid 2706 words; a full 706 over my personal target of 2k, and way over the NaNo guided target of 1667.; needless to say I was really pleased. Today I have managed just over another solid two thousand words, and really got into the groove of writing it.
In other news I have recently read the latest Black Library Limited Edition Horus Heresy novella, by the esteemed Chris Wraight, and loved every moment of it. I intend to write a full review soon, but suffice to say I can't wait for his first full Horus Heresy novel, and sincerely hope it is based on the White Scars (as this was). I'll try to keep the blog updated better than the past week, but obviously for the moment NaNoWriMo takes priority.
This weekend marks the first ever Black Library Weekender, an awesome event where over twenty authors and artists congregate at the Belfry hotel in Nottingham. I'm sad to miss the show, but I sincerely wish everyone of my friends who is attending a great time, and I can't wait to attend one myself (hopefully next year). I also specifically want to wish Ben Cawkwell a speedy recovery - he recently came off his bike and broke his leg (now he's Bionic Ben thanks to the surgery), and also hope Nik Vincent-Abnett get's over her fever/weakness soon! In the spirit of these well wishes, I leave you with this.
Tuesday was my only real no-commitment day, which I spent cleaning the entire flat from top to bottom; doing loads of washing, did a huge load of washing up, tidied up all three bedrooms, changed bed clothes in the two other rooms (i.e. not my room) and took all the rubbish and recycling down (quite a big feat when you consider we're on the second floor and the bins are all around the back of the large building)! Then I waited for two of my best friends to arrive from Peterborough before we had dinner.
Wednesday was a dreary day weather-wise, but we stuck two fingers up at that and went into Blackpool town anyway (though we hid in the crazy golf course whilst the worst of the downpour took place), playing on amusements and ambling around showing them the area (sea, buildings, tower...that's it really to be honest!). James and I had a go on this cool laser maze where you have to get through it without breaking the beams entrapment-style (I broke two, James three), which was really fun!
We then had the evening drinking and watching Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted (and laughing at both to be honest) in celebration of Halloween. Oh, and I should mention we were dressed up. James was the Joker, which was an amusing set-up to do I tell you! Sara was a bloody red riding hood, which didn't serve her well when we went for a walk along the lights (she got a bit cold bless her). And I dressed up as a zombie doctor. The looks on some of the driver's faces that passed us - it was worth the money for the costume and make-up just for those!
See - we were awesome!
Thursday was a day spent in limbo really, not really doing anything bar going to slimming world in the evening. Both Katie and I reached our half stone loss mark, and gained certificates and stickers to prove. Aside from that the only thing I really did was my first day of NaNoWriMo! I managed a solid 2706 words; a full 706 over my personal target of 2k, and way over the NaNo guided target of 1667.; needless to say I was really pleased. Today I have managed just over another solid two thousand words, and really got into the groove of writing it.
Keep on trucking!
In other news I have recently read the latest Black Library Limited Edition Horus Heresy novella, by the esteemed Chris Wraight, and loved every moment of it. I intend to write a full review soon, but suffice to say I can't wait for his first full Horus Heresy novel, and sincerely hope it is based on the White Scars (as this was). I'll try to keep the blog updated better than the past week, but obviously for the moment NaNoWriMo takes priority.
This weekend marks the first ever Black Library Weekender, an awesome event where over twenty authors and artists congregate at the Belfry hotel in Nottingham. I'm sad to miss the show, but I sincerely wish everyone of my friends who is attending a great time, and I can't wait to attend one myself (hopefully next year). I also specifically want to wish Ben Cawkwell a speedy recovery - he recently came off his bike and broke his leg (now he's Bionic Ben thanks to the surgery), and also hope Nik Vincent-Abnett get's over her fever/weakness soon! In the spirit of these well wishes, I leave you with this.
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Eight Days To Go!
NaNoWriMo continues to approach with speed, and I still plan to meet it head on. Speaking of head on, this is what I did on Sunday
Idiot!
The long and short of it is, I walked into a concrete lamppost. I wasn't watching where I was going, until the last second when I turned and suddenly, post! Scared Katie a fair bit, as it made a fair sound and oozed instead of bled, but I was dandy and unconcussed (and I did get sympathy-ice-cream out of it).
Anyway, as part of my NaNoWriMo preparation, I did another no-edit post today. I'm not entirely displeased with it, which is interesting as I'm never happy with a piece whilst editing and re-editing it, so cutting that slice of creation (or non-creation as it sometimes becomes) seems to help my inner muse. I thought I'd share it with you, as I'm stumped as what to blog about (not really feeling any of the many ideas for a post that I've got written down). It's loosely based around the accident on Sunday (and I've copied it as-is; no editing!)
I remember little from before. Not much, you'll understand, but enough to piece together some of my situation at the time. The day was nice - clear and warm, with a light sea breeze cooling the skin just a touch. Some form of travelling took place - though I cannot recall how or where we went, I know instinctively it wasn't far. My heart soars with the memory of emotion - happiness, love, contentment. Know that in these recollections I do not feel these; I only feel the shadow of what was once there.
There was commotion - distraction; something drew our attention elsewhere. That much remains, though its exact nature eludes me in a blur of noise and vision. My last complete sensations are so brief they have become almost one, only distinguishable by the different ways they were percieved. A loud, sickening crack is the initial by a moments fraction, the sound heralding the crushing sensation in my forehead. Lastly comes the sight of abeautiful woman, brow creased in worry, a question pursing her full lips, her eyes alight in shock. Then darkness.
***
Coming to, the disappointing absence of her face hits me hard, deep in my chest where I would feel hapiness if that emotion was left to me. This is my fifth awakening that I can recall, and nothing is different. The nurse attending machines in the corner of the room is still there, and I'm still connected to them by various tubes and wires. An incessant beeping, which I first noticed the second time I awoke, is still present, and I soon tune it out. Once more, barely have my eyes opened that a man in a large white coat enters. I deduced I was in some kind of private hospital room on my first awakening, though the type of doctor this man is and what facility I am in remains a mystery. As if driven by some predescribed script, the "doctor" speaks the same questions as before.
"Another Dream, Mr. Smith?"
"How do you feel? Any headaches? Nausea?"
I do not answer. I barely move save for the rise and fall of my chest. Even if pressed I couldn't say why I don't - some instinct inside me warns me off interacting with this man.
"How are his biorhythms?" This to the nurse in the corner, "The same as ever?"
She nods. "Cerebral activity shows he hears you - he understands. I can't say why he doesn't speak." Once more, she repeats the same she has each time I've regained conciousness. He considers me from the foot of my bed, chin in his hand, tapping his lip with a forefinger - again the same act as before. Precisely a minute later - I know, I counted - he nods to himself and leaves.
The reflective glass window, that occupies the opposite wall to me, shakes as the door closes. It's a one-way mirror, of course, though the exact way I know this is, once more, a mystery. It seems this is all my life has become, though obviously aside from the half-dreamt memories, I have no way of knowing what my life was like before. I brace myself, and sure enough the nurse presses something on a console and theres a hiss of pnuemonics. A moment later the pressure in my arm increases, and the room blurs and spins me back into my dreams.
And there you have it, 571 words. Nothing like the 2k practise that I did the other day, and nothing like the 2k slogs I'll be doing each day come November, but hey ho, practise is practise. And it's getting easier to ignore the urge to self-edit! Huzzah! Now, off to do....I don't know what yet. I'll leave you with this, a lovingly-detailed reimagining of the climatic end of the Horus Heresy by an inspiring artist, Neil Roberts.
Saturday 20 October 2012
Finally!
At long last, the initial elements for my army have arrived! I can finally begin the long slog towards gaming and reintegrating myself into the world of the Games Workshop hobby. Here they are;
That's one Rune Priest to lead them and two Wolf Packs to make up the mainstay of my force (obviously several other troop choices will follow - not to mention other types). I'll be spray-painting them in a white undercoat (funny that, given the skull white spray can in the picture), and taking a couple in for a painting lesson into my local GW store. I've never painted on a white base before, and there isn't an official guide to painting Space Wolves from GW, so I figured getting a guiding hand in selecting what paints in what order would serve me best in starting out. I AM going for the generic Space Wolf colouring (how could you want them any other way!?)
In other news, NaNoWriMo is only 11 days away!! Luckily, my characters are fully personalised, complete with smells, mannerisms, habits, looks and clothing styles. I feel confident in knowing them, even if I don't entirely know where my story will go. So far I've planned the first few scenes of my novel and, as per the NaNoWriMo books I've read, I'm not planning any further than that. I'm really looking forward to the focus and challenge that NaNoWriMo will bring, and hope that I have what it takes to crash headlong through any walls that try and block my way en route to The End!
Work is super-tiring, as per usual now - I'd forgotten how dull and slow-going manual labour was! That said, it's a job and its money, so I'll grit my teeth and trudge through it. We're gearing up for christmas now, and my main job is re-filling the christmas card boxes. Exciting eh. I'll finish the blog post up here and get back to it tomorrow or Monday; hopefully with some newly-glued models to show off!
That's one Rune Priest to lead them and two Wolf Packs to make up the mainstay of my force (obviously several other troop choices will follow - not to mention other types). I'll be spray-painting them in a white undercoat (funny that, given the skull white spray can in the picture), and taking a couple in for a painting lesson into my local GW store. I've never painted on a white base before, and there isn't an official guide to painting Space Wolves from GW, so I figured getting a guiding hand in selecting what paints in what order would serve me best in starting out. I AM going for the generic Space Wolf colouring (how could you want them any other way!?)
In other news, NaNoWriMo is only 11 days away!! Luckily, my characters are fully personalised, complete with smells, mannerisms, habits, looks and clothing styles. I feel confident in knowing them, even if I don't entirely know where my story will go. So far I've planned the first few scenes of my novel and, as per the NaNoWriMo books I've read, I'm not planning any further than that. I'm really looking forward to the focus and challenge that NaNoWriMo will bring, and hope that I have what it takes to crash headlong through any walls that try and block my way en route to The End!
Work is super-tiring, as per usual now - I'd forgotten how dull and slow-going manual labour was! That said, it's a job and its money, so I'll grit my teeth and trudge through it. We're gearing up for christmas now, and my main job is re-filling the christmas card boxes. Exciting eh. I'll finish the blog post up here and get back to it tomorrow or Monday; hopefully with some newly-glued models to show off!
Thursday 11 October 2012
NaNoWriMo!
That's National Novel Writing Month to you commoners. I found about this by chance, reading through an article on the event in my writing magazine. Essentially it's a world-wide event, that has been running for several years, where all the participants aim to write (and upload onto the NaNoWriMo website) 2000 words a day, each day for the whole month of November. This gives an average (short) novel of about 50,000 words (first draft only, of course).
As soon as I found out what it was I decided to join, and soon after signed up and had my beginnings of a plot sorted out. It's a great program - where you can join up even without a story idea in play. The website plays host to a massive forum with many sub-threads, all designed to help one another get to the point of starting a novel (and throughout the process too!). There are sub-forums for all the main genres, character forums, adopt-a-plot forums where you submit a plot that you just can't do justice to and other people can take it on if they so choose - it's all excellent stuff.
Anyway, I've had an idea for a group of characters buzzing around my head for a few weeks and couldn't find a place to fit them in. Now, however, thanks to the wonders of the NaNoWriMo website, I've a loose plot outline (at least the beginning). I have only got facts on the beginning because, in all honesty, I don't know how it'll end. I intend to do as alot of authors claim to have done for this event and write by the seat of my pants. Of course I've already got some planned out, so I'll be doing that only from a certain point, but it should allow me enough time to get to know my characters and let them react through my writing and make the rest of the novel feel natural and flow well.
I guess my point for joining up is to connect with other writers outside of the Black Library/Games Workshop influence and expand my horizons a bit. Another very good reason is it provides alot of community support, help and encouragement to keep me writing each day and aim to finish the story. Getting a full novel finished, even as far as a first draft, will be a major achievement for me, and give me something to polish and hopefully submit to a willing editor/publisher. Here's hoping!
As soon as I found out what it was I decided to join, and soon after signed up and had my beginnings of a plot sorted out. It's a great program - where you can join up even without a story idea in play. The website plays host to a massive forum with many sub-threads, all designed to help one another get to the point of starting a novel (and throughout the process too!). There are sub-forums for all the main genres, character forums, adopt-a-plot forums where you submit a plot that you just can't do justice to and other people can take it on if they so choose - it's all excellent stuff.
Anyway, I've had an idea for a group of characters buzzing around my head for a few weeks and couldn't find a place to fit them in. Now, however, thanks to the wonders of the NaNoWriMo website, I've a loose plot outline (at least the beginning). I have only got facts on the beginning because, in all honesty, I don't know how it'll end. I intend to do as alot of authors claim to have done for this event and write by the seat of my pants. Of course I've already got some planned out, so I'll be doing that only from a certain point, but it should allow me enough time to get to know my characters and let them react through my writing and make the rest of the novel feel natural and flow well.
I guess my point for joining up is to connect with other writers outside of the Black Library/Games Workshop influence and expand my horizons a bit. Another very good reason is it provides alot of community support, help and encouragement to keep me writing each day and aim to finish the story. Getting a full novel finished, even as far as a first draft, will be a major achievement for me, and give me something to polish and hopefully submit to a willing editor/publisher. Here's hoping!
Sunday 7 October 2012
Shadows Of Treachery Review
So, the latest Horus Heresy compilation novel, brought to me thanks to the efforts of one Jay Sloper (thankyou my pointy-eared friend). The cover, as always is resplendent. Gorgeously graphic, with colours in perfect harmony, and the delights of Neil Robert's handiwork are awe-inspiring to behold. The entire tome is of the same high standard as the rest of the series, and this is the last edition to have been released as a sole-paperback copy (for those of you who don't understand this, head on over to the Black Library website where their blog will explain more).
First off we have John French's The Crimson Fist, a completely new novella-length item to open the collection. I have to confess I only recall The Last Rembrancer, Mr. French's other Horus Heresy piece from the Age of Darkness anthology. I quite like his style, reading through The Crimson Fist, with an easy pace and well-placed description, the prose is pleasant to read and flows well. The story itself and some of the information therein, well, you should read it. Some nice revelations there, I'll say.
Next we have the text-versions of the first Horus Heresy audiobooks; Raven's Flight, the Dark King and the Lightning Tower. I'll admit, having previously-released stories included within did miff me a little bit when I first found out, but reading through them I can see why the editors at BL decided to do this. It's nice to read these three stories in this new context - with so many novels having passed our gaze since their original releases, it's interesting to digest their collective information in a new light. And with an audio drama you can easily get distracted and miss something vital and lose where the story is; with a book its nice to be able to tune out all else (at least I am able to).
Both the Kaban Project and Death of a Silversmith were great shorts, but again, I've read them before. Their inclusion alongside the Lightning Tower makes this volume seem very much Graham's Collection, and whilst they are good stories, they aren't new, and they aren't in a new format. Both are very nice pieces, but in my opinion not as important to the Horus Heresy 'mainline' plots as the others in this book, and this dwindles their influence.
Lastly we have Prince of Crows, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. A lovely piece, centered around Sevatar and Night Haunter, Mr. DB once more proves himself master of the Night Lords legion. I always enjoy this novella; the madness of both Konrad Curze and Sevatar are interesting and engrossing throughout. It ties well into both the Horus Heresy and as a little added information for the Night Lords series.
All in all the majority of the stories contained within this tome are a pleasure to read, as is the normal from this vaunted series. However the inclusion of one or two different or new shorts in lieu of the extra Mcneill ones would have bumped this up in favouritism for me personally. Age of Darkness still remains my favourite Horus Heresy collection of short stories.
First off we have John French's The Crimson Fist, a completely new novella-length item to open the collection. I have to confess I only recall The Last Rembrancer, Mr. French's other Horus Heresy piece from the Age of Darkness anthology. I quite like his style, reading through The Crimson Fist, with an easy pace and well-placed description, the prose is pleasant to read and flows well. The story itself and some of the information therein, well, you should read it. Some nice revelations there, I'll say.
Next we have the text-versions of the first Horus Heresy audiobooks; Raven's Flight, the Dark King and the Lightning Tower. I'll admit, having previously-released stories included within did miff me a little bit when I first found out, but reading through them I can see why the editors at BL decided to do this. It's nice to read these three stories in this new context - with so many novels having passed our gaze since their original releases, it's interesting to digest their collective information in a new light. And with an audio drama you can easily get distracted and miss something vital and lose where the story is; with a book its nice to be able to tune out all else (at least I am able to).
Both the Kaban Project and Death of a Silversmith were great shorts, but again, I've read them before. Their inclusion alongside the Lightning Tower makes this volume seem very much Graham's Collection, and whilst they are good stories, they aren't new, and they aren't in a new format. Both are very nice pieces, but in my opinion not as important to the Horus Heresy 'mainline' plots as the others in this book, and this dwindles their influence.
Lastly we have Prince of Crows, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. A lovely piece, centered around Sevatar and Night Haunter, Mr. DB once more proves himself master of the Night Lords legion. I always enjoy this novella; the madness of both Konrad Curze and Sevatar are interesting and engrossing throughout. It ties well into both the Horus Heresy and as a little added information for the Night Lords series.
All in all the majority of the stories contained within this tome are a pleasure to read, as is the normal from this vaunted series. However the inclusion of one or two different or new shorts in lieu of the extra Mcneill ones would have bumped this up in favouritism for me personally. Age of Darkness still remains my favourite Horus Heresy collection of short stories.
Friday 5 October 2012
Slimming World - Goals
I've been thinking the last few days as to what I can post about next, and also ways of jazzing up the ol' blogger. To this end, I now have a list of post ideas (from which you should see the results of in the coming weeks), and have decided to add in more pictures to liven up the page (and break up the more word-heavy posts).
Wow, would you look at that, Jazzy! Anyway, onto the main topic of today's blog - Slimming World! Some of you who know me may not think I need to slim down, but I'm more concerned with fitness and stamina than physical image. In the last few years I've slowed down from what I used to be say, before I worked at the Coop warehouse, and I'd like to reattain that level. I don't really have a set goal fitness-wise, suffice to say I want to be able to do some hard physical exercise (like running for example) without getting tired out so fast. So, slimming world.
Ooooh, so flashy! Slimming World works on a principle of eat what you like, just eat it in moderation. It's not like these other diets where you have to weigh out everything you want to eat, and it certainly doesn't dictate what you should or shouldn't eat. Instead, food is assigned a catagory. These are free, superfree, healthy extras and syns. Generally speaking, you can have as much free and superfree food as you want (though obviously it's unhealthy to eat piles and piles of anything). You should have a healthy A & B once per day ('cause it's healthy!) and then you have fifteen syns to spend on ''naughty'' things (wine, beer, chocolate, crisps etc).
So far on Slimming World (I've been eating slimming world stuff unofficially for about a year now) I've eaten such things as below;
Yesterday (Thursday) was my second proper meeting with the local group, and I lost half a pound. I know, I know, it doesn't seem all that much, and it isn't. Truth be told, I expected to lose alot more, considering I stayed away from anything overly-naughty, AND stayed within syns, but I'm sticking with it. Katie lost four and a half pounds in that one week period, so you see, it does work. Hey ho, I say, and I've dived headlong back into it today. I've eaten alot of fruit, barely any syns, and biked to work and back (not to mention carrying heavy boxes around the stock room and running up and down the flat stairs after work), so here's hoping for next week.
So; Goals! For a reasonable BMI, I aim to be about 11 stone. I will, however, get to 11.5 and see how things are going from there. This should get me back to being a comfortable medium in T-shirts (which to be fair in some brands I am at the moment), and down a waist size or two! As a further means to the fitness goal, I intend to attempt a physically-challenging charity event next summer (more details to come in a related and following blog post - maybe next week), so becoming slimmer would help mean less baggage to cart around!
Well now, that seem's a nice place to leave it, so I shall leave you with this little number.
N'awww Look At It!!!
Wow, would you look at that, Jazzy! Anyway, onto the main topic of today's blog - Slimming World! Some of you who know me may not think I need to slim down, but I'm more concerned with fitness and stamina than physical image. In the last few years I've slowed down from what I used to be say, before I worked at the Coop warehouse, and I'd like to reattain that level. I don't really have a set goal fitness-wise, suffice to say I want to be able to do some hard physical exercise (like running for example) without getting tired out so fast. So, slimming world.
Ooooh, so flashy! Slimming World works on a principle of eat what you like, just eat it in moderation. It's not like these other diets where you have to weigh out everything you want to eat, and it certainly doesn't dictate what you should or shouldn't eat. Instead, food is assigned a catagory. These are free, superfree, healthy extras and syns. Generally speaking, you can have as much free and superfree food as you want (though obviously it's unhealthy to eat piles and piles of anything). You should have a healthy A & B once per day ('cause it's healthy!) and then you have fifteen syns to spend on ''naughty'' things (wine, beer, chocolate, crisps etc).
So far on Slimming World (I've been eating slimming world stuff unofficially for about a year now) I've eaten such things as below;
Yesterday (Thursday) was my second proper meeting with the local group, and I lost half a pound. I know, I know, it doesn't seem all that much, and it isn't. Truth be told, I expected to lose alot more, considering I stayed away from anything overly-naughty, AND stayed within syns, but I'm sticking with it. Katie lost four and a half pounds in that one week period, so you see, it does work. Hey ho, I say, and I've dived headlong back into it today. I've eaten alot of fruit, barely any syns, and biked to work and back (not to mention carrying heavy boxes around the stock room and running up and down the flat stairs after work), so here's hoping for next week.
So; Goals! For a reasonable BMI, I aim to be about 11 stone. I will, however, get to 11.5 and see how things are going from there. This should get me back to being a comfortable medium in T-shirts (which to be fair in some brands I am at the moment), and down a waist size or two! As a further means to the fitness goal, I intend to attempt a physically-challenging charity event next summer (more details to come in a related and following blog post - maybe next week), so becoming slimmer would help mean less baggage to cart around!
Well now, that seem's a nice place to leave it, so I shall leave you with this little number.
Tuesday 2 October 2012
Falling
So here's the song I mentioned yesterday...it's nothing much; I actually came up with it all on a long drive between Coventry and Luton, but hey ho.....
The walls that you broke down are building up once again,
I sometimes catch myself thinking of way back when,
When you drew out all my love, but now I can’t compare,
All I ever think these days is’ it isn’t fair’
Falling, apart at the seams,
You’ve shattered my dreams, to pieces.
Falling, you pushed us apart,
Your breaking my heart in two.
I still look at your picture every now and then,
Oh how the anger builds and so I count to ten,
Sharply I calm down and begin to cry,
I lay down on our bed screaming ‘oh darling, why?’.
And now I’m
Falling, your merciless deeds,
Oh, how my heart bleeds, for you, it aches.
Falling, I’m nearing the ground,
No matter how hard, I look, help cannot be found.
I spend hours staring, thinking of your face,
There’s a hole in me somewhere I just cant replace,
With your stuff all gone its like you weren’t even here,
I scream out in loneliness ‘come back my dear!’.
And so I’m
Falling, I’ve crashed and I’ve burned,
My lessons I’ve learned, I wont love anymore.
Yes I’m falling, broken and poor,
Peerless and without a hope of a cure.
Falling, apart at the seams,
You’ve shattered my dreams, to pieces.
Falling, you pushed us apart,
You’ve broken my heart in to.
And I have
Fallen, you return to my door,
You find me dead on the floor, your too late.
Fallen, the fate that you left me to,
Has taken its cue, I’m in pain no more.
Falling, apart at the seams,
I have no more dreams, I’m done.
Falling, you pushed me away,
My heart died and now I will stay, that way.
....and there you have it.
The walls that you broke down are building up once again,
I sometimes catch myself thinking of way back when,
When you drew out all my love, but now I can’t compare,
All I ever think these days is’ it isn’t fair’
Falling, apart at the seams,
You’ve shattered my dreams, to pieces.
Falling, you pushed us apart,
Your breaking my heart in two.
I still look at your picture every now and then,
Oh how the anger builds and so I count to ten,
Sharply I calm down and begin to cry,
I lay down on our bed screaming ‘oh darling, why?’.
And now I’m
Falling, your merciless deeds,
Oh, how my heart bleeds, for you, it aches.
Falling, I’m nearing the ground,
No matter how hard, I look, help cannot be found.
I spend hours staring, thinking of your face,
There’s a hole in me somewhere I just cant replace,
With your stuff all gone its like you weren’t even here,
I scream out in loneliness ‘come back my dear!’.
And so I’m
Falling, I’ve crashed and I’ve burned,
My lessons I’ve learned, I wont love anymore.
Yes I’m falling, broken and poor,
Peerless and without a hope of a cure.
Falling, apart at the seams,
You’ve shattered my dreams, to pieces.
Falling, you pushed us apart,
You’ve broken my heart in to.
And I have
Fallen, you return to my door,
You find me dead on the floor, your too late.
Fallen, the fate that you left me to,
Has taken its cue, I’m in pain no more.
Falling, apart at the seams,
I have no more dreams, I’m done.
Falling, you pushed me away,
My heart died and now I will stay, that way.
....and there you have it.
Monday 1 October 2012
Different Perspectives
So, I've now had two official shifts at my new employment (I don't really count the two-hour stint I did on the interview day), and I've come to the following conclusion - I'm not used to working! It's hard to believe that I used to work eight hours (sometimes 10-12 depending on the need of the depot and how generous I was feeling) on my feet (or the 6pm-4am shifts at Mcdonalds before that)! All I've been doing so far is pretty much the same generic work that I did at the Cooperative Depot - moving boxes around.
Reorganising the stock room sounds alot easier than it actually is - as I soon found out. Not only is there backlog stock left over from 2010 and 2011 christmas', there is also a load of last years Fathers, Mothers and Valentines Days stock in boxes, often-times mixed, not to mention other generic gifts like Graduations, Communions and Engagements/Marriages. My feet aren't happy with me to say the least, especially after taking an hour to walk around town shopping for christmas presents (yes I have begun already and made some good progress) on Friday and walking the two miles home following that. I'm sure, however, that I'll get back into the swing of things.
Speaking of different perspectives, I've just this past day finished Fear To Tread; the novel-before-latest in the Horus Heresy series by James Swallow. I've heard a wide range of reports on this book, and personally, I loved it. It may not rank up there with, say, Flight of the Eisenstein (my all-time favourite HH book), but I found it enlightening, interesting and, as with all the series so far, full of things that posed more questions than it answered. I'm looking forward to seeing what reprecussions the closing scenes of the book will have, and quite enjoyed the storyline as a whole.
I've moved onto the Games Day Anthology right now, and have finished the first two stories contained therein. The second one that I have just finished today, Extinction by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, is a short precurser to his Rise of the Warmaster series, which details the ascent of Ezekyle Abaddon in the wake of Horus' failure. As with all his books, this promises to be an awesome series, which will have us cheering for the baddies as normal. Extinction is a short and sweet piece, serving extremely well to peak your interest and set you on the path to buying the firs book when it comes out!
Distant Echoes of Old Night, the first piece in the Anthology by Rob Sanders, is Horus Heresy-based, featuring the notorious Death Guard. As I said to Mr. Sanders via Twitter; I was happy to see the revisiting of such an early-delivered legion, and in such a fluid and engrossing prose such as his. I fully anticipate his first full HH novel with relish! Continuing the Games Workshop-flow at the moment, I'm impatient to start my Space Wolf army, and am awaiting the arrival of my first two box sets, which will form part of the core of my force - two troops choices (for those of you who know what I'm on about).
Writing is going so-so at the moment, as I've been more intent on other things the past few days, though I have begun a new side-project that I can chop and change to/from to keep the writing fresh for myself. This comes under the heading of the different perspectives, as I've created a group of six characters without an actual plot/story idea in mind. This is new to me, but I'm enjoying developing their inter-actions and deciding how they fit together as a group. As part of this new look way, I've taken a tip I read online somewhere and am browsing many thousands of pictures for the couple that strike me as being MY characters. Then when it comes to writing I can consistantly check the pictures, maybe even be inspired into new ideas about them! When I come up with an idea that could work, I'm going to try and just write it without actually planning it out, and see where it leads to. I shall keep you posted!
On a sub-writing note, I did have a competition ready to enter, with a piece already finished (ok I finished it a few years ago now), but can't find the particular competition any longer (I can't actually remember the name of said competition, nor who hosted it. Sigh). It was a song-writing competition, and I already have one put together (lyric-wise, at least), that didn't require an audio track accompanying the entry (only the lyrics). Ah well, I shall continue the fruitless search in vain.
University is going well, my tutors have commented on my new-found dedication this year (not that I wasn't dedicated last year, just this year everything so far has been done at least a week before it was/is due, as planned).Tomorrow is my class' first practical module with our newest lecturer, whose first two forays into a relationship with us haven't fared very well. Let's hope she's more organised on the laboratory front!
I may grace (ha!) you all with my written lyrics from yonder yesteryear...some of you may have read it before, and others may not. Make of it what you will (or won't!).
Reorganising the stock room sounds alot easier than it actually is - as I soon found out. Not only is there backlog stock left over from 2010 and 2011 christmas', there is also a load of last years Fathers, Mothers and Valentines Days stock in boxes, often-times mixed, not to mention other generic gifts like Graduations, Communions and Engagements/Marriages. My feet aren't happy with me to say the least, especially after taking an hour to walk around town shopping for christmas presents (yes I have begun already and made some good progress) on Friday and walking the two miles home following that. I'm sure, however, that I'll get back into the swing of things.
Speaking of different perspectives, I've just this past day finished Fear To Tread; the novel-before-latest in the Horus Heresy series by James Swallow. I've heard a wide range of reports on this book, and personally, I loved it. It may not rank up there with, say, Flight of the Eisenstein (my all-time favourite HH book), but I found it enlightening, interesting and, as with all the series so far, full of things that posed more questions than it answered. I'm looking forward to seeing what reprecussions the closing scenes of the book will have, and quite enjoyed the storyline as a whole.
I've moved onto the Games Day Anthology right now, and have finished the first two stories contained therein. The second one that I have just finished today, Extinction by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, is a short precurser to his Rise of the Warmaster series, which details the ascent of Ezekyle Abaddon in the wake of Horus' failure. As with all his books, this promises to be an awesome series, which will have us cheering for the baddies as normal. Extinction is a short and sweet piece, serving extremely well to peak your interest and set you on the path to buying the firs book when it comes out!
Distant Echoes of Old Night, the first piece in the Anthology by Rob Sanders, is Horus Heresy-based, featuring the notorious Death Guard. As I said to Mr. Sanders via Twitter; I was happy to see the revisiting of such an early-delivered legion, and in such a fluid and engrossing prose such as his. I fully anticipate his first full HH novel with relish! Continuing the Games Workshop-flow at the moment, I'm impatient to start my Space Wolf army, and am awaiting the arrival of my first two box sets, which will form part of the core of my force - two troops choices (for those of you who know what I'm on about).
Writing is going so-so at the moment, as I've been more intent on other things the past few days, though I have begun a new side-project that I can chop and change to/from to keep the writing fresh for myself. This comes under the heading of the different perspectives, as I've created a group of six characters without an actual plot/story idea in mind. This is new to me, but I'm enjoying developing their inter-actions and deciding how they fit together as a group. As part of this new look way, I've taken a tip I read online somewhere and am browsing many thousands of pictures for the couple that strike me as being MY characters. Then when it comes to writing I can consistantly check the pictures, maybe even be inspired into new ideas about them! When I come up with an idea that could work, I'm going to try and just write it without actually planning it out, and see where it leads to. I shall keep you posted!
On a sub-writing note, I did have a competition ready to enter, with a piece already finished (ok I finished it a few years ago now), but can't find the particular competition any longer (I can't actually remember the name of said competition, nor who hosted it. Sigh). It was a song-writing competition, and I already have one put together (lyric-wise, at least), that didn't require an audio track accompanying the entry (only the lyrics). Ah well, I shall continue the fruitless search in vain.
University is going well, my tutors have commented on my new-found dedication this year (not that I wasn't dedicated last year, just this year everything so far has been done at least a week before it was/is due, as planned).Tomorrow is my class' first practical module with our newest lecturer, whose first two forays into a relationship with us haven't fared very well. Let's hope she's more organised on the laboratory front!
I may grace (ha!) you all with my written lyrics from yonder yesteryear...some of you may have read it before, and others may not. Make of it what you will (or won't!).
Wednesday 26 September 2012
New White Dwarf: Thoughts
A little late to game, I'll admit, but I got my hands on the brand new-format White Dwarf today. Just looking at it you can tell something's different; before you even take in the designs on the covers you notice it's glossy, slightly shorter than before, and heavier too. It's gone up in price by a pound, which may not sound alot, and in my opinion isn't when you consider it's 150 pages long, as opposed to the 120 page volumes of yester-edition.
Outer Design; well I've already mentioned its glossy, the image of the new chaos space marine models on the front and back shimmering reflectively as you move the issue around. This makes the centrepiece stand out, and the same goes for the headlines; they're all shiny too! Speaking of the writing, the layout has changed as befits a new edition of our monthly geek-fest. Not too much of a change, it's all still there; the headlining articles written in stark bold underneath the name of the magazine, but the differences are there. Overall thoughts so far - not to shabby.
Flick-through; There's ALOT of colour in there. Not just multi-coloured fonts and such, pictures. Hordes of them. Like an infestation. There seems to be a nice variety of things covered from the brief glance I've had, and the pictures seem good-quality and well placed. They don't seem to be present instead of text, rather alongside text, which is a plus for us - it doesn't look like we're missing out on anything in leiu of the illustrations. So far - so good still.
Opening sections; Essentially the first fifty pages is a catalogue of recent (or coming soon) releases, which is something I personally hope to see less of in coming issues. I don't mind seeing what new products are up and coming, or just released, but in essence I'm paying £5.50 for something that's already one-third sales-dedicated, all of the information of which I could have gained for free on the internet or in-store at my local GW. So long as this is a one-off or infrequent occurance (for instance only when there's a major new release like the up-and-coming Chaos Space Marine Codex), I can overlook this.
Next comes an 'army of the month' section, spread of a few double pages, complete with the glorious pictures that we find across the whole edition. I think this is a nice little piece, and hopefully a regular one - it shows a lovingly crafted army (Skaven, in this case) from a dedicated tournament player. It gives the featured army's player a chance to discuss both the tactics/playability of their army and the collecting and hobby aspect of the force. It's refreshing and nicely presented, and a thorough thumbs up from me for this bit. After a brief article from Jervis Johnson (a veteran who always offers some interesting insight into the hobby), we come to the battle report.
Now this issue contains only one report, a nice 16-pager which focuses on the primary topic from this issue - Chaos Space Marines. Ranging from the usual blurb of how each player chose their forces, through the meat and potatoes of the actual battle and an afterword both from the participants and (supposedly) unbiased observers, it does its job well. As a minor disclaimer at the start of the piece, they say they intend to look at the new Chaos model's strengths and weaknesses tactically, and thus this is how the report is directed. I think they manage to do it very well, including alot of helpful pictures, although some of them could have been closer to the subject in my opinion.
Then comes a short and new piece called "The Rivals". This basically is a debate between two players over how their army lists would fair against each other, followed by input from other people. Whilst it is interesting to a certain degree, I think it is largely irrelevant, as you never can tell what will happen on the day, and what way the dice'll roll. Though no doubt, some of you will find it very interesting!
As a large part of the recent hobby-world news, Forge World have wrought their first installment of Horus Heresy minatures. This edition of White Dwarf features a short but sweet entry on this, with a couple of lovingly-taken pictures displaying the miniatures in both painted and unpainted glory, and some brilliantly insightful articles. For instance it gives a small piece on the history of the Horus Hersey - how it has developed from a mere hearsay mention to what it is today, how the series of books started off (as a novel trilogy!!), and a great informative mini-article on how the Primarch Angron model was developed and produced. I would heartily encourage more of these sort of sections.
Blanchitsu is an extremely small piece this month, though quite interesting; as usual very thought-provoking as is its aim. Following this is a new piece, or rather a conglomeration of old pieces under a new name - the Hall of Fame. Basically a gallery of selected units/models/armies from around the world; some nice pictures but ultimately the same as the catalogue at the start - it's all stuff I could see for free on the Games Workshop flickr page. That said the final part of it, Battleground, features an awesomely-made game board, which I think is a nice broadening of what White Dwarf encompasses - including the avid scenery/board sculptor/creator.
Paint Splatter is the next piece, basically an old system (instructional painting techniques) under a new name, and focuses on the models displayed within the issue. Not bad if you see something that catches your eye/inspiration as you are perusing your new issue. After 8 futher double spread sheets of adverts and Games Workshop store/stockist addresses, we come to the last part of the magazine - the new "This Month In" section. This area is dedicated to whats happening in GW HQ this month, with mixed results in my opinion.
So there you have it; a very mixed reaction to the newest incarnation of our monthly geek-fest, but to be fair to them I think it's very good. Aside from the few speedbumps I mentioned (namely the mass of product sales pages at the beginning), I quite liked it. And as long as they keep the page count high (and drop those product pages) I'll be a happy White Dwarfer.
NB: It did seem very 40k-themed this issue. I know the Chaos Space Marine release is the "in-thing" at the moment, but it did seem very thin on the ground for anyone who plays Warhammer, and practically non-exsistant for those who play the Lord of the Rings platform.
NB2: I liked the inside-back-cover Warhammer World calender - handy.
Outer Design; well I've already mentioned its glossy, the image of the new chaos space marine models on the front and back shimmering reflectively as you move the issue around. This makes the centrepiece stand out, and the same goes for the headlines; they're all shiny too! Speaking of the writing, the layout has changed as befits a new edition of our monthly geek-fest. Not too much of a change, it's all still there; the headlining articles written in stark bold underneath the name of the magazine, but the differences are there. Overall thoughts so far - not to shabby.
Flick-through; There's ALOT of colour in there. Not just multi-coloured fonts and such, pictures. Hordes of them. Like an infestation. There seems to be a nice variety of things covered from the brief glance I've had, and the pictures seem good-quality and well placed. They don't seem to be present instead of text, rather alongside text, which is a plus for us - it doesn't look like we're missing out on anything in leiu of the illustrations. So far - so good still.
Opening sections; Essentially the first fifty pages is a catalogue of recent (or coming soon) releases, which is something I personally hope to see less of in coming issues. I don't mind seeing what new products are up and coming, or just released, but in essence I'm paying £5.50 for something that's already one-third sales-dedicated, all of the information of which I could have gained for free on the internet or in-store at my local GW. So long as this is a one-off or infrequent occurance (for instance only when there's a major new release like the up-and-coming Chaos Space Marine Codex), I can overlook this.
Next comes an 'army of the month' section, spread of a few double pages, complete with the glorious pictures that we find across the whole edition. I think this is a nice little piece, and hopefully a regular one - it shows a lovingly crafted army (Skaven, in this case) from a dedicated tournament player. It gives the featured army's player a chance to discuss both the tactics/playability of their army and the collecting and hobby aspect of the force. It's refreshing and nicely presented, and a thorough thumbs up from me for this bit. After a brief article from Jervis Johnson (a veteran who always offers some interesting insight into the hobby), we come to the battle report.
Now this issue contains only one report, a nice 16-pager which focuses on the primary topic from this issue - Chaos Space Marines. Ranging from the usual blurb of how each player chose their forces, through the meat and potatoes of the actual battle and an afterword both from the participants and (supposedly) unbiased observers, it does its job well. As a minor disclaimer at the start of the piece, they say they intend to look at the new Chaos model's strengths and weaknesses tactically, and thus this is how the report is directed. I think they manage to do it very well, including alot of helpful pictures, although some of them could have been closer to the subject in my opinion.
Then comes a short and new piece called "The Rivals". This basically is a debate between two players over how their army lists would fair against each other, followed by input from other people. Whilst it is interesting to a certain degree, I think it is largely irrelevant, as you never can tell what will happen on the day, and what way the dice'll roll. Though no doubt, some of you will find it very interesting!
As a large part of the recent hobby-world news, Forge World have wrought their first installment of Horus Heresy minatures. This edition of White Dwarf features a short but sweet entry on this, with a couple of lovingly-taken pictures displaying the miniatures in both painted and unpainted glory, and some brilliantly insightful articles. For instance it gives a small piece on the history of the Horus Hersey - how it has developed from a mere hearsay mention to what it is today, how the series of books started off (as a novel trilogy!!), and a great informative mini-article on how the Primarch Angron model was developed and produced. I would heartily encourage more of these sort of sections.
Blanchitsu is an extremely small piece this month, though quite interesting; as usual very thought-provoking as is its aim. Following this is a new piece, or rather a conglomeration of old pieces under a new name - the Hall of Fame. Basically a gallery of selected units/models/armies from around the world; some nice pictures but ultimately the same as the catalogue at the start - it's all stuff I could see for free on the Games Workshop flickr page. That said the final part of it, Battleground, features an awesomely-made game board, which I think is a nice broadening of what White Dwarf encompasses - including the avid scenery/board sculptor/creator.
Paint Splatter is the next piece, basically an old system (instructional painting techniques) under a new name, and focuses on the models displayed within the issue. Not bad if you see something that catches your eye/inspiration as you are perusing your new issue. After 8 futher double spread sheets of adverts and Games Workshop store/stockist addresses, we come to the last part of the magazine - the new "This Month In" section. This area is dedicated to whats happening in GW HQ this month, with mixed results in my opinion.
So there you have it; a very mixed reaction to the newest incarnation of our monthly geek-fest, but to be fair to them I think it's very good. Aside from the few speedbumps I mentioned (namely the mass of product sales pages at the beginning), I quite liked it. And as long as they keep the page count high (and drop those product pages) I'll be a happy White Dwarfer.
NB: It did seem very 40k-themed this issue. I know the Chaos Space Marine release is the "in-thing" at the moment, but it did seem very thin on the ground for anyone who plays Warhammer, and practically non-exsistant for those who play the Lord of the Rings platform.
NB2: I liked the inside-back-cover Warhammer World calender - handy.
WIN A FREE ANGRON MINIATURE!!
That's right people, the awesome masterminis.net is giving away a FREE Angron miniature (Forge World Horus Heresy line). Amazing stuff right?
Just head on over to the link below and follow their instructions - all you need to do is spread the word! Good luck and happy sharing!
http://masterminis.blogspot.de/2012/09/win-signed-copy-of-forge-worlds-angron.html
Ooooh angry!
Just head on over to the link below and follow their instructions - all you need to do is spread the word! Good luck and happy sharing!
http://masterminis.blogspot.de/2012/09/win-signed-copy-of-forge-worlds-angron.html
Monday 24 September 2012
iJob
Today has been a day of bountiful joy...except for weather-wise, but hey-ho you can't have everything (unless you win the lottery, and here's hoping for this Friday's 80-odd Million Euro for me eh!). Katie had her first day working for the government (Service Personnel and Veterans Agency) and was reportedly sitting around do hardly anything all day (the joys of training!). Similarly, I was surprised by a morning phone call from the Card Factory in Blackpool town centre, inviting me down for an interview in the afternoon. Hungry for money, of course I accepted.
After a brief chat and a questionnaire Tracy, the sales assistant, asked me if there were any questions I had. Quick and cheeky wit as always, I answered "When can I start?". Well, she sure showed me. Originally scheduling me for training on Monday next week, she then realised that there weren't going to be enough staff to cover for a trainee on that day. So, thinking 'What the hell', I asked if there was any way to start the training today, as I had some time to kill! Lo and behold, two hours later and I've pretty much completed the health and safety training, and am due for a training shift on Friday. Quickest job turnaround ever!
That pretty much covers the latter part of the title; and the first may be pretty obvious. What with the new iPhone 5 out last week, the iPhone 4 deals have dropped significantly. Therefore, as Katie and I are both in employment (and even if not I have regular income through university for the next two years), we both treated ourselves to an iPhone 4S each. I've gone with the white version, Katie's is black (helps to differentiate). It's so snazzy, it's very difficult to put down and stop playing with.
Siri is a bit temperamental - Katie's phone doesn't seem to like performing it, and mine doesn't always do what it's told straight away, but hot-damn is it a good piece of equipment! 16GB storage space (going to be sorting out my music folders this week I tell you now!), 8mp camera (with new panorama function which is uber-coolio), a much better set of buttons on the surrounding rims and such a faster response time than the 3GS, it's budsmod (that's awesome to you common folk). Not to mention being on 3 instead of Orange, the 3G is like greased lightning!
Katie and I both went into the Samaritans this evening - we were attending a selection interview each that we missed previously due to Katie's illness (well someone had to look after her!). It was a very interesting experience, relating personal life events to strangers, but somewhat refreshing at the same time. Anyhow we both apparently did very well, and according to the ladies interviewing us we make a great couple (we both were interviewed separately)!
The, dare I mention the word, Christmas preparation is already in full swing - we've both knuckled down this year to start early and begin buying presents around now (only 92 sleeps to go!). This cuts down on panic time later in the year and eases up finances (as we won't be stuck in December with a big bill for presents as hopefully they'll have already all been bought!). I actually find myself hoping we stay here in Admiral Point past Christmas (despite being told I'll have to work either Boxing Day or New Years Day - though I suppose it'll get me out of the house for a little while and away from excitable children [Jack, Katie]), as it's a large apartment and I think it would be perfectly suited for the celebrations.
My Space Wolf characters are shaping up really well on paper - I've got some ideas that I am very happy with and can't wait to get stuck into making them. Another piece of awesomeness came our way Saturday; Dad text me letting me know there were two letters in Bretton for me from the tax office. Dreading it, I instructed him to open them. The first one was apologising for a mistake last year, and the second was a £420-odd cheque correcting the imbalance. Kerching and thankyou Tax Office...occasionally the government DOES do something right...who'd have thought! Writing-wise my good friend Abhinav was kind enough to look over the intro piece to my vastly-different-style WIP (work in progress) and gave it his stamp of approval - hopefully more coming your way soon Ab ;)
That'll be all for now, I'll do a specialist post later in the week covering something or another. I'm sure I'll think of something...after all, I have a list of blog ideas that I keep adding to for those rainy-day blog days. Till next time.
After a brief chat and a questionnaire Tracy, the sales assistant, asked me if there were any questions I had. Quick and cheeky wit as always, I answered "When can I start?". Well, she sure showed me. Originally scheduling me for training on Monday next week, she then realised that there weren't going to be enough staff to cover for a trainee on that day. So, thinking 'What the hell', I asked if there was any way to start the training today, as I had some time to kill! Lo and behold, two hours later and I've pretty much completed the health and safety training, and am due for a training shift on Friday. Quickest job turnaround ever!
That pretty much covers the latter part of the title; and the first may be pretty obvious. What with the new iPhone 5 out last week, the iPhone 4 deals have dropped significantly. Therefore, as Katie and I are both in employment (and even if not I have regular income through university for the next two years), we both treated ourselves to an iPhone 4S each. I've gone with the white version, Katie's is black (helps to differentiate). It's so snazzy, it's very difficult to put down and stop playing with.
Siri is a bit temperamental - Katie's phone doesn't seem to like performing it, and mine doesn't always do what it's told straight away, but hot-damn is it a good piece of equipment! 16GB storage space (going to be sorting out my music folders this week I tell you now!), 8mp camera (with new panorama function which is uber-coolio), a much better set of buttons on the surrounding rims and such a faster response time than the 3GS, it's budsmod (that's awesome to you common folk). Not to mention being on 3 instead of Orange, the 3G is like greased lightning!
Katie and I both went into the Samaritans this evening - we were attending a selection interview each that we missed previously due to Katie's illness (well someone had to look after her!). It was a very interesting experience, relating personal life events to strangers, but somewhat refreshing at the same time. Anyhow we both apparently did very well, and according to the ladies interviewing us we make a great couple (we both were interviewed separately)!
The, dare I mention the word, Christmas preparation is already in full swing - we've both knuckled down this year to start early and begin buying presents around now (only 92 sleeps to go!). This cuts down on panic time later in the year and eases up finances (as we won't be stuck in December with a big bill for presents as hopefully they'll have already all been bought!). I actually find myself hoping we stay here in Admiral Point past Christmas (despite being told I'll have to work either Boxing Day or New Years Day - though I suppose it'll get me out of the house for a little while and away from excitable children [Jack, Katie]), as it's a large apartment and I think it would be perfectly suited for the celebrations.
My Space Wolf characters are shaping up really well on paper - I've got some ideas that I am very happy with and can't wait to get stuck into making them. Another piece of awesomeness came our way Saturday; Dad text me letting me know there were two letters in Bretton for me from the tax office. Dreading it, I instructed him to open them. The first one was apologising for a mistake last year, and the second was a £420-odd cheque correcting the imbalance. Kerching and thankyou Tax Office...occasionally the government DOES do something right...who'd have thought! Writing-wise my good friend Abhinav was kind enough to look over the intro piece to my vastly-different-style WIP (work in progress) and gave it his stamp of approval - hopefully more coming your way soon Ab ;)
That'll be all for now, I'll do a specialist post later in the week covering something or another. I'm sure I'll think of something...after all, I have a list of blog ideas that I keep adding to for those rainy-day blog days. Till next time.
Thursday 20 September 2012
Wolftime
Any 40k fans among you will no doubt recognise the title's reference - I have settled upon an army to create; the Space Wolves! Originally, I had worked out my own colour scheme/background/chapter/the works, but I kept looking at the army list (which was nicely rounded and I felt could handle pretty much anything game-wise) and feeling uninspired. Finally, a few days ago, I put my finger on why. Despite creating characters and stories for them, I felt they lacked character. I went through a terribly long-winded dilemma phase of looking through White Dwarf magazines, the rulebook and various websites, made a list for Tau, Orks and looked over my Eldar army list (a competitive tournament army list), before finding the answer in the wolves.
I've got my list hammered out to a round 2000 points to begin with - and hope to save enough money via my essays-in-early-for-money-in-the-army-tin scheme to buy a couple of units to start me off. Now I'm onto concept and design; how will my Space Wolves differ from Joe Bloggs Space Wolves? What will make them stand out? What story will they tell? I intend to answer these questions in the coming week (/'s) and develop them into reality as and when I get the models/units in the coming months. However, all in all, I'm supremely happy with the wealth of character the Wolves have, and the amount of play they give me to use.
Reading: I've kind of stalled lately. Having read Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift, I picked up a novel called High Fidelity on an RNLI charity bookstand for 25p. All in all a refreshing read- not something I'd normally pick up but it intrigued me. Now I seem to have fizzled on the book-reading drive, though no doubt once I get around to picking up Fear To Tread from my shelf I'll remember my groove.
Writing: I've made some edits on my novel that I mentioned in a previous post, and also begun a smaller side-project to give me some contrast when I don't feel like writing crime-fantasy. It's a real-life fiction, but aside from that I'm not really sure where it's going. It's pretty much just a 'write what I feel like' so far that I started on the train home today. I've not begun any competitions yet, because I want to see how much spare time I have once I'm into full uni-work flow before getting a list of comps to enter.
Studies have begun well; my second week is just ending, and already I'm happier with what I'm doing than I was last year. Chemistry I seem to have become a magical genie of, even gaining praise from our tutor Meg (which is rarer than a blue moon/life on mars/pig flying/insert your own metaphor). Biology 2 is similarly going well (Biology 1 is what we did last year), with our coursework pretty much set out for us to start straight away. Use of Evidence is a module that we've just started for this year only - it basically involves a large case report and a load of research into a given crime case from recent history. Recent is somewhat of a lie, as it goes back to OJ Simpson and Jill Dando, but you get my meaning.
For Biology 3 we have to write a mini-dissertation of 3000 words, on a chosen subject. I narrowed it down to three areas last week, and now have it down to my question to be answered; How Does Fire Effect The Identification Of Human Remains In An Anthropological Investigation? Fancy huh? I've already got a load of articles that I'm in the middle of reading through (to decide which one's to use), and have borrowed several (heavy) books from the UCLan library to aid my studies! After we finish the essay we have to convert it into a 15 minute powerpoint presentation (I think I've mentioned this before), but I'm not worrying about that yet.
Yesterday in our biology lesson we had the fun task of whacking a sponge with a hammer. Or a two-by-four. Or a metal rod. Or a screwdriver. The sponge was soaked in fake blood and placed on a stool in front of a clothes-clad skeleton, in the middle of a ring of white sheets - the point was to see how blood spatters from blunt object trauma and the shape the blood drops make when they encounter different surfaces at different angles. It was fun! There will be photos, but I'm waiting on the technician to email them to me.
Katie's got good news - she has a start date for work! Yipee! They took their time (given that they told her she got the job mid-august), but finally she's set to head off to earn some extra pennies on Monday. Yesterday she also attended training at an old people's care home, where she'll be volunteering for the foreseeable future, in a bid to help her medical school application in a year or so's time. Busy woman that she is, she's also attending a Samaritan's selection evening on Monday in the hopes of being accepted to join their ranks to help people in need. I'm also going along to see if I can join up, as it seems like a nice thing to do and would be a unique point for my CV!
Speaking of CV, our final module is PPDP; Personal & Professional Development Programme. This is essentially a 'preparing you for the outside world' module, which is quite funny as the majority of us in the class have had jobs already, and so know what the job world is like (dry as a bone right now!). Anyway, part of this is a ten-year career plan. Ten Years. I've no idea what I'm going to do when I finish this course in 2014, let alone where I want to be in ten years time! If all goes to plan then after my exams are over I'll be heading to the Coventry area whilst Katie goes to medical school, but other than that I've no idea what I'm going to be doing!
The weather has gotten colder over the past week or two - it's super windy and nasty nasty here now! Anyway, to end the post on a light note, here's an awesome dog that I want SO much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU9RSNXaElw&feature=share
I've got my list hammered out to a round 2000 points to begin with - and hope to save enough money via my essays-in-early-for-money-in-the-army-tin scheme to buy a couple of units to start me off. Now I'm onto concept and design; how will my Space Wolves differ from Joe Bloggs Space Wolves? What will make them stand out? What story will they tell? I intend to answer these questions in the coming week (/'s) and develop them into reality as and when I get the models/units in the coming months. However, all in all, I'm supremely happy with the wealth of character the Wolves have, and the amount of play they give me to use.
Reading: I've kind of stalled lately. Having read Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift, I picked up a novel called High Fidelity on an RNLI charity bookstand for 25p. All in all a refreshing read- not something I'd normally pick up but it intrigued me. Now I seem to have fizzled on the book-reading drive, though no doubt once I get around to picking up Fear To Tread from my shelf I'll remember my groove.
Writing: I've made some edits on my novel that I mentioned in a previous post, and also begun a smaller side-project to give me some contrast when I don't feel like writing crime-fantasy. It's a real-life fiction, but aside from that I'm not really sure where it's going. It's pretty much just a 'write what I feel like' so far that I started on the train home today. I've not begun any competitions yet, because I want to see how much spare time I have once I'm into full uni-work flow before getting a list of comps to enter.
Studies have begun well; my second week is just ending, and already I'm happier with what I'm doing than I was last year. Chemistry I seem to have become a magical genie of, even gaining praise from our tutor Meg (which is rarer than a blue moon/life on mars/pig flying/insert your own metaphor). Biology 2 is similarly going well (Biology 1 is what we did last year), with our coursework pretty much set out for us to start straight away. Use of Evidence is a module that we've just started for this year only - it basically involves a large case report and a load of research into a given crime case from recent history. Recent is somewhat of a lie, as it goes back to OJ Simpson and Jill Dando, but you get my meaning.
For Biology 3 we have to write a mini-dissertation of 3000 words, on a chosen subject. I narrowed it down to three areas last week, and now have it down to my question to be answered; How Does Fire Effect The Identification Of Human Remains In An Anthropological Investigation? Fancy huh? I've already got a load of articles that I'm in the middle of reading through (to decide which one's to use), and have borrowed several (heavy) books from the UCLan library to aid my studies! After we finish the essay we have to convert it into a 15 minute powerpoint presentation (I think I've mentioned this before), but I'm not worrying about that yet.
Yesterday in our biology lesson we had the fun task of whacking a sponge with a hammer. Or a two-by-four. Or a metal rod. Or a screwdriver. The sponge was soaked in fake blood and placed on a stool in front of a clothes-clad skeleton, in the middle of a ring of white sheets - the point was to see how blood spatters from blunt object trauma and the shape the blood drops make when they encounter different surfaces at different angles. It was fun! There will be photos, but I'm waiting on the technician to email them to me.
Katie's got good news - she has a start date for work! Yipee! They took their time (given that they told her she got the job mid-august), but finally she's set to head off to earn some extra pennies on Monday. Yesterday she also attended training at an old people's care home, where she'll be volunteering for the foreseeable future, in a bid to help her medical school application in a year or so's time. Busy woman that she is, she's also attending a Samaritan's selection evening on Monday in the hopes of being accepted to join their ranks to help people in need. I'm also going along to see if I can join up, as it seems like a nice thing to do and would be a unique point for my CV!
Speaking of CV, our final module is PPDP; Personal & Professional Development Programme. This is essentially a 'preparing you for the outside world' module, which is quite funny as the majority of us in the class have had jobs already, and so know what the job world is like (dry as a bone right now!). Anyway, part of this is a ten-year career plan. Ten Years. I've no idea what I'm going to do when I finish this course in 2014, let alone where I want to be in ten years time! If all goes to plan then after my exams are over I'll be heading to the Coventry area whilst Katie goes to medical school, but other than that I've no idea what I'm going to be doing!
The weather has gotten colder over the past week or two - it's super windy and nasty nasty here now! Anyway, to end the post on a light note, here's an awesome dog that I want SO much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU9RSNXaElw&feature=share
Thursday 13 September 2012
The Emperor's Gift Review
So last week I picked up Aaron Dembski-Bowden's latest novel, The Emperor's Gift. Before even opening the book, it exudes awesomeness. The artwork on the front cover depicts Hyperion, the foremost main character contained within, is a brilliantly wrought masterpiece, displaying the Grey Knight in glorious action firing his wrist-mounted storm bolter at the enemies of mankind. Physically, the book itself is pleasing; a smooth hardback style that is a pleasure to touch, and weighs in comfortably in my hand.
"The Grey Knights are all that stands between mankind and the ravages of Chaos. Since their secretive beginnings during the Horus Heresy, these legendary Space Marine daemon hunters have journeyed into the dark realms of the warp – and beyond – in pursuit of their supernatural enemies. Through an intensive regime of psychic training, new recruits are brought to the clandestine fortress of Titan to join the hallowed and vaunted ranks of the 666th Chapter. More than ever, these legendary battle-brothers must be vigilant and ever ready to defend the Imperium for the forces of Chaos are never truly defeated, and Armageddon beckons" - Black Library
The novel inside begins by peeling back a little of the mystery surrounding Grey Knight Supplicant's induction into the order, and continues dropping information on the 666th Chapter throughout - any lore-lover's dream. Scene's are conveyed, as always with Aaron's work, in a fashion that describes the immediate areas relevant to the story, leaving enough license for the reader to complete the picture with their own imagination. You won't find the over-crowding flood of description that some other writers favour in his books, and in my opinion raises his work up above them because of it.
Hyperion, the young Grey Knight warrior from whose point of view the story is told, is only just starting out his life as one of the Emperor's Chosen, and reflects all the doubts and flaws that one would expect from someone in his position. This creates a brilliantly focused narrative, keeping the account entertaining and interesting throughout (not to mention occasionally humourous). Aaron hits the nail bang on the head with regards to the Space Marine's removal from humanity, keeping the characters aloof from their mortal kin whilst managing to maintain ghosts and echoes of their once-mortal feelings that give the entirety an air of truth and believability that lends itself to the narrative.
Squad Castian, the group of Knights that Hyperion belongs to, continues the believability with each character, keeping each Space Marine similar, but still widely different. I realise that's a contradiction, but its the truth. Aaron follows the flow of his other books, introducing new concepts and ideas that I hadn't even thought of before, and keeping you guessing what's about to happen. Another tool he brings forth from a recent book (Void Stalker) is a collection of smaller pieces within a chapter, describing individuals and actions across a broad range of areas, giving a wide view of the story and keeping intrigue at a premium.
A must-have for any Dembski-Bowden fan, The Emperor's Gift is a wonderful conglomeration of lore, epic story and enrapturing description. The flow carries you through the book with relentless interest and keeps you reading on and on until the well-wrapped-up end. All-in-all, more than worth the £17.99 for this veritable tome and, as usual, Aaron continues to outdo expectations. A powerful five out of five stars for this, and it would have triple that if I could break the scale. Thankyou for yet another great read ADB!
"The Grey Knights are all that stands between mankind and the ravages of Chaos. Since their secretive beginnings during the Horus Heresy, these legendary Space Marine daemon hunters have journeyed into the dark realms of the warp – and beyond – in pursuit of their supernatural enemies. Through an intensive regime of psychic training, new recruits are brought to the clandestine fortress of Titan to join the hallowed and vaunted ranks of the 666th Chapter. More than ever, these legendary battle-brothers must be vigilant and ever ready to defend the Imperium for the forces of Chaos are never truly defeated, and Armageddon beckons" - Black Library
The novel inside begins by peeling back a little of the mystery surrounding Grey Knight Supplicant's induction into the order, and continues dropping information on the 666th Chapter throughout - any lore-lover's dream. Scene's are conveyed, as always with Aaron's work, in a fashion that describes the immediate areas relevant to the story, leaving enough license for the reader to complete the picture with their own imagination. You won't find the over-crowding flood of description that some other writers favour in his books, and in my opinion raises his work up above them because of it.
Hyperion, the young Grey Knight warrior from whose point of view the story is told, is only just starting out his life as one of the Emperor's Chosen, and reflects all the doubts and flaws that one would expect from someone in his position. This creates a brilliantly focused narrative, keeping the account entertaining and interesting throughout (not to mention occasionally humourous). Aaron hits the nail bang on the head with regards to the Space Marine's removal from humanity, keeping the characters aloof from their mortal kin whilst managing to maintain ghosts and echoes of their once-mortal feelings that give the entirety an air of truth and believability that lends itself to the narrative.
Squad Castian, the group of Knights that Hyperion belongs to, continues the believability with each character, keeping each Space Marine similar, but still widely different. I realise that's a contradiction, but its the truth. Aaron follows the flow of his other books, introducing new concepts and ideas that I hadn't even thought of before, and keeping you guessing what's about to happen. Another tool he brings forth from a recent book (Void Stalker) is a collection of smaller pieces within a chapter, describing individuals and actions across a broad range of areas, giving a wide view of the story and keeping intrigue at a premium.
A must-have for any Dembski-Bowden fan, The Emperor's Gift is a wonderful conglomeration of lore, epic story and enrapturing description. The flow carries you through the book with relentless interest and keeps you reading on and on until the well-wrapped-up end. All-in-all, more than worth the £17.99 for this veritable tome and, as usual, Aaron continues to outdo expectations. A powerful five out of five stars for this, and it would have triple that if I could break the scale. Thankyou for yet another great read ADB!
Wednesday 12 September 2012
Forensics: Coursework!
Righty then, with my first week of second year over, I can report the following:
Last year, our miniature dissertation was a 2000 word essay on a subject of our choice, which was then reverted into a 900 word poster, that was then presented to judges and fellow forensic students. This year, we have what they are terming a 'half-dissertation'; 3000 words, to then be condensed into a fifteen minute powerpoint presentation. Admittedly I quite enjoyed the poster aspect of our dissertation last year, and so am also looking forward to this years powerpoint version, but due to my new-found commitment to getting stuff done early, I'm also quite looking forward to the research/essay part of the work.
Basically all we did in the class today was get introduced into the structure of the module; how it spreads across the year, what we need to include in the discussion of our chosen topic, and had a little one-on-one chat each with our new lecturer about what subject we'd like to do, and whether or not it would be viable. Having been told a little earlier on in the class that the subject had to be related to Forensic Biology (who'd have thought that you have to do something about biology in a forensic biology module!?), I grabbed the nearest laptop and had a skim of the sub-fields that Forensic Biology covers, noting those I found of interest.
Forensic Limnology - Unfortunately, I thought that I had stumbled upon a little-known forensic gem when I saw this title over the summer holidays. Little did I know that our biology modules now include a short area on this very thing. Still, the broader subject of Underwater Investigation interest me, not just the matching of diatom counts between a corpse/victim and the body of water it was thought to have come from (diatoms are types of algae).
Fire Investigation relating to Entomology or Anthropology - This wasn't a field I saw online, rather a twist of two specialties together that I thought up myself. Fire Investigation was the subject of my poster presentation and essay last year, and has always interested me, but as you can't repeat the same exact topic as before, I figured throwing something interesting like fire's effect on anthropological investigation or the effect it has on insect's and their relation to an investigation.
Wildlife Forensic Science - A particularly obscure field that caught my eye online, this covers a broad range of investigative areas, from illegal import and export of animal hides, tusks, trophies etc and illicit fisheries. It also includes rogue timber-felling, animal cruelty and the analysis of non-human trace evidence in other crimes. I'm not sure on the viability of using this subject, as I'm not sure how available material is for referencing involving wildlife, but I'll have a root around the internet over the next few days for reference material for all three and come up with some title-questions that I could base my essays on. Organised!
Another happy piece of this hyper-organisation is that I get to comply with my university resolution and add some money to my army fund pot for getting my work in early; Yay! I started reading Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift last night, and am already over halfway through - expect a review tomorrow! Suffice to say for now that already I have an urge to collect Grey Knights, and mould a squad around the main characters in his novel.
As the last piece of random information here in todays blog, Katie has been suffering with a super-sore throat and a cold the past few days, and is beginning to recover. Unfortunately for me, I seem to be developing a sore throat myself - hopefully not the precursor to the same as she had!
- Second year topics look SO much more interesting
- Assessments this year are looking fewer, but larger which, in my opinion, is better!
- And finally, I am on top of my assignments
Last year, our miniature dissertation was a 2000 word essay on a subject of our choice, which was then reverted into a 900 word poster, that was then presented to judges and fellow forensic students. This year, we have what they are terming a 'half-dissertation'; 3000 words, to then be condensed into a fifteen minute powerpoint presentation. Admittedly I quite enjoyed the poster aspect of our dissertation last year, and so am also looking forward to this years powerpoint version, but due to my new-found commitment to getting stuff done early, I'm also quite looking forward to the research/essay part of the work.
Basically all we did in the class today was get introduced into the structure of the module; how it spreads across the year, what we need to include in the discussion of our chosen topic, and had a little one-on-one chat each with our new lecturer about what subject we'd like to do, and whether or not it would be viable. Having been told a little earlier on in the class that the subject had to be related to Forensic Biology (who'd have thought that you have to do something about biology in a forensic biology module!?), I grabbed the nearest laptop and had a skim of the sub-fields that Forensic Biology covers, noting those I found of interest.
Forensic Limnology - Unfortunately, I thought that I had stumbled upon a little-known forensic gem when I saw this title over the summer holidays. Little did I know that our biology modules now include a short area on this very thing. Still, the broader subject of Underwater Investigation interest me, not just the matching of diatom counts between a corpse/victim and the body of water it was thought to have come from (diatoms are types of algae).
Fire Investigation relating to Entomology or Anthropology - This wasn't a field I saw online, rather a twist of two specialties together that I thought up myself. Fire Investigation was the subject of my poster presentation and essay last year, and has always interested me, but as you can't repeat the same exact topic as before, I figured throwing something interesting like fire's effect on anthropological investigation or the effect it has on insect's and their relation to an investigation.
Wildlife Forensic Science - A particularly obscure field that caught my eye online, this covers a broad range of investigative areas, from illegal import and export of animal hides, tusks, trophies etc and illicit fisheries. It also includes rogue timber-felling, animal cruelty and the analysis of non-human trace evidence in other crimes. I'm not sure on the viability of using this subject, as I'm not sure how available material is for referencing involving wildlife, but I'll have a root around the internet over the next few days for reference material for all three and come up with some title-questions that I could base my essays on. Organised!
Another happy piece of this hyper-organisation is that I get to comply with my university resolution and add some money to my army fund pot for getting my work in early; Yay! I started reading Aaron Dembski-Bowden's The Emperor's Gift last night, and am already over halfway through - expect a review tomorrow! Suffice to say for now that already I have an urge to collect Grey Knights, and mould a squad around the main characters in his novel.
As the last piece of random information here in todays blog, Katie has been suffering with a super-sore throat and a cold the past few days, and is beginning to recover. Unfortunately for me, I seem to be developing a sore throat myself - hopefully not the precursor to the same as she had!
Monday 10 September 2012
Revamp!
A couple of things falling under the title this time; first off, I intend to start giving my blog posts a little extra pazaz by finishing them off with a short sentence or two of interest. Secondly, I attended my second year induction today at college, and was excited to peruse the topics in each module - they look alot more interesting than last years A Level recaps (which is essentially what they were). Finally, given some down-time on the train into Preston this morning, and with nothing but my laptop in the way of entertainment (which I was loathe to go through the hassle of fishing out of my bag), I turned to my mind for entertainment.
With several regular topics at my disposal, not least of all Warhammer 40k, Black Library books (both coming soon and past) and writing in general, I settled on writing. Now last night I got back into the jibe of searching for writing competitions to enter - mainly free ones, and mainly short stories with a theme (I write better with an idea to hit me off) - so I started thinking about writing. My intent is to continue to enter competitions in the near future, and attempt to gain entrance into the "Black Library Authors" club through their open submissions window each year (which I stupidly forgot about the end of and missed this season). But I wondered to myself, how else could I get my foot in the door?
One way I've constantly heard about is to be published. Every time I've attended a 'Writing For Black Library' seminar or seen people ask the editors questions, the answer has been the same - if you've had work published anywhere else in the world (and that is officially published; it's been submitted and looked over by an editor or editorial team before publication) you can contact the Black Library office with a pitch (or several). I know it's a whole different world going from writing a short story for a competition with a theme to base it on and writing a short sample piece for a submissions window set in a pre-described universe to writing a whole novel by yourself, but the trick is, I've already started it.
Back in April I had the itch to write something different. I set about first chatting with one of my best friends over an extended Facebook conversation about what type of book I would like to write and, out of this list, ideas I had as to what to write about. Long story shorter, we hammered out a generic idea and from this I began to form a plot line. Further ideas shaped from brainstorming and some inspiration coalesced into a whole novel concept. Suffice to say I began writing it, got almost to the 5k mark and hated what I'd done so far. For me the flow was out, the story lacking the depth it needed to set the mood, and the character lacking just that. I dropped it, completely disheartened, and there it has lain, on my desktop, since.
So I'm sat on the train to Preston, idly staring out of the window as my mind turns to the story I had left behind. I turned it over this way and that, examining what I could remember having written and the plot shape from my plans all those months ago. Before I knew it, further ideas were forming, coming to me out of nowhere; characters I could adjust, scenes that could be added, details slotted in and several key points that would make the whole concept gel just so. It seems simple and obvious now, considering these points in my mind, what needed to be done to correct the story, and I fully intend to revisit and edit what I have so far to better reflect the ideas I had at the start and hopefully, if I can keep on-track and keep adjusting whenever I get bogged down again, I can complete a full novel!
First piece of pazaz in an attempt to end on an interesting note; I forgot what I originally was going to put here, so here's a less interesting one - the nickname/callsign I use, Phoenix, was the first ever Warhammer 40k character I wrote a prolonged piece of prose about. I've no recollection of where his first name, Corrigan, came from, nor have I heard of it since.
With several regular topics at my disposal, not least of all Warhammer 40k, Black Library books (both coming soon and past) and writing in general, I settled on writing. Now last night I got back into the jibe of searching for writing competitions to enter - mainly free ones, and mainly short stories with a theme (I write better with an idea to hit me off) - so I started thinking about writing. My intent is to continue to enter competitions in the near future, and attempt to gain entrance into the "Black Library Authors" club through their open submissions window each year (which I stupidly forgot about the end of and missed this season). But I wondered to myself, how else could I get my foot in the door?
One way I've constantly heard about is to be published. Every time I've attended a 'Writing For Black Library' seminar or seen people ask the editors questions, the answer has been the same - if you've had work published anywhere else in the world (and that is officially published; it's been submitted and looked over by an editor or editorial team before publication) you can contact the Black Library office with a pitch (or several). I know it's a whole different world going from writing a short story for a competition with a theme to base it on and writing a short sample piece for a submissions window set in a pre-described universe to writing a whole novel by yourself, but the trick is, I've already started it.
Back in April I had the itch to write something different. I set about first chatting with one of my best friends over an extended Facebook conversation about what type of book I would like to write and, out of this list, ideas I had as to what to write about. Long story shorter, we hammered out a generic idea and from this I began to form a plot line. Further ideas shaped from brainstorming and some inspiration coalesced into a whole novel concept. Suffice to say I began writing it, got almost to the 5k mark and hated what I'd done so far. For me the flow was out, the story lacking the depth it needed to set the mood, and the character lacking just that. I dropped it, completely disheartened, and there it has lain, on my desktop, since.
So I'm sat on the train to Preston, idly staring out of the window as my mind turns to the story I had left behind. I turned it over this way and that, examining what I could remember having written and the plot shape from my plans all those months ago. Before I knew it, further ideas were forming, coming to me out of nowhere; characters I could adjust, scenes that could be added, details slotted in and several key points that would make the whole concept gel just so. It seems simple and obvious now, considering these points in my mind, what needed to be done to correct the story, and I fully intend to revisit and edit what I have so far to better reflect the ideas I had at the start and hopefully, if I can keep on-track and keep adjusting whenever I get bogged down again, I can complete a full novel!
First piece of pazaz in an attempt to end on an interesting note; I forgot what I originally was going to put here, so here's a less interesting one - the nickname/callsign I use, Phoenix, was the first ever Warhammer 40k character I wrote a prolonged piece of prose about. I've no recollection of where his first name, Corrigan, came from, nor have I heard of it since.
Monday 3 September 2012
Stand together, Brothers!
People continue to astound me; and those of us of the minority that possess kindness and compassion must stand together as brothers, lest we be swept away. Let me explain...
It's almost been a month here in the new Blackpool flat, and it certainly just peaked in its bid for worlds most stressful apartments! First off, let me give you the scoop - when Mum and Ian first moved in (actually a month ago now), there was a list of things that they provided the landlords with that needed sorting out.
The curtains in the bedrooms don't pull properly - after the handyman looked at it, he determined that the tops of the poles that the curtain loops run on was rusted, which is why they wouldn't pull. So, instead of turning the poles one-eighty and applying some WD40 (as the undersides of the poles aren't rusted at all), he disappeared saying they'll get new curtain poles and return which, of course, they haven't.
We moved the sofas around to better see the TV from both, and found a pile of dirt and rubbish under each! Whilst this was cleaned up by the cleaning team, the alcove that leads from the living room into the kitchen was covered in damp marks, where water has leaked in. Instead of professionally righting the damp and the upholstery, the handyman (actually the handyman's partner this time) sanded down the wall so you could barely see the damp (which you can clearly see once more, now). She put one sheet down to collect the dust, on the floor, and in this case, one sheet was not plenty. The kitchen surfaces and table were covered in dust; along with both sofas in the living room. Once more, we got the cleaners called out, but still that was a few days we couldn't use the kitchen.
The toilet seat in "the kids bathroom" (i.e. the bathroom that Katie, Jack and I use - Mum and Ian have their own), was broken - the seat and lid wouldn't stay up unless you held it, and shifted about when you moved your weight even the tiniest bit when sat on it. Not ideal! But, once more, the handyman came out and fixed it. Huzzah!
All of the windows in the flat have two panes; not double glazed, I hasten to add, but double paned. All the outer panes, which are old-style windows, have mould around the wood, and the inner pane in our room squeals like a stuck pig when you move it either up or down - needless to say it stays up for ease on our ears now. Another minor problem that was sorted fairly well was the front door - the hallway carpet was too high for it, and meant you had to shoulder-barge the heavy door to open it as you came in. Luckily the handyman sanded the bottom (once more without sheets) and it now opens and closes smoothly.
More than a week ago, the shower in Mum and Ian's bathroom packed up, water leaking from the control unit knobs instead of coursing up through the spout and pipes. Only today has a plumber called to organise when to come round; tomorrow, I believe. Finally.
And now onto the main point of order - the oven. Our first few attempts at using it resulted in uncooked or overcooked mess' - the temperature didn't raise to anywhere near what it was set to most of the time, and the few times it did raise, it shot up and scorched the food. So, an electrician was sent out and replaced the oven; excellent! But ah, no, it started doing the same no more than a few days afterwards. Friday evening, when entertaining Ian's cousins, the oven turned itself off mid-cook, forcing us to go out and buy fish and chips for all.
Mum rang the landlords for a good twenty minutes with no answer before heading off to get the food, and the oven continued to play up - turning itself off and on every fifteen minutes or so. We found out the controls at the front of the unit were overheating; somehow the heat was leaking from the oven up into the controls of the oven and tripping some heat cut-off. This morning, when Mum rang, the landlord flatly refused to pay expenses for the fish and chips we were forced to buy, not to mention the food that was ruined by the faulty oven, and was extremely rude to boot, denying that we rang on Friday and insisting that we must have got the wrong number. Essentially, the gist of the conversation was "I'm not going to pay for the food, I'll just release you from your contract, How soon can you move out?"
The audacity of some people is amazing, and it makes me all the gladder to be part of the "Games Workshop Geeks" community, as I have evidential proof that there remains some decent people in the world still. But unfortunately that number is dwindling, and we must strive to keep at bay the tidal wave of idiocy and rudeness that is threatening to overwhelm us all. Keep fighting, friends!
It's almost been a month here in the new Blackpool flat, and it certainly just peaked in its bid for worlds most stressful apartments! First off, let me give you the scoop - when Mum and Ian first moved in (actually a month ago now), there was a list of things that they provided the landlords with that needed sorting out.
The curtains in the bedrooms don't pull properly - after the handyman looked at it, he determined that the tops of the poles that the curtain loops run on was rusted, which is why they wouldn't pull. So, instead of turning the poles one-eighty and applying some WD40 (as the undersides of the poles aren't rusted at all), he disappeared saying they'll get new curtain poles and return which, of course, they haven't.
We moved the sofas around to better see the TV from both, and found a pile of dirt and rubbish under each! Whilst this was cleaned up by the cleaning team, the alcove that leads from the living room into the kitchen was covered in damp marks, where water has leaked in. Instead of professionally righting the damp and the upholstery, the handyman (actually the handyman's partner this time) sanded down the wall so you could barely see the damp (which you can clearly see once more, now). She put one sheet down to collect the dust, on the floor, and in this case, one sheet was not plenty. The kitchen surfaces and table were covered in dust; along with both sofas in the living room. Once more, we got the cleaners called out, but still that was a few days we couldn't use the kitchen.
The toilet seat in "the kids bathroom" (i.e. the bathroom that Katie, Jack and I use - Mum and Ian have their own), was broken - the seat and lid wouldn't stay up unless you held it, and shifted about when you moved your weight even the tiniest bit when sat on it. Not ideal! But, once more, the handyman came out and fixed it. Huzzah!
All of the windows in the flat have two panes; not double glazed, I hasten to add, but double paned. All the outer panes, which are old-style windows, have mould around the wood, and the inner pane in our room squeals like a stuck pig when you move it either up or down - needless to say it stays up for ease on our ears now. Another minor problem that was sorted fairly well was the front door - the hallway carpet was too high for it, and meant you had to shoulder-barge the heavy door to open it as you came in. Luckily the handyman sanded the bottom (once more without sheets) and it now opens and closes smoothly.
More than a week ago, the shower in Mum and Ian's bathroom packed up, water leaking from the control unit knobs instead of coursing up through the spout and pipes. Only today has a plumber called to organise when to come round; tomorrow, I believe. Finally.
And now onto the main point of order - the oven. Our first few attempts at using it resulted in uncooked or overcooked mess' - the temperature didn't raise to anywhere near what it was set to most of the time, and the few times it did raise, it shot up and scorched the food. So, an electrician was sent out and replaced the oven; excellent! But ah, no, it started doing the same no more than a few days afterwards. Friday evening, when entertaining Ian's cousins, the oven turned itself off mid-cook, forcing us to go out and buy fish and chips for all.
Mum rang the landlords for a good twenty minutes with no answer before heading off to get the food, and the oven continued to play up - turning itself off and on every fifteen minutes or so. We found out the controls at the front of the unit were overheating; somehow the heat was leaking from the oven up into the controls of the oven and tripping some heat cut-off. This morning, when Mum rang, the landlord flatly refused to pay expenses for the fish and chips we were forced to buy, not to mention the food that was ruined by the faulty oven, and was extremely rude to boot, denying that we rang on Friday and insisting that we must have got the wrong number. Essentially, the gist of the conversation was "I'm not going to pay for the food, I'll just release you from your contract, How soon can you move out?"
The audacity of some people is amazing, and it makes me all the gladder to be part of the "Games Workshop Geeks" community, as I have evidential proof that there remains some decent people in the world still. But unfortunately that number is dwindling, and we must strive to keep at bay the tidal wave of idiocy and rudeness that is threatening to overwhelm us all. Keep fighting, friends!
Friday 31 August 2012
Reading!
So, being all moved up to Blackpool and with some extra time on my hands until university starts up once more (8 days now - yes I'm counting), I've taken back to reading, and gotten quite back into the flow of things. In the past three days I've polished off the final three of Nathan Long's brilliant continuance of the Gotrek and Felix series, and I've loved them! I'm ashamed to say it took me so long to get around to them - they were a Christmas present from Katie - but I'd forgotten just how good they were!
Now that they're finished however, I have five omnibus' left on my shelves in the 'to read' pile. The Grey Knights, by Ben Counter, Thunder and Steel, by Dan Abnett, The Lost Gaunts Ghosts, by the very same, Brunner, by C. L. Werner, and Dwarfs, by various. Whilst the Lost isn't necessarily a new to-read item, I did re-read the previous two arcs last month, and want to continue through at least to the end of the third arc before giving up completely.
Anyway, having had so much enjoyment from Ben Counter's Soul Drinkers omnibus (I'll wait for the omnibus to get through the third-sixth volumes), and as I'm aiming to read The Emperor's Gift by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (another Grey Knights novel), I've decided to give the Grey Knight's pole position. Dwarfs will likely come next as, despite thoroughly enjoying the Red Duke by C. L. Werner, which I believe may be the only novel I've read of his (and I intend to read the Grey Seer Thanquol omnibus and Dead Winter when they are both respectfully released), I have a taste for the smaller folk from Gotrek & Felix.
I aim to delve through these five tomes within the next week, as not only do I go to university soon, but I'll also be getting my loan through, meaning more books will be attainable for me, and I'll be attending Games Day, meaning that up to December's Black Library releases will be available on pre-release (which is always a plus!). From this selection I intend to gather Fear To Tread, the latest Horus Heresy by James Swallow, Path of the Outcast, the last of the Eldar Path trilogy by Gav Thorpe, Shadows of Treachery, a Horus Heresy compilation, Pariah, the first of the third trilogy of Inquisition novels by Dan Abnett (HIGHLY anticipated), and Garro: Sword of Truth, another Horus Heresy also by James Swallow. I may add The Great Betrayal to that list, by Nick Kyme, depending how my reading of Dwarfs goes; as he is the main contributing author there.
Amongst titles already out by Black Library, I would like to get The Emperor's Gift, as previously mention, by ADB, Wrath of Iron by Chris Wraight, Angel of Fire by William King (though that may wait until a paperback volume), The second Blood Angels omnibus by James Swallow, and the Thorn and Talon CD, which as it didn't arrive at Games Day last year, I didn't have the opportunity to buy.
Yesterday, I visited the local library with my family, and it has spurred me to branch out from Black Library, more so than I already do. Having seen some of the awesome covers via Jon Sullivan's facebook page, I intend to try some of Neil Nasher's Sci-fi work, alongside Laurel K Hamilton's Anita Blake novels. Whilst I read most of the series last year before I shipped out to university, I got to around four novels from the end of the series (currend end, I may point out), and didn't have the funds to continue. So, now it remains to be seen whether I try to start the whole series over, or start from a few novels back from where I tapered out.
I also have an urge to return to some of my reading roots; namely crime novels. James Patterson's Women's Murder Club played a heavy part in my reading life a few years back, as did His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Quadrilogy. So I intend to revisit these gems sometime in the new year, maybe before if possible. I would also like to try and track down Graham Mcneill's Ambassador's Chronicles - the first two books I ever read of Black Library. The Lord of the Rings, Dan Brown's Angels & Daemons trilogy and the other two of his make, and the Harry Potter books all call out for re-readings. I'm also interested in trying out Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant, which just form the title sounds interesting.
Both the Hunger Games second and third books, and George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series call out for continuation (in fact I've only read the first of the seven Game of Thrones books...despite owning the first three!). Not to mention a host of Forensic Science book's I've earmarked on the UCLan library website to supplement my studies (and in some cases form the study themselves!). As such I've decided to construct a reading list, much in the style of my friend Abhinav (http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/reading-list/), and hopefully he'll forgive me for the thievery! Come the week I begin university, I'll start it up (as hopefully by then I'll have finished these five omnibus' and can start afresh), and update it with more books to read as they come into my mind/sight!
I think I've taken up enough of your time right now, so see you next time!
Now that they're finished however, I have five omnibus' left on my shelves in the 'to read' pile. The Grey Knights, by Ben Counter, Thunder and Steel, by Dan Abnett, The Lost Gaunts Ghosts, by the very same, Brunner, by C. L. Werner, and Dwarfs, by various. Whilst the Lost isn't necessarily a new to-read item, I did re-read the previous two arcs last month, and want to continue through at least to the end of the third arc before giving up completely.
Anyway, having had so much enjoyment from Ben Counter's Soul Drinkers omnibus (I'll wait for the omnibus to get through the third-sixth volumes), and as I'm aiming to read The Emperor's Gift by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (another Grey Knights novel), I've decided to give the Grey Knight's pole position. Dwarfs will likely come next as, despite thoroughly enjoying the Red Duke by C. L. Werner, which I believe may be the only novel I've read of his (and I intend to read the Grey Seer Thanquol omnibus and Dead Winter when they are both respectfully released), I have a taste for the smaller folk from Gotrek & Felix.
I aim to delve through these five tomes within the next week, as not only do I go to university soon, but I'll also be getting my loan through, meaning more books will be attainable for me, and I'll be attending Games Day, meaning that up to December's Black Library releases will be available on pre-release (which is always a plus!). From this selection I intend to gather Fear To Tread, the latest Horus Heresy by James Swallow, Path of the Outcast, the last of the Eldar Path trilogy by Gav Thorpe, Shadows of Treachery, a Horus Heresy compilation, Pariah, the first of the third trilogy of Inquisition novels by Dan Abnett (HIGHLY anticipated), and Garro: Sword of Truth, another Horus Heresy also by James Swallow. I may add The Great Betrayal to that list, by Nick Kyme, depending how my reading of Dwarfs goes; as he is the main contributing author there.
Amongst titles already out by Black Library, I would like to get The Emperor's Gift, as previously mention, by ADB, Wrath of Iron by Chris Wraight, Angel of Fire by William King (though that may wait until a paperback volume), The second Blood Angels omnibus by James Swallow, and the Thorn and Talon CD, which as it didn't arrive at Games Day last year, I didn't have the opportunity to buy.
Yesterday, I visited the local library with my family, and it has spurred me to branch out from Black Library, more so than I already do. Having seen some of the awesome covers via Jon Sullivan's facebook page, I intend to try some of Neil Nasher's Sci-fi work, alongside Laurel K Hamilton's Anita Blake novels. Whilst I read most of the series last year before I shipped out to university, I got to around four novels from the end of the series (currend end, I may point out), and didn't have the funds to continue. So, now it remains to be seen whether I try to start the whole series over, or start from a few novels back from where I tapered out.
I also have an urge to return to some of my reading roots; namely crime novels. James Patterson's Women's Murder Club played a heavy part in my reading life a few years back, as did His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Quadrilogy. So I intend to revisit these gems sometime in the new year, maybe before if possible. I would also like to try and track down Graham Mcneill's Ambassador's Chronicles - the first two books I ever read of Black Library. The Lord of the Rings, Dan Brown's Angels & Daemons trilogy and the other two of his make, and the Harry Potter books all call out for re-readings. I'm also interested in trying out Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant, which just form the title sounds interesting.
Both the Hunger Games second and third books, and George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones series call out for continuation (in fact I've only read the first of the seven Game of Thrones books...despite owning the first three!). Not to mention a host of Forensic Science book's I've earmarked on the UCLan library website to supplement my studies (and in some cases form the study themselves!). As such I've decided to construct a reading list, much in the style of my friend Abhinav (http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/reading-list/), and hopefully he'll forgive me for the thievery! Come the week I begin university, I'll start it up (as hopefully by then I'll have finished these five omnibus' and can start afresh), and update it with more books to read as they come into my mind/sight!
I think I've taken up enough of your time right now, so see you next time!
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