Tuesday, May 26, 2015

UK GAMES EXPO this weekend!

It's the UK Games Expo event in Birmingham this weekend, the largest convention of its kind in the country, and I'm going to be along as a guest, as well as giving my dice a workout...

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UK Games Expo takes place at the NEC Hilton Metropole, just across from Birmingham International train station, and there's a full weekend going on of tabletop gaming, seminars, tournaments and more.

I'l be along to sign and sell my books; you should be able to find me (when not spending ££ in the dealers room or gaming at the free tables in the evening) with the New Writers UK team at Stand K35 in the King's Annex -  so come along and say hello!

Click on the banner to learn more about the event...

Thursday, May 21, 2015

DARK FUTURE: BLOOD RED STATES reveal trailer

Back in the late 80's, the wastelands of a shattered America were haunted by the roar of engines and the rattle of gunfire across the asphalt; Dark Future was a cyberpunk post-apocalypse vehicle combat board game from Games Workshop that enjoyed a cult following, spawning a series of novels including Jade Dragon written by me. And now, Dark Future is back from the dead...


Auroch Digital are following in the footsteps of their earlier hit boardgame-to-videogame Chainsaw Warrior with Dark Future: Blood Red States, and I'm in the gunner seat working on the storyline.

Check out exclusive coverage over at Game Debate for more info Here and Here - and don't forget your road safety rules: Mirror, Signal, Massacre.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

24: DEADLINE is a Scribe Award Nominee!

I'm very pleased to announce that the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW) have put forth their nominations list for the 2015 Scribe Awards, and my 24 novel Deadline has made the cut as a nominee for the Best Original Novel - General category!

As the press release states:

Acknowledging excellence in this very competitive field, IAMTW’s Scribe Awards honor licensed works that tie in with other media such as television, movies, gaming, or comic books. They include original works set in established universes, and adaptations of stories that have appeared in other formats and cross all genres. Tie-in works run the gamut from westerns to mysteries to procedurals, from science fiction to fantasy to horror, from action and adventure to superheroes.

This is my third time in the mix for the Scribes - I was nominated for Best Originial Novel - Speculative for my Warhammer 40,000 novel Faith & Fire back in 2007, and later won that category in 2009 for my Star Trek: Terok Nor novel Day of the Vipers, but this the first time I've been in the General category and I'm alongside a group of talented folks and veterans of the industry; I'm very proud to be there!

To check out the full list of nominees, click Here.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Cover art for Star Trek: Titan - Sight Unseen

The cover art for my next Star Trek: Titan novel Sight Unseen is has been officially released...
 

 

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

You Are Hearing Me Talk... about Warhammer 40,000: Regicide

Another day, another podcast - and here's me joining my pal Adam Rosser from BBC Radio 5 Live and Eurogamer's Christian Donlan to talk about videogames, specifically Hammerfall Publishing's new Warhammer 40,000 chess-strategy-action title Regicide - now available via Steam Early Access - on the newest episode of Game On.


Click Here to download the episode.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

You Are Hearing Me Talk...to Forge The Narrative

I was invited on to chat with the folks from Forge The Narrative this week - an in-depth podcast show about the worlds of Warhammer 40,000 and the Horus Heresy - and you can check out what I had to say on Episode 95 of the show right Here from the 49 mins mark... 


The audio from my end gets a little choppy in places (which is either a result of my sucky internet connection or interference from the warp) but stick with it, as we have some great discusssions on the Blood Angels, the Heresy and more. Thanks to Paul Murphy and Chris Morgan for being great hosts!

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Thursday, May 07, 2015

...In A Galaxy Far, Far Away..

*Cue the 20th Century Fox fanfare*

So, for those of you who couldn't read the Aurabesh in the last blog post, here's the thing: I am writing Star Wars.

Some specifics - no, I haven't been tapped to pen a script for one of the spin-off Anthology movies as some folks suggested (but hey, Lucasfilm? *makes "call-me" gesture*); no, I'm not writing a Star Wars novel (yet), although that remains firmly at the top of my nerd bucket list, ten years on and still hoping; and no, technically this isn't my first work in the GFFA, because back in the day I wrote dozens of articles for Star Wars Magazine, Star Wars Insider, Star Wars Gamer and The Star Wars Fact Files... But it is my first time writing an original narrative for characters from that mythos.


And the first you will see of that work is Twilight of the Republic, the launch playset that will be released with Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars – the newest iteration of the blockbuster ‘toys-to-life’ videogame series. Featuring the heroes, villains and locations of the saga, gamers will be able to cross the stars on a high-stakes mission to expose a deadly threat to the Galactic Republic...

Set at the height of the Clone Wars, between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the plotline of Twilight of the Republic follows the Jedi as they fight to discover who is behind the rise of a new army of Battle Droids that threatens the stability of the galaxy; the characters of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano are packed with the playset, and players can also pick up Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Darth Maul as seperate figures..
 
 
Disney Infinity 3.0 is also going to feature Rise of the Empire, a 'classic trilogy' Star Wars playset (featuring Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and Darth Vader as playable characters). There will also be a Force Awakens playset, as well as new Marvel Universe and Disney Originals content for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Inside Out and more.

To say that I'm enthused about being part of this is a bit of an understatement - in a "that's no moon" kind of way.

Here I am, a 40-something geek born and bred in the Star Wars generation, who still remembers that moment of awe at the Dominion Theatre in 1978, as the Star Destroyer thundered over my young head. That nearly four decades later, I am once again metaphorically caught in the wake of that engine roar, is just too damn cool.

I have had an absolute blast working with the talented crews at Ninja Theory and Disney Interactive on Twilight of the Republic, and together we've built something that is not just neat figures and virtual toyboxes  - it's a true Star Wars story that I hope will play out like a lost episode of The Clone Wars series, with all the action and thrills, fun and high adventure of the best of the saga. Young and old alike, I hope you'll come and play.
 

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

A Long Time Ago...

If you're keeping an eye on the internet today, you may have seen this reveal of a cool new thing...

I am pleased to say one of the people who made that cool thing happen is me! Together with a team of very talented folks, I've been working on it for over a year, and rest assured I'll be talking about it in a lot more detail in the days ahead.

But for now, finally, officially, I get to say: