Destination Star Trek 3

A new convention update; I've talked around this a bit recently, but now it's official - I'm going to be a guest at the big Destination Star Trek 3 convention taking place over the weekend of October 3rd-5th at the ExCel Centre in London.

I'll be there on Saturday 4th October with Star Trek books publisher Simon & Schuster, signing my novels at the sales stand in the Publication Alley area of the event.

I'll also be taking part in an Author Panel where I'll talk about my current and future Star Trek projects (including my next Star Trek: Titan novel Sight Unseen) and taking questions - that will be the “Star Trek Novelists Q&A" taking place on Saturday between 2:45pm and 3:30pm on the Excelsior Stage (which is free to enter for all DST3 attendees). Pending her final confirmation, I hope to be joined by my fellow Star Trek: The Fall author Una McCormack.

For more information about Destination Star Trek 3, click Here.

Ask The Author at GoodReads

So I've been signed up the the GoodReads site as an author for a while now and aside from flailing about with the booklist and using it to mirror posts from my blog, I haven't employed it that much.

But now, as well as adding an up-to-date events list, I've also toggled the Ask The Author function, which means if you're signed up as a GoodReads reader, you can put me to the question as the mood takes you.

You can find the page Here.

I'll do my best to answer in what will probably be an irregular and mercurial manner... (Answers may contain sarcasm and/or enthusing). And of course, if you're not a GoodReads person, you can always ask me things here at this blog.

.

Interview Round-Up: Horus Heresy Audio Dramas & 24: Deadline

I've been talking to folks about all kinds of stuff this week, and here's a gathering of some of the interviews I've been doing...

 

First up, the Geek Native and Connected Digital World blogs have put up some short Q&A's with me talking about my work writing the first of the new 24 tie-in novel series Deadline.

Check out the Geek Native interview Here and the CDW interview Here.

And a world away from the modern-day action and adventures of Jack Bauer, Greg Dann over at the Garagehammer site has interview me for the After Ullanor podcast, a series of regular shows that go into great depth and analysis of the Horus Heresy fiction. In this latest show, I talk to Greg about Black Library's audio drama series featuring Nathaniel Garro. Check it out Here.

.

Blood Angels: Quick Reads Collection out now

Black Library launched a new ebook collection series this week, another gathering of stuff old and new about Warhammer 40,000's greatest warriors, the Adeptus Astartes.

Each one of these "Quick Reads" eBook collections is themed on a different chapter of the Space Marines, collecting short stories, novellas and more.

And of course, my boys in crimson are represented in style; the Blood Angels: Quick Reads Collection...

The Blood Angels are noble and glorious, but marked by twin curses, dark secrets that drive them to bloodthirst and berserk rage, as dangerous to allies as to enemies.

This collection includes my short stories The Sanguinor: Exemplar of the Host, Dante: Lord of the Host and Redeemed, as well as the complete test of the limited edition Bloodline chapbook I wrote for Games Day 2010. It also features Astorath the Grim: Redeemer of the Lost by Andy Smillie and Eclipse of Hope by David Annandale.

To get your digital download of the Blood Angels: Quick Reads Collection, click Here.

You can also check out other collections featuring the Dark Angels, Flesh Tearers, Imperial Fists, White Scars and Ultramarines chapters at the Black Library website.

Lon Con 3

The World Science Fiction Convention returns to the UK this week with LonCon 3, out at the ExCel Centre in Docklands, and I'm going along on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th to hang out, talk about stuff, sign things and seek out all kinds of fun.

To learn more about the event, visit the website Here.

If you would like to find me during the weekend, here's where I'll be and what I'll be up to:

FRIDAY
Kaffeeklatsch
3:00pm - 4:00pm, London Suite 4
Come along and ask me anything about my writing, my work in games, or anything else for that matter. I may even attempt a reading. I will do my best to be polite and interesting. (Warning: may not actually contain politeness)
For information on sign-ups for the Kaffeeklatsches, check Here - or just, y'know, turn up.

Medieval Languages and Distant Vistas: Using The Past in Games
8:00pm - 9:00pm, Capital Suite 16
Although we might not notice it, history plays a huge part in modern gaming. Not only historical games such as Medieval War, but worlds created using our perspective of 'historical times', fantasy landscapes where the people speak with odd, archaic accents or cast spells created in ancient tongues. Why is history so important to games, and how is it used? Should we take more historical care in the way we present these people, places and tongues, and what sort of potential does the recreation of the past have for gaming worlds

SATURDAY
Autographing 1 - James Swallow
1:30pm - 3:00pm, Autographing Space
I will freely write my name on stuff for you, cheques and binding contracts exempt.

From Indie to AAA
4:30pm - 6:00pm, Capital Suite 16
Should Indie games aim for AAA status, or are they better off as a forum for arts and creative development? Can the two live together?

Thoughtful Play - using complex ideas in game development
6:00pm - 7:00pm, London Suite 2
Indie gaming, in videogames, board and cardgame genres is becoming a hugely important part of gaming, and is arguably changing the ways that games are understod. Importantly, the themes of love, friendship and connection are often core parts of these games, which investigate the ways that we understand key moments in our lives, as well as being entertaining and fun. Here we examine how indie games are capable of exploring complex ideas in games.

The Big Thrill interviews me

Top chap Jeff Ayers (whom Star Trek fans might recall as the author of the weighty tome Voyages of the Imagination) has interviewed me over at The Big Thrill webzine, the official monthly online publication of the International Thriller Writers group.

I talk to Jeff about writing my new 24 tie-in novel Deadline, the challenges of writing in an established universe, my original career choices when I was twelve years old and more besides...

Check it out Here.

Out Today - 24: Deadline

The clock has run out and the deadline has been passed; get ready for some explosive action with Jack Bauer as my latest novel 24: Deadline drops today.

24: Deadline is available in the USA as in hardback and digital from Forge Books, and as a large-format paperback in the UK from Titan Books. An unabridged audiobook version is available from MacMillan Audio as a digital download from Audible and also on a pre-loaded audio player.

The time is 5:00 PM.

One hour ago, federal agent Jack Bauer was declared a fugitive. If he wants to survive, he must get out of the country, and he doesn’t have much time.

With his former colleagues in the Counter Terrorist Unit now dead, under arrest, or shut down, Jack has no resources to call upon, no back-up, and nowhere to go—only his determination can drive him on. One thing remains clear to him: the promise he made to his daughter Kim. Jack vows that he will see Kim one last time to tell her he loves her...before he drops off the radar forever.

Meanwhile, a hastily-assembled FBI task force sets out to track down and capture Jack, even as a covert operations unit of Russia’s SVR sets out to do the same - only the remit of the Russians is to kill on sight. 

As the clock runs down, Jack must face old friends and past enemies in a desperate race to stay one step ahead of the hunters, leaving them with a grim warning -

Stay out of my way, and I’ll be gone within 24 hours. You’ll never see me again. Come after me...and you’ll regret it.