Saturday, May 13, 2006

Mail Call

Thanks to everyone who's contacted me via the website email, and apologies for the delay in responding. Due to a technical hitch, I can't seem to get replies out to you. So thanks to Gumersindo Pradas, David Stringfield, Carlton Jones, Nick Staiano, Stefan Furuskog, Sheldon Davidson, Christian Geeraerts, Kaiserjez, Joshua Carter and Piers Hawkins for their kind comments and suggestions. Christian - I don't have author photos, but I'll find something to sign. To Dennis, who is a Darkblade fan, can I point you in the direction of the complete comic book series, which is where the story ran originally. Mike and I plan to do five novels in total. To Richard Collison, I'm sorry my website sucked for you so much. To Matthew Churchill - see you in Birmingham. To Darren Johnson-Smith - I'll check out your site and get back to you. Thanks. If I've missed anybody off this, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.

In answer to the general questions I've been getting:
1. The next Ravenor is called Ravenor Rogue.
2. The Horus heresy isn't a trilogy. The first three book interlock to set the series up. There will be more. I will do more.
3. I'm tempted at some point to do some 'young Gaunt' novels set during his cadetship with the Hyrkans. If anybody thinks that's a good idea.
4. The Black Library probably wouldn't be too keen on getting unsolicted Gaunt's Ghosts novel proposals from anyone else at this time.
5. Yes, I do my own research. Thanks for noticing that I do research.
6. I don't know when my books are scheduled to come out in Spain, but the Spanish publisher's website would be a good place to start.
7.I have no plans to write more Eisenhorn exactly, but I do have a slight desire to. So maybe he'll show up again, in a new book of his own, or stomping through someone else's series in a guest-star type way. Certainly, all Eisenhorn fans should check out Ravenor Rogue when it appears, as there are particularly strong Eisenhornian (is that a word? It is now) connections.
8. 'Eisenhornian' is probably better than 'Eisenhorny'.

David Stringfield asked me how I write novels. Ah, the easy questions first. I plan them in my head, run a brief pitch past BL to check they like it, then plough straight in, constantly feeding off and adding to a legal pad full of notes and ideas. Every novels gets its own notebook, an ongoing workbook to keep my head straight and stop me from forgetting sudden flashes of inspiration when I'm mid flow. The whole process is organic. I read, rewrite, constantly redraft 'on the hoof', and get my wife, the deadly accurate and persnickety proof reader and editor that she is, to check the manuscript for sense, punctation, spelling and general not being crap. She deserves a great deal more credit than she recieves, especially in that final capacity.

Does that answer the question?