Steve Parker - the official blog

Aftermath

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:27:00 +0000

According to numerous accounts, Black Library Live! was a huge success this year. Naturally, I'm a bit miffed that I couldn't be there in person, but there you go. Living on the other side of this rock has its disadvantages sometimes.

Those who attended the show and watched my half-hour video session will already know this, but it's high time I let the rest of you in on what I'm working on now. You ready for this? Hell, most of you probably guessed already...

My next novel will be about the Deathwatch!

That's right. Talon Squad are migrating from the pages of short story collections to their own full length novel (the first of many, if all goes well), and it's going to be a belter. Trust me. For my part, this is the most exciting Black Library project I've handled so far. Deathwatch, man! Special forces! The best of the best!

If I drank tea, this would by my cup.

In other news, I just received a link to another online review of Rynn's World. I have to say, if the book keeps getting reactions like this, it'll go to my head. HERE's the link to the review. If you haven't picked up Rynn's World yet, I hope you'll consider doing so.

And lastly, a special thanks to all of you who contacted me with your kind comments. I read every message, and they mean a great deal to me. Thank you very much.

Transmission Sent

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:22:00 +0000

It's only a few days now until Black Library Live! 2010 and, while I can't be there in person, I've just sent a 'video interview and reading' off to the folks at the Black Library. Those of you attending the event at Warhammer World in Nottingham will get to see the video between 10:45am and 11:15am. I hope you'll find it interesting. I managed to answer quite a few questions about Rynn's World, the writing process, and a couple of other things including a pretty big announcement about my next project.

Don't worry if you can't make it to the event, though. I'll announce my news here very soon.

To all those who are going, have a great day!

Fist Love

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:08:00 +0000

It's a hell of a feeling to wake up to a nice review of your latest book, let me tell you. But that's exactly what happened this morning. Wait, did I say 'nice' review? Sorry. I meant 'frikking amazing!'. Keith Harvey of the website Red Rook Review got stuck into Rynn's World and shares his thoughts. I won't say more here since you can read the review in full for yourself via this link. And don't worry. It's pretty much spoiler free.

Big thanks to Red Rook Review for letting me know about this. It really made my millennium!

Exhumed - Reclassified

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:22:00 +0000

I've just made a quick update to the fiction page, folks, to announce that my second Deathwatch short story, Exhumed, will no longer be published in the Fear the Alien anthology, but will appear in the next Space Marines anthology, which is currently yet to be announced (it's the one after Legends of the Space Marines).

Why is this happening? Since the original Talon Squad story appeared in Heroes of the Space Marines, the powers-that-be have decided Exhumed is a better fit for another volume in that particular series, where it's the Space Marines, not the aliens, that are the main focus. To that extent, I certainly agree. We can't have filthy, bug-eyed xenos upstaging Talon Squad.

I know it means you'll all have to wait a while longer to read it, but don't worry. I'm busy cooking up something else special even as we speak. ;)

Launched!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:42:00 +0000

Rynn's World is out now! It seems that some online stores have jumped the gun and started shipping my latest novel a week ahead of the official US release date. Judging by the first trickle of fan feedback, a number of you have even finished it already. Damn, you're fast!

I'm not sure if it's already shipping in the UK and other territories yet. I'll have to check on that. But, wherever you are, I hope you'll grab a copy and dive straight in. Oh, and don't forget to share your thoughts via a review on your favourite bookseller's website.

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:32:00 +0000

... especially to those of you who wrote to me this year with your kind fan letters. Reading them brought great light to dark days. Equally effusive thanks to everyone who bought my books, to all of you who posted on this blog, and to everyone who's looking forward to Rynn's World, more Deathwatch stories, and whatever else I can cook up between now and the end of 2010!

The very best to all of you! Have a wonderful holiday season!

Updated the Fiction Page

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:35:00 +0000

Just a quick note to say that I've updated the Fiction page on this site. It now includes a little teaser detail for my new Deathwatch Talon Squad story, Exhumed. Check out the details at the top of the Fiction page, and look out for the full story in Fear the Alien when the anthology is released in September 2010 (yeah, I know - it's bloody ages away, but Rynn's World will help bridge the gap!).

Listening to: 30 Seconds to Mars - This is War
Reading: Ghost in the Shell 1.5 by Masamune Shirow
Playing: Demons' Souls (PS3)
Watching: Inside the Actor's Studio (with Harrison Ford)
This week's link: http://www.drivenbydemand.org/ (warning: this is extremely upsetting stuff - please help stop the Japanese bastards who are doing this!)

Year's End Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Remiss of me not to update the blog for a month, I know, but I've always said I find this blogging thing a bit hard. I'm not a natural blogger. Still, I don't want to stop it since reading comments from you lot now and again is well worth the effort.

So, what's been happening? Let's see. The new Deathwatch short is finished and has been approved by Inquisitor Kyme. The story is called Exhumed, and I'm hoping you'll all like it as much as you seem to have liked Headhunted. Readers who know Headhunted will definitely be at an advantage, but Exhumed ought to be comprehensible for those that don't (at least, I'm hoping so). Look for it when Fear the Alien is released next year.

It's on to my new novel now. Much of it is already established in my mind, but I've got to get a proper synopsis done before any contracts are signed. I've a long chat scheduled with the Kymester on Wednesday and I'm hoping to get the final details hammered out. I'm looking forward to this one. More info when I'm told I can leak something.

In non-BL news, I'm hoping to get a new computer sorted out this month. My e-machines died on me after 6 years of solid service. The Dell I'm using as a substitute is the same age and definitely on its last legs. Time to get a monster graphics machine so I can get back into 3d character design and the like, which I've always loved. I'm also looking forward to discovering how PC gaming has evolved over the years that I've been exclusively a console-gamer. Yeah... really looking forward to that! :D

Talking of games, I've got to recommend Square-Enix/Pop-Cap's new collaboration. It's called Gyromancer, and you can get it on PC or Xbox360 for about $15 (don't know how much in British pounds). It's absolutely awesome - a combination of Pop-Cap's addictive Bejeweled Twist gameplay and Square-Enix's beautiful fantasy art, great music and high production values. It really has me hooked right now.

I've also recently developed an interest in the CCG (collectible card game) Magic: The Gathering. I watched some of the world championships live on the web and couldn't understand a bit of what was happening (world class players are really serious about this stuff), but the basic game is loads of fun, and I managed to pick up a starter set for only about $4!.

Anyway, that's all for now, except to say that there's still just a little time left to get your questions in for the Rynn's World video interview. So, if any of you have something else to ask, get in touch with me via the Contact page and let me know. The questions are mounting up now, though, I must admit, so I won't be able to answer all of them.

Missile Hits Fortress-Monastery in Tokyo

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Okay, not a missile exactly. More like a package from my publisher.

I just received two advance author's copies of Rynn's World hot off the Black Library presses and, let me tell you, this one is a beauty. Bigger than a normal paperback (think omnibus size) and all shiny and cool with its full colour maps in the middle. Yeah, this is a good looking book. Of course, you can see that for yourselves in the image below.

And the page count? Minus the usual promotional pages at the back, the story runs in at 536 pages, the biggest book I've written so far.

I don't want to bang on about it too much, since it won't be in readers' hands until late January at the earliest, but don't forget that I'll be doing a video interview for Black Library TV in which I'll get to answer all your questions about Rynn's World and writing in general. I've had some questions from some of you already, but there's still time for more, so don't be shy. Just go to this site's Contact page to send me your questions directly.

For now, I'm cracking on with my Fear the Alien story. It's called Exhumed and sees the return of Deathwatch kill-team Talon Squad, heroes of my last short story, Headhunted.

As if the photo of Rynn's World wasn't cruel enough, here's the cover of Fear the Alien, just to get you all even more cranked up for next year. What can I say? I'm feeling malevolent today. (raises pinkie finger to side of mouth) Mwahahaha!

That's one meaty greenskin mutha! I can almost hear him roar just from looking at the pic. Nice one, Clint Langley!

Orkishly Impatient

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:22:00 +0000

Twitchy. Growly. Stompy. That's how I get when there's a package on its way to me. I check the mailbox about five times a day till it arrives. And Mr. Kyme (my editor) tells me that author copies of my next novel, Rynn's World, are winging their way to me as I type this.
[Insert irritatingly high-pitched noises of glee here]

By all accounts, the book looks bloody great - shining white Jon Sullivan cover, embossed title, full colour maps in the middle. I can't wait to see it. Sure, it was a tough ride, but I've a feeling it'll all be worth it when my diligent Japanese postie gets here, package in hand.

In the meantime, I've got plenty to get on with, as you'll know from my previous post.

... and my PS3 came back from repair. Sony are pretty cheeky with the price of the new drive they fitted, but at least they were super-fast. It was only gone for four days (including pickup and delivery). Not bad. Pity they can't fix my Killzone 2 connection issues while they're at it. Actually, that's probably for the best. ;)

Ouch!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:50:00 +0000

I didn't see it coming. Anyone who follows Nick Kyme's blog will know that he and I have been engaging in a few online gaming sessions recently (his first trip into the world of online gaming). Last weekend, it was Unreal Tournament 3. Top fun!

Well, that's on hold now. My Playstation3 just rendered itself utterly useless. It won't read any kind of disk whatsoever. Great!

It happened during Angels and Demons. Just over halfway into the movie, BLAM! The drive died. I think I took it fairly calmly. Nothing else in the room was destroyed. Now I have to send the busted machine in to Sony, who are charging me 9,000 yen to sort out their mess. Yeah, I said their mess. The word on the web is that a recent firmware update caused drive issues in original 20Gb and 60Gb PS3s. Not really sure if that's the whole truth, but it had better not be.

Anyway, gaming on hiatus for now. Just as well, really. I've a Deathwatch short story to write for Fear the Alien. Yup, that's right. More Talon Squad on the way. Keep watching this space.

Three is the Magic Number... So Far.

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:34:00 +0000

As you'll already know, next year sees the launch of Black Library's new Space Marine Battle Book series - a range of books focusing on some of the biggest events in Space Marine history (outside of the Horus Heresy, that is). You probably also know that I'll be kicking things off with my novel Rynn's World, which is released in February of next year.

Well, the artwork for the two books to follow - Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Helsreach and Mitchel Scanlon's The Hunt for Voldorius - is now up on various websites. Here's what the three books look like together:

I think you'll agree, they look pretty frakkin' amazing. I'm looking forward to having them sitting on my shelf, I can tell you. The spines even have a little image of a Space Marine from each of the relevant Chapters. Very cool stuff.

Jon Sullivan, the artist responsible for all three cover paintings, really is outdoing himself, getting better and better with each piece. Check out his website HERE to see more of his phenomenal work.

Every Day is Hallowe'en

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:46:00 +0000

Yeah, I know I said I would try not to politicise my blog, but I'm making another exception today. I just spent an hour checking out some seriously sick web-games on the awesome site peta2.com

Be warned, most of them are grisly, not for kids at all despite the super-cute graphics and sound. They're pretty fun, though, if your connection speed is up to scratch. Despite the serious nature of the topics these games deal with, you'll probably get a chuckle out of how well they parody certain famous titles.

I really recommend Super Chick Sisters. Pamela Anderson has been kidnapped by that bastard, Colonel Sanders, after speaking out against KFC's brutal mass slaughter methods. Since the Mario Brothers have repetitive strain injury from playing too much Wii, the Super Chick Sisters jump in.

Another one, Cooking Mama Kills Animals, is particularly bloody and gross. Mama's arms get covered in gore while she pulls organs out of a turkey.

If you decide to check out peta2.com (and I know it isn't for everyone - that's your call), don't forget to check out the info pages to learn the truth. Hopefully it'll get you thinking. You might even feel compelled to sign a few petitions, too. I know I was.

Right, back to fighting Sanderbots. Pam Anderson won't rescue herself!

Eaten... and Pooped Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:09:00 +0000

It's never happened to me before, but, just a few hours ago, a giant salamander ate me, worked me through its digestive tract, and pooped me out an orifice in its tail. Yeah, it sounds weird, which is why it was such a surprise, but I sure as hell enjoyed the ride.

I've been rocking the Lost Planet 2 demo (Playstation3 version) this week, going online with BL editor and good mate, Nick Kyme, to hose down baddies in our search for glowing globules of T-energy. It's a lot of fun, as I knew it would be (I was a huge fan of the first Lost Planet game) but I wasn't expecting anything like the surprise I got when that big, slimy beauty gobbled me up. I was bracing myself for a quick 'Game Over'.

Nick got swallowed soon after I was ejected from the beast's rear, but he didn't make it through the gastric tumult in one piece. Once his lifeless corpse lay sloshing around in the beast's guts, it really was game over for both of us. Actually, I think there was a timer on the battle and it must've run out.

It looks like the full game is set for a Dec 09/Jan 10 release and, if the full product is as good as the demo, it deserves to do damned well. Check out the demo if you can.

Help Save the... Aquila?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:25:00 +0000

It turns out the Imperial Eagle is under threat. Okay, not the Warhammer 40,000 version exactly, but the Iberian Imperial Eagle.

It doesn't have two heads, but it's still awesome. I'm sure the Emperor of Mankind would approve of you all jumping in to help to protect this amazing bird. Here's the link:

http://www.care2.com/news/member/126262056/1269256

On the Frontline

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:48:00 +0000

If you're a Crimson Fists fan, or a Warhammer 40,000 fan in general, you should watch and listen to the video embedded above. It's a seriously cool Crimson Fist tribute by a guy calling himself DCrimsoftFist. I stumbled across this on YouTube and wish I'd discovered it sooner. Lots of great shots of Crimson Fists in action, plus an awesome song to accompany them. Nice work.

Questions have started coming in for the Rynn's World video interview, so thanks to all that have contacted me so far. If you haven't got your own questions in yet, just pop over to my Contact page (that's HERE), and drop me a line.

Let's see... any other news? Hmm... Nothing on the BL front that I can let slip for now.

Last night, Tokyo got hit by a pretty solid typhoon. I couldn't get to sleep, so watched it for a while. Between the rain and the wind, the city took a bit of a beating. It's still windy out there, but it's fairly dry and bright now.

I love extreme weather - lightning, blizzards, powerful storms, all of it. I know the damage it does to people's homes/lives isn't cool at all, but who doesn't love a storm now and then, right?

Video Nasty

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:43:00 +0000

That's Pedro Kantor, by the way. I got to know him pretty well over the last few months.

Not long now until Rynn's World is released. Yeah, it's officially a February release, but you Black Library readers always seem to get your mitts on things early, don't you?

Anyway, I hope you're all looking forward to it. Can't wait to see the advance copies myself - bigger than a standard BL paperback and with full colour maps to boot! They can't get here quick enough for me. Luckily, I've got about a dozen other things to be getting on with in the meantime, not least of which is a new short story for Fear the Alien, as I might have mentioned before.

I just got off 'the phone' (the computer, really) with my editor, Nick Kyme. We talked about about the pre-release run-up for Rynn's World and, of all things, a video interview I'll be doing.

I'm camera shy even on a good hair day, but there will be no escaping this one, and we're opening it up to you lot, too! If you've got a question about Rynn's World, Gunheads, Headhunted, Rebel Winter, writing in general or anything else, for that matter, then drop me a line using the form HERE. Feel free to ask as many as you like, but only the best will get picked (probably not by me, though I might have some say).

If your question does get picked, I'll answer it in the video interview (which I'm told will be shown on a nice big screen at the next BL Live event). So get your thinking caps on, people, and get those questions in. I reckon you've got until the middle of November, but I'll keep you posted on that.

Too Much of a Good Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:51:00 +0000

I haven't been quite the same since I got back from Hawaii. I can't settle back in to Tokyo at all, now that I've had a slice of life on Oahu island. It wasn't just the weather, the palm trees and the people (the good ones, anyway... not the a-holes, nut-jobs and gang-bangers). It was great to be in a country where I could read the fine print on everything and take care of business without crashing straight into the language barrier. And being in a bookshop where I was surrounded by stuff I can actually read was awesome - something I miss.

But that's only part of it. I sorta fell in love in Hawaii... with a frikkin' restaurant!

That might surprise those who know me personally. In diet terms, at least, I tend to live like a weird kind of 'straight edge' monk - I've got pretty strict rules about what I eat and don't eat, and I'm not just talking about the fact that I'm vegetarian. My usual daily grub mostly consists of protein bars and shakes, oatmeal, yoghurt and granola, wholewheat bread, brown rice, low sugar cereals and a bunch of other similar stuff. I only occasionally have 'cheat meals'.

If there's one food I do miss, though, it's pizza. Without my rules in place, I'd eat it every day. And pizza was never as good as it was at zpizza Honolulu. In 8 days, my partner and I went back 3 times. We should have made it 8! The 'Provence' was, flat out, the best food I've had... ever!

It wasn't just the food that's got me pining for z's, either. The staff were just about the friendliest, coolest people I met on the whole trip. And the fact that the company uses recycled paper, organic ingredients, has a really wide vegetarian selection, and runs a sort of community benefit program called zCares, all just fits together like a big delicious fresh-baked jigsaw puzzle with fresh tomatoes and capers on it.

It's probably just as well Zpizza is only in the US. If there was one in Tokyo, I'd be packing in the calories like every meal was my last.

I wonder if they do international delivery. :(

UK Games Day 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 02:40:00 +0000

It's that time again, when Warhammer and 40k fans from around the UK (not to mention a few other countries), congregate in a big convention hall to battle each other, paint miniatures, check out the latest Black Library novels and generally have the best time since... sliced bread (to quote Alan Partridge).

I had a blast at Games Day a few years back, one of the highlights of which was obviously meeting Black Library super-fan Xhalax, and I always regret living so damned far away that I can't consistently make an appearance. Instead, you'll all have to 'make do' (hah!) with Nick Kyme, Graham McNeill, Jim Swallow, Dan Abnett (only for a little while this year - get well soon, Dan), Aaron Dembski-Bowden, and a whole bunch of others.

Though I can't make it myself, Rynn's World will still have a presence. In fact, attendees will be able to pick up one of these cool bookmarks at the event:

Pretty nice, right? It's the first time a bookmark has ever promoted one of my books - a strange kind of writerly milestone, but a milestone nevertheless.

If you're going to UK Games Day, I hope you'll have an absolute blast. In fact, I know you will. And who knows, maybe I'll get to attend next year. Fingers crossed.

The Real Gunheads!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:29:00 +0000

It seems Sergeant Oskar Andreas Wulfe and the crew of Last Rites II, heroes of my novel Gunheads, might have some competition in the tough-guy stakes. The bullet-chewin' badasses in the photo above belong to C Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Regiment, Third Infantry Division (Mechanised), operating out of Fort Benning, Georgia, USA.

This photo was taken on a recent tour of Iraq. It was sent to me by Sgt. Wesley Rasnick (second row, first on the left). Apparently, he and his lads are big fans of the novel, and I can think of no higher compliment than that real tankers dig it. Rasnick and his crew operate a massive M1A2 Abrams SEP battle-tank with all the latest urban survival upgrades (TUSK). You can see her lethal main gun in the photo. Her name is 'Crown Royal' and you just know she's their pride and joy. Only a frakking madman would want to pick a fight with her!

Thanks for writing, sarge, and for the photo. Stay safe on your next tour.

On Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:41:00 +0000

No prizes, but I invite you all to guess what kind of critter that handsome little fellow is.

This blog is over a year old now. It was remiss of me, perhaps, but I let that first anniversary pass with nary a word. As you probably know already, I'm not a habitual blogger, but I try. My aim is to maintain it as a way of giving my readers a point of contact with me. Sure, I should definitely blog more than I do... but, unless you're interested in my bodybuilding/martial arts training, or my fierce opinions on animal rights and the like, there's not all that much to tell you. I love films and games and books, but I don't talk about them much. I rarely read reviews. You should always form your own opinions about stuff. You hardly need mine.

Wait, you cry. What about Black Library related news? Surely you want to yap about your books, Steve? Well, don't you?

Er, sort of, but I'm under a pesky thing called an Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). All Black Library writers sign one. It's the main reason I'm fairly quiet regarding my writing. I'm never really sure what I can get away with telling you. Added to that, it seems cruel to tease you all with snippets of info up to a year before a book actually comes out in the shops.

So, I'll just keep ambling along, I guess, trying to find things worthy of comment here and there. Seeing as the blog is mainly for my BL readers, I try not to politicise it. If there's something fairly non-volatile that you'd like my opinion on, of course, just say so, and I'll see about making it the subject of a future post.

In the meantime, here's a bit of BL news.

I had a Skype call with my editor, Nick Kyme, last night, during which we sent a few files back and forward. It struck us both just how great Skype is. Living as far as I do from the Black Library offices, Nick and I depend on Skype for most of our spoken comms. The fact that he can pop an image or document across to me while we're chatting is really useful, too. Last night, he sent across a mock-up of the cover to the novel I'll be writing after Rynn's World.

Khekking hell, it's great! Massive credit to Darius Hinks for knocking up something special. I can't wait for you guys to see it. It's a perfect fit for the kind of story I'm planning to tell. Blam! That's me getting shot in the face by a bolter! That's what it felt like.

Nick and I talked about a number of other things, too, one of which was my short story for next year's Fear the Alien anthology. I'm looking forward to writing it. I haven't tackled a short since Headhunted and I think it will be a great change of pace. Novels are bloody monstrous as times. I'm one of those writers that hates the actual process of writing. I cannot seem to keep by backside in my chair. I think there are a lot of us like that. Without a novel to write, you'd be hard pressed to find me doing housework. Give me a deadline, however, and the house will be bloody spotless while I try to avoid doing anything even remotely related to my job.

Human psychology is a strange and terrible thing. There's a great quote by the brilliant Peter Benchley (author of Jaws, etc.). I'm paraphrasing very loosely, but its something like: a man can do any amount of work with ease so long as it's not the work he's supposed to be doing.

Spot on, sir.

Watching: The Young Ones (season 2) when I get a second.
Listening to: Various tracks by Switchfoot
Reading: Rynn's World by me!
Today's link: Click to Give

Back to Reality

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:17:00 +0000

After nine days in the wonderful state of Hawaii, it's back to Japan and back to writing. Sorry the blog has been so quiet, folks, but it wasn't just because of Rynn's World and crunch time. My partner and I were on Oahu island for a painfully short vacation and just got back into Tokyo last night. We are now thoroughly depressed.

I'm not much of a beach person - in fact, I narrowly escaped a drowning incident on the fourth day of the trip by the skin of my teeth - but Hawaii was fantastic in so many ways. It must be just khekking awesome to live there.

Here are some pics:

I am waiting for a bus (not the one in the photo) while all those people smart enough to hire a car go whooshing past me with their music blasting. We did an inordinate amount of waiting for buses, actually. Hawaii's bus service has a long way to go, but a 4-day pass was good value and the drivers were pretty helpful.

This is what I lived on, mostly. I'm a strict vegetarian and, because I love bodybuilding and martial arts, I have to make sure I get plenty of protein from non-carrion sources. No lack of that in the USA. The local GNC store had a whole bunch of special offers. Here I am with my beloved one gallon fat-free milk, a can of diet pepsi (water is better, of course) and, best of all, a Supreme Protein Bar (30g of whey protein and only 4g of crappy sugars!). I practically lived on this stuff while I was in Hawaii. The tacos and cheese snacks in the background belong to my missus, honest. She's prone to junk food, the undisciplined fool!

And finally, here I am emerging from the deadly waters of the Pacific Ocean alive and well. Bow before me, Pacific. You could not defeat me this time! Not a particularly modest photo, I admit, but it's not often I find a photo of me that I like, so what the hell.

It was a trip filled with ups and downs, but mostly ups, and I returned to find a big package from Black Library waiting for me, containing Dan's new book, Blood Pact, Aaron Dembski-Bowden's bebut BL novel, Cadian Blood, plus a host of others equally snazzy. I'm particularly looking forward to reading Dan and Aaron's latest, but I've got Nick's Salamander to read before that.

So much to read, so little time.

Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm (an episode here and there when I get time)
Listening to: nothing right now.
Reading: Escape from Oz by Nick Kyme (non-BL)
This week's special link: Care2.com's Click to Donate

Slothfulness

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:10:00 +0000

Just popped on quickly to post this little widget thing from LG Electronics, who are going to give a big donation to WWF if enough people link to it.

Sometimes I need a brief respite from boltguns and orky choppas.

Okay, respite over. Back to New Rynn City.

Off the Grid

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:33:00 +0000

Hello, all. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, but I'm afraid that's just how things are right now - crappy! I'll be 'going dark' for the next three weeks or so on account of a very tight upcoming deadline, but, if something comes up that I think absolutely has to be reported, I'll try to pop on and at least make a short blog about it.

In the meantime, here's an image of a recent 3D head I sculpted (on a seven year old Dell computer that I don't dare switch off in case it dies for good). You might have noticed the new red-skull background texture on the other pages of my website, too (if not, just click the Home, Bio or other buttons to see it). I guess I've recently rediscovered my love of computer-based art. :)

Now... ahem... if you'll excuse me, I've got Space Marines battles to write.

Get me a damned Techpriest!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Parker) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:38:00 +0000

And make sure he's frakking capable!

I already knew that I relied on technology too much (and naively thought that that was fine), but it didn't really sink in just how tenuous everything was until my desktop PC died on Sunday. I'm not sure what happened, but I think the motherboard got fried. I've spent every waking minute since then mounting a massive (and highly amateur) recovery mission to make sure Rynn's World isn't lost.

That's right, the damnably mercurial machine-spirits nearly wiped out my latest novel, smack bang in the middle of the second draft rewrite with only weeks to go to the deadline. Yes, I do make regular backups, but... *cough*... they were stored on the same machine.

Luckily, after almost four days of high blood pressure and periodic rages, I finally managed to recover the files I needed and transfered them to another computer (learning quite a lot in the process).

Now, if I can just get the substitute computer to recognise my Warp-blasted printer (it's an obscure Japan-only model... another calamitous mistake!), I'll be back on track.

The universe loves to test me so.