Picked up the paintbrush for the first time in a while, to test out a paint scheme idea. Going to wait to see what's on the new Cities of Sigmar release wave's decal sheet before I choose what design to stick on the shield, though.

My first published novella. A lot of fun to write!

Picked up a paintbrush for the first time in months and actually having a pretty good time painting a Steelhelm for a colour scheme test. For some reason I was expecting this to be a kinda miserable experience but it's going pretty smoothly, apart from my total lack of ability to blend smoothly.

It's going to be really hard to resist picking up that Cities of Sigmar/Skaven spearhead dual box.

Writing's coming along nicely. Finished my first two short stories for the forthcoming Wyldwood minis game from Tabletop Titans (neolithic fantasy!), two more underway, and well into my next piece for Black Library.

DLSS 5 Off / DLSS 5 On

My unique talent is frequently checking the clock at what turns out to be precisely 13.37, which I think is pretty leet tbh.

I really struggle to paint #Warhammer minis when I'm writing fiction for Black Library. When it's work, my brain renders it unable to also be recreational fun. This is a bit of a pain, because I suspect winding down with some paints and brushes would be great relaxation after a few thousand words.

Oh bloody hell, doing this novel blurb is like trying to come up with the first line for a new manuscript. I am slowly driving myself mad writing and rewriting it, trying to find the perfect version. I don't even know what a great blurb looks like!

Trying to write the blurb for the back cover of a novel and it's like my brain has emptied out of all thoughts. What was this story even about?

Maybe I should dip my toes back into ttrpg writing again. Been a while now! (he says, at the same time as a backlog of work to write already and waiting for the contract for the next thing on the list - but these sorts of urges and inclinations rarely arrive at an actually convenient time!)

Getting back into the swing of daily writing after the post-finishing-novel lull has been tricky.

Doing some asset archaology for the VTM Bloodlines RTX Remaster, and geuinely cannot believe that I found this.

The toughest part of any new project - coming up with the main character's name.

Ooh, Black Library sales statement for the past half a year landed today. It's still strange seeing these hard numbers for the amount of people actually acquiring copies of my stuff (and hopefully also reading them)!

I love the new #warhammer40k Knight. "Just strap some rockets to it so it goes faster! Strap some weights to it so it doesn't fall over! Strap another rocket to its spear!" Absolutely peak design principles. Also, oddly, the first time I've get any urge to actually buy a in Imperial Knight model.

Turns out, Tove Jansson of Moomins fame did some illustrations for The Hobbit. Tag yourself, I'm depressed harpist.

Oh dear, major trunk line for Wroclaw's water supply has failed and is now flooding some of the streets in the centre, so the *entire city* is running on reduced water pressure right now.

This week's Scribes and Scriveners is a round table re the Black Library Open Submission process. Denny, Robbie and Jonathan were fantastic and it's well worth a watch! Thankyou! @denny-flowers.bsky.social @jonathandbeer.bsky.social and Robbie MacNiven #warhammercommunity #WarhammerTV

Makes me wonder what dinosaurs would look like after one (1) Agricultural Revolution's worth of humans selectively breeding the poor sods into absurd shapes.

Absolute deluge of incredibly fluffy white snow here.

*squints* Wait, with the first line of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is one Clive Staples Lewis gently taking the piss out of his own style of name/himself? Am I today days old when I realised this, or am I wrong? ("There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.")

I have no real visual artistic talent of my own, so one of the most exciting parts of writing is when the final product releases and I get to see what some talented artists have done with the material I've written.

I think the game mechanic I loathe the most in video games is the enforced painfully slow, arduous walking section to emphasise how the character you're playing is wounded, even though they've been sucking up bullet wounds and still sprinting round like an athlete for the rest of the game.

I'm in that slightly awkward space where the release dates for the stuff I've finished or am currently working on is all quite distant still; so I have things I'm bursting to talk about but have to keep quiet on for a while yet :(

Miserable time out shopping today when my card randomly got payment rejected in all the food court options for... no particular reason? Still worked to pay for other stuff, but apparently today I was banned from eating.

Switching to milestone levelling in my D&D campaign was definitely the right idea. Gave the regular XP rules a fair shot again with the new edition just to check but, as ever, they produce all sorts of weird incentives on players and pressures on adventure design.

I'm very tired of early access video games.

I wonder if it's maybe worth going to the UK Games Expo this year.

Power cut right when I was prepping to cook dinner. Estimate is it'll take 2 hours to get fixed :(

Hit a big milestone on the manuscript yesterday. Into uncharted waters now!

I have never subscribed to the ‘great man of History’ as the font of progress and good things but I’m willing to be persuaded by the ‘Stupid Man of History’ as being responsible for some bad ones.

An argument that elides all AI with LLMS & which treats the existence of a technology as evidence that it is a) good and b) ought to be adopted. This is a call to abandon critical thought & political self-determination, & just radically alter our societies to suit tech-bros.

Can't believe it's been ten years since I saw my first work for this game-line published!

But, look, the problem here, the *problem*, is that if I've actually finished this manuscript then it means that not too far into the future, people will actually get to read it. They will pay good money for a book I've written, and *read* it. Which is terrifying.

More on Huron Blackheart? Sure! How about the means by which he permanently acquired the Hamadrya? Got you covered. www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40...

Been very sick with the flu over Xmas. Honestly haven't had fever that bad for years and years, and it rather put a crimp on all my plans, both work and holiday. Slowly clawing my way out of it now but this damn cough still refuses to shift. Quite a sharp lesson not to miss the flu jab next year.

Happy Xmas, to all those who celebrate it!

My novella is one of the two in the Aeon compilation :)

Now Available: Jólabókaflóðið: Three Omnibuses! Plus: #TrinityBattleground is back! theonyxpath.com/now-availabl...

Got flu just before Xmas. *sigh* (Didn't get the flu jab earlier this season as I caught Covid right before I was scheduled for the shot)

When I'm not actively working on a draft, I just find myself feeling incredibly drowsy in the afternoons for some reason.

@kaizengameworks.com Promise Mascot Agency is real.

First snow of the season.

Cold weather.

Black Vans are coming for you: www.patreon.com/posts/black-...

Finished Bloodlines 2. It is, unfortunately, Not Good.

I am trying to like Bloodlines 2 but it is making it *so* hard every step of the way.

Every time I reference the Astrological War in my D&D game, when people went to war with one of the moons, it makes me giggle like a fool for some reason. (The moon lost the war when an empire shot it with a magical solar superweapon.)