Closing the Circle

I can still clearly remember the cove of Inferno #1, a Khornate space marine standing cruel and defiant against a misty background. It (and William King's Felix and Gotrek novels) was my entry point into darker fantasy fiction. Sure, I'd devoured the works of Tolkien, Feist, McCaffery, Llywelyn, and a score of other genre luminaries, but I'd never come across a vision so gritty, so hopeless.

One issue and I was hooked.

I picked up every Inferno until the end of its run in 2004, and loved every word of it. As evidence, I submit my first (and only) car accident, which resulted from me running a stop sign because I was arguing with my brothers about who would win in a fight: an elf or an ork? (I argued elf, of course). I won the argument, but totaled my 1996 Ford Taurus station wagon.

Ten years ago, when I started trying to actually publish the stuff I wrote, I never could have dreamed I'd be sitting here holding an issue of Inferno with my name on the cover. Well, I just received my contributor's copy--and here it is.

Sorry for the blurriness, my hands are shaking from excitement.

I can't really convey what this means to me. I can only say how grateful I am, both to Black Library, and the many, many people who took a chance on me--Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells, Kate Hamer, Nick Kyme, and all the copy editors who spent long hours whetting my prose to razor sharpness. If I ever manage to cross the pond, I owe you all a drink (at the very least).