Review:
Helsreach (A Warhammer 40k Novel)
By Aaron Dembski-Bowden

First off, I would like to point out that Warhammer 40k books are much like Star Wars books. A deep, full lore that is, in and of itself, interesting. However it also means that most of them are not well written.

That being said... Aaron Dembski-Bowden does NOT fall into this category. Far from it. Helsreach could compete on the same levels as any other book in the sci-fi genre. Aaron's character development of the space marines was very refreshing. Showing a more "Human" side of a super human being was very interesting. His view of the helplessness of a siege was also very moving.

The book had a lot of action, maybe a little too much, but I don't let this color my view of the book. The IP he is writing under, I'm sure gives him a lot of pressure to add more and more action to his books.The action is however, very intense and dramatic. The rise and fall he achieves in the war makes you feel along with people in the book.

If you are a fan of 40k, this book is a no brainer. The views he has of the Black Templar are fantastic! He gives a very real emotion and feeling behind this well know event.

If however, you are not a fan of Warhammer 40,000... I would still suggest this book. This book could be a great jumping on point for this universe. Give it a read and see what you think.

Final thoughts...
If you enjoy action packed sci-fi, in a dark Gothic far future, you need to read this book. Its well written and some great twists and turns that will make even a seasoned reader not feel let down.

Writing Group Meetings...

After my "call to arms" I put out to my friends on Facebook, I have a small writing group! There are only about 6 of us, but we all seem to want to write. This is what I need. To be around people that want to write, and who are going to force me to do the same... and on time!

The meeting have been pretty lively and fun. We are all brand new writers, so a lot of our conversation goes... "I don't know why I feel this way about what you wrote". Its nice to get feedback though.

Our first weeks meeting was all of us talking about our plots to our short stories. This meeting went SUPER long. I feel like it was needed though, as it forced us all to put our thoughts into words and cement our concepts and flights of fancy.

Our next meeting was 2 weeks later. The goal was to have a good first sentence and first paragraph. I can honestly say I was very proud of us all. Everyone seemed to have really thought about it. It was also nice hearing people's thoughts on word choice. I was told "That word is so violent!" I can honestly say I had never heard that before. Gave me a lot to think about.

So our next meeting is in 2 weeks... We need to have at least 2 pages submitted by this Wednesday though. I am so looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with!

The beginning...

Pretty much all my life I have loved to read. After my first Hardy Boys book, I became completely hooked. But I always wanted more. I wanted to write the stories. I wanted to capture peoples minds like mine had been.

After trying on and off as a child I gave up. I was too young and just didn't understand what writing meant. I hung onto the dream for years though. Then, much later a group of friends started a game of sending around a story. Each person in turn was too write a chapter. Soon it became a game of "How much can I screw the other person and see if he can get out of it." It was a lot of fun and got my creative juices flowing again. However, like most things in a large group, it started to fade away.

I didn't touch writing again for another few years. Then when setting up a gaming campaign, I ended up writing some 1 page teasers to the next mission. I was surprised by how many people liked them, and said they were well written. This was the small spark of confidence I needed.

So for the last 2 months I have been reading up on writing, listing to podcasts on writing (Thank you Writing Excuses) and over all getting my head in the game. During this process I heard of something called "NaNoWriMo". AKA: National Novels Writers Month. http://www.nanowrimo.org/ The idea? Write 50k word novel in Nov. This idea is amazing to me! I want to do it... but holy hell... 50k words... in a month? That is the literary equivalent to climbing Everest to me right now.

So here is my idea... I need to get into training. Like Rambo-ish training! I created a writing group. We are going to write 3 short stories in the next 6 months. This should get me used to writing on a time frame. At least that is the plan...

 Lets see what happens.