Obviously, you get better at all this with experience and time, but I always say writing is more a craft than an art, and the techniques can be learned.

Writing stories in other people’s universes presents these parameters especially. (This is not good or bad, just considerations applicable to the job). By true tone, I think you may mean voice, which is harder to disguise, but can still be consciously manipulated.

character, theme, plot, style and tone are the key elements of storytelling, but they are all also selectable variables, in that through craft you can consciously shape them, and what you choose to do is predicated to an extent on the book’s purpose (here tie-in fiction) audience, and client needs.

Like for example, Dark Imperium had to be relatively straightforward as it was introducing a lot of new stuff into the setting, as well as being written as an introduction to 40k. It’s a gateway book. Whereas, say, the Great Work was more me at play within the setting.

I’ll certainly have evolved for sure, but different books do present different challenges and opportunities, and I do consciously go for different themes and feels. But yeah, you do change over time, without a doubt, and hopefully improve!

Well, thanks for that. I'm glad you stuck with me. Although my first book actually came out in 2011... Which 2016 and 2021 books are you referring to, just out of interest?

So excited for this to be getting an audio re-release. My favourite Space Marine chapter the Blood Drinkers in action! If you’re wanting and old school Terminators vs Genestealers in the corridors of a Space Hulk story then Death of Integrity by @guyhaley.bsky.social is the one!

The 2025 @goonhammer.com Book Awards!

Who will win Best #BlackLibrary Writer? Nominees are:

> @johnfrench.bsky.social

> @guyhaley.bsky.social

> Robbie MacNiven

> @aptshadow.bsky.social

> @cjpt.bsky.social

VOTE NOW!

www.goonhammer.com/the-2025-goo...

#Warhammer #BookSky

Other folks mentioned this week also include:

@miramanga.bsky.social @grahammcneill.bsky.social @cubicle7games.bsky.social @wargamer.com Dominic McDowall, WARCOM, the Warhammer Preview Show, @tacticusgame.bsky.social

Thanks as always for reading!

#Warhammer #BookSky #BlackLibrary

I did indeed make them up for the reason Gav gives. Apart from the twin hull, very much inspired by the blackstar model, I kept the details deliberately vague.

Heh, I also painted my titans as Legio Solaris. I don’t have any other Tigris details, as it’s not so much me selecting the bits of my imaginings to write down, but rather providing just enough detail to fire yours up.

Folks mentioned this week also include:

@gavthorpe.bsky.social @richmcc.bsky.social @writervh.bsky.social @jonathandbeer.bsky.social @malkydel.bsky.social Robbie MacNiven, @mikebrooks668.bsky.social @cubicle7games.bsky.social @guyhaley.bsky.social

#Warhammer #BookSky #BlackLibrary

Thank you!

Archmagos limited edition cover

The book is here, and I'm done with social stuff of weekend, so, Archmagos by @guyhaley.bsky.social is a go 😁

Naturally, live reaction, spoilers and opinions will be abound. So if it's not something you want to see - mute, block, etc you know the drill😉

I was aware of it, but I’d forgotten so thanks for the reminder!

Guy Haley Archmagos book cover

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Canoptek Circle

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Dead Silence

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Deathwatch Kill Team

Kill Team: Dead Silence, individual releases for the Deathwatch Kill Team and Canoptek Circle and a whole bunch of books including @guyhaley.bsky.social's Archmagos are heading to Games Workshop's pre-orders next weekend.
#WarhammerCommunity
www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articl...

Big weekend for fans of the gridiron and books next weekend with Blood Bowl's Third Season hitting pre-order alongside Robbie MacNiven's Vagabond Squadron, @aptshadow.bsky.social's Starseer's Ruin and the audiobook of @guyhaley.bsky.social's Stormsword.

www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articl...

Sunday Preview – The Third Season of Blood Bowl is underway - Warhammer Community What’s coming up next week?

Scroll down to the bottom of this Warhammer Community article to find out that there's an audio version of my book, Shadowsword coming out. I didn't know. What a nice surprise.

www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articl...

Finally finished the knight part of my House Vyronii HH army. Just have 20 Solar Auxilia to paint, and I’ll have a full 2000 points.

Belisarius Cawl attempts to bridge the Great Rift in a new Black Library book - Warhammer Community Can the Archmagos achieve the impossible?

My 43rd Warhammer novel/novella has been announced. Go Cawl.
www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articl...

It was very interesting.

Oh yeah, I didn’t go that far with it!

When I find contradictions like this, which are inevitable, given the setting's huge scope and the number of creators, it's my impulse to make BOTH true, which led to the Cawl series, and Cawl being a gestalt of merged personalities.

As an aside, GW aren't overly dictatorial about what we write. It was actually my idea, having been introduced to Cawl while writing Dark Imperium, to feature him the distant past as a young man. Interestingly, someone else, simultaneously, wrote about him being old in that period of 40k's setting.

I often try to use science to do this, but a lot of the time my research isn't profound, I do a bit of reading or simply apply logic to the situation. Logic led me to the Ultramaran quarantine protocols, so that's a win for me!

I also find it fascinating to speculate how this stuff would actually work in real life, and enjoy exploring it without breaking the rules of the universe.

Hey, thanks for that. That's really cool to hear that I got it right. It's very important for me as a writer that all the magic space stuff has a firm, believable background, because then it makes it easier to buy into.

Warhammer’s Plague Narratives from the Perspective of an Epidemiologist – Warhammer Conference 2025 YouTube video by Warhammer Conference

This one is me, talking about plague narratives in 40K, and how much they make sense from an epidemiological perspective.

TLDR: If it's @guyhaley.bsky.social odds are it's pretty good!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZG1...

All three Questoris finished. Armigers next.

Nearly there…