FIENDS 3, REST OF THE WORLD ?

So I'm girding my loins to plunge into writing my next novel, FIENDS OF THE EASTERN FRONT: Twilight of the Dead. It's the final book in a trilogy about vampires in World War II for Games Workshop's Black Flame imprint, based on a strip from 2000 AD created by Gerry Finley-Day and Carlos Ezquerra. If memory serves, the original title for this volume was Twilight of the Undead, but the letters U and N seem to have fallen off somewhere along the way.

The first book in the trilogy, Operation Vampyr, is already on sale. That deals with three German brothers discovering that a cadre of Transylvanian warriors fighting alongside them against the Russians are - you guessed it - bloodusckers. The second volume, The Blood Red Army, takes the Russian point of view and is set during the Siege of Leningrad. That book's safely delivered, copy edited and due for publication in April 2006.

Now I've got to wrap it all up in the third book, featuring both sides of the battle for eastern Europe and the future of mankind. This afternoon I'll re-read my plot synopsis, skim some reference tomes and watch a few DVDs to get a flavour for my setting. It's a curious situation to be writing something so obviously fictional while trying my hardest to be historically accurate. Anyway, I've got a DVD of Downfall awaiting my attention, along with several documentaries about the fall of Berlin.

Monday morning I have to start writing, with four weeks before I'm due to deliver. I've cleared my desk as much as possible, getting rid of all my other ongoing projects. I'm sure a few will intrude, but from now to January 9th my focus has to be getting Fiends 3 done. Everything else comes second.

[In case you're wondering, the wonderful logo shown was developed by artist Chris Weston for use on the novels but was not ultimately used. So I've rather cheekily included it here, for your delectation.]

Let the blood flow free!