Dear and ever patient reader, thanks as ever for stopping by and please accept my apologies for not updating for a while. Regular readers will know that the usual reason for a dearth of posting activity, is that work has robbed me of the time to gather and express news of recent events and the last few weeks have busy indeed.

I've been preparing two audio books for The Black Library. In their different ways, both presented a considerable challenge and after a re-jigging of the original schedule, I found myself recording both books in a single week. That in itself is quite a challenge, both physically and mentally. Sitting in front of a microphone for seven or so hours a day, fully concentrating and articulating some tricky  text, along with creating voices for over 70 named characters, certainly draws heavily on stamina. One of the effects of such concentration, which I must say, I do thoroughly enjoy, is that time seems to evaporate; a full day in the studio feels more like a couple of hours and it often comes as a bit of surprise that the working day has come to an end.

For different reasons, I'm excited at the prospect of listening to both audiobooks when they become available; in the meantime I've just listened to one of this month's Black Library audio releases and details of it appear below. I'm in the unusual position at the moment, of having been given a small, but beautifully formed collection of future releases on CD. I'm wondering whether to listen to them only when they become generally available, or gorge myself on them as soon as I have time? I must also be wary of prematurely mentioning stories that will not be released for some months.

In addition to last week's audio book recording, I was also delighted to record the voice over for a forthcoming Games Workshop trailer, but I really can't say any more about that for the moment - top secret! Less secret is that together with producer Matt Renshaw, I recorded quite a long podcast interview with Kenny Lull for the Combat Phase web site. We all had great fun chatting about Black Library recordings, stories and techniques and hopefully, listening to the podcast when it becomes available, will also be fun and informative. More details to follow!

And so to the first of this month's audio releases: The Binary Succession by David Annandale. Here are some details:

The Binary Succession

A Horus Heresy audio drama

Increasingly sidelined by the lords of Terra, Mechanicum Fabricator General Kane – desperate to keep the Martian priesthood relevant despite the treachery of his predecessor – takes drastic action to secure his position.

Even as the Imperium faces the renegade Legions of the Warmaster, the ruling Council of Terra is becoming paralysed from within by increasingly petty bureaucracy. Fabricator General Kane has seen his fellow Mechanicum adepts dismissed again and again by the High Lords – with his traitorous predecessor Kelbor-Hal still at large on the Red Planet, the political status of the tech-priesthood remains ambiguous.

New alliances must be forged from the old, if Mars and Terra are to survive the final battle.

Gareth Armstrong, Steve Conlin, Penelope Rawlins, Toby Longworth, Ian Brooker, John Banks, 

Luis Soto, Antonia Beamish, Cliff Chapman 

Written by David Annandale & Produced by Matt Renshaw

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On a different subject; last Sunday at 10pm on the CBS Reality tv channel, I could be found playing Miami Detective Ted Macarthur in the series Killer Cops. If you happened to miss it, I'm sure it will be repeated for ever, probably, so have no fears.

I had fun recording the program last autumn and I'm pleased with how it all came out in the end. The CBS web site for the series has nothing featuring the episode I was in or indeed, me; so here's a company logo instead...

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Traditionally, Sunday afternoon was always a time for me to do homework and despite having left full time education several decades ago, today is no exception. I'm back to record more with Black Libray next week and in the meantime, ie now, I must do some preparation. Details to follow, but that's...

...all for now, more just as soon as it happens!