With the release of his second short story for Black Library, The Twisted Runes, I thought it was about time I had a quick chat with new author Matt Smith to find out a little about his background, how he came to be writing for Black Library, and what we might expect from him in future. It’s always great to read stories from new authors, and I’m sure I’m not the only person excited to see what Matt comes up with next.
Track of Words: Can you tell us a little bit about your first two Black Library stories and what readers can expect from them?
Matt Smith: My first, In Service Eternal, is an Aeronautica Imperialis story. It pits Wing Commander Arden Graves and his squadron, injured veterans now operating as test pilots, against a mysterious alien foe. On the surface it’s a story of fast paced dog-fighting action in the atmosphere of a gas giant, told from the cockpit of a veteran pilot, but it is also about desperation and duty. They say there is only one place where one’s service to the Emperor ends.
The Twisted Runes is told from the perspective of a Silver Skulls Prognosticator, Beynan Rhondus and I like to think it is more of a character piece. Beynan is young, wilful and filled with dreams of becoming a great hero of the Chapter like his fallen mentor. When he has visions of the demise of the Silver Skulls he petitions the elder Prognosticators to be allowed to follow them, that he may avert disaster. The story is filled with symbology and tries to show how things are not always as they seem or more importantly, how you may want them to be. At its root it is a story about the folly of hubris.
ToW: How did you find yourself writing for Black Library? What was the process you went through?
MS: I started writing for Black Library through an open submissions window in 2015. It was my second attempt. I first had to write a letter saying why I wanted to write for Black Library. When that was accepted I was given two test pieces to write, one of a fight between a Space Marine and an Ork, the second was about a Space Marine giving an inspirational speech or orders to new recruits. These came with a list of guidelines for what the editors were looking for. I pored over those pieces for weeks, rewrote them entirely several times over, checking and rechecking that they covered all those guidelines.
It took a long time to hear back but then one day I had an email appear. I opened it fully expecting a generic rejection message. It wasn’t until I got someone else to read the message that I actually believed I’d been accepted!
ToW: Do you have any advice for writers out there who are keen to work with Black Library?
MS: I can only speak from my own experience with the open submission windows. My advice would be to persist. I wasn’t accepted the first time around. I was lucky to be the second time. If you have been rejected before then practise your writing and when the opportunity arises, try again and repeat until you’re successful. Never let yourself be disheartened.
ToW: What’s your background with the worlds of Warhammer? Are you a gamer?
MS: I got into Warhammer in my early teens. In those days I was a bad painter and an avid gamer. Over about four years I collected two large Space Marine armies (Red Talons and a homebrew chapter I called the Luna Hawks, for those interested) as well as smaller armies of Daemonhunters, Eldar and High Elves for WFB. It was in this time I first got into reading Black Library novels with Gaunt’s Ghosts and Eisenhorn.
I took a long break from the hobby through sixth form and university and came back to it pretty much by chance. I happened to spot an issue of White Dwarf in a branch of Borders (remember those?); it covered the release of a new Space Marine codex, 5th Edition I believe. I bought it for nostalgia’s sake. I was immediately hooked back in.
Now as hobby goes I consider myself an average painter and a non-existent gamer. Over the last four years I’ve only managed to put together one small army of Raven Guard Space Marines with an allied Knight and am now forming plans for about a dozen kill-teams!
ToW: What inspired you to want to be a writer?
MS: I’ve always enjoyed stories, whether they be through books, films, videogames or any other medium. As I got older I found I liked to try to tell my own stories too. My old laptop is filled with fanfiction for my character from the Matrix Online MMO game. I’m not sure I’d ever expected it to be something anyone would pay me for but when the opportunity arose where I just might be able to write in these worlds I have loved for over half my life I had to give it a shot.
ToW: Who would you say your main influences are, in terms of writing for 40k?
MS: That’s hard to judge. I think my main influences are the great Black Library authors we all know and love. I try my best to emulate in my own way the way that they encapsulate these two richly filled settings. I also draw ideas from other mediums. Sometimes I will see a film for example and think, ‘what would this situation look like in Warhammer 40k?’. The end result always comes out a long way from where it started.
ToW: What does it mean to you to be published by Black Library?
MS: At the risk of being cliché, being published by Black Library is a dream come true. To be able to contribute to the lore of a setting that has been and continues to be such a big part of my life is amazing.
ToW: What can we expect to see from you in future stories?
MS: Hopefully an eclectic mix. So far I have only written for 40k. While I hope to do plenty more of this I’m also hoping to write for Age of Sigmar, Blood Bowl and anything else the editors will let me get my hands on.
Also, if you haven’t yet read In Service Eternal and you like your stories in old fashioned paper format, it will be released as part of the Aeronautica Imperialis short story omnibus On Wings of Blood which I think is coming out in March.
ToW: When you’re not writing, what might we find you getting up to?
MS: Outside of my day job as an Assistant Manager for a major high street video game retailer here in the UK, you might find me playing Xbox or training/teaching martial arts at my local Jeet Kune Do class.
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Thanks Matt for taking the time to answer these questions! Make sure to check out my reviews of In Service Eternal and The Twisted Runes, and here’s hoping for more stories from Matt very soon!
Click here to buy In Service Eternal.
