Author Spotlight: Edoardo Albert

Welcome to this instalment of my Author Spotlight series of interviews, which aim to give an overview of each author’s background and approach to writing, and a slightly more detailed look at one of their books in particular. In this instalment I spoke to Edoardo Albert about his background, influences and route to writing for Black Library, some fantastic advice for prospective authors, and his new 40k novella Lords of the Storm (which is available to buy right now).

Without further ado, let’s get straight into the interview.

Track of Words: Tell us a little about yourself as an author – who you are, where you’re from, what you like to write etc.

EA: Hello. My name is Edoardo Albert and I am, I suspect, the only writer of Sri Lankan/Italian extraction writing for Black Library. In fact, given that my father is half Sinhala and half Tamil (and the notorious troubles that have plagued relations between Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese and Tamils), my brother and I suspect that we are the only representatives of this particular ethnic grouping in the world – makes it difficult when ticking those ‘ethnic origin’ boxes in forms. Incidentally, my mother-in-law, who grew up in South Africa during the apartheid era, is appalled to find herself having to tick these boxes again.

My varied background has found a home for itself in London, where most of the world comes to visit, and half of it stays. As for writing, my particular fields are history, historical fiction, and speculative/science fiction and fantasy. For reading relaxation, there’s nothing better than either naval novels set in the Napoleonic era (Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels, CS Forester’s Hornblower novels, Alexander Kent’s Richard Bolitho adventures) – a setting enhanced by the fact that the writers did not have to make things up: the exploits of Royal Navy commanders such as Thomas Cochrane being so extraordinarily outrageous that the fiction writer has to tone down their exploits to make them believable in a literary context – or military SF, of which of course my favourite iteration are stories set in the 40k and 41k universes.

ToW: Can you remember a defining moment when you were growing up, or a particular book or author, that steered you towards science fiction and/or fantasy?

EA: The book that had the most impact on me was The Lord of the Rings and JRR Tolkien continues to be the defining influence on me as a writer, in particular through his idea of man as sub-creator. Now, there are well worked-out theologies of redemption and salvation, but what Tolkien recognised, and wrestled with, was the lack of a proper theology of creation. His short story, Leaf by Niggle, is an attempt to understand the value and place of imaginative creation within a created universe, and his lifelong struggle to fit Middle-earth into that created universe was the praxis of the imaginative creative artist attempting to deal with the creative magic inherent in the use of words in stories. I don’t claim to be the writer or world builder that Tolkien was, but I attempt to remember the rights and responsibilities inherent in wielding such potent artistic ingredients.

ToW: What would you say your strengths are as a writer? Alternatively, what do you enjoy writing the most?

EA: Forty years of practice at honing the craft mean that I am good, really good, at what I do. What I enjoy most is probably dialogue and world building.

ToW: You’ve written what looks to be quite a wide variety of historical books, both fiction and non-fiction, for various publishers. How did you come to write for Black Library?

EA: I’ve written – and had published – thirteen books before Lords of the Storm, my first novella for Black Library. They are mainly on history and historical fiction inspired by that history, dealing particularly with early medieval Britain – that is the period between the Romans leaving and the Normans arriving – when all the foundations for what would become England, Wales and Scotland were being laid. So a crucial time in our history. Through writing these books, I became friends with Justin Hill, who is a notable writer of historical fiction in his own right (if you haven’t read Shieldwall or Viking Fire, you really should: two of the best historical fiction novels written in the last 20 years).

As you know, Justin writes for Black Library too and I mentioned that I would love a chance to try my hand at some 40k writing. So Justin introduced me to the editors at Black Library. As I was already a professional writer, the process was a bit different in my case. First, they asked me to submit some samples of my work, preferably including a battle scene. Since 7th-century Northumbria was rife with battles, I had a surfeit to choose from, and submitted my take on the battle of Hatfield Chase, when the exiled King Edwin and King Rædwald of East Anglia (most probably the man buried in the great ship burial at Sutton Hoo) defeated and killed Æthelfrith, the Twister, the man who had ousted Edwin from his kingdom and who had gone on to become the greatest warlord in Britain in the early 7th century.

The extract passed muster, so Black Library then asked me to pitch some ideas for the upcoming Inferno! Volume 4 anthology of short stories. I submitted some, then worked them over with the editor there – the Black Library editors are the unsung keepers of the Warhammer flame and William Moss is one of the two best editors I have ever worked with – until we got to something that fit into the 40k world. This was Green and Grey, which has just come out in Inferno! Volume 4. There was quite a lot of toing and froing with this first story as it turns out that it’s much easier to read 40k stories than it is to write them.

ToW: Do you have any key pieces of advice for anyone wanting to write professionally, whether in terms of pitching, writing or generally just working with editors and publishers?

EA: What’s the difference between an amateur and professional writer? The professional didn’t give up. That is a crucial aspect of the business. There is a virtually unlimited supply of aspiring writers out there. You may well have something to say. But do you know how to say it? Writing is a craft as well as an art and, as a craft, has to be learned by sheer, unceasing toil and drudgery. Robert Louis Stevenson practised by making himself write detailed descriptions of everyday people and places he saw and met.

I worked for years as an editor at Time Out, working on other people’s prose until I knew, I really knew, what constituted good writing and what did not. So, for the first part, there’s no shortcuts: write. Write a lot. And read even more: not just in the genres you enjoy but everything, in particular the classics. Read Evelyn Waugh and try to match his economy. Read Stevenson and copy his storytelling skills. Read Kipling and try to match his ear for dialogue.

Then, start making contacts. I am sorry to say that publishing, like most other businesses, is governed largely by personal contacts. Try to make relationships, online if not personal, with editors at publications and publishers you are interested in working for. If you go down the independent publishing route, then cultivate book bloggers who write about your genre, make contacts with other indie authors in that genre, join and be active in discussion groups and Facebook groups where like-minded readers talk about books. It’s important to bear in mind that, today more than ever, writing is a business as well as an art and to succeed as a writer you need to cultivate skills in the business side as well as the writing side.

ToW: Can you talk a little bit about your first couple of Black Library stories and what readers can expect from them?

EA: My very first Black Library story, Green and Grey, takes place in a disabled Leman Russ tank. The loader slowly regains consciousness, only to realise that a warband of orks is outside and that they’re trying to get into the tank. My second Black Library short story, Born of the Storm, was actually my first published, and came after writing Lords of the Storm, as a taster for the novella. Born of the Storm tells the early life of the Fulminator Space Marine, Augustin, and how he came to be inducted into the Space Marines.

Last Flight was commissioned as an Aeronautica Imperialis short story, and tells of the flight of a crew aboard a Marauder bomber sent as part of a mission to intercept the Chaos carrier fleet on the ocean world of Sagaraya. But the fleet is beyond the range of the Marauder. The flight crews are being sent out on what is, effectively, a one-way mission. I particularly enjoyed writing about Sagaraya, a world of water, in this story.

ToW: Your latest release for Black Library, as you’ve mentioned, is your novella Lords of the Storm. How would you describe this story?

EA: A must-read novella about the Fulminators! When I’d finished writing Lords of the Storm, I emailed William to say that I had really nailed it with this story. I haven’t changed my mind since!

ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?

EA: The main characters are Augustin, a sergeant of the Fulminators chapter of the Space Marines, and Montalte, one of the Faithful on Chevreuse.

ToW: Where and when is it set?

EA: It is set in the 41st millennium on the penitential shrine world of Chevreuse. Chevreuse was home to St Blaise and his companions, and many pilgrims used to come to the world to undertake the stations of the saint before reaching the shrine cathedral housing the saint’s relics. But the forces of Chaos have invested Chevreuse, led by a Word Bearer named Pelagus. However, St Blaise has raised a storm over his cathedral, a holy fire that has prevented the forces of Chaos defiling and desecrating his relics.

The Fulminators have been given the task of saving and extracting the saint’s relics. However, the Faithful, who have defended the saint for many years, do not know that the Fulminators have come to take away their saint. For their part, the Fulminators, raised on Mars amid the greatest electrical storms in its history, are dubious about the supposed supernatural nature of the electrical storm around the saint’s cathedral. They are born of the storm: they know it.

ToW: Is there anything that you’d recommend fans check out before reading this?

EA: Born of the Storm would be a good introduction to Lords of the Storm, and leaves off just as the novella begins.

ToW: Why this story? Of all the possible stories you could have written about Space Marines, what made you go for this one?

EA: Well, I was asked to write about the Fulminators, so I did! But I enjoyed this particular story for its opportunities with world building and chapter building, and to work on the central tension inherent in the Space Marines: are they shepherds of humanity or wolves, walking among sheep, and for their own reasons choosing for the moment to ignore the sheep around them?

ToW: What do you hope 40k fans will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?

EA: One of the best 40k stories they’ve ever read!

ToW: Is it a standalone story, or can we expect more from these characters in future?

EA: It is a standalone story, but I would be happy to write more about Sergeant Augustin and the Fulminators in future, if readers want to read more and Black Library want me to write more.

ToW: What else can you tell us about what you’re working on, what else you’ve recently had released or what you’ve got coming out over the coming months?

EA: My newest book is Warrior: A Life of War in Anglo-Saxon Britain, just published by Granta. I have co-written this with archaeologist Paul Gething, and it tells the story of a 7th-century skeleton Paul excavated at Bamburgh in Northumberland. The problem with most excavated human remains is that they have no context, no story. But by a combination of factors, we realised that these bones were speaking: we could begin to write the biography of a man with no name. This anonymous warrior took part in some of the most important events of the 7th century, events that would have crucial ramifications for the future history of Britain. Through this man, we set out to tell his story, and the story of the time and place he lived. (A history that maps quite well on to Warhammer, as the war bands of the time were men set apart who were entirely dedicated to warfare: surprisingly similar to Space Marines.)

ToW: When you’re not writing, what might we find you getting up to?

EA: Those who met me at the Black Library Weekender would have seen my little blond-haired assistant, six-year-old Isaac. When I’m not writing, I’m mainly being a father to Isaac and my two older sons, Theo and Matthew (Matthew did a brilliant job of keeping Isaac busy at the Weekender). I have also just learned to juggle.

ToW: If someone wants to keep up with what you’re doing, how’s best to do that?

EA: Through my website, www.edoardoalbert.com, where you can read my blog, www.edoardoalbert.com/blog where I mainly publish my book reviews and information about upcoming stories and events, and you can contact me via email from my website. Or make contact on Twitter @EdoardoAlbert or Facebook: www.facebook.com/EdoardoAlbert.writer/. I love hearing from readers, so do get in contact.

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I’d like to say a big thankyou to Edoardo for taking the time to do this interview! If you haven’t already, make sure you check out some of Edoardo’s Black Library stories, and if you’re on Twitter head over there and follow him to keep up to date with all his writing news! Make sure you have a read of my reviews of Born of the Storm and Last Flight, and keep an eye out for reviews of more of Edoardo’s stories coming soon.

In the meantime, click this link to buy Lords of the Storm.