Also, there is still time to enter the Viking reading challenge!
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Writing Odin’s Wolves was a pure joy. It really floated my Viking boat. Being the third and final part of the saga I felt it should end Raven’s tale with the force of an oar in the face. Well, maybe that’s going a little too far, but I did want to make sure it had everything I myself would want in a Viking novel; action, camaraderie, the gut-churning bitter sweetness of good friends lost through brave deeds. Did I mention action? I also felt there were some tender moments (not too many, of course), just enough to show that even Sigurd’s motley crew have sensitive sides. Apart from Black Floki – he’d use his own granny for spear practice if she stood still long enough. You could say I felt I’d really hit my rowing rhythm with this book, that magical moment when the story and the telling of it weave together and the writing lives and breathes. I can’t help but feel it’d be a shame if my Wolfpack didn’t take to the sea road again…

Click on the picture to join the fun, or try http://youtu.be/gL_X5i0M9b8

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Well that’s that. The Giles Kristian rock ‘n’ roll Bookshop and Blog Tour 2011 has come to an end. The dragon-prowed longship has slewed, grinding, up onto the shingle and now passes into legend. So, what trinkets do I take away with me? What hacksilver memories have I stuffed into my sea chest to recall in times to come?

One memory that will forever shine brightly is the London book and film launch. Watching our short film, Odin’s Wolves: Prologue on the big screen was a real thrill. I made the film with director Phil Stevens and his young, ridiculously talented crew from Urban Apache Films. Initially, the idea was to shoot a book trailer, but the idea took on a life and energy of its own, so that we soon found ourselves immersed in a much more ambitious project. Cast and crew from all over the UK assembled in a freezing, fur-festooned Viking longhouse in Yorkshire, all giving of their time and talents freely. The budget was meagre, the time was constrained, but the enthusiasm was overflowing.

The result is a beautifully shot film that is, I believe, unprecedented in terms of its faith and intimacy with its literary counterpart. I daresay it is also unique in the book trailer sphere. As for the premier, the irony of screening our blood and thunder Viking film at Working Title Films – the company that brought us such movies as Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, Bridget Jones and Pride And Prejudice – was not lost on me.

The very next night we did a home launch in the gargantuan Waterstone’s on Market Street in Leicester. I think it’s fair to say that I have never seen so many people in a bookshop (more is the pity) and the atmosphere was electric. Friends and family gathered in force to lend their support, for which I am enormously grateful and mindful of how lucky I am. But what really leant an edge (and hair) to the occasion was the presence of a whole horde of fully-kitted out, blade-brandishing Vikings. Imagine if Ian Flemming’s book launch was full of spies. Hang on, that doesn’t work. You’d be none the wiser. Hmm…A Jilly Cooper book party full of adulterers? Nope, doesn’t work either – still wouldn’t know. What about a J.K. Rowling launch full of young apprentice wizards? The round spectacles and bad acting would give you a hint but…Hmm…aha! It’s like a Dick Francis book launch at which every third guest is a horse! Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that it was quite something. Several different re-enactment groups were represented and their efforts made for a memorable event. I expect the W’stone’s staff remember us for the carpet of popcorn that must have rattled up their vaccumes next morning. But you can’t watch a movie without popcorn. It’s practically illegal.

Now then, other reflections of the last fortnight. It has been a pleasure writing guest blogs for some wonderful and intriguing sites, from www.bookgeeks.co.uk to http://myfavouritebooks.blogspot.com/ To all those who have supported me in cyber space, thank you from the bottom of my sword scabbard. You’re a fine crew and would all be welcome on a pillaging raid anytime. I’ll shout next time I’m off. And will one of you please bring some English Breakfast tea? Mead is all well and good but not first thing in the morning after sleeping in the thwarts.

All in all I’m proud to say we’ve given Odin’s Wolves a proper send off. If my new book was an expired Viking hero then we’ve laid him in a fine ship, set it alight and pushed it off into the fjord. But this is not the end, only the beginning! That’s the great thing about writing a series. Folk jump aboard at different times and then, hopefully to their delight, discover the other books eagerly awaiting them. As always, it has been a thrill writing these books. I really do hope Raven and the Fellowship’s fame flies far and wide. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s what they would want.