Wednesday 5th December, 2018

I skipped a week. No excuses, just my apologies for getting so caught up in real life chores that it slipped my mind to actually write anything for the site diary.

In penance, I wrote up another of those pseudo-mythology flash collections, one that I’ve had notes for since the last one. I hope you enjoy the Broken Promises theme. I’ve actually created a category to go with that now, as I’ve now written five of them and it’s likely there’ll be more at some point. (Just not today.) They should just about fit together with just enough things that aren’t quite consistent to make them feel “real” but I’ve been a lot more Puritan about the content than the various European mythologies I’ve been plundering to build them from. I’m also doing them “on the fly”, which means errors are going to creep in because I forget details. But let’s pretend it’s all on purpose, eh?

Sledge-Lit was once again a lovely weekend. I enjoyed my mini-break in Derby and the dogs enjoyed the jailbreak when I got back. We’re still having a bit of difficulty adjusting to Finn being three-legged. It makes walking all three together impossible for me – even though I actually no longer walk Finn on a lead. His pace is lollopy and uneven (as you’d expect) so keeping a good length on the lead is difficult and he gets jerked around far too much with a step or two, either because his lollop has taken him too far forward or he’s paused between steps. Anyway, as a result of needing to keep more of an eye on him and potentially having to carry him around, I can’t also keep an eye on two terriers. Walking the dogs takes a considerable investment of time these days!

For those following Plumtree [External Link], the first proper passage will be available to backers on Monday (10th), and I should be back shortly after that!

Oh, and as we’re well and truly into the holiday season, here’s a Christmas-y non-Christmas song for advent:

Wednesday 21st November, 2018

So I’m travelling down to Derby on Friday for Sledge-Lit – with detours via Sheffield both there and back, to pick up Sara, and via the family on Sunday because food has been mentioned. I may remember to take some photos and make some notes about the actual event but don’t hold your breath. I am terrible at saying more than “Yeah, I enjoyed it,” or “It was ok”.

Writing has been limping along but Patreon backers will be getting the epilogue to the new project Plumtree on Monday and votes closed on the first Back-Seat Writer (and higher) choice Monday just gone. Non-patreons will get access to the prologue in just over two weeks time and the epilogue in just over four weeks. The prologue and epilogue frame the actual story and, other than introducing our POV character a little, don’t have much impact on the story in between. Well, I assume at this stage. I could turn out to be wrong!

And that’s it for this week. See you next Wednesday!

Wednesday 14th November, 2018

There’s not quite two weeks to Sledge-Lit so, anxious little Aspie that I am, I’m starting to do the mental organising required to get the three ring circus on the road. The positive draw, the reason I’m going through all this, is spending time with friends and friends-to-be. You are all worth it but I admit to cursing you out under my breathe a few times while I’m getting things sorted. It will be worse next week, so if you feel your ears burning, that’s why.

ASIDE: For those not familiar with the ears burning thing. One’s ears are supposed to burn when people are talking about you (and not present). Some people even assign meaning to which side, so “right for spite, left for love”. My apologies for any burning right ears over the next… nine days.

We’re on to method ten of not killing vampires. We’re going to need plenty victims in this book because they’re dropping like flies even if the vampires aren’t. And Patreon backers now have access to the prologue of new project Plumtree. You can find that here: [External Link] Non-patreons will be able to read it in another four weeks.

Yeah, we’re done. See you next week.

Wednesday 31st October, 2018

Hello! I still exist!

Yes, I’ve been off-site for some time, although you should have noticed some changes around here despite my lack of correspondence. I’m afraid that real life got the better of me.

Those of you who are friends on Facebook or in IRL, or those follow me on Twitter, will know that my longest serving Hellhound companion, Finn, had his leg removed about six weeks ago. For those of you are thinking, “Well, that only explains part of the down-time!” Finn had a benign cancer in his paw for a number of years and I have had difficulty adjusting. When it became clear that this really was going to be The Year That Finn Lost His Leg, I started to contract into my bubble and give things up. However, Finn is now back on his (three) paws again and I’m starting come out of my bubble.

(That said, any pick up may be half-hearted for another few months as I’m also in the process of buying a house that suits the pack’s newly re-defined needs.)

So, things that have changed on this site. I’ve posted some new fiction since the last formal update, so we have:

This means my dabbling around in pseudo-mythology, brought on by getting lost in various European mythologies while researching ideas and WIPs, has reached 4 posts – with notes for a couple more, if I get around to them – and there may be enough of them to warrant their own sub-section of the site in some form.

My Under Smoke City project [External Link] has drawn to a close – and I’m working on the background for my next Patreon project [External Link]. All of this means there will be a slight reshuffling of links and tags on both this and that site while I get the changeover prepared. This essentially commits me to writing around 500 words a week, one way or another, on the project and I suspect there will be times when it’s the only fiction writing I do but it’s better than nothing.

Which reminds me: the writing of 25 Ways Not To Kill A Vampire is still ongoing. We’re limping but I still want to write it, so it’s all good. We’ve only got up to Method 9 and it’s likely to be a while before it’s done. This does not mean that there aren’t other, shorter pieces doing the rounds, looking for a new home. It just means that the longer work is going to take some time (and may not get rehomed, depending on how I feel about it at the end).

And speaking of re-homing, the Other Side Books [External Link] has re-published The First Christmas Book Of Ghosts and this is now available as an ebook from their website. Please do go take a look – it has a short story I’m rather proud of in it.

And my final thing to mention: I will be at Sledge-Lit (as a punter) in four weeks. Maybe see you there!