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Wednesday 8th September, 2021

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Just a quick recap of some writing news and links:

We’ll start with the reminder that Dreamland: Other Stories is out from Black Shuck Books and you can find it here: [External Link]

I didn’t mention it last week, but the first draft of Under Smoke City has been removed from my Patreon account and the second draft is being published in weekly passage installments on my Buy Me A Coffee page. The new index is here: [External Link]

The second installment of my Greenwood set of stories is out now. Isle of Ravens can be purchased for Kindle from Amazon: [External Link]

Run Along The Shelves has published a rather nice review of the first Greenwood installment, The Knight’s Daughter, and you can find said review here: [External Link]

If you’re interested in a bit of a taster of either of those, I have the opening sections of all three (finished) Greenwood stories available on this site.

And, in the interests of background research, you might like to know that Isle of Ravens has a starring role for European Windstorms – and I talked a colleague of mine into doing an explanatory blog about the windstorms some time ago: [External Link] (It ties in with what the company does and, weirdly enough, storm season is coming soon. Despite several colleagues being vulcanologists, I didn’t manage to get anything about volcano eruptions…)

Finally, on the Greenwood side of things for today, I appear to be writing a fourth one. Sorry about that, folks.

Wednesday 4th August, 2021

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Hi everyone, just a round-up of writerly news that’s also been mentioned in other places.

My first announcement is being able to publicly admit that my short story, Sea Heart, has been accepted. The news dropped on Thursday 29th July and the anthology itself, Dreamland, will be out from Black Shuck Books [External Link] on Thursday 26th August. You can find out more and pre-order it here: [External Link]

My second announcement is for the book trailer for Isle of Ravens, the second of the Into The Greenwood novellas, and soon to be published by The Other Side Books [External Link]. This is the first book trailer editor Michael S. Collins has attempted and I think he’s done a pretty good job with these 18 seconds:

I’m still moving short stories over to my Buy Me A Coffee page [External Link] and, given how intermittent things have been of late, it’ll probably take another couple of months or three to get things shifted over. Once I have them all moved, I think I may actually delete the pages (now referrals only) on this site. It’ll cause some broken links in the site diaries but, let’s be honest, no-one goes back through the old posts, it’s mostly just me being anally retentive by keeping hold of the whole archive.

However, there will soon be a related change on my Patreon page, as announced in my recent post there, Moving Day(s)  [External Link]. The first draft of Under Smoke City (and associated posts) will be removed on Friday 27th August. I have been intermittently redrafting behind the scenes and Draft the Second will be going up on the Buy Me A Coffee page from Monday 30th. The intention is to set up the index page and the first passage for the first day and work my way through publishing passages again on a weekly basis – announcing the updates by linking the index page on my social media accounts, etc. The apocrypha will also return (backers only) and be released irregularly between passages and short story shifts.

I think that covers everything I need to tell you about. If you would like to know how the actual writing is going I crossed the 50,000 word line with my not-Gothic Lords of the Marsh thing but I’m not quite a third of the way through what I think the plot is. I have an idea for another Greenwood novella and am currently chatting with various people about various bits but I’m not so secretly obsessed wit an sf western idea, so you ca probably expect to hear more about that when I summon the energy for another update!

Wednesday 20th March, 2019

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I didn’t get around to writing an update last week. I basically had nothing to share.

Unless you particularly want to know that two men fitted vinyl flooring last week and a plumber who the dogs think is great (to play with, not eat a whole one) fitted a thermostat today. Ah, the joys of owning a house and three dogs. Incidentally, the dogs weren’t to happy with the flooring guys and i think the flooring guys wee a little scared.

Anyway, I continue to limp along a few hundred words at a time with 25 Ways [Not] To Kill A Vampire. I don’t question that I will finish it, but I do wonder if it’s going to be one of those things that lives in the notional desk drawer for the rest of my life. I actually finished the first draft of Goodbye, Snow Child – and, yes, that does mean I spent more time on it in the last fortnight than I ought to have!

I also have a growing list of ideas and notes of things I intend to work on – including space westerns, dragons, and maybe an epically un-epic fantasy – although the next thing (whether after the Vampires or alongside) is probably going to be dusting of an Under Smoke City apocrypha idea that didn’t get finished before.

And, finally, Plumtree Passage 7 is now available for backers (here: [External Link]) and it has a vote (only open until Monday if I’ve wrestled Patreon into submission) on what happens next.

See you next week!

Wednesday 31st October, 2018

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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!

Wednesday 11th April, 2018

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Hello. Last week kind of get messed up with more moving around the day-job days and having car problems but I (and the car) are currently functional, so here’s the latest round of updates for you!

FollyCon was attended and I had a lot of fun for the bits I attended, meeting up with people I haven’t seen since the last Con I attended and a few people I had never managed to meet up with before. Swords was definitely a subject that was raised. And the panel I was part of on Friday evening (Horrible Heroes) was a blast. There’s an official round up post from the FollyCon team with links to other people’s far better write-ups here: [External Link]

I really do recommend following that link. The recording of “Men in Science Fiction and Fantasy” is hilarious.

Under Smoke City Passage 13 came out on Monday (direct link: [External Link]) – although if I haven’t managed to chase you into reading it, yet, I recommend starting from Passage 1 (direct link: [External Link]). And, yes, it is an intentional riff on Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas – I just wanted to steampunk it. How do you think it’s working so far?

And The Knight’s Daughter is now available as an ebook from your local Amazon store. The UK link is here: [External Link] and you should get redirected to your local version if you click through.

(I’m obliged to tell you it’s still cheaper direct from the publisher. And you can find the link for that in my mess o’links for it.)

And on the books to buy front, KT Davies has recently released her second Breed novel as an ebook from Amazon. The first was a blast, so I can recommend book 2 – and why not get book 1 if you haven’t already?

  • Dangerous To Know: The Chronicles of Breed: Book One (formerly just “Breed”) by KT Davies [External Link]
  • Tooth And Claw: The Chronicles of Breed: Book Two by KT Davies [External Link]

Thursday 29th March, 2018

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A little delayed due to swapping day-job days around this week, but here’s the latest news.

Firstly, a reminder that Easter weekend means EasterCon! FollyCon is already seeing the first arrivals but I won’t be showing up until tomorrow afternoon. Once I’ve worked out how to get there! I’ll definitely be there for the Horrible Heroes panel at 8pm in the Reading Room. You can find the full schedule here: [External Link]

And in things-you-can-read news, Passage 12 (A Drink In The Local) of Under Smoke City came out on Monday – you can read it here [External Link] – and The Knight’s Daughter came out as an ebook available direct from the publisher, also on Monday. And the direct link for that ebook is here: [External Link] More news when it’s available from Amazon!

Wednesday 21st March, 2018

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So, if you’ve been keeping up on the FollyCon news, you’ll have seen the schedule release. If not, you can find it here: [External Link]

The first thing from my point of view is that I’ll be on the “Horrible Heroes” panel on Friday evening, along with Cameron Johnston, Ed McDonald and Sue Boulton – to be ably herded by Alison Baker. So, now would be a good time to throw anti-heroes and anti-villains at us. Because we’ll forget to mention them otherwise.

On the same subject of FollyCon – I haven’t got the hellhounds rooms in the canine hotels, so I’ll be driving over from home when I attend (I’m within an hour’s drive). However, it also means I won’t be staying all day(s) and, as I have family to see and such, I won’t necessarily be around for huge chunks of the weekend. However, I do have some things I hope to make it to on the schedule and look forward to catching up with people, so please do keep an eye out for me and / or heckle me on Twitter [External Link] if I fail to find you. I’m terrible at recognising faces, so it generally isn’t intentional if I walk straight passed you, even several times. Honestly. I’m just a barely functional human being, not an evil overlord or anything.

Holiday is most of the way through and I am back from the trip to Rome (watched rugby, saw old stuff, drank lots of hot chocolate instead of coffee, walked miles). Some Under Smoke City [External Link] continued but the only post that’s gone live in the last few days is the latest piece of flash fiction for patrons.

Other writing went on hold but I’m three methods through the 25 Ways [Not] To Kill A Vampire and wondering if I really have enough personnel to make the full 25 deaths.

And Michael S Collins of The Other Side Books [External Link] has been cantering away with The knight’s Daughter, so expect to see a release announcement – to go with the recent cover reveal – fairly soon.

Wednesday 14th March, 2018

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I have not been playing Tyranny, I swear. Just… other games…

Right, as of this afternoon at 5:30pm, I am officially on holiday until a week on Monday (26th). This shouldn’t interrupt service too much but I may drop off social media this weekend and there may be a few more days before I post any location data on Under Smoke City [External Link]. This does not mean I won’t work on it (necessarily) simply that I can’t guarantee I’ll be in a position to post about it for followers.

Also: what do you mean you haven’t seen Passage 11 of Under Smoke City? Go, read!

For the update on The Knight’s Daughter, things are on the move. I have signed a contract and I have seen the cover – and I’ll be sharing the image tomorrow so see you then.

Wednesday 28th February, 2018

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I have somehow managed to avoid posting for a month. I’m not quite sure how I managed that. OK, I am. There have been a number of Tyranny [External Link] reruns.

Anyway, The Knight’s Daughter (accepted by The Other Side Books [External Link]), continues to be on track for a release in March. Towards the end of, I suspect, but I shall keep you posted. If you want a taster of what it’s all about, I have a page with the opening paragraphs of my Greenwood-themed novellas.

(The other two remain in editorial / I-ought-to-redraft-that-at-some-point limbo.)

And the collection of Alex & Conn stories (formally accepted by Fox Spirit Books [External Link] back in November) is on track to be out for or in October. So, if you want to know something about that, you can read the first chapter of the related novel 25 Ways To Kill A Werewolf (same world, some of the same characters) and/or you can read the story that’s likely to be third in the running order.

As you may have realised, my current main WIP is also in the Fur-Skins world and I’ve now written two of the 25 Ways [Not] To Kill A Vampire and am working on number three.

In Under Smoke City [External Link] news, passage 10 came out on Monday.

Wednesday 31st January, 2018

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Having taken an unintentional week off last week (sorry, I discovered Tyranny [External Link] on Steam) I’m back with my latest updates.

In vague news, The Knight’s Daughter (accepted by The Other Side Books [External Link], first of my Greenwood-themed novellas) is on track to be available in March. It’ll be an ebook available from the Other Side site and from Amazon.

Feintheart has snuffled quietly into retirement. As mentioned in the last update, I may come back to it at some point – as the characters occasionally whisper to me but not loud enough to carry on. Instead, my main WIP is currently in the Fur-Skins world and all of 5,000 words long as I type. I’m referring to it as 25 Ways To Kill A Vampire but it’s more 25 Ways Not To Kill A Vampire. At least it’s not 25 Ways To Be Killed By A Vampire, eh?

In Under Smoke City [External Link] news, passage 8 came out on Monday and the first of the apocryphal stories comes out the Monday before. The passages are free for anyone to read, the apocrypha will be patrons only.