Driving in September

As my quirky three-seasons-a-year writing season kicks off, Quicker than Blood is back in motion.I am managing to stick to drafting more days than not, though it is an uphill struggle at the moment. I will admit, though, it looks like I’m doing great if we count the material I’m recycling back in from previous… Continue reading Driving in September

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Catch-up SPSFC Reviews – Three Grams of Elsewhere, Wixon’s Day & Kenai

These are sort of rushed catch-up reviews for the novels I was reading/judging during SPSFC #3By rights, these books deserve deeper contemplation and commentary than this - but my time management failures has left these sitting on the to-do list for so long that, if I don't just bang these out rapidly, I'm not going… Continue reading Catch-up SPSFC Reviews – Three Grams of Elsewhere, Wixon’s Day & Kenai

An August Vehicle (Maybe)

So this is going to be a relatively short Patreon update.Last month, to continue last month’s metaphor about ‘driving the car’ being like writing, and ‘wrenching under the hood’ being getting things ready for writing, was all wrenches, no drive.But that does mean this month could, should, might, be driving again after a very long… Continue reading An August Vehicle (Maybe)

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Juliability and writing Euphoria.

I would like to quote, in full, a message left by the musician and artist T-Pain in response to a query on reddit, linked to here, https://www.reddit.com/r/musicians/comments/1dcvyu4/comment/l86v3xd/ ‘I’ve seen multiple people mention the life as an artist as miserable/draining, whereas it is the dream for many people. What is it really like?’ T-Pain responds: ‘It’s like getting your… Continue reading Juliability and writing Euphoria.

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June so Jejune

So, my pre-writing process looks roughly like the following.Step 1: I gather up a bunch of loose notes about small stuff – ‘Character falls alseep on a bus’, say.Step 2: I turn those loose gathered notes into a rough outline, which will generally have a ton of notes attached, formatted as if I was trying… Continue reading June so Jejune

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It May be time to slow down.

I have needed to spend a ridiculous amount of time on mental health stuff this past month, although – let me make this clear – not in a, like... bad, I am suffering, sort of way.Circumstances have meant I’ve needed to dig into some personally tricky stuff, but as I disassemble the puzzle pieces of… Continue reading It May be time to slow down.

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Reengineering April

As mentioned last month, I’ve been looking into ways of re-organizing the novel in progress, Quicker than Blood. That has borne some frit, but I am still noodling around with it in the midst of a mix of occasional setbacks and successes.Right now, the most successful looking version of what I want to do involves… Continue reading Reengineering April

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February of Focus

Hmm. That February we just got past felt fractionally longer than most Februaries. How mysterious.Japes aside, this past month I’ve definitely been running into a few tricky little things around keeping myself working at a reasonable pace.See, in my head, I think I can crank out 3000 words or so a day – this is… Continue reading February of Focus

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January Jetlag

No actual jetlag, but my January has certainly felt jetlagged – like my year only actually got started last week, or something. But it has, indeed, gotten started.Quicker than Blood’s momentum has slowed down, but is still in motion – we are now looking like it’ll be completed between April and May, and wordcount should… Continue reading January Jetlag

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AI, the Algorithm, and the Attention Economy.

Ignore the way generative AI is created, the ecological and social impact, the abuse of copyright. Pretend it’s a fantastic machine, a cornucopia of content that responds to simple inputs with many outcomes, some of which a user will find artistically pleasing or match what they hoped for. A little like pulling the lever on… Continue reading AI, the Algorithm, and the Attention Economy.

Delayed December

There is just a thing around me and coughs. I managed to develop one just after getting back home after family holiday gatherings. I’m keeping an eye on it and will seek out extra medical assistance if it continues to be tricky, but I think I’m on the mend – even if I’ve been flat… Continue reading Delayed December

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SPSFC 3 Review: The Complete Guide To Exploring Your New Planet

I didn’t get along with The Complete Guide To Exploring Your New Planet, but I can tell the author had a blast writing it. The trouble is, the author spent more time having fun and enjoying their love of works like Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy than they did considering how to make the… Continue reading SPSFC 3 Review: The Complete Guide To Exploring Your New Planet

November Natterings

Hello, and welcome to that time of the year when weather patterns (in the northern hemisphere) turn colder, society (more or less everywhere) becomes holiday focussed, and I get very tempted to go to places with an actual fire in the vicinity.On a personal level, I am thankfully a little less disrupted than I’ve been,… Continue reading November Natterings

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Comparison between the first chapter of Mickey Spillane’s ‘I, the Jury’ and P. C. Hatter’s ‘I, the Tribunal’

Introduction. Section 1 – Opening: Mike Hammer arrives at the murder scene: Section 2 – Mike expresses his bloodlust. Section 3 – Mike and Pat talk motives. Parody, tracing, and what I would have done. Introduction This morning I woke up and ran across something that made me absolutely furiously angry, and for my own… Continue reading Comparison between the first chapter of Mickey Spillane’s ‘I, the Jury’ and P. C. Hatter’s ‘I, the Tribunal’

This is not a review, it’s a recommendation.

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending the launch signing for brand new creator-owned comic Petrol Head #1, by Pye Parr (blow-you-away art/nigh-perfect design/fantastic everything) and Rob Williams (smooth as hell dialogue/wild story-wrangling/perfect melding of multiple-timelines-writing), and was privileged enough to spend a little time afterwards toasting Pye in company of some of… Continue reading This is not a review, it’s a recommendation.

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First three SPSFC3 reviews

At long last, after getting through the bulk of the required slush reading, I have finished and written some reviews for books entered into SPSFC this year, which I am helping judge as part of Team Red Stars. As I have mentioned previously elsewhere, I am a picky reader. This isn't helped by my tendency… Continue reading First three SPSFC3 reviews