Spring Cleaning

Just been cleaning up the website a bit and experimenting with giving wordpress a bit of a refresh. Also, apparently there are ways to integrate Patreon with the website, which I'm giving a try - including importing Patreon posts over here. So, that's exciting to fiddle with...

On to the next project + Cons

So. My novel Dog Country's done. Or, more accurately, it's as done as I feel like I can reasonably make it in the time available to me. In theory it's the second draft, or at least that's what I've got it numbered as, practically it's kind of a third/fourth pass. At some level I would… Continue reading On to the next project + Cons

Life on both sides of the fence – Some blabbing about writing in and outside of a niche fandom.

My writing career, to put none too fine a point on it, is screwy. But the first thing you learn, trying to make writing your business, is that everyone's career is screwy. Recently while playing MechWarrior Online (I play videogames! That's socially acceptable now!) I was talking to another player in a public channel about… Continue reading Life on both sides of the fence – Some blabbing about writing in and outside of a niche fandom.

Risking burnout and writerly fetishes.

So. As those of you who follow me on twitter/generally stalk me are likely aware, I am currently working flat out on getting the first draft for Dog Country done. This has resulted in some thoughts, which I will get to in a moment. First up, things are getting finalized very rapidly on Orbital Decay,… Continue reading Risking burnout and writerly fetishes.

Something on the way, back in the slush piles, and Ancillary Justice

Okay, so, getting through things roughly in order... In absolutely positive news, things are slowly getting finalized on a novella I've produced for Abaddon Books. What I can confidently say at the moment is that it's provisionally titled 'Orbital Decay', it's around 30 000 words long (fractionally longer than Dangerous Jade), and it's set in… Continue reading Something on the way, back in the slush piles, and Ancillary Justice

Recent Reviews, Current Activities

Okay, so, in the interest of keeping things all updated and everything on here, since last we spoke, I've gotten some neat reviews, some walks beside the Thames, achieved a lunar landing with a slide rule and logarithm table, and stood in a queue for two and a half hours. Firstly on the reviews front,… Continue reading Recent Reviews, Current Activities

Workblog for the week: Eat, Sleep, Write, FTL.

This has been one of those welcome weeks where the main thing I did all week was write. And write and write and write. To the point where it's slightly hard to recall what happened. I've been writing, reading trashy books, reading up on ridiculous warfare related items, and, as of yesterday, playing FTL. What… Continue reading Workblog for the week: Eat, Sleep, Write, FTL.

Workblog for the week: Definitely working on the next cupcake.

It is just, somehow, liberating to wind up in a situation where the words just flow. I'm not quite there on the current project, but it's closer than it's felt in months and months. So, wordcounts are high-ish, and morale's high-ish. The current project is indeed about a mangled War-Dog, and I have no idea… Continue reading Workblog for the week: Definitely working on the next cupcake.

Workblog for the week: Barking at the door.

Two weeks goes by fast, doesn't it? That's how long I've been working on putting together three pitch documents, which seems like it took longer than it should... but, then again, pitches are not prose. These specific ones required full plotting, which is one of those tasks that takes way more effort per word than… Continue reading Workblog for the week: Barking at the door.

Workblog for the week: One more chapter down.

After nailing another chapter down this week, and keeping things rolling, I'm taking a few days break with other projects, just to keep every pot on my stove merrily boilling away. I feel like I'm a bit more than a quarter into my book. Which is an odd achievement. It is, at this moment, inclusive… Continue reading Workblog for the week: One more chapter down.

Workblog for the week: Worked this week.

So, after quite some time, I've managed to actually work for a whole week on my novel. I suspect this marks an official end to the sabbatical. We shall keep our fingers crossed. In the intervening time I have finished off another chapter of the Brocade Goat, so the sabbatical wasn't all laziness and non-productiveness,… Continue reading Workblog for the week: Worked this week.

Workblog for the week: What, am I a real author now or something?

Two huge, huge events this week. The first involved the arrival my first payment for Dangerous Jade - roughly fifty copies have been sold so far, which, you know, for a debut from a guy most people haven't heard of, that's pretty damn good. So, does that make me a 'real author'? How about being… Continue reading Workblog for the week: What, am I a real author now or something?