It’s been a busy week — the kind of busy that sees words on the page. Some new, some recycled, and others reorganised.
So hey — and hello — to new subscribers.
I’ve been making decisions about stuff I’ve made up.
The Spectral Detective is an idea for a series of novels. The artwork here, and in previous newsletters, is from that concept.
While I can point to plenty of detective fiction and cinema as inspiration, this one began with a dream. A very particular dream. A distinctive hero, with a...
August 1st, and so to another august Newsletter.
First things first on this first... Hello, and welcome to new subscribers.
I have a lot of free time to read material. Most of that is Flash Fiction, available here at Telegram and here at X (Twitter)
Or here for Epub freebie.
My free novella, Dragons’ Shadows, is a prequel to Dragons Unleashed.
My current state is busy, slightly caffeinated, in an office that needs some tidying, which could be a metaphor for life in general.
The best stories have a...
Friday derives its name from Frigg, also known as Frigga or perhaps Freyja, as the Norse goddess of wisdom, marriage, and foresight, meaning Frigg can see into the future. Still, she only shares this knowledge on rare occasions, whereas I do so weekly; this is my Friday Newsletter, the tenth, as it happens—Halloo to new subscribers! I think this mythology makes Friday a fitting day to reveal snippets about the modern fables I’m creating. Rather than giving away spoilers, I get to share...
Being inventive is not about real life; it’s an imperfect mirror, and writers bend reality. For me, that’s about creating a happy ending—or at least a satisfying one. I don’t dislike real stories, and I find real-world history fascinating. If I’m looking for a miserable ending, I’ll read history, where there are plenty of examples.
In fiction, however, I like happy endings. I can endure a character going through seven kinds of hell, but I want them to win at the end. I know that’s not a real...
A happy Fourth of July to all those celebrating Independence Day, the 249th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. In Blighty, it's another day, but then again, growing up on a farm, holidays almost all had to be, with the exception of a precious few going-away vacations; work continued, albeit with big jobs paused or delayed on the Sabbath, Christmas, and other specials—days of rest in relative terms. Still, animals needed feeding and care, and they didn't stop breaking...
Research.
When I first decided to write a Fantasy Novel, I did so with the childish expectation it would be easier.
Hey, teen me, said to himself, all I need to do is make stuff up. It's fantasy, so it is.
I'd twisted my ankle when I stood on a pebble on a concrete floor, and my foot shot out from under me. I just happened to be carrying a hundredweight of sacks of seed for sowing on my shoulder. So, I did a proper job of hobbling myself.
After deciding to write a world where I controlled...
It's a lovely June day in Blighty, with blue skies, wispy clouds and a temperature in the comfortable ~80F or 27C in my northern rural idyll.
It's not quite flaming like a rampant dragon taking on its prey or enemy, just warm enough.
Still, despite the blissful climes, I am as throng as Throp's wife; with so much to do, it seems, I could do with a fella as half as good as myself to take up some slack.
I think of time, as I want to do as we approach the summer solstice or the turn of the year....
In the north of Great Britain, especially Scotland, frit is a dialect word for fright, and many do take fright—are frit of Friday the 13th.
There are various takes as to why the superstition evolved. The combination of Good Friday and the number 13 seems to hinge on the role of Judas because those with a jot or a tittle worth of Biblical knowledge will have counted Jesus, and the twelve disciples make thirteen.
History has events like the arrest of the Knights Templar on Friday, 13th 1307,...
Writing, writing, writing...
Back in the day, well, last century in the main, I read Stephen King novels, not religiously, interspersed with whatever else caught my attention, I like action, thrillers, mysteries, and SF and Fantasy versions of the same. King's works were part and parcel of pop culture, with many of them adapted to film, to varying degrees of success, stellar for "The Shawshank Redemption" to the likes of "Graveyard Shift", which I did see in the cinema!
Some of King's stories I...
Writing every day is not a chore; is it a lot like breathing? Sometimes. Often, it's such a natural process that I don't think about it; other times, it's laboured. Still, it is optional, unlike breathing, and given the choice, it's something I do every day, but unlike the populous in Richard J Dowling's novel, I haven't yet reached the point where I am asking my AI how best to breathe.
What about writing?
Well, AI has moved on a tad since Clippy.
Although "nice" may very well still be a weak...
First things, I'm sorry for the formatting glitch in the last "Very Exciting Preview of a very exciting new story the day before tomorrow" email. The word spacing in places went awry—an unexpected corruption via copy and paste that I didn't see. It was late, and I very much had my "driving like an Italian" hat on. I missed it. I apologise to all the Italians who have built some fantastic cars and interesting tractors, as well as my readers.
So, housekeeping is out of the way, and how the...
It's Friday again, and I find myself writing another update about writing, a circular process, which is as entertaining as a kid on a merry-go-round.
There's real news this week with the publishing of Short Days, Shorter Stories 2.
So far, the Kindle and Paperback versions are up; the hardback option will follow any time soon.
A year has passed since my first anthology, and I confess I could and perhaps should have published sooner. I produce 600 words of Flash Fiction daily, and so I hit...