MARCH 2026

March just marched on by.
​
I know, I know…it seems every time I start one of these, I can’t help but comment on just how fast the month disappears. February was something else due to its short length, but March slipped by like grains of sand thanks to the sheer amount of things that happened. It was probably one of the most important writerly months I’ve experienced in recent memory.
​
From pushing Evolution forward into its final phase and working on an Author’s Note to commissioning cover art and getting a unique opportunity that acted as a test of sorts, I’m actually pretty surprised at just how much I was able to squeeze out of the past 31 days.
​
Don’t get me wrong, there was some downtime and life to be lived and whatnot, but I’m stoked about the sheer amount accomplished from a writing perspective. Sometimes events give the distinct impression that things are trending in the right direction. I’m happy to share that March 2026 held plenty of moments like that for me.

Edging (Evolution)

In last month’s Recap, I spoke about once again entering the word mines. In doing so, I tackled some of the big-picture questions my editor had with the Evolution manuscript. There weren’t many, but some of the observations led me to a realisation: he had a point. A few points. All good points!
​
And so within those word mines, I added, expounded, removed, and changed the offending moments, sprinkling in extra details and subtracting things that weren’t adding to the story, which, once done, put me in a great position for the next step, for after the mines come the anvil.
​
And so I changed my proverbial cap, from word miner to wordsmith, wherein I worked my way through the notes and observations my editor had provided from beginning to end, hacking, hewing, and honing to make everything as tight, consistent, and entertaining as possible.
​
It’s a whole process, especially when you open up the manuscript to begin, see the number that awaits you, and ready yourself to commit.
​
Unsurprisingly, it can be quite draining.
​
Tackling note after note, thought after thought, of changes both major and minor can make a writer wonder what they’re doing and why they’re bothering at all. So many notes must mean it’s terrible, right?
​
Not necessarily, no.
​
What I encountered (bar the larger character notes he provided and I worked on) tended to be pain points in grammar and language—a preference here, a subjective suggestion there. Some of the notes were even fun, positive feedback where he felt compelled to comment on something he particularly liked!
​
But laying track in February created an unobstructed path for the word smithing phase, making March’s path clear. And now, with that done, the ending is even closer than ever.
​
Still feels a while off, but I promise you, that finish line is creeping ever nearer. But, of course, before you can hold a physical copy of the book or even check it out on Amazon, there’s the cover to think about…
​
​Quite the Cover

Being an indie author means a lot of things, including the fact that you don’t have a full team working with you on editing, development, and marketing—which extends from advertising budgets and bookmarks to social media promotion and, well, cover designs.
​
Nope, as an indie endeavour, those aspects and choices fall squarely onto one person’s shoulders: the author.
​
In exchange for creative freedom, you get to search the internet and hire your own editor (a process that doesn’t always work out with the first, second, or even third person you might partner with!) and beta readers. You get to design all of your marketing materials, leaning into your preferred social media and trends as you see fit. And you, as the indie author, are also responsible for finding a company or artist who will design the art that will eventually become your book cover.
​
​Temporary’s cover is pretty different compared to Steen and Burden. Given the superhero nature of the story, it only felt right to commission an illustrated cover that really captured the essence of what the novel will be. Because, despite advice to the contrary, people often do judge a book by its cover—and being able to convey as much as possible with tone and genre via the cover art is imperative in connecting with potential readers within scant seconds.
​
Thankfully, the company that designed Temporary’s cover are still around and, after a quick email exchange, I discovered the same artist still works with them, which means Evolution will have artistic connection and cohesion with the first Ultraverse novel book.
​
The cover is now commissioned (almost four years to the date that Temporary was!) and, with it, another harsh lesson learned: these companies and cover artists are obviously constantly gigging, which means…I am now in a queue I should have put myself into earlier…
​
I believe I’ll still hit my projected release date for Evolution, but it does delay things a bit and throws a bit of an obvious, but forgotten, monkey wrench into proceedings, especially after gaining so much positive momentum.
​
Still, yesterday’s mistake is today’s lesson, if you will, and it’ll hopefully be the last time I make this particular error…
​

​
Note: Do Author’s Note
​
​I hinted at an exciting opportunity in last month’s Recap that I sadly still can’t talk about just yet. What I will share is this: I needed to work on an Author’s Note for one of my stories this month.
​
Writing an Author’s Note is a difficult balance of writing something unique and artistically true, whilst avoiding rehashing words and sentiments that already exist in the book’s Acknowledgements.
​
That was the particular conundrum with this note. I wanted to share the core of what I’d felt writing the story, whilst also providing something new, different, and insightful.
​
Thankfully, I believe I was able to do that, and I look forward to seeing the end result and sharing it with you here.
​
​School Run, Or: “How Do I Reach Deez Keeedz?”
​
​A really cool, unique opportunity landed in my lap earlier this month—one I couldn’t say no to, especially when factoring in what I’d talked about a few months ago.
​
You see, I was offered the chance to attend a school career fair as an author, representing a creative field as a potential avenue.
​
Given I was only recently talking about wanting to start attending conventions and engaging potential readers in person, this felt like a kismet opportunity to put myself out there, talk about writing, get used to talking to people about my books, and hopefully inspire one or two creative souls into pursuing their dream.
​
Don’t get me wrong, looking around me, I felt two things:

1. Out of my depth
2. Imposter syndrome

I had universities, construction firms, the police, and Royal Mail, all surrounding me, as well as a bunch of other ‘real’ companies. And then there was me…
​

​
…an author trying find those few students with that creative spark, so I could let them know creativity and artistic endeavours don’t need to stop. In fact, for many, it becomes a genuine career option, whether that’s in digital arts, prosthetics, makeup, writing, music, or whatever.
​
My goal was simple: provide an understanding that other alternative, legitimate choices exist and that the 9-5 isn’t all there is—even if it does feel like the ‘safe’ option. ‘Safe’ and ‘right’ don’t always coalesce for a lot of people, and I’ve known plenty of deeply unhappy creative souls who suppress their creativity to force themselves into a box that doesn’t fit.
​

​
Don’t get me wrong, we all need to make money to get through life. It’s a necessary evil. But you don’t have to necessarily abandon one to chase the other.
​
At the end of the day, I had a few great conversations with a handful of students. Maybe three or four. Those are the ones I want to remember—the interactions I had with the kids who cared about writing, about creating…man, those were special. And I hope I made an impact on them, even if it’s only in some small way.
​
I even got to go on a side quest to the school library to meet the librarian and the club she hosts every lunch time. Quite a few of the kids there were the ones who’d lit up when we spoke at the career fair, and it was fun to be able to continue our conversations and meet some others who had writing ambitions. The librarian even picked up a copy of each of my books to stock on their shelves (with an important caveat from me regarding the novels’ tone and themes)!
​
Meeting these kids reminded me of this simple but important mantra from Kevin Smith: it costs nothing to encourage an artist.
​
It’s an ethos I took to heart with every interaction because, firstly, Lord knows I wish I’d had more people actively encouraging me with my creativity when I was at school, and, secondly, who knows…these kids may end up writing my next favourite books!

Make A ‘Cene
​
​March 2026 finally saw the release of something I first teased months and months ago: this humble author was featured in a piece in ‘cene Magazine talking about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and what it’s provided me over the years!
​
The gestation of this piece started many, many moons ago, when I complimented one of their writer’s pieces on a Kent-based pro wrestling company and another on the Invicta Dynamos’ ice hockey team.
​
Now, given that wrestling and hockey are two major tentpole interests of mine, I felt compelled to reach out to him via Instagram to talk about his articles. The conversation soon turned to my writing and, eventually, to my BJJ experience.
​
What I’d first hoped would be a piece about an author/BJJ practitioner—with the focus being on my writing, stories, processes, and how I layered BJJ into my work—soon evolved into a piece about BJJ and the gym I consider my home away from home.
​
Sure, it wasn’t what I’d initially hoped for, but it’s still pretty cool to have been able to share my martial arts journey and talk about my experiences training BJJ over the past…13 years (minus one pandemic).
​
Christ.
​

​
It’s also special as the piece ends with a short note on me receiving my black belt, capturing and preserving the moment in a way I hadn’t anticipated when awarded the belt back in December.
​
I wrote a little bit about the 'cene Magazine experience on my Instagram, if you’re interested. And, of course, feel free to check out the article here, or, if you happen to be based in or around Kent, you can grab a free physical copy from certain places all around the Garden of E​ngland.

Silent Hill 2
​

Can I let you in on an open secret?
​
I love horror.
​
Can I tell you another?
​
Despite this fact, I’ve always found it difficult to play survival horror games.
​
Now, I’ve been playing Resident Evil games since I finally played through the OG Resident Evil on PlayStation back in the long, long ago of 2008. Around that time, I also played Resident Evil 5 with my Resi Bro, Jamie. We’ve played pretty much every Resident Evil game together since.
​

​
But a gaping hole in my survival horror fandom has always been the Silent Hill series…until recently.
​
Having played through the Silent Hill 2 remake on PlayStation 5, I was awestruck by what I experienced. So much so that I was inspired to finally confront my fears and embrace the horror by playing Silent Hill on PS1, followed by Silent Hill 2 on PlayStation 2.
​
I know I’m late to the party by, oh, 25 years or so…but, holy shit, man. What a game. What a story! I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that’s just so visceral and unrelenting in its tone, character development, and thematic exploration—from captivating character designs to layered dialogue and shrouded motivations, everything in Silent Hill 2 oozes theme and intent.
​
In a lot of ways, having played the modern remake beforehand, I enjoyed the older game all the more because I was aware of the twist. I’m genuinely glad I, somehow, managed to make it twenty years and change without being spoiled because, wow, when that moment hit, it fucking landed!
​
So if you’re a horror hound who, like me, had previously avoided a lot of the classic survival horror out of self-preservation (aka: relative cowardice), do yourself a favour: find a copy of the game and give it a go. Although rife with atmosphere and grisly mise en scène, the overt ‘horror’ and ‘scares’ are all pretty manageable—bar the odd discordant musical note or out-of-the-blue sound effect.
​
Like the unexpected sound of glass smashing.
​
Which totally didn’t make me jump…
​
But if you’re looking for a story steeped in character, unreliable revelations, mystery, oppressive atmosphere, and next-level thematic storytelling…well, whether it’s your first time or fiftieth time, give Silent Hill 2 a go!
​
My back catalogue of survival horror games has since grown exponentially, but if you have any recommendations, don’t hesitate to let me know. You can always reply to this email with your recommendation or contact me via social media @stevetendo!

If you’re enjoying my books or The Recap, I’d love it if you'd recommend them to friends and family who might enjoy them too. Don't forget you can follow along on my socials for updates, and if you’d like to, you can even treat me to a cup of coffee on Ko-Fi.
​
Take care, and all the best!