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With summer in the rearview and the weather starting to turn, as leaves shift from green into browns and oranges to accompany the new chill in the air, I’m undeniably excited for the arrival of one of my favourite times of year: autumn. More importantly…Halloween!
But before I get to embrace all things spooky, I had to…embrace all things spooky and creepy whilst blasting Christmas songs.
What?
Read on. All will be revealed below.
Between the harsh juxtaposition of Christmas in September, there have also been a few narrative breakthroughs and even some minor panic over being unable to find an important notebook.
As always, The Save Point rounds out this month’s issue—but given my son’s return to school and a resettling of routine, it’s not like there was a whole load going on. Still, that’s not to say nothing happened.
In fact, there was a very cool thing that took place that I feel able to finally share…even if that ‘thing’ has pivoted into something I wasn’t quite anticipating.
So what are we waiting for? Grab a drink, take a seat, get comfy, and let’s catch up! |
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Lost & Found
It’s always a gut punch when you can’t find something important, especially if that something happens to be a notebook containing all the plot points to a story you were meticulously planning—the very one I wrote about whilst I sat in a London pub, listening to Christmas songs during a heatwave.
Tearing through the house in my desperate search for the missing notebook really highlighted one of the only negatives I can think of when it comes to my plotting phase. You see, I prefer writing my ideas, story beats, and character points long form. Like, with an actual pen on actual paper!
Archaic, I know, but I find it helps me string ideas together, forcing me to consider them a little more before scribbling them down for future consideration—the only problem being there may be no future consideration if I go on to lose the fucking thing!
Thankfully (and rather embarrassingly), the notes were found after about thirty minutes of hunting and rifling through all of the notebooks I own. And, yes, it was actually one of the first I looked through…
Plotting A Breakthrough
Going through the plot points after letting them rest really helped me see the pros and cons of each choice and idea. Needless to say, things changed and evolved as I reacquainted myself—including filling a lot of the gaps, pivoting away from certain concepts, and discovering brand new elements to include that (hopefully) strengthen the story all the more.
Narrative breakthroughs aren’t exactly a fine science. Far from it. Anything and everything creative is such a YMMV experience of iterative progress and wildly varying process, but I’ve often found time away from a conundrum can yield an answer when coming back to it. Sometimes all the problem needs is time to breathe, so your creative spirit can formulate the solution. The real trick is understanding how much time to take and to listen to that narrative gut feeling.
Thankfully, enough time had passed (helped by losing the damn thing!) to allow me to acknowledge the obvious issues pretty clearly. There were some minor issues to address and course correct, but overall, the core structure remains relatively unchanged. Beat-to-beat stuff, however? Motivations and themes? Yeah, those were honed and tweaked, including one major sticking point I was able to solve.
As in life, you can sometimes brute force your way through a conundrum or problematic situation. But when you can’t? That’s when you need to think it through with a little more savvy consideration.
Project Jingle Hells
All of the above, of course, leads to one thing: Steen.
I’ve had this particular idea rattling around in my head for a while, but, as with so many projects and ideas, I let it take deep root in me, mentally develop it, and then suffer from creative anxiety in, y’know, actually starting.
But, like cracking the spine on a new book or pressing start on a video game, I’ve often found it’s most effective to just rip the band-aid.
Look, it’s trite to say, I know, but you can’t edit nothing, and the empty page remains an intimidating void if you never commit and simply…start. So I finally did, with the understanding (like with every project before it) that the zero—or vomit—draft of something is 1000% better than not having anything at all. Because you can work with something. You can edit words that don’t make sense or didn’t quite translate correctly between your brain and fingers to keyboard—but you can’t hammer and hone sheer nothingness.
And so, with this in mind (and lost notebook recovered), problem beats resolved, and new ideas implemented, I began writing another Steen story.
So many readers have asked me when the next Steen novel will be coming. You may have been one of them, especially if you discovered me thanks to my inclusion in Your Paper Quest’s Halloween special last year (Side note: How has it been a goddamn year?! More on this in next month’s Recap, no doubt!). And now, finally, more is coming, starting with this short story that will be offered free this Christmas.
That’s right, your favourite Canadian demon hunter and mine is coming back for a festive story—hence enduring Christmas songs for the past few months, way before forthright, decent people start blasting them. It’s all part of the process so that, when December finally rolls around, you’ll be able to enjoy a holiday demonic adventure starring Steen.
There is no hard release date or title for the story just yet, so be sure to follow my progress in subsequent issues of The Recap to stay in the know!
Ultraverse Next Steps
The only thing left to add is a quick update on Evolution, the second in my superhero Ultraverse series. The manuscript is currently with my editor, who, thankfully, appears to be really enjoying it so far! More on this as time goes on, of course, but something to look forward to if you’re a fan of Temporary.
And, if you’ve subscribed to The Recap thanks to Burden or Steen and have yet to check out my Ultraverse series…well, if you like superheroes, Marvel, DC, and/or comic books, you definitely should!
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Feeling ‘cene
I feel I can finally share an awesome ‘thing’ that’s been simmering away in the background for months.
You see, I’m a big fan of ’cene Magazine, an award-winning Kent-based publication that covers artists, writers, comedians, and anything and everything creative taking place within the Garden of England.
I’ve been low-key interested in somehow being involved with the magazine, so I reached out to one of their writers after enjoying his pieces on pro wrestling and the Invicta Dynamos ice hockey team (two things I didn’t think would ever feature in the magazine…only to have them run in back-to-back issues).
I figured this dude likes two major things I’m also a fan of, so he may be interested in an author (capturing the creative aspect of ‘cene Magazine) who does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (which would give the article a more unique angle whilst also highlighting my gym and my love for BJJ).
Author (artistic/creative) + BJJ (niche martial arts/combat sport) = an article perfectly positioned for a culture and arts Kent-based magazine.
Seemed like an obvious hook…and thankfully the journalist agreed!
Months went by following that initial exchange, so I assumed the article was dead in the water. After all, just because the journalist was interested didn’t mean the magazine or its editor would be. I just figured it was a shame it didn’t work out, but no harm, no foul, and no offence taken.
Well, months later, I get a DM out of the blue saying the editor had greenlit the piece. Amazing, right? The only thing is…the approach to the article seems to have changed.
Having now hosted the journalist at one of my classes, it’s become quite clear to me that the piece—assuming it even makes publication based on the editor’s final say—will not be a little spotlight piece on my books or me as an author. Instead, it appears the whole thing has shifted solely into a story about BJJ as a whole and what it can provide people.
Which is fine.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a GIF that should convince you.
Rather embarrassingly, I had told my BJJ students and a few close friends that the piece would focus on my books and creative process with BJJ/coaching as a background flavour, if you will.
But, yeah, it seems the article has become something else, and although it’s genuinely amazing that I may still be included in the final piece, and that my gym gets spotlighted accordingly, I can’t lie…it stings a bit.
I was excited about how the article could help expose me and my stories to other creative people around Kent. Instead, I doubt my books, writing, and indie author experiences will feature at all, which has honestly left me feeling pretty hollow, deflated, and invalidated—especially considering the article is only happening because I reached out and connected with the journalist in the first place!
Still…a harsh life lesson is still a life lesson, I suppose. So all I can do is embrace it for what it’s become and move on.
Be sure to keep reading The Recap when it lands in your inbox at the end of each month because, author highlight or not, I’ll still be sharing it if it goes to print!
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TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming
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I know, I know. It’s not even October, yet here I am recommending something horror-based just before Spooky Season officially kicks off.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for horror and, in recent years, have become more of an avid horror game fan. As a lifelong fan of horror and the macabre, survival horror has long been a genre I’ve been fascinated by, but one I could never dive into because, well…they’re fucking scary, man!
There’s a huge difference between enjoying horror as a passive viewer (watching TV shows or movies, for example) and being an active participant—like being directly in control of the main character, with the story and unimaginable horrors only unfolding when you engage directly with them.
As I said though, I’ve been catching up and playing a lot of the older survival horror games to fill in the gaps and make up for lost time, so finding this documentary series was an amazing discovery, as TerrorBytes does a fantastic job of documenting the long history of horror and survival horror in video games.
From its humble roots to deep-diving into the genre’s evolution into the modern day, the series interviews notable video game luminaries and contributors to the genre, discussing and gushing over its history, characters, games, and influences.
Naturally, it’s all a big love-fest, but it’s one that’s lavished with detail and attention in all the right places, making the series as informative as it is entertaining.
So if you’re a fan of horror and horror video games specifically, don’t hesitate to catch this series when you can. And given this arrives in your inbox at the end of September, that would make TerrorBytes the perfect October watch as we count down to Halloween!
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In case you haven't picked up your copy of Burden, you can do so right now as an eBook or paperback! Or, if you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can check it out for free via KU!
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UNTIL NEXT TIME
Be sure to recommend my books and The Recap, follow me on the socials, and remember you can also support me with a cup of coffee on Ko-Fi!
Take care and all the best. |
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