Wednesday, 2 April 2025

#117 Idea of Heaven + Daemon Soul Launch

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

This week marks the monumentous occasion of the release of Daemon Soul Awakening (monumentous to me as I was convinced that it was never going to happen!) So today will be the start of a small series of articles to cover it, I'm thinking this week and next week.

Before we talk about all that though, let's dive into the newest misadventure with Brennan and Riz!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz




Yeah...I'm not in a hurry to see what was behind that censor there, not least with those being the sound effects. A few art mishaps with this one mind, extra lines where they weren't needed, that sort of thing. More pressingly, I can’t help but wonder what that book is that Brennan is reading, those colours look oddly familiar, almost like I've seen it before...which will segue way nicely into...

Daemon Soul Awakening Launches




Yes, the 31st has come and gone, and with it, the release of Daemon Soul Awakening!

Get your copy now through these links-



Okay, with that out of the way...
What you want me to say more stuff?
...
There, happy now?

This has been a long time coming. Ever since thd very first version of the story was completed all those years ago, I've dreamt of the story being available to all. Didn't think the cover would look like that, but I can work with it!

I don't think there's anything left to say about the writing of it, not that I've not said (or still waiting to talk about till spoilers are allowed!) This was the first proper full length story I wrote and there was a lot of things I learned while doing it...Most of it being bad practice!

The cut content from the book will find a home at some point, especially as it does flesh out two characters antagonistic relationship (that's right, there was a full blown Serena origin story that got cut for word limit, and pacing concerns. It showed her birth as a Daemon Soul, as well as her first encounter with Gabriel). There was a lot more examples of Terry Baker's mundane life as well that were cut, giving his friends slightly more to do.

One thing I should mention is, this isn't the first Daemon Soul related story to come out. No, in fact, it's the fourth (technically) one! The very first one is related on a tangent and is actually a Phantom Dawn short story (still Rose, but not the same story you're reading via this blog, this short was more focused on Rose exploring an old library). If I recall, they book it was released in, is no longer available, so I'll have to make it readable by other means I think, so watch this space. As for where it goes in chronological order...that is a very tricky question. So, on to the next book!

Next up, and very easy to place is the story that was released as part of the Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir anthology two years ago. The story, "The Last Job" is about a detective taking on one more task. It's set in the 1980s and as such is about twenty years (or more!) before the events of Daemon Soul Awakening! A certain someone (well okay, two certain someones) puts an appearance in which cements it as being part of the overall narrative. There is even a slight tease of the future buried within.

Next, is "They Called Her Witch" from the 3rd Malarkey's Imaginomnibus collection, Hubble Bubble. On the surface, this looks like its unconnected to Daemon Soul, but the ending should put those thoughts to rest, as it's an important story, setting up a character who plays a big part in Daemon Soul Avalon (tentative title). This can be read alongside or before Awakening if you'd like.

It was only while typing out the above that I reminded myself about The Decagon Key, and the Gabriel story found within, a wholly self indulgent piece allowing him free reign to spread his misery. Problem here is that it's place in reading order is on a lot more shakg ground as the character introduced by it's ending has undergone revisions. You won't lose anything by reading it, but at the same time, you won't gain much sadly. The rest of the stories within are good mind. Well worth it for them.

Then of course there's the blog stories...there's been a fair few of them, as if I wasn't clear enough already, all Avalon and Phantom Dawn ones are connected to Daemon Soul as well, meaning there's at least 8 or 9 of them. To this end I'll do a more comprehensive list next week, as I think I've waffled on long enough.

Before I end it though, new art to commemorate the launch of the book:

Here we have Serena looking on in a windy scene.



...And in this one, we have Serena, Terry Baker, and Gabriel all sharing the image, for now at least...

Well, that'll do it for this week, check back next time for more Daemon Soul chat, and chapter 6 of Phantom Dawn!

Till then...

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links





Daemon Soul Awakening- Amazon

Wednesday, 26 March 2025

#116 It Isn't a Good Plan + Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn Chapter 5

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

The main event today is chapter 5 of Phantom Dawn for your reading pleasure, but that's not the only thing! I've got some new pictures that I want to share about Daemon Soul, including a character whose place in things seems fairly uncertain these days! 

But, let's check in with a certain guy and rat duo shall we?

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz



I mean, you do have to wonder where Riz was going with this, don't you? Unless Riz knows things about Pigeons we mere mortals don't. Plus given they're often called rats of the sky, there is something fitting in Riz dressing up as one. Can't at all understand why Brennan would say no to it of course (that's sarcasm, I completely understand why he said no).

Daemon Soul Awakening Update

When this blog goes live, Daemon Soul Awakening will be mere days from release (five to be exact). It's getting increasingly real that this story will be out there for people to read and I'm starting to get apprehensive about it. Will people like it? Will people want to lynch me because a certain character doesn't get the whole book to be a smug git? (He'll get his due, don't worry). Will anyone even care that it's out there? These are all questions that I'm trying to avoid.

Things will be what they'll be I'll guess.

If you want to preorder your ebook, ready for the 31st March release, then check out the links below!



I do want to share this though:



Here we see Terry Baker, the protagonist of the story, that evil looking shadowy figure behind him? Well...Don't think I can say yet! You do meet him in chapter 2 though...

So, turns out I couldn't say much about him, but I can say a bit about this guy:

This is Zero. Zero was set to appear in the original Daemon Soul book 3, in the second epilogue. Here readers were taken to an alternate dimension were Zero was the 13th Daemon Soul (basically Terry chose a different name). His name wasn't the only difference as I had chosen a different colour for his outfits, white to Cypher’s black, and his powers were also changed. If that wasn't enough, his life was fundamentally different, in that his world was post apocalyptic. Yes, he was the Daemon Soul in a world where the demons had won, and humanity struggled with survival. Zero's temperament reflected this as he became more of a commanding presence, it was him that marshalled the remains of any armed force he could find, and forged them into something that could fight back...that they in turn would see him as sort of a messiah was an unintended consequence, something that definitely didn't sit well with him. He was designed to contrast against where Cypher would have been mentally (read: broken and depressed).

However, I'm not sure he really has a place now. His original inclusion came from a drawing I did of a more worn Daemon Soul, one that battled the elements just as much as demons. I refined the idea more and more, getting close to Zero as he was above. His world was developed alongside him, but I never found a way to satisfactory merge it within the larger Daemon Soul narrative. The idea I came up with left much to be desired and has since been supplanted by newer ideas taking route when I redrafted Daemon Soul Awakening. This has left Zero (and a lot of other alternative Daemon Souls) in a precarious position of being scrubbed entirely, and I'm not sure it's a bad thing to be honest. Afterall it might be too confusing to bring in doppelgangers but then again...Zero, and by extension, his world, has a lot to offer.

In short, I don't know what to do at this moment in time...but I need to figure it out sooner rather than later.

Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn- Memories of a Rose

We're back for another chapter! Things are definitely shaping up for this story. While so far the content will be familiar to anyone who read the Comic I did (started here) we'll soon be venturing into unknown territory! Yes, the story will veer off into new grounds as it deals with Finch (Void and the twins are being saved till later...they're too important to things to truly let go).

For now, let's get on with the show.

Phantom Dawn chapter Index






Chapter 5

----------
Chapter 5: First Impressions

     Kurz didn’t wait for the man to say anything else, and moved to block the man with the mohawk from getting to Rose or Neal.
     “You really think a scrawny guy like you can do anything to me? Come on then, give it your best shot!” he laughed as he flexed his arms.
     “Kurz! Don’t rise to him!” Neal called out, wanting his grandson to avoid the fight that he knew was coming.
     “Stay out of this! I can handle Mason on my own. It’s about time someone put him in his place, this is the last straw for me.”
     “What’s going on here?” Rose asked politely.
     “Mason is one of Finch’s thugs, it would be best to stay out of it,” Neal advised. The memories of her fight with the monster were still fresh in his head, but he didn’t want to force her to get involved if he could help it. There was no telling what she may do to Mason, or anyone else for that matter, and he didn’t want to find out. 
     Rose turned away from Neal, and back to Kurz and Mason. She was still none the wiser on why they were fighting, but as they were squaring off against each other, she didn’t know what else to do. As far as it looked, the fight didn’t need to happen. She didn’t say anything though, she didn’t know if she should. She just watched nervously.
     Kurz started the fight off, running in at Mason preparing to throw the first punch. Mason stood firm with an impenetrable smile, his arms folded as if he knew he had nothing to fear. Kurz threw his right fist forward, reaching up to plant it into Mason’s face, and it connected perfectly, but to Kurz’s annoyance, Mason was still smiling, and without saying anything, he threw his own punch at Kurz, almost knocking him off his feet as it crashed into his head.
     “What were you hoping to do with a punch like that?” Mason laughed. “It was like getting tickled by a baby.”
     Kurz shook his head, and although he was a bit wobbly, he wasn’t going down to one punch, he had too much to prove to do that. He’d been afraid that the difference in their physical strength was going to prove to be a tough obstacle that he might not have been able to overcome, to have that proven true wasn’t a fantastic feeling, just like his head at the moment. He needed to have time to think of a different method of attack.
     Before he could, Mason wanted to press his natural advantage, lunging for Kurz and connecting with another blow, this time coming from his left, staggering the young man, and putting him on the wrong foot. Kurz tried to react with a kick, but the angle was all wrong, and it was pushed aside by Mason who followed it up with a smash from his elbow, knocking Kurz back to the wall.
     “Y-You got him on the ropes!” Si called out with a hiccup, oblivious to the fact that his friend was the one who was losing. 
Kurz wiped some of the blood away from his mouth, his lip having been cut up by the impact. He growled in anger, his sensibility telling him to back off, that there was valour in retreat, but his pride wouldn’t have that.
     “Mason!” Neal shouted, summoning the courage to step forward, he’d wanted to adhere to his grandsons wishes but it was clear, even in the first two minutes, that it was hopeless. Kurz wasn’t built the same as Mason, being leaner. “Stop this! Please.”
     “Begging for his sake?” Mason replied, grabbing hold of Kurz by the collar and lifting him off the ground a few inches, further showing their difference in strength.      “I might consider it, but it’s going to cost you, then, if you pay me more, I might not tell Finch I ran into you lot!” he laughed.
     “He’s been on my arse for ages about putting a stop to you and your little enterprise.”
     “Then why didn’t you do something sooner you arsehole?” Kurz asked, trying to pry his captor’s hands away.
     “Because you guys are harmless? You’re like those annoying flies that turn up when you want to enjoy the weather. Pests but you’re not exactly changing the world are you? I’ve still got all the power I need, Finch is still on top, and you’re barely eking out a living! All I had to do was wait a month or so, and the problem would have taken care of itself. Then, that drunken twerp there had to go and put me in a bad mood…Funny how things work out,” Mason explained, acting like he’d been the one doing them the favour.
     “What do you want me to do?” Neal asked, sighing heavily as his shoulders slumped.
     “For starters, you can empty out everyone’s pockets for me, then I’ll have to think about what comes after that,” Mason forced Kurz against the wall again with a loud thud. “I’d hurry up about it as well, I’m getting bored. 
     “Don’t you dare old man!” Kurz hissed. “We’re not giving in to this guy! I don’t care what he does to me. We’re going to keep helping people, and it’s tough luck if Finch doesn’t like that, besides, you’re not being a good attack dog are you? Not obeying your master!” Kurz tucked his legs in, and then kicked out with everything he had in him, hitting Mason hard enough to cause him to let go.
     “I’m no one’s dog!” Mason cursed as he got his breath back. Running back in, Kurz jumped up, crashing his knees into Mason’s head as he was still bowled over. Unlike the punch earlier, this had a better impact as it was Mason’s turn to be staggered. He was quick to recover though, and he shoulder barged Kurz against the wall, almost shaking the house, and started crushing him against the brick work.
     “No more mister nice guy! I’m going to break you then take all your stuff!” Mason declared, but another voice challenged him.
     “No more fighting!” Rose strode past Neal who felt powerless. He looked at her, and her sense of purpose as she went. “Let him go now!” Her words carried a weight to them that wasn’t there a few moments ago.
     “Very bold for a…” Mason’s speech left him as he turned his head to look at her. “...Dainty, precious thing.” It was almost as if someone had flicked a switch in him, he threw Kurz to the ground, letting him become nothing but an afterthought. The way he stared at her, made everyone’s skin crawl. “Long have I wandered alone through this world, with nothing but my convictions to keep my company. In you, I see a beautiful flower, bursting from the desert, to give hope,” Mason waxed poetically.
     Kurz couldn’t believe any of it, he became convinced that he must have bumped his head when the big brute threw him, there was no way that this was reality right now. 
     Even Si, in his drunken stupor, was finding the situation impossible to grasp, tilting his head like a dog trying to understand what was going on.
Mason was now standing right in front of Rose, towering over her wanting to show off his physique in a way she couldn’t miss.
     “Let me take you away from this, take you to a place where the stars bow to us. You may become my Queen, and I your King.” He reached out with his left hand, grabbing her shoulder.
     Neal’s heart was in his mouth:
     “You idiot! Get your hand off her!”
     “Shut up old man! Can’t you see me and my Queen are discussing our future here? I can tell from her silent treatment that she is completely in my power. My poetry has melted her heart,” Mason was oblivious to the way Rose’s eyes had glazed over again, and the way her hair had started to lift.
     Neal saw this, however and quickly realised what was about to happen, the very thing he was worried about.
     “Don't do it…” he said, his voice was trembling so much that it was barely audible. He envisioned the horror that she was capable of inflicting on a normal human, someone that lacked the monstrous endurance of the creatures that lurked in the wastes. His pleas fell on deaf ears as Rose grabbed Mason's hand that held her shoulder, and started crushing it, causing him to let go with a squeal. He finally looked at her face, and the expressionless glance she was giving him. With little effort, she twisted his arm around and pushed him into the side of the building, shaking it further and causing him to yell out in pain. This, in turn, made some of the other people within to come out, to see what had made one of Finch's enforcers cry out. There was some laughter when they saw that it was a girl that had just manhandled him.
     Now realising that he had an audience, Mason’s anger overtook his affection and he charged at Rose, who in turn showed no reaction. When he was an inch away from her, she prepared her right hand into a fist and then swung it forward into Mason’s stomach. The impact of the blow shook the building behind him even more, a visible series of cracks that mirrored the point of impact spread out like a spider's web. Mason stood there, he coughed once, then collapsed to the floor, fully unconscious. The same people who had been laughing were now silent in front of such a display of power. They took one look at Rose and then retreated to relative safety.
Si roused himself from his drunken position to add his comment.
     “I t-think I’m in love,” he said, slurring his words and then falling asleep once more.
Kurz said nothing as he picked himself up, he hid his surprise, as there was no two ways about it, the red haired girl had done what he couldn’t and made it look easy. He had no context for why his grandfather had been on edge the whole time, or why he look relieved when Rose hadn’t reduced Mason to a bloody pulp. He hauled Si up to his feet.
     “We should go, before someone tells Finch what happened,” Kurz suggested.
Neal heard what he said, but wasn’t focused on that, instead, he was watching Rose, as her hair flopped down, and her eyes returned to normal. It was just the same as before, when she fought off the creature.
     “It happened again didn’t it?” Rose asked Neal, she quickly looked over Mason’s prone form, and her mouth turned to a happy smile when she saw that her opponent was still breathing and looked to be in one piece. It was this smile that Mason saw as he briefly regained consciousness for a moment, looking up at her, before passing out once more
     “It did, but for now, let’s just go, we don’t want to make more of a scene then we already have.” Neal cast a nervous look around, to see if anyone else was going to approach them, but Rose’s display was enough to give anyone second thoughts.
     “But, what about him?” She motioned towards Mason, surprising Neal a little.
     “You’re concerned about him?”
     “We can’t just leave him like that, i did this to him…”
     “Finch’s men will take care of him. So please don’t worry on his behalf.”
     “If you’re sure,” Rose commented.
     “Will you two come on!” Kurz shouted, getting impatient while they talked about nothing in his eyes. “Si is pretty heavy and we should be gone!”
     Rose gave one final look at Mason and then followed Neal as he in turn followed Kurz who dragged Si along. She didn’t know where they were going, but she was starting to get a sense of the despair that lingered in this world she had woken up in. She didn’t take any enjoyment over what happened, it felt wrong to her to be using her strength, wherever that had came from, like this, but at the same time, she couldn’t have stood back and said nothing while Kurz was fighting. This was creating a mix of feelings within her that was making her sick. She had to hope that whatever followed this encounter would give her sometime to make sense of everything.

----------

Next Chapter (not finished yet!)

That's everything for this week!

I'll be back to celebrate the release of Daemon Soul Awakening next week, but till then...

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links





Daemon Soul Awakening: Amazon, books2read.

Wednesday, 19 March 2025

#115 Rat Noir + Updates 19/03/25

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

It's another one of "those" updates this week as I'm still chugging along behind the scenes with both Avalon and Phantom Dawn (I swear when I think I'm nearing the end, it just stretches further away from me!). Before we get to all that, let's check in on the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz, which I've experimented with again today. For better or worse? Well, just take a look!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz



Yeah, tried something new here, a noir style for the first two panels, with a little splash of colour ala Sin City. Don't think it quite worked out, but was still fun to do. I'll probably definitely try this again, and with a lot more planning behind it. Could easily be an Arc all of its own where Riz just annoys the hell out of everyone.

Also, I curse myself for that error in panel 3, that additional line in Brennan’s shoulder! Onwards and upwards as they say.

Daemon Soul Awakening

Still plenty of time to preorder your ebook copy of Daemon Soul Awakening! To point out again, there will be a physical version as well for those who love their books as real world objects!

Check out the links here:



I've also finished the last of the Fact Files (well, last at this point in time) so here is Serena (one of my favourite characters I may add).


Note there isn't any songs listed for Serena as I've had a lot trouble choosing one that fits her. If you out there have any ideas, I'd love to hear them, so please reach out either in the comments below, or on my social media channels

Also on the Daemon Soul Awakening front, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by a good friend (Lexikonical) this past week. Check it out! While you're there, please do check out the rest of her blogs and author interviews. They're really top notch.

Still feel like I went into too much detail at the beginning but it was good fun, and I never pass up a chance to talk about this story, it's universe and all the characters that inhabit it. I could probably do a series of articles for this blog...but I may have already done that!

Definitely some fun work in progress stories there though, especially with regards to the next book (Currently called Daemon Soul Avalon) as that has seen a lot of crazy changes over the decades (I'm not crying...I'm not crying). That will have to wait though!

Will hopefully have a brand new picture to share next week that ties into the story.

Updates

So, how has the writing side being lately you may wonder?

The answer, not as much as I would have liked.

Avalon is still plodding onward, but I am reaching a moment in the fight that I've been looking forward to doing. Once this bit is done then I'm hoping it won't be too long till it's done. I just need to pull the lead out and get some serious writing done.

Phantom Dawn chapter 5 is also...there. that should be done for next week. If anyone remembers the comics I uploaded a year ago, then they might have an inkling on how the fight may play out...with the big difference being that Kurz isn't the one who’s drunk.

If you need to catch up with Phantom Dawn, click here to start reading! 

I'll leave it there for now.

Till next time...

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links





Daemon Soul Awakening- Amazon, books2read


Wednesday, 12 March 2025

#114 Flat Pack + Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn Chapter 4

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Not much in the way of updates today but that's only because I've found myself quite busy lately!

The most important thing though is Chapter 4 of Phantom Dawn is ready for your reading pleasure. Please check it out below!

Before we can get to that though, let's see what mischief Brennan and Riz have gotten themselves into today.

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz



I thought it would be amusing to see what kind of mess Riz would make if he got cocky and decided to do a flat pack all by himself. I was not disappointed. Art could have been better here but I think it was the inking process that lef me down. Also, I need to look at Brennan’s design again as I think this current 'look' (if I'm feeling charitable to myself) is doing more harm over all. Still weird looking back at subtle change his hair underwent.

Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn- Memories of a Rose Chapter 4

Chapter 4 sees Rose and Neal finally make it to the relative safety of a town, but what kind of place is it? And are they truly safe? Read on to find out!

Phantom Dawn Chapter Index





Chapter 4


----------
Chapter 4: The World’s Paradigm  

     Rose first got her glimpse of their destination as they neared the top of a rocky outcrop, Neal pointing to the dense collection of ruined and ramshackle buildings.
     “That is the town of ‘New Hope’, though all the locals call it ‘No Hope’ with how Finch's thugs run it,” Neal explained.
     “Finch?” Rose asked, not knowing who he was talking about.
     “Best way to describe him would be to call him a local warlord. He built himself a small empire by taking things from others,” Neal rubbed his chin, trying to find the perfect balance of being diplomatic and honest about how he really felt about Finch. He could have unloaded a lot more there, but right now, it wasn’t important. “He is not a person you should ever wish to meet. Well, him or anyone associated with him. “ He added, if there was an important takeaway that Rose needed, that was it.
     “Okay…” the red haired girl said, she looked at the town and tilted her head a bit. While she couldn’t say for certain, there was something very wrong with the way the town looked to her. This was the first town that she had seen, at least as much as her memories told her, but she also knew that this was not what a town looked like. The whole world felt off like this. It had been a feeling that had only crept up on her after the beast had attacked earlier. She’d wanted more information on that, but Neal had been quiet up to this point, with a well earned fear of attracting more trouble. Knowing that they were heading to a safer place to rest, she thought that there would be a perfect time to ask for an explanation.
Neal watched Rose, with her not realising how lost in thought she truly was.
     “I promise I’ll share any information I have about…Everything,” he cast his own eyes over the landscape, it’s odd colours and the even odder ambience that had settled in along with the Phantom Dawn that was still watching down on them. “I’m afraid it won’t answer everything, as I’m in the dark with a lot of why this place is what it is. For now though, let’s head into town. I think we both could do with some freshening up/”
     That wasn’t something Rose was going to argue with. She looked down at her clothes, she couldn’t tell you the first thing about them, or where she got them from, but she didn’t think there were supposed to be as many holes as there were.
      Neal waited till Rose had stopped inspecting herself, and then they both started moving again, both feeling a bit bolder that they weren’t being followed by anything.
     Given how light it was getting, despite no change in the clouds or the Phantom Dawn that was still lurking in the sky. Rose wondered when exactly they would be resting if it was true. While she herself was feeling okay, which seemed odd considering how much had happened since she woke up. Neal however, looked more tired, but he was putting on a brave face regardless. She didn’t speak up about it however, she didn’t feel like it was her place to try and question if they needed to stop before they got to the town. Last thing that she wanted was to cause an argument.
     Even though it looked such a short distance, it felt like anything but, with every inch seemingly taking hours to cross. Eventually though, the buildings that had looked tiny and microscopic before, were finally coming into focus, and that included something that had been previously obscured that caught Rose’s attention. It was a long black cylinder looking object, taller than Rose herself and seemed to be made of marble, with green veins running across it. At the distance she was, she could see that it was hovering in the air as opposed to being held up. There were metal chains tying it to that spot, as though whoever put it there, might have believed it was going to fly away unless they did something.
    “We call them Heaven’s Rods,” Neal announced, seeing that she was staring at them so intently. “They offer some protection against the beasts and the Phantom Dawn. Once we’re a bit closer’ we’ll be completely safe against anything monstrous that lurks in this wasteland.”
     “Heaven’s Rods? Did someone make them?” Rose asked.
     “No, they were dug out of the ground, and then placed at the outskirts of a new town, whenever one is founded. They’re supposed to signify our’ victory over the untamed wilds’ but they’ve become a byword for control. People can’t just install these ourselves, letting us make our own settlements. No, usually, we have to beg people like Finch who hoard these.” There was a sense of bitterness in Neal’s voice as he talked about them, as if there were barely held memories that wanted freedom. “I suppose that was more than what you asked  for, wasn’t it.” 
     “It’s fine…” Rose answered. They had been walking while talking and she felt a change in the air when she passed into what she guessed was the safe zone of the town. The path they had taken had put the Heaven’s Rod on their right, a silent guardian watching their every move. There were also more people walking around now, and each of them reminded her of Neal, in the sense that they all looked like they didn’t want to be there.
     “Why is everyone so sad?” Rose asked. Her focus darting from person to person. Neal looked at the people that Rose was referring to, and let out a heavy sigh.
     “Because of how everything is, that is the simplest answer I can give right now. The world's paradigm weighs heavy on everyone, and if you can't bear it, it crushes you.”
     “What do you mean by that?” Rose's followup question was one he expected.
     “Why the world is as it is. Why are people stuck in it as it is. Why does the Phantom Dawn bear down on us so. Why can't we escape,” Neal took a breath, waiting to see what his companion thought of that.
     “So, you mean the questions of the world?”
     “Yes, while we have to learn to move past them to a certain extent, in order to function but they're always there. How we deal with them differs from person to person. Some try to dig up everything they can from the world before this. Others they to control everything. Others still, turn to places like this,” Neal pointed to the building ahead of them, a non-descript building that matched the others, except for one detail, the posters on the front showing different, multi colour bottles.
     “And what building is this?”
     “A tarven.”
     “Do you need this place?”
     “No!” Neal laughed. “No, this is where my           grandson and his friend hang out.
     “Do they need this place?”
     “My grandson? No, his friend…” 
     At that point a person was chucked out through the door. At a glance he looked a similar age to Rose but had a bigger build, and was a little bit more rotund. He landed flat on his face, groaning as he did.
     “Oww…”
     “Si!” Neal exclaimed. He rushed forward to see if the young man was okay.
     “Is he your grandson, or the friend?” She asked me, taking note of this person who was just thrown at them.
     “No, Si, or Simon as he was born, if my grandson's friend and business partner. Si arranges the jobs for us.”
     “Hey! It's you old man!” Si said in a drunken slur. “Ohh,” the lad turned to look at Rose. “Who’s the babe, and maybe it's the beautiful talking but you look drink!”
     “I don't get it?” Rose replied.
     “He's drunk, I wouldn’t worry about it. Si!” Neal turned his attention back to Si.
     “Where is my grandson, where is Kurz!”
     “He's in there! Dealing with the rude guy who threw me out here!” Si almost sounded jovial about it. He went to pick himself up but realised he couldn't be bothered half way through.
     Before anything else could be said, another young man staggered back from the door. He was leaner but looked like he'd could handle himself better. He had raven black hair and tattered clothes that had seen better days.
     “Kurz!” Neal shouted at him.
     “Not now granddad!” Kurz yelled back, as another man stepped out from the target.           This man was made of muscle it seemed. He had a large green mohawk that seemed to emphasise his behaviour as he cracked his knuckles.
     “Well, well. the whole gang is here! Finch is going to love this…” the man said smiling. Rose was once more confused by events but that feeling within her started to rise once more…

----------


Updates

There's still time to preorder your copy of Daemon Soul Awakening (check it here on Amazon, and here on Books2Read). I'm still working on Avalon but personal life is crunching down hard on me at the moment and my work balance is a bit wonky shall we say!

Hopefully it can be done before too long as I've got a lot to say about it!

If you want to follow me on socials, I've now got a link Tree you can check out here.

Well, that'll do it for this week.

Till next time...

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links





Daemon Soul Awakening- Amazon, books2read

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

#113 Dear Diary III + Writing Challenge Update

Happy Blog Day Everyone

Well, as it's the first blog of March, it's only fair that I look over the first stage of the challenge and how I did, perhaps more importantly, why it turned out the way it did. Before all of that though, we better catch up with a certain pair...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


Well, there you go, I promised a third part and I delivered. The last panel didn't turn out quite how I wanted but live and learn. I do enjoy these low word count strips, but they can be tricky to be entertaining. I just need to make more of them to practice with!

I'll also apologise for the layout on this one, really went wonky and I'm not quite sure why.

Daemon Soul Awakening Update

The 31st of March creeps closer and closer. I've been doing more advert social media posts to try and spread the good word, though I also need to get into gear and get substack up and running.

To help with the advertising efforts, I created the following:





There is still a third one to finish off, one for the lovely Serena, though to my shame, she won't have a song associated with her...Unless any of you reading this blog can help me pick a song for her (to wit: she is 220 year old warrior who looks 18 and often puts duty above herself). If you have a suggestion, put it in the comments below.

While these will be used as adverts, I'm thinking of rounding them out with two more that will be blog exclusive. The first beimg Matt, and the other, Death. If you're wondering about the lack of Gabriel, then don't fret, I haven't forgotten him, just that he'll get one in the run up to Book 2!

Phantom Dawn Update

Chapter 4 is...erm...

Look, I've thought about Chapter 4 okay? Okay so not the Update of the century there but I do plan in making some readability changes by going back and adding next chapter links. It's something minor but every little helps...Or so I've heard anyway!

Writing Challenge Update

So flashback to January and you may remember I set myself a little writing challenge, a couple of goals that would see me through till the beginning of Summer. The first was to get to 90,000 words by the end of February, and completing the first draft of Daemon Soul Avalon in the process. With the second being to have editing and all changes done to said story by end of May, ensuring that I can send it off to the publisher, knowing that it's the best I could make it. Sounds simple enough, right?

The first of those milestones has passed, seeing as February has come and gone. Time to see where I landed with it.

In word count terms, smashed it out of the park with a day to spare, by the end of the 27th February, I'd written 91k words almost. Goal completed my, job done. Right?

Well...no. As I'd stated a few times in this very blog over the past few weeks, I'd become aware of the trajectory of the story, and how 90k words...wasn't going to cut it. By saying that, it doesn't mean that the story is going to be way longer. Just that a lot of what I've wrote till this point is probably going to go underneath the editing knife...a lot. I'm honestly not sure how this happened. When I started with just 55k words to the draft, 35k seemed like an awful lot, especially since at that point, the story was building up to it's final conflicts. I anticipated writing the ending and then needing to find places to inject more plot into, but alas, that was a forlorn hope.

So I messed up and didn't complete the story (but I did hit 90k so yay?) How will that affect the edits? In short it won't. Or at least, I don't think it will. I think that the story will finally be done this month, still giving me time to redo the bad bits. Then again, I'm sure I said that last time!

That's all for today!

Till next time,

Keep on writing

Quick Links

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Ominous Orbs

Daemon Soul Awakening - Amazon, books2read.

Link Tree

Wednesday, 26 February 2025

#112 Dear Diary II + Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn Chapter 3

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

I've got some exciting news to share today for Daemon Soul, as well as Chapter 3 of Phantom Dawn. So there's a lot to talk about, so let's get into it with our favourite man and rat duo!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz


Okay, originally last week's was a stop gap due to time constraints but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to continue the little storyline. Next weeks is the final part of it. If my planned third panel pays off, it'll make the whole event worthwhile.

Writing Challenge

There will be two days left by the time this post goes live. I have definitely failed to get the draft finished by the end of February (I think I got bogged down in a few chapters, wasting words on events that weren't strictly necessary). However, I'm on track for 90k by the 28th. Shame the two goals couldn't have coincided! That said, I can see the finish line with maybe three-four chapters to go. Luckily I've given myself a few months to get the draft polished.

Daemon Soul Awakening

So what's the big news?

How about it's yours to read on the 31st of March!

My brilliant publisher has even made a book trailer to mark the occasion, which you can see below:



Pretty good eh? How about that Cypher on the front, not bad for a day's work!

Want your copy?
Hit up these links!



There will be a print version, but it may take a couple of days to appear.

In my next few blog posts I'll talk more about it, and share some fact files I'll be making to advertise the book.

Till then, I'll leave this section with a message from Gabriel:



Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn- Memories of a Rose Chapter 3

Phantom Dawn Chapter Index




Chapter 3



When we last left the red haired girl and Neal, the Phantom Dawn had appeared, awakening a monster too. Quite the perilous position to be in. How will they deal with the situation, read on to find out!

Oh, this is the red haired girl by the way:


----------
Chapter 3: Awaken

     At Neal’s urging, the red haired girl was running for her life. The beast that was chasing them seemed to be no further away than when it started but at least didn't seem to be getting closer.
     “Where are we running to?” The girl asked, hoping for an answer that was close by.
     “At the moment, we're just running away! Sometimes these creatures are territorial, it might stop chasing us if we leave it's area,” Neal stated between breaths.
     “And if it doesn't?”
     “Then it's hungry and we're in trouble. The Phantom Dawn alters their behaviour, and size, making them hyper aggressive!” Neal had to steady himself.
     To the girl, it was clear that he was running as fast as he could, hampered by his age, but for her, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was going slower than she should. It felt like every part of her body was covered in tar.
     “Can we try hiding?” The girl asked, risking a look over her shoulder. The beast was still fixated on them with its clouded over eyes.
     “No, not while that blasted thing is hanging above us.”
     The girl didn't need to think much about what he was getting at. She longed for the moment that the world would make sense, that what was happening to her now would make sense.
     There was another rumble, the sound of the ground splitting. The girl risked a look behind her, and the last she saw of the beast was its long tail disappearing into the ground.
     “Is it gone?” She said with surprise, allowing herself to stop. Neal also stopped, almost keeling over, coughing as he did, the exertion catching up to him. Things seemed to fall silent, with nothing but the wind picking up. Neal and the girl stood back to back not knowing what was going on at all.         This continued for about a minute, with neither of them daring to breathe, till there was a low rumble from beneath them.
     “Move!” Neal grabbed the girl and then threw her and himself to the ground as a large rock burst upwards. The girl rolled as Neal ended up falling the other way. No sooner as the first rock shot up, more soon followed as the girl scrambled to her feet, her heart beating frantically, there was another sensation embedded within it, one that was begging for attention, but right then, she wanted to survive. Neal was standing again, and though his movements were a lot more sluggish, he too was running again.
     The pair linked up but found more rocks blocking their path, and with every turn they tried, the creature reacted with more makeshift walls till eventually, there was only one path to perceived freedom. The pair naturally headed this way, but then the monster burst up from the ground, blocking the escape route, and now headed right for them.
     It came running at full pelt, its feet pounding the ground, pushing itself forward to consume the prey before it.
     Neal froze like deer in headlights, and instinctively, the red haired girl leapt in front of him, and pushed him to the ground away from where they had been standing. To Neal’s surprise, he went further than he thought he should have, leading several feet away from the red haired girl who now stood staring down the creature. As the monster neared her, it spun round, using its tail to perform a sweeping attack. Neal couldn’t bear to watch as the attack connected, the girl had raised her arms in an attempt to block. 
     The next sounds he expected to hear was of the girl’s cries, or the sound of her being crushed against the rocks, but he didn’t hear any of that. Instead, he looked up, and saw that she was still standing, her arms still raised. He gasped in amazement when he looked down and saw the ground that had been dug up by her feet as the beast had managed to push her back, but that was it.           The girl lowered her arms, and Neal’s amazement turned to fear as her eyes were glazed over, losing the spark they previously had. The red haired girl never said anything, and ran over to the monster, and the two started to brawl. The monster tried to snap at her with its jaws, but couldn’t catch her, while the girl rained blows on it that caused it to shudder and howl in pain. Nothing the monster could do could hurt her, she was too quick and jumped over another tail sweep, getting close to the monster and punching it in the gut before delivering a high kick to its face.
     Neal couldn’t believe any of what he was seeing, the girl wasn’t just holding her own, but beating back the creature, one several times her size. Beaten and bruised, the monster crawled off, digging back into the ground. Waiting with bated breath, Neal looked nervously at the ground, in case the creature was trying to launch another surprise attack, but nothing happened, and as the seconds rolled into minutes, a new calm fell on the area.
     “E-Excuse me?” Neal called out to the red haired girl who hadn’t moved since she let the monster go. “A-Are you okay?”
The girl turned to face him, with those dark eyes, but didn’t reply.
     “Uhh…” Neal tried to think of something, anything that might have helped in the situation. The girl took a step forward, and then collapsed to her knees, her eyes returning to their normal state, and she dropped down so she was now on all fours.
     “W-What happened?” she asked, almost crying. In that moment before the tail had hit it, she had finally given in to that strange feeling that was shouting for her attention. There were glimpses of what she’d done but it didn’t feel like it was her who did any of it.
     “Y-You saved us.” These weren’t the real words that Neal wanted to say, but he could see that even she didn’t know what happened, so by saying that, it was something positive at least.
     “I-I did?” She looked around, realising that the monster had well and truly gone. Instead of feeling happy though, she felt awful. She didn’t know where she had come from, she didn’t know what this place was that she had found herself in, and now, there was this power that seemed to exist within her, that almost turned her into a different person. Worst of all, she still didn’t even know her own name.
     Neal sensed that she must have been deep in thought, as he got closer to her again, trusting his intuition that despite her abilities, she was just as she looked, a deeply upset woman who needed help, rather than another monster. There wasn’t a lot he knew he could say, at least nothing helpful.
     “Is there anything you’d like me to call you?” he said finally. This was a gamble in of itself, but it was one he was willing to take. It was also a practical one, as it meant that he could stop referring to her as ‘girl’. 
     “I don’t know my name though,” the red haired girl replied.
     “I know, but I still need to call you something, so choose a new name, one that will do until you can remember what name you were given,” Neal smiled. Anyone else would have called him mad for standing there, let alone choosing to still help her after all the weirdness.
     “What name can I choose?” the girl asked herself, looking around confused.
     “Any name that you want. Maybe it could be something that’s precious to you, Doesn’t have to be fancy.” 
     The girl thought hard, going through what limited information she had, then she remembered the rose on her jacket, and took it out, looking at it perfect beauty. The colour of it’s petals matched the colour of her hair. The more she thought about it, the more the obvious answer to her question was.
     “Rose,” she said, in a low voice at first.
     “What?” Neal asked, genuinely unable to hear her at first.
     “My name, please call me Rose,” she said again, raising her voice. Neal was taken back by the intensity, but he had to admit, it was a good choice.
     “Okay then Rose, as we can’t leave you out here alone, how about you accompany me for a bit. At least till you have your bearings and can decide what you want to do. I’m meeting up with my grandson and our mutual business associate in the next town. It’s where I was heading to when I met you. Will that be okay?” Neal asked. Seeing as there was no way he could just leave her alone out here, even if she did have a strength that rivaled the monsters, this was the next best solution. There was also a slight resemblance that was affecting him but he pushed that one out of his mind. He wanted to do this for Rose. He didn’t think his grandson would mind too much.
     “As long as I won’t be a burden to you,” Rose answered.
     “It’s more likely I’ll be a burden to you! At my age, I can’t do half the things you can. Let’s go, hopefully we can avoid any more surprises caused by the Phantom Dawn.” 
     “Okay…” 

     With that, Rose and Neal headed on, not knowing what events had been set in motion.

----------


Well, she has a name now at least! This is the end of this mini arc, next time, it's time to get to know the world better and introduce some fresh new characters!

Till next time...

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

Daemon Soul Awakening - Amazon, books2read.


Wednesday, 19 February 2025

#111 Dear Diary + Update

Happy Blog Day Everyone

Work continues apace on Chapter 3 of Phantom Dawn so you'll have to make do with an update on things (I know you love them so). To sweeten the deal, there is a new Brennan and Riz comic to hopefully tide you over!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz



Not going to lie, I took it to the wire to figure out what this comic was going to be about. I think I just about made it work but definitely won't be doing that again!

That being said, the format works here and I think with further refinement it might actually be funny. Maybe I could do a second part next week focusing on Brennan’s diary. A third part writes itself with Riz reading that entry!

Update and a picture!

So, I'm running out of days in February it seems, with the end rapidly approaching. On the plus side, I've got less than 8000 words left till I hit my 90000 goal. The downside is the story looks to be no where near completed. I'm in the final stretch no doubt, but definitely not doable in what I've got left! I'm also noting some common issues I keep running into (especially if I'm writing late into the night) and that is I'm a meandering writer, I can see that I need to write in a straight line but instead, I seem to be do anything but, finding the longest way to get anywhere. Like for instance, at the current moment, our heroes Cypher and Serena (more on her later) are trying to get somewhere urgently but the path is blocked by demons, swarms of demons. What I should have done was expedite proceedings to get them where they had to be. Not like there wasn't more action planned when they got to their destination. Did I do this though? No, I got bogged down, hard. I escalate the demons designs, culminating in demons that looked like tanks with legs. Then dragged out fight scenes because I have no self-restraint. Editing is going to be where the real fight with this book is going to be.

In other news, I now have a provisional release date for Daemon Soul Awakening.  Not sure if I can share it, but its close, I've also seen the cover now...because I designed the biggest element of it!

I thought I'd left my digital colouring days in the past because of equipment issues (the issue being I had no equipment) this changed Saturday night when I found an app for my phone (that was free, super important that part) that seemed to do everything my old setup seemed to do (minus masks but I can make do without for now) and I came across a random stylus. Thus I made a triumphant return to the medium, though my skills are middling at best. I can't show you the coved art just yet but I can show you the one I completed today:

Serena

For illustration purposes, heres the sketch it started life as:


Told you there would be more about Serena later. Looking back at it though, I did mess up the line art slightly on her head but, I can do better next time. It's been odd doing this on my phone of all things but fun.

Anyway, that's all for this week, Phantom Dawn Chapter 3 will be ready for your consumption next time, so till then.

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

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