#51 The Lost Week + Christmas Musing

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

A quick-ish one this week as I'm sure everyone will have better things to do then hang around here! First up we have Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz, looking at that fragile time between Christmas and New Year. After that, a short bit of fiction, looking at my various characters at this time of year...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

We've all been here haven't we, feels worse when you have kids, as by the time you've stopped it's January 2nd and you wonder where all the time has gone.

For Riz, the explanation is quite simple. He was pissed!

Christmas Musings

For some light reading, I present to you, my characters at Christmas.

The chosen characters should be familiar to anyone reading this blog or the Malarkey's Imaginomnibus anthologies (links to get them in the Quick Link section!).

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Gabriel (found in Daemon Soul and Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volumes Fade to Noir and Hubble Bubble)

     "You're willing to do this? Even at Christmas?" The man said, shivering as he did. 

     Gabriel looked back at him with a smile:

     "Of course? What kind of person would I be if I didn't help out, at any time of year. Though in a way, I guess I'm kind of like Santa."

     "What?"

     "Like, we both have lists that we check twice, at the least. I also reward people for being good to me, and punish those who are not. I also do my best to answer wishes...but don't worry, I'm not going to make you sit on my lap to tell me yours....So, what kind of deal do you want?"

     "This Christmas...I want to take back what was rightfully mine..."

     "That can be arranged, let's talk details..." Gabriel smiled as he hooked another soul.

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Josh and the Ghost Duty Team (found in Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1)

     "An interview for Limbo City news? Well, guess I've got time before work! My name is Josh and Christmas was my favourite holiday when I was alive."

     "..."

     "What about now? Oh, well it's tied with Halloween, because, well, we all get that night off?"

     "..."

     "Do I think we should get Christmas off as well? I'm not sure how to answer that, i know the angels watch this show."

     "Scared? Of course I'm scared! You would be as well if you had the threat of your Karma debt rising! Not to mention quadruple overtime...I'll take Christmas as it is without rocking the boat over wether I think we should be able to celebrate it properly with out having to go to work to scare some old rich guys into being nice!"

    "..."

     "That beeping sound? Oh, crap its my Karma debt! They've increased it again! Argh! I knew they were listening!"

-----

Cypher and Serena (Found in Daemon Soul, not yet released but Serena features in Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir)

     The streets of Highdale were thankfully quiet, as Cypher and Serena gazed down on it. The pair were stood on their usual spot, and taking in the transformation that the town undertook every year.

     "Christmas again..." Cypher said, as he rested on the railings. His eyes glossed over the town and towards the quieter parts in the suburbs, where he knew his mother was, alone.

     "Do you not like Christmas?" Serena asked. "I've often wondered what it was about. Every year, most places would change for this event...One that I have never experienced."

     Cypher didn't know how to respond to that. He knew their experiences would never match up fully, the lives they led were so different. He let the silence linger for a moment while he thought, before eventually saying:

     "Christmas...is about family...Well, that's what my mum always told me. It's about spending time with those you love. As a kid i thought that the gifts and the sweets neved hurt," Cypher let out a hushed laugh, while Serena stood there, taking it in.

     "It's also supposed to be the one time of the year where everyone can be at peace. Even World War One stopped for a moment because of Christmas. Maybe that's why we're not seeing any demons out here. A Christmas miracle."

     "A Christmas miracle? Just because there is no demons lurking around?" Serena asked, tilting her head slightly.

     "No, because I get to share this moment with you. My new family." Cypher stepped towards her and they embraced. "Merry Christmas, Serena."

     "Merry Christmas," she replied back to him. 

     They held each other in their arms under the moonlight, as snow began to fall...

-----

Brennan and Riz (found in...a whole host of stories and their own novel!)

     It was Christmas, because of course it was. It almost felt like summer was two seconds ago. Given time's relentless march, I saw some wisdom in Riz’s annual Christmas past time, getting blind drunk. I held off though, as Valarie joined us this year, providing a welcome companion compared to the rat who was falling out of his desk, dead to the world, for all intents and purposes.

     "I don't know how he can do that," Valarie pointed out, using a pencil to prod at him.

     "Remember Riz rule number 8?" I said  changing the CDs over on the karaoke machine.

     "Let sleeping rats lie? But he hasn't done anything...unless you count getting pissed out of your skull a thing."

     "Normally, I'd agree, but he was up earlier to go and mess with the local fox hunts. Dread to think what he did but whatever it was seemed to work. A fair few were cancelled."

     "Maybe he bit each and every one like they deserved? How do you know that though? I swear he's still in the same position as last night."

     "Security device in the hall way. Also caught him doing you know what in your shoes, hope you brought a spare pair."

     "I always do when I come here for that reason. Still, who'd have thought that the only act of charity that Riz would do on his own was to protect foxes."

     "I'm pretty sure that he's also teaching them to steal things with varying degrees of success given how many times I've woken up to see one with its head in my drawers. Don't know what's worse, them or the Goblins that Riz convinces to work here."

     "Guess even at Christmas, it's never a dull day here," Valarie said as she held her glass up to say cheers. I did the same with mine as Riz started babbling in his sleep:

     "Oi! Der booze is all mine, gobbos...do sumit," Riz's orders turned to yawns and gentle nuisance.

     "Yup...Never a dull day," I said, rolling my eyes.

-----

There you have it! I know some of it is better than the others, the same as some of it is absolutely rubbish but even if you were only entertained by a few then I did my work

Till next week,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links 

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat 

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble 

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#50 A Riz Christmas Finale + Riz’s Silent Night

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Well, here it is, the last Blog before Christmas, and with it two special offerings!

First off is the concluding part of A Riz Christmas and then something extra special, a brand new short story!

So read on...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

And there we go! Alls well that ends well. Proved really hard to get the words in there, so I'm glad it's over with!

The eagle-eyed amongst you might have realised that we're now 50 issues in and from 53, the strip will have been going for a year with no breaks! This hasn't been easy to achieve, I tell you. 

Riz’s Silent Night

Its been a while since I last posted any original fiction Exclusive to this blog (Brennan and Riz: Pandemic Blues for those wondering, right before my hiatus), so with it being Christmas, I thought it was a good time for a new one. So, please enjoy this story:

---------------------------

     Our story begins one Christmas eve, in the office slash home of one Brennan and Riz. Though our tale doesn’t concern Brennan, whose Christmas spirit is driving the rat Riz to despair.

     Riz tried to block out the music, he did his best to ignore the decorations hanging from every available space, he even looked past the tree that occupied his third favourite napping place. What he couldn’t overlook, in this season so festive, was Brennan and Valarie, drunk on Karaoke. It may have been their seasonal tradition, but as far as Riz was concerned, there could only be one in the office who was the master of the mike.

     With the last straw well and truly broken, Riz set out into the cold night, eager to find a drink that didn’t come with an ear splitting rendition of Away in a Manager. Considering that fact, no one would blame him.

     The wind ruffled through his fur, and as Riz crawled through the dark streets, each bright light irritated him more. Another week, that’s all he had to wait, if he drank enough he wouldn’t even be awake. A horror awaited him with every pub he tried, a barred door and dark visage.

     “How can dey be shut!” he squeaked out with a sober cry. He cursed his luck and carried on his quest.

     He'd been out an hour now, wandering on all fours, and with each passing moment, he acted as he was dying of thirst. He even passed some of his kin, raiding a bin, and even they gave him a look of ‘what are you doing?’. They quickly scattered though, and Riz wondered why. A quick glance told him that they were all alone under the full moonlight. He looked up, and saw the fleeting shadow, of something that should not be but was, flittering through the night. There are few things in this world that can make Riz give up a drink, but danger is at the top of that list. He wanted booze yes, but also knew when to snooze, he thought about retreating when saw another and another. The shadows disappeared as quickly as they came, with Riz sighing much relief. He justified himself saying he doesn’t work for free:

     “If someone wanted me ta take on dose things dey wud ‘ave paid a fee!” He goes to carry on, but looks back in the direction that the shadows disappeared. He thinks to himself that all the time with Brennan has rubbed off on him, he can hear the faintest vestige of a conscience trying to make contact with him. A conscience of course, that he swore off a long time ago. Like a distant echo, it urged him to pursue what ever entity had flown by, as like Riz himself, anything out late on Christmas Eve could surely be up to no good. Knowing that any attempt to argue would result in it never shutting up. Feeling a heavy burden, he heads off after the shadows, doing a deed right.

     He absolutely hated this, it should be said. If faced with a choice he'd rather be dead. Still, he did his due diligence, and pressed on. A few moments more about with no danger in sight, he thought about returning home, till sinister growl put him right.

     “In there lies the food, all snug in a bed,” a voice above sang. Riz tilted his head back and saw three Gargoyles with stony skin circled a house, one in particular flew close to a window, peering inside.

     “Soddin, Gargoyles…Y did it ave ta be Gargoyles! Especially wit out Bren ta act as bait!” Riz cried. As much as the burden was weighing down on him, he still wanted to miles away, chewing on something fried.

     The creatures above paid him no heed, they were too busy getting ready to feed.

     It was now or never, for our furry friend, to take action. His thoughts split into fractions. He grabbed a stone in his little paws, and started gnawing. 

     This was the point, when the Gargoyles noticed the little rat, biting on stones in the morning. A peculiar sight, they started laughing at the vermin, dispensing insults with ease.

     “Look at that rat down there! Does it want us to stop? Does it want us to say please?”

     Riz wasn't bothered, on the contrary, he wanted them to do more. To shout at him till their throats were sore. Afterall, they wouldn’t be laughing in a minute, no, he expected them to be pleading for mercy.

     “Oh noes! Does Grotesques up dere do look fancy!” Riz was sure his acting would win an award.

     “Grotesques?” All three Gargoyles cried out. “We're going to leave you out for the count!”

     The Gargoyles left the window they were hungrily watching, and came down to the lonesome animal. They never understood the danger they were on from the plucky mammal. 

     The leader of the three scooped up Riz on its granite like grip.

     “Rite,” said Riz. “Dis is ya first nd last warnin before I let rip!”

     "We'd like to see that!” The Gargoyles laughed, though little did they know, they'd get just that.

     Riz waited till they were all close by, and with an evil smirk he uttered two terrible words. Had the Gargoyles understood they may have begged for their life. As it was Riz cut off their cries like he wielded a knife.

     Of the words he used, I can't repeat here, but let's just say, they did the trick, thanks to his little Rune Stone, the Gargoyles couldn't take the mick.

     A flash of light and it was all over. 

     Riz admired his handiwork, some of his finest yet. He just wished there was someone around to put in his debt. An act of charity, he'd never admit but it was still a silent night, so no witnesses to his good deed.

     What of the Gargoyles, I hear you ask? Well, the child they were after, awoke at sunrise. He found three stone statues outside his window it was a big surprise.

     Our hero, Riz, what did he do next? He returned home, sadly sober and alone. Yet, under the little plastic Christmas tree was a present for hin, unsurprisingly it was a bottle of rare gin. At last, his quest was over, the drinking could begin.

     So please remember, this Christmas season, of those little acts you can do. The spirit of the season, is of doing the best you can do.

‐------------------------------------

Well, that's it for this week!

If you're celebrating, I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Hanukkah for the Jewish. If you don't celebrate either, be good to yourselves.

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#49 A Riz Christmas Part V + What Went Wrong With My Nano

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today I'll talk about what I should have talked about last week, that of my NanoWriMo entry that while complete, is sorely lacking (in my eyes).

Before that depressing talk though, we'd better see how Riz is getting on...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

The penultimate part is here. I'm quite happy with myself for how I've managed to pace this arc. Gives me confidence that I can do another one...though not for a while yet!

As you can tell from the number, we're getting closer and closer to #53 which will mark a full year of the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz...doesn't feel like it!

What Went Wrong With My NanoWriMo

This hasn't been an easy article to write. I've been churning it over in my head.

To remind everyone, I decided to do Avalon Tales as my NanoWriMo this year, hoping to do at least one novella (with the hope of starting the second as well).

This didn't happen, for a couple of reasons as I've explained before. However, all the other times, I've never went into detail about what happened on the story side of things that made me lose faith in my writing skills. 

Let's start at the beginning.

When it came to choose my NanoWriMo, my choices were limited to what I'd put the groundwork in already. If done a lot of work for Avalon Tales, trying to tie together the Arthurian imagery better, so it seemed like a no brainer to pick that.

I stuck close to the plan, and at first, things were going well then I hit chapter 5...

The first two chapters are set up, showing where Isabelle’s (the main character) place in the world and within Avalon and introduces her supporting cast. Chapters 3 and 4 bring in the novellas main plot and a character bringing the antagonistical role, Rainer, who hailed from Avalon’s main headquarters in the first draft. Things started slipping here. It started with small things I'd overlooked in the plot and pacing within scenes. It came to a head in chapter 6 which was supposed to be Isabelle’s new team Baptism of fire upon the battlefield. It became clear that things weren't working as the story ground to a halt. My main issue became that the story I was trying to tell, was longer than the Novella format I was wanting.

Draft 1 went in the bin, and draft 2 started with Chapter 7. My aim was to link the two up in editing. The characters largely stayed the same but Rainer changed into the Knight Master of the North East Branch as I tried to simply the plot. Speaking of which I shifted the action to Isabelle and her team searching for the mcguffin and eventually tracking it down to a factory which would serve as the last battground. For a moment, I thought I had it 

The problems reared their ugly head again. The new characters were still not working with the plot and their actions seemed forced. More and more plot holes started poking through so I embarked on draft 3, in order to try and save things. 

It didn't work.

Following this I made even more changes. I took away Isabelle’s squad and replced then with Robyn (Isabelle’s girlfriend) and Cade Anderson (a Knight Inquisitor who was only supposed to be evaluating the North East Branch of Avalon). I also promoted Ramona to Knight Master of the North East Branch a story early, dropping Rainer completely. This is where the story fell apart  I spent the rest of NanoWriMo rewriting, trying to get bits to fit.

As it stands, the story is a Frankensteins monster, but it doesn't equal the sum of its parts.

What will happen next with Avalon Tales? I don't know. I want to completely start fresh with it and hopefully get it to where I want 

That's all for now, sorry for boring you all!

Till next time, 

Keep on writing.

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir l

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#48 A Riz Christmas Part IV + Update

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

I know I said I'd be looking at my NanoWriMo entry in depth this week, but things have had to be shuffled around I'm afraid. Before I talk about that though, let's see what Brennan and Riz are doing!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz 

Part 4 of Riz’s Christmas epic is finally here and I can tell you that part 5 is well on its way. Looks like I may actually get ahead on these after all! Got a good one for Christmas week (issue 51!) Planned as well!

Update

So that Nanowrimo write up...It was taking longer than I planned so I moved it to next week so I had more thinking time. This is fine though as it gives more tike to polish that and to write a little gift for everyone to be posted the week after.

What's the gift about, you'll have to watch this space! Suffice to say it involves getting this blog back to its roots and maybe, just maybe, it'll mean finishing something that was left three years ago.

Other than that, I've not done any writing since the end of Nanowrimo (at least creative writing) which is normal for me as I do need that little bit of a break in between things. 

That's all I've got to say for now though (you can all breath a sigh of relief!)

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin 

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's and Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble 

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#47 A Riz Christmas Part III + Nanowrimo

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

This week you get the 3rd part of A Riz Christmas (is everyone enjoying this so far? Please give a shout out!). I've also got an update about Nanowrimo, which will be sort of a bittersweet Epilogue to what I said last week.

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Half way through now! Due to the upcoming holiday season, I've had to up my schedule and start work on the next few parts. It'll hopefully mean I'm ahead of myself again, something that hasn't happened since I started the series back in January. I clearly need a better work ethic.

Still what will this villainous snowman get up to now?

Nanowrimo

So, last week I said a bit about this and I had intended to leave it there but as of yesterday morning (like 1 a.m. ish) I completed the challenge. I wrote 50k (again...ish) and I have no emotional attachment to it. I'm not happy about finishing, or even relieved, I'm just ambivalent on it. I went into this Nanowrimo supercharged that I was finally going to get Isabelle’s story (and a large chunk of the 2nd novella) done. However with the revelations about nano and things going on behind the scenes, it didn't work out for me. I'm not in the best of places mentally but life continues doesn't it.

Next week, I'll be going into more detail, I don't have to worry about spoilers as there's three-four different storylines going on as I tried to find something that worked.

Will I do it next year? Ask me again in October, that's all I can say for now.

Sorry this is more of a downer than last week, but it is what it is.

Till next week,

Keep on writing.

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble 

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#46 A Riz Christmas II + Update

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

So, another quick week this time round, and sadly, not for any good reasons. I'll explain why in a moment. First though, some good news, Riz’s Christmas adventure continues!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Part 2 is here and Riz thinks he's onto a good plan...or is he (we know he's not, that's what you're all here for!). Part 2 continues the trend of panel 2 being some of my favourite work (like lying down Riz from last week). A third of the way through and so we're on target to finishing on Christmas.

It has brought up an interesting (to me) conundrum. Over on Twitter (X) I've been cycling through the various comics with every vss365 I post (on comic 08 of this posting) and its probably going to be January before these issues enter rotation...which raises the issue of having a Christmas mini-arc when it's not Xmas. I currently have two other holiday themed comics (Valentines and Easter) but I think they're easier to deal with being one shots...

Nanowrimo Word Count...and an Update

I'm combining these two sections here as they're sadly related. As you're all no doubt aware by now, Nanowrimo is currently undergoing a crisis, one of its own making sort of (they didn't start it but their official response certainly didn't help). I've thought long and hard on it. At first I thought it didn't affect me too much as I've not linked to the main site much, if at all, but as time has gone on, and I've learned more, it's sapped my already low energy. I've tried to follow my own advice, but this plus my frustrations with the story have made me question my future with the event.

For now, I'm continuing on as I have to finish what I've started but, it is taking a long time to get the words done...I'm dreading the editing phase for this.

As for word count, its currently 36578 words so I've got 14,000 till I can step back from this madness. Let's see how close it'll be next week...

Anyway, that's all for this week, hopefully I can find something happier to talk about next week.

Till next time,

Keep on writing.

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#45 A Riz Christmas I + Update

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

A quick update this week (what last week should have been!) As I've got writing to get to, but...

I think I've unleashed something with my latest mini project for the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz...take a look below!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

What have I done? 

With the Christmas season finally upon us, I saw it to honour it in some fashion. While my first thought was another multiple episode saga like the fifteen part one I did over the summer...just not as long. That's why I can say with certainty that this one will be six parts...I'm not dragging this out past 25th December!

Knowing the length, I set about trying to draft a story that would fit. How I went from that stage to giving Riz his own Dr Suess style rhythmic adventure is anyone's guess. I am sorry about that mind, hopefully my rhymes don't cause that much pain!

So from now until Christmas I'll be presenting the parts of this tale, and it should (if my maths is right) take us to issue 50, with only a couple of weeks to their big anniversary!

Let's see what happens next week!

Nanowrimo Word Count and Update

Made sense to combine these two sections as Nanowrimo is what I've been focusing on this week.

As it stands my word count is 22978, not bad and I should hit the halfway tomorrow, and this year, its feeling like a slog. Partly down to the issues I discussed last week (it happened again!). It serves no purpose repeating myself so I get through it, and I'll have a stronger story by the time editing is done.

There's no word on any future publication (aside from a potential volume 4 of  Malarkey's, but still very early days on that). Hopefully I can get more printed next year...

Anyway, promised a quick update and I've delivered that I think l!

Till next week,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#44 Sock It To Him + Nanowoemo

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today was supposed to be a meagre update post...then I ended up rebooting my NanoWriMo story on Saturday so I'm going to talk about that instead! Before that  let's see what Brennan and Riz are getting up to in their Comic Tales!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

I can't make my mind up if I like this one or not, a very daft idea given flesh here. The next minj arc will be starting soon, if I have everything worked out right!

Nanowrimo Word Count

Following on from last week's rather small amount, this week, my word count for Nanowrimo is...12778 words! I'm right on track for where I should be...which is lucky as you'll see below.

Nanowoemo

So...Saturday night. I was busy trying to get my words in for Nano when I hit one of the many stumbling blocks...I didn't care for what I was writing. 

Let's be a bit more specific here. 

By that I don't mean that I wanted to change from writing Avalon Tales, as that wasn't in doubt, it just the plot I'd developed for it...wasn't working. Turns out the plot I'd planned was not really the best fit for the word length I was looking at (30-40k). As I've not written many novellas, (the only one I have done, hasn't even been published yet...if ever), so I seemingly forgot one of the key tenets about writing, the shorter the length, the closer you have to start at the point.

Till this moment, I'd found the writing to be a slog, and it does show when I look back at the chapter I was working on at the time. The pace was dragging and the characters were bland. I tried to persevere but it took me about half an hour to write ten words. I knew I had to do something.

That something? Completely ditch the plot I was working from, redoing a lot of the characters. I was also looking at the earlier research I'd put together, and this 'change' allowed me to correct some oversights I made earlier on. Can't say which character this refers to yet but it has had a big impact.

So Sunday rolls round and I try to put words on the page. Given my decision, and I start a completely new chapter (I aimed it to be atca similar place plot wise...I'm going to have a lot of fun with editing this story). I implemented all the changes so certain characters are much different in their characterisation. I did twenty two thousand words that night in one go. Don't think I need to tell you how well that went.

Will this be the first and last time I have to do this (talking about during Nano of course...I'm constantly restarting short stories these days!)? Well, that remains to be seen...

Thats all for now, a lighter affair next week I'm sure.

Till then,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#43 So Original + Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble bubble

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

So, this post will go live on November 1st....but it isn't too late to enjoy the spooky season as the third Malarkey's Imaginomnibus is out now for everyone to enjoy!

I'll be discussing my story, "They Called Her Witch" in a moment, but first, the end of Riz’s writing (mis)adventures!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Again, apologies for reusing a 60 yearish old joke (I got it from the Peanuts Comic strips), but I did find it funny.

What's next for the duo? Well, theres another storyline on the Horizon, but for now, I think more ransom skits will be the order of the day.

Nanowrimo 2023

Well, it's November the 1st, and you all know what that means! Yes, it's Nanowrimo time.

So how much have I have done for this first update...Well, considering I've only had a couple of hours to write, it's only at 647 words. Hopefully we'll see more done next week!

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble bubble

So, it's come to this, a release of a third Malarkey's Imaginomnibus!

The theme (as ever chosen by the excellent Ross Young) this time was Hubble bubble, perfect for Halloween.

Really, the authors taking part in this deserve your readership, so please, once you've read your (free!) copy of Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble, please check out the rest of the included authors stories, as they are all magnificent writers.

Now, I've already spoke about the first story I had planned for this Volume, one involving Ghost Duty, but obviously that didn't pan out.

Into it's place, I wrote a story that better fitted the theme...which was still rather loose! The story's premise came from a series of tweets I did all the way back in October 2021...I think. Thud provided me with some blueprints, and I set to work building on them. This included making changes to a couple of things (like giving the character a name as she lacked one before...till the very end anyway). I also got to go into extra detail with a few things though, I do fear that I didn't do enough.

Regrading the characters name, she was proving hard to pin down, that was until I started listening to a song by Green Day from their 21st Century Breakdown album, ¡Viva La Gloria! (Little Girl). That song hit so many beats of what I was wanting for the story, so much so, that it gave the main character her name.

The original plan for this story actually remained unchanged as it progressed, with only a couple of scenes changing. For instance there was supposed to be a segment focused on the school, a couple of them in fact. However these were amalgamated into the bus scene, which caused me concern on how it was going to be received...Guess we'll see. Another minor change was the removal of a character, but that was done to enhance another character. In a longer story I may have kept both, to play up the ending more, but I'm happy with how it played out. Of course, this means that a certain someone gets less story time, but he still gets his way.

Overall, this story has an important part to play with some of my other work, maybe one day the main story it's part of can get its time to shine.

That's all for this week!

Don't forget to go and get your copy of Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble (for free!) right now by clicking here!

Till next time,

keep writing!

Peter James Martin 

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#42 I Need Dem All + Nanowrimo 103

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today is the last of my articles (read: waffling) about Nanowrimo (starts Wednesday!). Before that though, let's see what Riz is getting up to...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

This is most certainly true in my experiences...just not that many to fill an entire office.

Please note the potential layout of Brennan and Riz's office there, first time I've ever had to think about it!

Join us next week for the concluding part of this little look at Riz’s writing exploits...I'll apologise for the joke ahead of time.

Nanowrimo 103

So, here's the last I'll say about Nanowrimo (this is a lie as I hope to provide weekly updates on my own progress from next Wednesday...which will be interesting as I normally write this on a Tuesday!).

The topic this time?

Keeping the writing going, and other bits of advice while doing Nanowrimo.

As November drags on and on, you might find your motivation wanes. Some people don't have this issue as they just breath out words like carbon dioxide, ending up with 50k words in the blink of an eye. Other's won't be so lucky.

In a lot of ways, my advice mirrors what I've said about writers block in the past, being that if you don't feel like you can write, don't force yourself. If you try and bruteforce the block, you'll end up making things far more worse than they need to be.

According to Nanowrimo, the average amount of words per day you need to accomplish the 50k by November 30th, is 1667, if memory serves. Unless you've got the inspiration, keep at this level, if you can. I often prefer writing little and often. Instead of letting that 1667 look daunting (that's about 3-4 A4 pages) break it down into manageable chunks based around what time you have. I write on my phone as well as my laptop (using Google Docs to sync the two up) this means I can turn that 1667 into seven blocks of about 250 words, adding more to them if I'm able. This may work for you, or it may not. I swear, there will be a way forward.

One other bit of advice? Don't lose heart if you fall behind. All you'll be doing is kicking yourself and making things worse. If you don't do the 50k, pick yourself up and be happy with what you did manage to accomplish. Not everyone may find the month clear sailing to get writing in.

Remember, writing is about expressing yourself and sharing a story (or matters if non-fiction) close to you. Doing things under duress won't make them better.

Also at the end, you may not like the 50k words you wrote. This is natural. Use it as a stepping stone to get to where you want the manuscript at. I said before that I wrote Draft 1 of A Boy and A Rat for Nanowrimo then immediately scrapped it. The story it became from those ashes was only possible because of what I wrote for Nano.

So, there it is.

A week today it all starts.

If you're participating in Nanowrimo, then good luck. Keep calm and try your best. I'll see you in the writing trenches.

Till next week,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#41 The Forbidden Text + Nanowrimo 102

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

This week is a continuation of my brief talk about Nanowrimo (next week is the last as the week after...it begins!). We also have Riz tackling his own little writing mission in today's Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz!

Finally, we'll have the last batch of this months spooky 7DayTale (spread over 13 days!) Drawings.

Let's get on with the show!

Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Eratica Erotica is a joke book of course...thankfully. I would not want to have to write that many poems dealing with Riz’s desires. It would most certainly put me on someone's to watch list! The name was suggested to me by a fellow twitter (of X, if you'd really prefer to use that) user and it stuck. I've done a fair use jokes in my daily Very Short Stories (VSS for short) on that part of social media. Of course this is the first time it's turned up in comic form. 

7DayTale: 13 Days of Halloween

When we last left off, poor Daniel was having a bad time at the carnival...can it get worse? Of course it can!

(First posted 9th October 2023)

Daniel fell to the #ground, his hand on his mouth. He watched the blood from his friend circle a drain on the floor. Half of the broken mask wallowing in the gore.

None of the crowd reacted to Daniel's plight they just kept throwing balls at Lance's corpse.

(First posted 10th October 2023)

Daniel felt like the #analogue signals in his brain were being mixed up. He reached for the nearest person. Wanting answers he grabbed them, causing their mask to fall. Daniel stared into his own face, and slowly, started to cackle madly.

(First posted 11th October 2023)

Daniel was hysterical as he looked around the carnival more. Every guest was a version of him, and they had all killed his 'friends. Their deaths playing out before in gruesome fashion. Behind him, the ringmaster approached like a farmer, ready to #harvest.

(First posted 12th October 2023)

"How is it?" the ringmaster asked, grinning. Daniel stared at him.

"What is going on?"

"Don't you remember?" the ringmaster said. "You asked for this! I'm Gabriel, the #demon merchant. You found my card and wanted revenge on your bullies. We made a deal."

(First posted 13th October 2023)

Daniel thought back to then. His 'friends' controlled and abused him

 It pushed him further into the abyss.

"Cheer up!" Gabriel laughed. "I've seen #Scotsmen break faster! You've got a show to finish." He held out his hand for Daniel to reach up and grab.

(First posted 14th October 2023 Last Part!)

At once, Daniel's clothes changed into that of the ringmaster.

"Until first light, this circus, and your friends souls, is yours. #Bear the responsibility well, kid!" Gabriel laughed, as Daniel danced off with maniacal glee, ready for more murderous fun.

END

These you have it! Gabriel gets to say he's helped another poor unfortunate soul...When will they learn!

As much as I enjoy drawing for these events, it's pretty time consuming. Hopefully I can get back to Rose's trials soon enough.

Nanowrimo 102

Last week I went through all my previous projects from each successive Nano I've done. This week, I want to start with a question.

Are you a planner or a pantser?

For those who don't know, they're two types of writers. The first is the type that has everything planned before they even start the manuscript. They'll have everything planned out and a mood board/ music playlist to match. The second, is those flying by the seat of their pants from the get go (hence the name!). The pantser does no planning, they'll just start with an idea and then they'll run with it.

There's even a fusion of these two, the plantser (I think that's the spelling anyway.) This type does a little planning, but nothing too constrictive, more general guidelines, and then they're off  letting the writing take them wherever it wants.

I generally try to be a planner. I find that often, I get more done when I know what I'm aiming for. However, the path to hell is paved with good intentions, and its backfired on me multiple occasions as I've ended up being burnt out by the process and needing more flexibility and then there's the tines where I've planned...Only to then fling the idea I've done the prep for.

If you're a planner, a few things to consider.

• You only have to do 50,000. That's just over half way through if you're idea is new. Use that information to you're advantage.
• There is never a thing of having too much prep time.
• Don't be hard on yourself if your plans go awry. Your plans can change on the fly if needs be. Be flexible!

If you're a pantser, consider this:

• ...or not, since you know, you are writing this without a care in the world.
• You'll find it easier to write, the more invested in your premise you are. Got an interesting cast of characters you want to unleash? Do it! Let them run rampant!

If you want to check out my Nanowrimo profile, click here. Next time, in our last Nanowrimo conversation, I'll go over what to do to keep your word count up high.

Till then,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#40 Alls Well That Ends Well + Nanowrimo 101

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

We've finally reached the end of the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz's first epic storyline! And this week, I'm going to talk a little bit of your first step to Nanowrimo success, choosing a project!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Where else could I enc it for our brave, constant suffering heroes? Seriously though, this storyline has taught me a lot, a few things I did right, and a lot I did wrong. I'm still planning on doing a shorter Xmas story, so, fingers crossed, I can do better there. For now though, the boys will be back to more regular planning next week.

7DayTale: 13 Days of Halloween

Some of you might remember that back in May I posted a series of pictures and tweets from a hashtag, 7DayTale. It's a popular prompt on Twitter/X where you're given a theme and then you write 1 tweet about the story per day for 7 days...hence the name.

October is special though, as instead of 7 days, you get 13 to play with!

So without further ado:

D1

(First posted 2nd October 2023)

Daniel stood at the threshold of the big top, watching as the last of his friends disappeared into the darkness. He noted how worn everything looked, the stench of decay. Yet, following his friends seemed an #onerous task. He heard them calling for him...

D2

(First posted 3rd October 2023)

As he made his way into the darkness, he thought he heard them laughing at him, the sound driving into his #skull. He found his friends were waiting, wearing jovial masks they'd found. In the centre of the ring, a figure appeared, surrounded by shadows.

D3

(First posted 4th October 2023)

The spotlights illuminated the figure, dispelling the shadows around him.

"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for..." the figure said. "Lost and alone, #wisdom can't help you any more. Welcome to the greatest show!" The ringmaster sang out.

D4

(First posted 5th October 2023)

Daniel didn't know who this ringmaster was, but he recognised the voice from a half-forgotten dream, #cosy, yet sinister.

"Feel free to look around for. I'm sure we'll have something to suit your every taste and whim!" the ringmaster proclaimed.

D5

(First posted 6th October 2023)

Shaken, and having lost sight of his friends, Daniel ventured outside, hoping to #recover his senses. Every amusement was busy, but one had a larger crowd than the rest. From there, a voice pleaded for help. His friend, Lance tied up like a target.

D6

(First posted 7th October 2023)

"Danny! Get me down now!" Lance yelled. 

"He made them laugh at you didn’t he?" the ringmaster's voice echoing in his head. Daniel remembered the constant humiliation. Without realising it, he had a spiked ball in his hand, blood dripping like a #sigil.

D7

(First posted 8th October 2023)

"What the fuck you doing, you idiot!" Lance screamed. Daniel's arm moved on it's own, working on instinct. Time slowed to an #aeons crawl as the spiked spear left his hand and impaled Lance through the forehead, shattering his mask and killing him instantly.

For the Eagle eyed amongst you, yes  the ringmaster is Gabriel, I do try and maintain visual consistency.

I'll drop the final 6 next week once everything is finished!

Nanowrimo 101

So, you've decided to do Nanowrimo this year? You're itching to get words down on the page, just one question...What are you writing?

Choosing a project can make or break your Nanowrimo attempt.

When I first signed up, I knew precisely what I was doing, not that it helped of course. As I said last week, that project turned out to be Daemon Soul: Avalon, a manuscript that I actually lost for a little while, though I've since archived it.

What about my other Nanowrimos though? Particularly the ones I did manage to achieve?

Well, in 2018, fresh off the adrenaline rush of having my first published short story collection, I dived straight into the first Brennan and Riz novel...or at least, the very first draft of a Boy and a Rat. Comparing the Nanowrimo draft and the published version, I'd say there's almost no similarities anymore other than they're telling the same story. As pretty much the first thing I did in December of that year? Was to junk that draft and start over.

Another year later and I was ready for action! This time, I wanted to do something different, focus on someone different...for 2019, I wrote Valarie: In Her Own Words. This was Valarie writing her memoirs essentially, taking the form of 3 novellas. The first one told of the time before she met Brennan and Riz. The second was when she was forced to sign up with the Ministry of Otherworldly Business in exchange for them helping with Faine...you don't remember that part? Oh, that's right, that was completely nuked during the great rewrite of 2021. That sets the tone of what would eventually befall this manuscript. The third story was going to be one where she would reluctantly team up with Riz to save Brennan.

However, it was never finished as I had to deal with other deadlines and when I came back to it, it was all apocrypha. Valarie’s backstory had changed completely more or less.

Better luck with 2020 right? Yeah about that...

By this point, it'd been 2 years since I started A Boy and A Rat, and the current (at that time) draft was with the publisher for a look over. Thinking it was clear sailing, I decided for Nano 2020, to do the sequel, enter Brennan and Riz: The Long Night! This one is annoying as I had the drive to finish it but plot matters kept tripping me up. I'd already written some tantalising scenes, including a pay off on my cryptic hints about the pair dealing with a dragon but alas, it died a slow and painful death. The final nail in it's coffin was the feedback I eventually got from the publisher and the decision to do more prequel novels rather than advancing the modern day stuff. There is a silver lining of sorts as I can repurpose this manuscript for a fourth novel (if we get that far). We'll see what happens though.

2021 brought with it a change of pace...sort of. Instead of using the 50,000 words for one story, I used them to complete several short stories. This was to be the 2nd short story collection for Brennan and Riz, and while still unpublished currently, the stories are all there, waiting for their moment.

This brings us to last year, and while my Nanowrimo profile says I worked on War of the Fae (the 2nd Brennan and Riz novel) that isn't accurate. I was pumped going in, but a week in, my motivation fell apart and I went sour on writing for the pair. In the end, I used the 50k on other stories here and there (like ghost Duty) and...on Daemon Soul: Avalon. Quite funny how I went full circle back to that.

What's my point in all of this? Well, you have to choose something that motivates you, and ideally something that motivates you for the entire month. While you can swap, it'll make things harder for you.

Next week, I'll talk about what other things you need to prepare for, and the universal question, are you a planner, or a pantser?

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#39 Where Else + Nanowrimo Looms!

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

This blog marks the first one in October, and that means...one month to Nanowrimo! So this month, I'll be talking a little bit about it and my experiences with it as this will be my seventh (!) Year taking part, and hopefully my sixth success.

But before that, let's catch up with Brennan and Riz!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

I'm planning next week to be the final installment...but it may be the week after. In reality I could probably do another ten weeks worth but I don't think the returns are worth the risk, especially since I now need to plan the Xmas story. Ideally I want that one done in six strips, so looking at 2/2/2 for beginning/middle/ending respectively..

Though adding a seventh for a dedicated ending may worthwhile.

Phantom Dawn: Memories of a Rose

As I said last time, I've now restarted this series (if you can call it that). Its no longer daily as that would kill me. Instead I pick and choose when to update based on the vss prompt of the day.

That said, let's get back to it!

Recap:

Rose is facing down Dagger and her sister, Haze. Unfortunately, her strongest punch didn't do what she'd hoped...

(First posted 20th September 2023)

Mason, Kurz and Neal were forced to watch as Dagger brutalised Rose.

"Get up..." Dagger roared to the downed Rose. "Get up so I can knock you down again! So I can knock you more than #black and blue!" She let loose a howl of manical laughter.

(First posted 25th September 2023)

"No! Stop it now!" Kurz yelled, he'd had enough of watching Rose be beaten over and over again. A moment later, an energy blast narrowly missed Kurz head.

"Stop your #overture now. No one is interfering with my sister's fun," Haze announced.

(First posted 27th September 2023)

Eros sat hiding one of the pillars, watching the fight. He'd hid when it all started. He hated to admit it, but there was a #chasm between his strength and theirs. The two girls were bad enough, but the one in the mask...gave even Eros chills 

(First posted 1st October 2023)

Void glanced around the room, and sighed beneath his mask:

"I know you're having fun, Dagger, but end this now!"

"I could do this #endlessly," Dagger purred to Rose. "But I want to beat the person that humiliated us before! Let me defeat her!"

Nanowrimo Looms

It was 2017 when I first heard of the Nanowrimo contest, and it was because of a monthly meeting my publisher used to do for the authors they worked with. It might have even been my first one I went to. At this point I didn't yet know if Girl in the Water had made the shortlist yet for Crossing the Tees 2017 (my first published story ever as it would turn out). I can't remember what was said about it exactly, just that it was okay if you couldn't meet the goal of 50k words in the span of 30 days. Wanting to give it a go, I set myself up an account and was off..

My first ever project (which I didn't achieve I might add, fell way short) was Daemon Soul: Avalon...or at least a version of it.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because it's that time of year again where in little under a month, thousands (and more) writers will start feverishly typing away, knocking that target down word by word. In fact, I know someone who can get it done under 15 days...

I haven't announced my project yet, but I do plan on entering again this year because I'm a creature of habit. I know what it won't be, of course, anything Brennan and Riz related at the moment, unless something changes. At this point, it's likely going to be Avalon Tales as I reckon with some luck, I can use the contest to finish the first and second novellas, propelling me into the final one. Then again, this is me, and I have completely changed projects before in the middle of the contest.

I'll plan to do a blog post focusing on Nanowrimo each week now till November hits (though if I recall, the 1st is on a Wednesday this year...) and I'll go through my past projects and what happened to them, and how I prepare for them.

Till next week,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#38 One Word + Ghost Duty 2 We Hardly Knew Ye

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today I want to dive into the remains of the Ghost Duty sequel that clearly wasn't meant to be (this time at any rate). Before that though, let's see what Brennan and Riz are up to...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Has this saga been everything I wanted? No.

Have I learned things? Yes.

Will I do one again after the Xmas one? We'll see.

Knowing that we are quickly nearing the last strip of this story is something of a relief. If you've enjoyed it, let me know.

Phantom Dawn: Memories of a Rose

There has been two new installments since last week, but I want to let at least three more build up before I share them. Being able to pick and choose words has worked out a lot better than before.

Ghost Duty 2: We Hardly Knew Ye

A couple of days ago I submitted another short story, for the Halloween based Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 3 (get volumes 1 and 2 for free now at the links below! Don't finish reading this sentence, go get them then come back!). As I said last week, the story I'd submitted and the one I started were vastly different...in pretty much every metric.

What happened to the Ghost Duty story though? Why was it so unanimously dumped? Well, it was my fault really.

To begin with, the original prompt we were given by the dreaded Overlord, was hubble bubble, toil and trouble, which I took to mean witches. As it was also the Halloween volume so I had to get that in there. Working Halloween in there was a zinch as I remembered the old stories about all hallows eve, where the ghouls and monsters didn't come out to play. I envisioned it as the only bank holiday the unlifers would have. This allowed me to paint it as a large celebration for them. Surely everyone would love that right? This is where the villain came in. She went through a few name changes but I settled on Miranda. This was the first of the problems, not that I realised it yet.

I still needed the witch angle but that came in the form of mistaken identity that never fully sat well with me. Again, this was part of the problem. With the basics in place I blazed on and wrote up over 3k words. This included a cold opening that I am quite fond of but it is unconnected to everything else. Good news is I'll be able to reuse that easily enough. Bad news was that I'd written all that but the plot hadn't progressed an inch other than an initial encounter between Josh and Miranda. Feeling the pressure and convinced any pacing issues would be fixed in editing, I moved to hurry the plot along, only to discover that the plot went nowhere. No matter what I wrote it seemed rushed, and worst of all, nonsensical. J was forcing reactions out of characters with little to no rhyme or reason.

Seeing the clock tick down and with no real fix, I made the only decision I could. I started afresh with a completely new idea.

For that one, I went digging through my old tweets and found an idea worth exploring, and jt featured Gabriel. Win win, right? Perhaps not. That is a tale for another time though.

Till next week,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13

#37 Trap Breaker + Update

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

It's been one of those weeks were on the surface, nothing much has happened but really, a lot has gone on, and I'll have more to say next week on that!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

I think I can see the end...Now, I know I've said that in the past, but still, this storyline is getting closer to the finale...in October at some point. I am letting Riz having his moment in the sun here.

Update

So I should be working on Ghost Duty 02 right? Right! Yeah, about that. I'll put it this way, I'm now writing a brand new Halloween themed short based on a 2 year old tweet. It is a 180 degree change from Ghost Duty.

Why the shift? I'll talk more during a post mortem next week and why I seem to be doing that a lot lately. First though, I have until the 24th to complete this new story, meaning I ditched a 3k+ manuscript to start from scratch (and then I redid that!) With just over a week from the deadline. Am I mad? Yes, we covered this.

In other news, I'm still looking for Beta readers! Want to read Daemon Soul to help fine tune it for publishing? Then drop me a line! Either here or over at the social media platform known as Twitter.

That's it for this week!

Till next time,

Keep writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents 13

#36 One Shot + Request

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Not a lot going on this week, as I should be finishing off the next Ghost Duty story...except a TV show about a stretchy pirate came on...if you know, you know!

However, I do have a favour to ask for those interested...Before we get to that however...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Edging closer to the end of the arc! Gallows is very fun to draw. On to next week!

Phantom Dawn: Memories of a Rose

Now, don't get your hopes up, there's no new entries...yet. After cataloguing them for the blog and my experiences drawing the Brennan and Riz strip, I've decided carry on the thread, but not daily as before. Instead I'll be doing it based on the vss prompt. After I've done a few, I'll collect them here again.

Request

So, I'm plodding along with the Ghost Duty but my mind is thinking to what I spoke about last week, the self publication of Daemon Soul and what I need to do in preparation for it.

That involves getting eyes on it so I can iron out any issues.

So, my request is for anyone wishing to beta read the story! Drop me a line over on Twitter/X at @Brennan_and_Riz (for those reading this from their, I'll have another tweet/post explaining it)

I'm still working on a blurb, but here goes:

[ 

18 year old Terry Baker is a 2nd year College Student who is drifting through life till a fateful encounter with Serena:

"Terry Baker, you are to be the next Daemon Soul."

With her words, Terry's life changes. He's forced to accept the truth of a world where demons exist, and that they're out to kill him. As Serena begins to teach him what he needs to know, he'll be forced to confront his past and the one person he never wanted to see again.

As when the Arc Demon known as Death awakes, Terry has one choice to make:

To stand and fight or flee...

]

Yeah...as I said, I'm still working on it. Sometimes blurb writing can be a lot easier but with this story, it just seems to evade me.

Important facts about the story for would be beta readers:

113k words (one of the biggest reasons why I need over people to look at this, do I need to consider halving the stories?)

Urban Fantasy (if this isn't your cup of tea then don't worry about it)

This is where Gabriel comes from. I think this is self explanatory for people who read this blog frequently or read my dribble on social media (or perhaps, read the second Malarkey's Imaginomnibus book!)

I look forward to hearing from anyone interested!

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

Quick Links

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat

The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 2

Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 13