The Strange Tales of Peter James Martin: #72 Riz’s Odd Hobbies 1 + Update

Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today won't be a long one, but I've got a few updates to go through (sadly, not that update as I've yer to nail down a proper meeting date, which is annoying me) but things are moving in the right direction at least!

Before that however, let's check in on the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz! After all, eagle eyed readers might have noticed the title of the blog today...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

I couldn't resist doing one of these. I'll put my hands up, this is purely an excuse to put Riz in different outfits and find new ways to dunk on poor Brennan. Like the cartoon one from a few weeks ago, there is going to be more of these.

All I have to do is research more costumes for Riz to wear!

If you have any ideas, don't hesitate to let me know in the comments.

Update

Oh how I wish I was using this space to report that the long awaited republishing of Brennan and Riz had taken place, but sadly that is not the case. You'll have to put up with me talking about my writing instead.

The Madness on the Tides

This story is actually coming on quite well, considering its past. I dropped a bomb early on (you'll see when reading it, and its the reason this will be the last story in Volume 3) and I was in two minds about how it played out versus using it as a stinger for whatever stories came next. Ultimately, I settled on the current path as the information needed to come out when it did. Will this be the right choice? Guess I'll find out when you lot are reading it!

Avalon Tales Chapter 3

Amazingly, this is almost finished! I know, I'm shocked as well. I think it helps that this is a straight forward chapter that leads into chapter 4, will that one be as easy? Probably not. Checking my notes, chapter 5 should be easy as I may be able to reuse some old content (with tweaks). Wish I had been this productive earlier this year.

Malarkey's Story 4

Not quite ready to announce the title here but its coming along nicely. I've found a suitable location for the bulk of the story to take place, and it even has ties to other Brennan and Riz stories (one of which is currently abandoned, but it still counts!).

Harvey Duckman Steampunk

Technically I wrote this last year, but what the hell... Given all the chaos surrounding Harvey Duckman as of late, the dust has settled and the Steampunk edition has re-emerged, all the stronger. To this end, I've resubmitted my only Steampunk tale (read about my trials with that here and here). What happened to my original submission? Who knows. I'll probably need to resubmit my post-apocalyptic story as well (which was a Phantom Dawn short).

Will the story make the cut? Probably not, I'm not sure it made the cut last time! Still have to try right?

And now for something completely different...

Normally, when I do a #vss365 piece, I have to edit it an awful lot to make it fit into the tweet (Yes, I'm aware I can pay to get more space and the edit feature. No, I'm not giving Musk any money or rewarding him for what he's done with the platform). Of course some don't require any editing, like this one from Monday (20/05/24 for folks living in the future!):

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"Ya eva wondered y ya ave ta salute a single #magpie?" Riz asked as he saw me do the act.

"Why's that then?"

"Cuz dey're propa bastards, one tried ta mug me da otha day."

"A magpie tried to mug you?"

"He tried takin da gold watch I'd liberated!"

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The prompt this time was Magpie, which was a fun little word, but really, there was more to the story...Check out this version:

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"Ya eva wondered y ya ave ta salute a single magpie?" Riz asked as he saw me do the act.

"Why's that then?"

"Cuz dey're propa bastards, one tried ta mug me da otha day."

"A magpie tried to mug you?"

"He tried takin da gold watch I'd liberated!"

"Liberated? From who? Was that when I was in the opticians?"

"All ya need ta know waz I saved it from a twat who didn't respect it, nd dat no one waz seriously hurt. I mean, a ickle blood but not mine."

"RIZ WHERE DID THAT WATCH COME FROM?" I yelled.

Riz was thinking about an answer when the sound of a magpie distracted both of us. There was two black and white birds staring down from a tree, their beady eyes focused on Riz.

"Erm...help!" the rat pleaded as the birds dived at him. Riz darted from the bench and started running as the birds attacked him. I could only put it down to an extension of whatever happened the other day. A thought occurred so I ran with it.

"You stole it from the magpie didn't you!"

"Does dat matta now?"

"Answer the question!"

"Fukin...Fine! Yes! I stole it from a magpie! It waz neva gunna respect it! Now 're ya gunna help me!"

"Why would I? One for sorrow, two for joy. I'm getting a lot of joy watching you getting chased for being a prat!"

End.

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Sometimes, Brennan is allowed to get his own back.

That's all for now, possibly a new Short Diversions for next week, but we'll see how time shakes down as it's also half term...

Till next time,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin