#12 Only One Way to Win + Short Story Writing Continues

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!!

A brief one this week as my focus is heavily on getting projects done with little time as we head into the forthcoming Easter Holidays!

So let's get started:

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

This might be my favourite comic I've done so far, and it's certainly given me ideas about what a Brennan and Riz deck of playing cards would look like...

Short Story Writing Continues

As the title suggests, I'm still cracking on with the short story I started talking about last week. I did end up restarting the story, building on from that first draft, rewriting it and bringing forth a much better story. I did hit a bit of an issue with getting motivated enough to do more writing (something that can easily occur from time to time). 

How did I overcome this? Well, truth is, I didn't. You see, something I learned over these past few years is that forcing yourself to write, rarely works out well. In my case, if I force myself to get words on the page, that's all I'm doing, putting anything down, regardless if it makes sense. Then I'd come back to it and delete the whole mess as it was of much bad quality compared to the rest of my output (which regular readers will know isn't that good anyway!). What I found that works, is simply leaning into what groove I was feeling at the time, letting that urge to write recover, with new ideas aplenty to boot. It means that stories or projects will take longer, but because I'm not rushing things out, the quality should be better, I'll be more focused on doing the best I can instead of watching the clock constantly. 

As an aside, this is also changing the way I look at Nanowrimo, but that is a subject for a completely different time...

Anyway, it was only a quick update for this week, I'll be back next time with hopefully more to tell. I've also got a guest blog post to try and write at some point!

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

#11 Why Don't They Always Do This + Further Thoughts on Short Story Writing

 Happy Blog Day Everyone! 

Let's kick things off with our favourite duo in comic form:

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

I've had this idea in my head for a while now, still not satisfied with how it came out but then again, I'm never satisfied! Definitely one that may see a redo down the line.

Further Thoughts on Short Story Writing

So, after last week's Blog post on Brennan and Riz Volume 2 (Click here to get it!), I was musing what I should waffle on about today, when by a curious combination of luck, I started work on a brand new short story, which got me thinking about the process...

Usually with writing, I'll often have an idea to start with, a spark. In Brennan and Riz's case, this was often Brennan and Riz do X or they meet X etc etc. This time, I had no idea (as I'm writing this in the past tense, it may be worth pointing out that this isn't a barrier depending on your writing style). I had a prompt to work with, which is better then when I'm given a deadline and just told 'write something', as having the freedom to write absolutely everything, can be extremely daunting at times.

With prompt in hand, I spent a while throwing it around my head, seeing what came to mind first, and what came first? A song.

I've touched upon the idea of music and writing before and with most of my non-Brennan and Riz work (the process doesn't really work with them, and I'm not sure why). This was the key to unlocking what I'd eventually start writing. 

After a fair few plays of the song, and thinking back over on the prompt, the idea was starting to coalesce, and it attached itself to one of my established writing universes (despite this universe only seeing two published short stories attached to it so far). This worked out really well as I'd been itching to write one particular character, though he would take somewhat of a backseat as I began outlining the plot. I'm not saying he's been removed from the story entirely, just the perspective has shifted, and he's back in the shadows as he should be, fitting the time and with who else appears in the story.

This is sort of what I love about writing shorts, how fast the idea can change from that initial spark, characters having their roles changed or their allegiances shifted in an instant. Big form novels have their place as well of course, but it's a lot harder to change direction with them once they've gotten underway, not without needing significant rewrites of course...like with what happened with A Boy and A Rat, but I digress...

So, yeah, the outline was finalised...somewhat, as I said things can change quickly if an idea isn't working! I turned to writing the actual story...and ran into the stumbling block of important first words...ah, my life as a writer.

I'll leave it there for now, I'll provide updates on this story as I progress with, I have a somewhat gracious timeline to have it done by, but of course I have other projects calling my name...

Till then,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

#10 Valarie's Tips and Tricks + Brennan and Riz Volume 2

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today is a special day as I get to tell you that you can go and get Brennan and Riz Volume 2 right now! (Click here to get yours!). With it's release I want to talk about a tricky little thing called, continuity...

But first, the weekly comic!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

This wasn't the Comic I'd intended to present this week. I looked through the script I'd prepared and realised two things. First, as written it would  undermine the characters. Yes, these strips aren't serious but they hold true to themselves, while what I'd written, would have pushed further till that 4th wall broke down. Secondly, it committed a grave sin, it just wasn't funny.

With those factors, I shelved that particular script till I could make people smile with it. In its absence, I had to quickly brainstorm a new idea, and a simplish one at that. This is how Valarie’s Tips and Tricks was born.

As always, please excuse the quality, and the fact its crooked.

Anyway, onto Volume 2!

Brennan and Riz: Volume 2

That's right, 10 more Brennan and Riz short stories have been bundled up and re-released into the wild.

Wait...

Re-released?

Yes, it's true, these aren't brand new tales (though they probably will be to most people). Aside from Yeti in the Snow, all the other stories are taken from Harvey Duckman Presents anthologies 1-9. While it doesn't help people who already own those copies of Harvey Duckman, it does mean that people who just want the Brennan and Riz stuff, can get their fix. My original plan had been to release all the Harvey Duckman stories in a volume called The Harvey Duckman Files (go figure) letting the original stories have the spotlight. Honestly my publisher's approach is probably easier.

Anyways, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about tonight. What I wanted to discuss is continuity.

 In the beginning, there was no such thing as a set order for the Brennan and Riz stories, they could all be read independently...Except that this has never been true. In the first 3 shorts (Girl in the Water, Goblins in the Tunnel, Ghosts on the Moor) all have Brennan living in his car. He only moves into the Office we all know and love in the 4th short story, Violinist in the Basement (which floats some of Brennan’s childhood to the reader). This isn't a drastic example of continuity, just a welcome one as the recommended list is simply the stories in order #1 to #10. Then came The Yeti in the Snow (the last short story to be numbered before Volume 2 came along). This short again was to be stand alone, till I mentioned Brennan’s mother in it. You see, this was the last short I wrote before embarking on Nanowrimo 2018, where I'd complete the very first draft on A Boy and A Rat...It largely still works on its own but is enhanced with having read the novel. This isn't a bad thing, but shows we're edging slowly to the point where prior reading was going to be an advantage. 

Then the American Trilogy happened, while the three don't reference each other, they still were designed to be read one after the other (that way I wouldn't have to keep explaining why they were in America despite living in the UK). I suppose you could read them out of order, as long as you don't get hung up on why they're in the states...

This came to a head with the story for Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (now #19 in Volume 2), where on thinking up a reason as to why the Japanese spirit comes calling to little old Teesside, I decided to bring Gallows in. Now, I tried to give him an introduction, but it's nothing compared to his origin in the A Boy and A Rat. 

Floodgates were open at this point, even the stories I was working was drawing on the first novel and setting things up for the second novel! I'd gone off the deep end.

I've managed to claw some of this back (2nd novel being scrapped and restarted has helped). Only two of the newly written shorts mention Gallows or mention anything from A Boy and A Rat. Thus, if I had to do a reading list, it'd be publication order, with reading A Boy and A Rat between #18 and #19...A simple change really!

Well, I waffled a lot there but while I would like everyone to read all my work, I do want people to know that except a couple of instance so far, that the stories can be read in any order.

That's all for this week.

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

#9 Verification Required + Ghost Duty

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Today I want to talk about A new story that appears in the pages of Malarkey's Imaginomnibus (and why its not as new as you'd think). First, though...It's comic time!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Is it true or is Riz just pulling Bren's leg? Who knows, there's the truth, and then there's Riz’s truth, afterall.

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus - Ghost Duty

As I announced last week, there's a brand new anthology on the scene, and I'm in it! If you still need a copy, go and pick one up! It's free after all, just click the link here!

Still here?

...

Then either you've already read this best-selling anthology or you don't care (shame on you!). Either way, let's talk Ghost Duty.

Ghost Duty is the second non-Brennan and Riz work I've had published (first was a Daemon Soul related work featuring Gabriel in the Decagon Key...also free). Its about a guy called Josh, who is dead. In the world of Ghost Duty, if you're dead but you've left a bad deed debt, you're stuck in purgatory till you've worked that debt off. How do you do that? Well, the clue is in the name after all...

So, a good set up for a new story yeah? What if I told you that it wasn't a new story, but instead one that has its origins in the misty far back year of 2006.

2006- a time to be alive.

Back then, whilst brainstorming different ideas for stories, I'd also picked up drawing as a way to relax away from University work, and as I slowly got better, I wanted to try something new with it. I wanted to try a webcomic. 

With my skills being lacklustre, I needed an idea that wouldn't trip me up too much, so my burgeoning Daemon Soul series was discounted. I needed a good hook, and then recalled a conversation I had with a friend about Ghosts, and the fun idea that the spirits of the Dead, were just doing a job. I had the spark and then after a bit more thinking...I came up with these:

Terrible art incoming!

First thing you might notice, the main characters name ended up changing, and the reason is...I'd completely forgotten the original. The wispy tail was an attempt to bypass my futile attempts to draw legs...I've marginally gotten better at them. The idea never got further than these two pages for various reasons, so the idea went dormant, but wasn't too far away from my thoughts, as this picture I drew back in 2014 will demonstrate. I tried to go down a Grim reaper approach with this version, but again, nothing came of it.

Flash forward to 2022, and a conversation with fellow author, Ross Young (he of Malarkey fame) and the idea was born again... I went back to the original concept and expanded on it, thus writing the story that you've hopefully read by now (even better if you enjoyed it!).

That's it for this week. 

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

#8 Adverts are Hard + A Boy and A Rat Focus

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

Let's dive into the Comic first of all, then I've got some rather big news to share! After that, we'll talk about A Boy and A Rat, if you need a copy, click here.

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

Marketing is hard in general, I think Riz as a director would just make it downright impossible!

Now, onto a massive announcement, of an Imaginomnibus scale...

Malarkey's Imaginomnibus

Thanks to the overwhelming efforts of the Boss man himself (Ross Young, author of the Dead Heads series and writer of Grim and Beezy on twitter), a new anthology has been brought into being. Introducing Malarkey's Imaginomnibus!

Ross brought together some of the best of the best writers that the #writerscommunity had to offer! How I ended up in this lot, I have no idea. Every author listed on that cover is worthy of your time. They are:

NT Anderson, Evelyn Charles, SJ Covey

Rose J. Fairchild, Jon Ford, Kayla Hicks

Chris Hooley, Samantha Kroese, me

A.C. Merkel, Melissa Rose Rodgers, Halo Scot, and of course, Ross Young.

The book is free in ebook form, so what are you waiting for? Go and get yours now! Click the link here, and make it happen.

Next week, I'll talk a little about my story, Ghost Duty, which has spent rather a long time swimming around with all the other ideas in my head, ever since 2007 in fact...

A Boy and A Rat Focus

Feels like an age ago that I talked about this book on these web pages (looks it up, okay it had been a while). So a refresher, from the blurb on the back of the book:

"The story of how a boy and a rat met... and how their magical adventures began.

With the human race under threat from an evil Fae overlord, it falls to Brennan, a teenage boy from Thornaby-on-Tees, to step up and fight.

The only problem is he has to do it with Riz, a talking rat with darker origins than Brennan could ever realise...

Based on real folklore and real locations, combined with witty characters and a dry dynamic between Brennan and Riz, the debut novel from Peter James Martin is packed with the familiar and the unusual."

Of course that's not the whole story but hopefully enough to get people interested.

I should point out that there will be spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution. 

******spoiler warning!******

So where to start. From my last look at this book on here, it was in the hands of the publisher but nothing in terms of a contract had been spoken about, and thus it was till early September 2020 when the contract was signed and the editor dove into the text, hoping for a 2021 release...This wasn't meant to be. 

At this point the story was how I described before, Brennan finding Riz which kick-started a series of events that lead to the culmination of the terrible Christmas Eve where Brennan's family were murdered by the fused Faine and Jack the Ripper. Riz then banishes Faine with the unexpected help of Gallows (who was Brennan's arsehole friend, Merrick).

During this journey Brennan also was introduced to the 'Other' where he was subject to a cross-examination from the Seeley Council. Something he only survived (abeit with his memory erased) thanks to the efforts of Riz and the Fae known as Temperance...

Also helping out is one Valarie Turner, whos backstory as a teenage girl doing everything she can to uncover the truth about her fathers possession by the creature known as Umbral (fun fact: Umbral was a name I considered for an organisation set against Brennan and Riz before I ditched the idea completely) was surely set in stone...

Yeah...then the Editor got in touch with me about her opinion on the book as it stood. This was also coupled on my own thoughts about certain parts.

Her biggest two take aways were that: 1)I'd made Merrick too easy to hate and that (while I'd always considered his turn to the darkside as obvious thus saw no point in trying to cover it up with a red herring) he should be made to be a bit nicer, thus making his fall even harder. 2) and possibly the biggest cardinal sin, I'd made Riz too nice.

Ironically the last comment was the easiest one to fix, giving Riz his trademark edge back, though I will say it was tough to balance against him wanting to help Brennan out early on...enter the revised plot point 1, Riz is actually after Merrick the whole time, wanting to reach him before Faine does. Riz using Brennan as a means to an end is perfectly keeping in character.

Sorting Merrick out required a bit more rewriting though I got to work on his mindset a bit more. Even now, I still don't know if I'm fully happy with how he is, but Gallows is certainly fun to write. 

The changes didn't end there though. The Seeley Council was gone because it didn't add to anything and only served to add exposition. Not that the content will be gone forever, no, it just served as the inspiration for A Boy and A Rats sequel...

Now Valarie...while nothing was explicitly said about her, I took the opportunity to spice things up, cutting her backstory out and inserting a new one that better reflects her and who she is. No longer after the creature known as Umbral, know she was looking for cousin called Artemis...Which is a subtle clue to the direction her back story now points to...Can't say anymore than that!

There was one other suggestion, an ironic one really. When I was writing the early drafts of the book, I toyed with the idea that there was something special about Brennan, something in his blood that made him stand apart. In the version I submitted to the publisher, I had scrubbed it out, opting for a normal family...just one where the extended family didn't talk for some reason...The publisher wanted it back in. Thus, Brennan the half banshee was born, and plot for the potential third book in the series was born along with it, afterall, what's a little friction between family, eh? It should be pointed out that I made it a rule where only female banshees got the screaming powers, but special blood is special blood.

Throughout all this though, the folklore strands I wove into the book, largely stayed intact, whether it be the Spring Heeled Jacks (which I've discussed on this very blog) or the origins of Merrick's curse which ultimately corrupts him (that being the death of the last Welsh Prince, and a bog hag's curse on his murderer). The fae folklore I invoked for the now deleted Seeley Council scene didn't go to waste as previously said.

Right, I think I waffled enough for this week, please excuse my lateness, I've been ill which has completely buggered up my schedule.

I'll be back next week with another new comic and a look at my addition into Malarkey's Imaginomnibus (go buy it now!). Till then,

Keep on writing!

Peter James Martin

#7 Wouldn't it be Nice + Folklore Redux pt 5

 Happy Blog Day Everyone

After last week's momentary blip, we're back to our normal Wednesday update, and with it, another brand new comic, speaking of...

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz 

Readers of my short stories will have encountered this typical Brennan and Riz example before (most notably Ghosts on the Moor, the 3rd story in the first short story collection).

Would Brennan actually follow through on that threat? Only time will tell...

I will apologise for the even poorer colouring then normal, I tried to make it look like you were viewing the pair through a windscreen but it failed...spectacularly. You don't learn without trying I guess.

Now let's move on to the main performance...

Folklore Redux pt 5

These following stories are from the latest two Harvey Duckman Presents anthologies (not the two that were just rebranded specials). One is more interesting to talk about for reasons you'll discover, the other is about plumbers...You'll see, let's start with that one first:

The Rat in the Drain- Confession, this story isn't based on any folklore whatsoever. Instead of leaving this as the shortest entry in my entire folklore exploration series, I'll share a look at how this story even came into being.

Few of you would have been aware that Harvey Duckman had a few specials under its belt, where all the stories within its pages shared a common element (most notably Christmas and Pirates), most others are free form anything goes type stuff. Then I hear talk that the next special will be...Plumbers. I can tell you that many an eyebrow was raised upon hearing this, as well as checking to see if the date was April 1st.

It was real of course, and as someone who had been in every Harvey Duckman at that point, I know that I had to rise to the challenge. The question was though, how could I do it?

Instinctively, there wasn't much of a connection between the pair and plumbing, and I didn't think a story of Brennan unclogging his drains by pulling out Riz fur was that much of a winner. The answer to this was to bring in a plumber who has need of Brennan and Riz's specialist abilities. The title came about when I realised the comedy value of having Riz having to go into the pipes. He'll probably not forgive that in a hurry!

Rat in the Drain was published as part of Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 9, get yours here!

The Knight and the Fae- This story has its origins in a very different place. I was approached by an individual to see if I had a story to submit to a paranormal romance anthology. I suck at writing romance in general  so paranormal romance had no hope. Nevertheless, I attempted something but ultimately withheld it from that anthology as I knew for certain that what I wrote would not have been what was intended. It's quite hard to write romances for the central pair as 1) Brennan X Valarie is pretty much a thing, and 2) Riz is peculiar with romance. Not to mention that writing a story from Riz’s perspective is fraught with its own dangers. So, I had two options, either write about different characters in the Brennan and Riz universe or tell a story in a story that dealt with paranormal romance.

I tried both of them. The former would have been the first solo story for Doctor Lauren Ashton, but it never seemed to pan out (and she was too married to the job it turned out). The latter was definitely more successful, as I took advantage of a seam of folklore that I'd been itching to explore, Fairies.

I can heat you shouting from here:

"Peter! You'd already been writing about Faries! Haven't you been mining their folklore already!"

Well, there's always more folklore. This time, I was looking at more the foolish mortals who fell for the Fae and went with them to their Fairy kingdoms. There's been a lot of stories in this regard, and almost all of them don't end well. Like the guy who was instructed to never get off his horse once he'd left the magical kingdom. He returns home to find that, while for him an hour or so had passed, a hundred years had passed in the mortal realms. He got off his horse and turned to dust as he aged to match his surroundings. I twisted this as I introduced the concept of Fairy Knights (something that was meant to appear in A Boy and A Rat, but was left on the cutting room floor).

This is a sign for things to come for the next full length Brennan and Riz novel, as I have plenty of fae folklore to dive into, such as Fairy Rings and a full exploration of the Seeley and Unseeley Councils. I also couldn't just leave it as Brennan learning the tale, no, I dragged Valarie and Riz into it, each offering a different take on the ending of the tale...

Another fun fact about this story was it was a late submission to Harvey Duckman, replacing a completely different story that got moved up to an upcoming volume of the anthology. Why was it moved? Because it fit the theme better of the aforementioned Volume. What was it about? Well, you'll just have to wait and see won't you...

This story appeared in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 10, get your copy here!

That's all for this week, join me next week where I finally get into the nitty gritty about the first Brennan and Riz novel, A Boy and A Rat. If you want to join in the fun, check out this link to order your copy.

Till then, keep writing.

Peter James Martin.

#6 Do as I say, not as I do + Folklore Redux pt 4

 Happy Blog Day Everyone!

What's that? It's not Wednesday? 

...

Well I decided to be spontaneous!

What? I've only done it today so the Valentines comic I drew would go out on Valentines day?

...

Scandalous lies and slander! You can perish the thought that this was why I've pushed the schedule ahead, but since it is Valentines...have a comic!

The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz

This is the first appearance of Luna outside of my #vss365 on twitter (#vss365 stands for very short stories and there is fantastic authors working within that space). I haven't fully worked out I'd she'll join in the written stories yet. Either way she'll be around here, having some fun.

Folklore Redux Pt 4

Ahoy mateys! Let's start this edition off with a piratey tale!

The Rat Who Served on the Flying Dutchman- When I learned that my publisher was planing a pirate themed special, I quickly got to thinking of how I could get Brennan and Riz in on the act. There's plenty of tales about the sea, whether it'll be the denizens that lurk in it, or a ship that sails on it...Yes, I quickly honed in on the angle I wanted.

I used it as an excuse to take the tiniest peek at Riz’s history, something which I do plan to do again, hopefully in the near future. 

The oldest written mention of the Flying Dutchman is from the late 18th Century and it gives the impression that the ship was well known amongst Dutch sailors of the time. The ship was seen as a portent, often of bad weather in the early forms of the tale. Later stories expanded the burgeoning myth by adding parts about the crew, giving rise to the idea that those aboard were being punished. One feature that came into play with my own story was that it was said that if they made contact with another boat, they'd pass along messages to those on land, which of course, the inciting incident.

Like the Christmas special before it, the pirate special was given the rebranded-treatment and became Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 11 (get your copy here!)

The Kuchisake-onna in Teesside- I've had Brennan and Riz visit other countries but what if I brought the folklore to them? This is where this story comes in. The Kuchisake-onna is a figure from Japanese urban legends, a malevolent spirit wearing a face cloth to hide the lower part of her face. The legend plays out thusly: the spirit will appear before an unfortunate victim, or two. She'll ask them a simple question.

"Am I pretty?" Or words to that effect. If the person answers no, she stabs them with a pair of scissors. You answer yes, then she takes her face mask off to show you her lovely scar that runs from cheek to cheek, giving her a ghoulish visage. She'd ask again:

"Am I pretty?" Regardless of the answer here you're not long for this world as she will kill you with those scissors. 

Getting her into the story wasn't difficult given that I took advantage of the fact that this was written with A Boy and A Rat in the rear view mirror. Yes, for the first time (the American Trilogy doesn't really count, not like this), continuity became a thing as Gallows appeared to spread his fun. Only problem was that A Boy and A Rat didn't make its release date (I'll talk about that another time), thus this became Gallows first published appearance.

Want to see how Brennan and Riz dealt with this scary tourist? Then you'll find the story in Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8 (get your copy here!)

That'll do for this week, join me next week as we deal with the last two stories that were released as part of the Harvey Duckman Presents series.

Till then,

Keep on writing!