Encouraging words

I love meeting new people.

Whether it is actually 'meeting' the person or on line I still enjoy the experience of discovery someone elses point of view. I reckon that everyone has something to say that is worth listening to. Even if I agree with every aspect of the other persons viewpoint. I find it useful to revise my opinions on a regular basis.

So thank you to all those lovely people who have followed me on various networks and put up with my 'eccentric' ways. I hope you like my stories and posts. I appreciate your interest.

As writers and readers we need to support and encourage one another. Writing is a lonely business. It is hard thing to do for a living and challenging even as a hobby. Writers need lots of 'hugs.' I know I do. So when I get a +1 or a 'like' or re-tweet it gives me a little boost. I hope I can return the favour to as many others as I can.

Lately I have been a bit lax with my writing. I have a busy job and plenty of 'other stuff' going on in my life at the moment. Every little bit of encouragement helps. I believe that regular writing is not only good from a professional and technical viewpoint but is amazingly good psychologically. Stories help the human mind function more effectively. Words can heal. So I will try to manoeuvre my lifestyle back into a position where I get the words onto the screen or notepad (almost) every day.

I want to give something back to my followers. I will write short stories and poems and publish them for free. I value your feedback. I will also (soon I hope!) be producing something more substantial. Please be patient.

So support your local writers. Lets make the world a better and richer place with our stories.

That is my aim.

The evolution of books and games

With the advent of mobile computing there are so many more ways to tell stories.

Smartphones seem to be everywhere. The number of tablets on offer is soaring. This is not going to stop any time soon. I imagine that in the next few years there will be more and more ways to connect to the web and each other.

This is really good news for writers.

We all know about e-books and the opportunity for just about anybody to be published and have readers appreciating the product of our imagination. This is excellent news for readers as well. Whilst there may be issues with curation I believe the current state of play provides many more ways to find a good story. The best writing will 'out'.

But the publishing revolution does not stop with e-books.

I love stories, whether in a book (printed or digital) on screen or in game form. One particular type of story is that the remakes of the 1980's and 90's gamebooks. The fighting fantasy series is being remade by an Australian company (Tin Man Games) and there are other ventures out there attempting to do something similar with other series. Gamebooks and other forms of interactive fiction are ideal for the mobile world we live in.

Whether the product is book, a game, or something in between, the bottom line is that the story is king. If I choose to design a gamebook I could produce an e-book version (for mass market appeal) an app (for gamers) or a high quality print edition (for those of us who love the physicality of paper and ink) Each would contain common elements but the story would be implemented differently in each case. I could keep things simple with the e-book. I would introduce all kinds of additional functionality for the app and the printed version would be made to look and read beautifully. 

There are lots of opportunities out there for writing wonderful stories. I think an open minded approach is the best way to appreciate the continued evolution of 'the book.' Lets see what happens...

On the right road.

For the first time I have got my entire science fiction story onto one sheet of paper. I am amazed that my head did not explode. It has taken 20 years to get this far. About time I got this thing finished.

In October 1993 I had several ideas for characters and settings which I had initially intended to be the basis of a D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) role playing campaign. The game never happened but years later I started to take my writing seriously and these concepts kept nagging at me. Over the years my creative projects have evolved but I have never before plucked up the courage to properly revisit the original ideas.

I have now.

My science fiction series is called 'The Keodu Sequence'. It will have 12 parts or episodes which may be published separately or together. The whole project will be about 200,000 words in size. The first episode is written in draft form.

Its a good feeling to know I am on the right road at last with my writing. I am in love with my stories and the characters they bring to me. I hope you will enjoy the journey as well?