The Xbox 360 was a machine that made a console gamer out of me. Sure, I had a Super Nintendo and a Playstation but I bought most of my games on the PC. With that came a bunch of issues: driver incompatibilities, slow frame rate, disc speed. The 360 solved all those for me. I took a disc, put it in and the game just worked.
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New Fantasy Faction Article: Attending Your First Convention
Over at Fantasy Faction I’ve recently had an article published regarding attending your first convention as an unpublished writer. If you have further ones, please be sure to add them to make this a really useful resource for unpublished writers.
The prospect can be a little scary the first time so hopefully there’s some good tips there for those of you who’ve yet to brave the con-o-sphere. There are also some great additional tips in the comments.
Be sure to check it out over at Fantasy-Faction
New GPSTracklog Article On Wallabee
Due to the leg it’s been difficult to get out and almost impossible to Geocache. However, in this article for GPSTracklog I talk about an iOS Location-based collectibles game I’ve been playing – Wallabee.
It’s a lot of fun and been a Godsend whilst I can only hobble round the block.
Be sure to check the article out to find all about it
The Challenges Of Getting Well
The trouble with any type of long-term illness / ailment is that other people get bored with it. They start conversations with phrases like “your leg must be healed by now…” or “aren’t you back geocaching yet?” There are some people who make the mistake of asking how I am and receive a long and honest reply. It’s only as I see their eyes glaze over that I realise they were just expecting a “fine thanks, how are you?”
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Points For A May Day
I’ve been a bit bad at updating the blog recently. The ironic thing is that at those times when I do have a lot to blog about, I’m too busy to do so. I’m currently behind on everything. The test results have come back from the leg and there’s a ridiculous number of activities now happening ranging from referals to the hospital, to high risk of a repeat, to building the walking up again. So here are a collection of points, most of which are blog posts in their own right.
An Early JK Rowling Interview
I think it’s sometimes difficult to relate to JK Rowling’s success, so I found this early video of her from around the time between the first and second book’s launch really interesting. She talks excitedly about selling 30,000 books and getting published in 8 countries. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a massive achievement for any author and she has every right to be proud, but you just can;t help watching this video and thinking, “You have absolutely no idea what’s about to happen.”
A lesson, if you like, in how one shouldn’t try and predict their writing career
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Leg-geddon Part II
So as you may remember, last month an infection caused a 6” hole to be blown in my leg. I acted quickly so whilst I had a plaster the size of an iPad and industrial strength antibiotics, I was relatively OK. It has stopped me working or doing things I normally enjoy other than geocaching (and even then I managed two drive-by caches in Bradford).
Progress Update
So I’m not fun to be around, I’m a bit distant (and a bit grumpy). I have no social life to speak of, and coupled with working from home for the day job, I’m having to make a conscious effort to leave the house. Yes, this can only mean one thing… I am up to my neck in writing the next book.
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The Four Realms Soundtrack – Maureen’s Theme
I listen to a lot of music when I write, the vast majority of it instrumental. Over the years of writing The Four Realms I have several go-to tracks if I need to envoke character. This track from Dr Who has made me think of Maureen since I first heard it, and I still play it before working on a Maureen chapter as prep for getting inside her head. What do you think? If you had to choose a piece of music for Maureen’s theme, what would you choose?
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Stoopid Anxiety
I’ve always been a worrier, I suppose a writer’s natural urge to ask “what if” means that it’s almost inevitable the two are linked. But I’m finding, as the taboos on mental health are slowly coming down, that my family has a history of anxiety.
The big trouble with anxiety attacks (at least for me. I can only speak for myself, I don’t claim to be an expert) is that unlike a full blown panic attack that stops you doing anything, anxiety attacks rumble away in the background. I can write with an attack, but I’m not as productive. The big problem is sleep. I can’t sleep when I’ve got an anxiety attack and as a result, last night I never got to bed until 3am.
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