whimsyandmetaphor News

March Update

Hello, hello!

So here we are, 2024. I can’t say that I was entirely expecting to be on hiatus for as long as I was, but that’s the way things turned out, I guess. I’m sure all the details about what’s been happening since 2020 around here will come out eventually, but for now, I’m just going to stick with a general update and some Important Things To Know Going Forward.

First off, as you’ve probably noticed, I’m retiring the ‘blog’ part of the blog for now. I’ve kept a selection of the old posts (not all, but a good portion) up on the Blog Archive part of the site, just in case you want to go back and find something, but I have no plans to add to that as of now. If you want my thoughts, the social media in the sidebar has your back.

Related to that, I’ll be starting monthly update posts here, so there is a reason to follow the site (beyond accessing the stories). Standard author newsletter stuff – what I’m thinking about, what I’m working on, and the fun, frivolous stuff I get to inflict on you because it’s my update template and I’ll put what I want on it.

So, what have I been working on? Well, sometime in early 2020, I got somewhat abducted into, somewhat adopted by the tabletop gaming and game design sphere. In addition to running events and things like that, I’m working on a PhD in urban play, transmedia storytelling, and interactive narrative, among a bunch of related fields. I mention this here because it’s probably going to feature prominently in the updates for the next little while. Yes, I’m making an Interactive Experience, and yes, it’s open for anyone to join. I’ll start releasing updates and explanations soon, so watch this space …

But, oh whimseous one, I hear absolutely nobody asking, back in 2020, you released a book and promised there would be a sequel! It has been three and a half years since then – surely you have been working on something that involves words! And yes, you are correct, if I had gone three-odd years without writing a single word of fiction, I might have ended up on the news and not for one of the good reasons. However, it’s still going to be a while before I start releasing any long-form fiction again, and I’m afraid I can’t tell you exactly when it will be. Definitely don’t expect anything on that front until next year.

However!! Do not despair, I’m not going to be just bombarding you with life updates and nothing else. In addition to the PhD project, I’m also working on a bunch of smaller projects, including a small text adventure game, one or two TTRPG projects, and some short stories. Expect updates about those in the coming months.

In a more immediate sense, I’m just organising my thoughts (and doing some final formatting updates on) the final Ferryman’s Apprentice book! You’ll be able to finally get your hands on the hard copy/e-book pretty soon, so don’t go too far. I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of commemorative events.

So welcome to the site, or maybe welcome back. I’m keen to be writing again, and I hope you’re keen to join me.

whimsyandmetaphor Blog Posts

Blog Update January 2021

So

Uh

2020, huh?

Wow.

And call me cynical, but I’m not holding out hope for 2021 to get much less chaotic.

But I am at least holding out hope that I can be … as productive this year as I was last year, if not a little more so.

I never named the year this year, so I’m going to start with that, and then a quick update on the blog, the stories, and some of the extracurriculars.

This year is officially the Year of Backlog. This one’s a bit more of a reference to personal stuff, but it’s relevant to my writing as well. I, like everyone else, put a lot of stuff on hold last year, and I’m going to be working through it this year. I’ve also, due to changing work commitments, had to change my priorities a bit, and put some things on the back burner. So in addition to everything else, I’m going to be trying to work through some of my backlog this year, to catch up on the things that I wanted to do last year or should have organised already but didn’t have time, or that other things got in the way of.

Now — the blog. Astute readers (aka any readers at all, if I still have any) will notice that this blog kind of went on hiatus at the end of last year, about the time that I hit university commitments. I mentioned a new secondary blog then, and then proceeded to do nothing with it. The next few posts are going to be cross-posts from there, because I think they’re relevant and that gives me a little extra time to recharge the blog batteries, and then I’m going to be back on new content for this blog as much as I can with the time and energy I’m going to have available. I’ll make a decision in the next few weeks, but it’s possible I’ll decide to drop my posting goal from one blog per week to one a fortnight — or perhaps one short story and one post per month — to keep my commitments down this year.

For the writing, I have been on hiatus with that for the last couple of months. People following my Twitter will know that I’ve been working with Arcanacon recently, and I’ve been running their Game Dunk Online event and helping to run their virtual convention this January, so that ate up a lot of my time and creative energy. I’m still working on the next serial for the blog, and it might be a while before I get it done. It’ll also be a while before I can start working on the sequel to Fire Witch, because I can’t start that til I’m finished with the serial. I haven’t entirely figured out what I’m going to do for creative content in the meantime — I have some short stories lined up that I can post, and I am nearly ready to release the third Ferryman’s Apprentice hard copy/e-book, so there will be a few things coming through. However, if it’s creative content you want, it won’t entirely be mine, but it’s probably Cyborg Stories that you want to be looking at (hint hint).

On a personal note, there are a couple of Big Life Things coming up for me this year. I don’t know how much I’ll talk about them here — I do want to start having more of a personality on this blog, and do more than just talk about my Writing Opinions, but I’m still working out the balance. I’ll talk a little bit more about those as and when it becomes relevant, I suppose. For now, what you mostly need to know is that they’re probably going to throw my productivity for a loop, but I’ll keep everyone posted. I’m also looking forward to working more with Arcanacon this year, and although I can’t talk about any of their projects yet, I’ll be sure to mention on the blog when they happen.

And that’s it from me — keep an eye out here and on Cyborg Stories — there’s going to be cool things happening this year in both places, provided I can manage my time right.

whimsyandmetaphor Blog Posts

Hiatus Announcement

Hi all

You may have noticed that I haven’t been up to date recently with posting The Ferryman’s Apprentice chapters. This is both entirely fault and the result of several external life-related factors over the past couple of months.

In light of this, I’d like to announce that the blog is going on a brief hiatus. I’m currently writing this on a cross-country train to go and see my family for the holidays, so it seems apropos to start the hiatus now.

’ll be back in the saddle in a few weeks, though, or at least, I intend to be. Expect normal Ferryman’s chapters to resume on Monday 15th of January, and normal blog posts to resume on the Wednesday 17th.

Thanks for being patient with me! Hope everyone has a great time while I’m away, and I look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year.