Yes, we’re nine days into March. Don’t judge me. After a bit of floundering, I managed to lock down my writing plans at the end of January. I immediately dived off in a different direction for a few days to write a very special Glitch Mitchell short story (more on that another day) but other than that the plan held. Overall word count for the month was 27,213. My daily wordcount varies but I’m on track for my goal of averaging 1,000 words a day for the year. It also puts me roughly 15,000 words ahead of my most productive year. In theory that should have put me pretty close to the end of this new book but through all the replanning and reoutlining I threw away big chunks of the story so there is a lot more writing to do. It’s a much better book and I’m determined to do it justice but I suspect I’m going to have to revise my 2021 goals to 1-2 books rather than 3-4 and the sci-fi idea I want to pursue is going to need to be pushed out. On the plus side, I probably have a title. I hate having to … Read More
Dämoren by Seth Skorkowsky
I first discovered Seth Skorkowsky through the Call of Cthulhu RPG videos on his YouTube channel. I’ve been toying with the idea of running some RPG games and Call of Cthulhu is my system of choice so I was hunting around looking for good overviews of the new system, new scenarios etc. Seth’s channel stood out as one of the better ones out there. He’s got a natural presentation style and manages to be entertaining and informative without ending up with the wacky “trying too hard” feel that so many channels suffer from. Basically, he seems like a guy who enjoys playing and talking about role-playing games. He’s also an author and although he doesn’t seem to mention his writing often he did give a shout out to his Valducan urban fantasy series. As soon as I spotted that the audiobook was narrated by the legendary R.C. Bray I picked it up and I was not disappointed. The description for Damoren name checks Supernatural, Hell Boy, and Blade, and if you’re familiar with those then you’re familiar with what the Valducan series is about – a group of knights using holy weapons to hunt down vampires, werewolves, and other demonic … Read More
Kickstarter of the (not every) Week – Coyote & Crow
I have a Kickstarter problem. According to my profile, I’ve backed 237 projects since February 2016 plus 22 that I either dropped out of or were unsuccessful. That’s a lot of projects. Most of the projects I back are book, role-playing game, board game, or video game related but I’ve backed whiskey glasses, wallets, and running gear, too. Most of the projects have been delivered although the very first project I backed just passed its five year anniversary with no sign of it actually being completed. I have cut down on the number of projects I back but there are a lot of cool creative things happening on Kickstarter so I thought I’d start highlighting some of the interesting ones here. Hopefully if you back them I don’t need to feel so bad when I succumb and back them as well. First up, Coyote & Crow. In the words of the team behind the project: Coyote and Crow is a tabletop role playing game set in an alternate future of the Americas where colonization never occurred. Instead, advanced civilizations arose over hundreds of years after a massive climate disaster changed the history of the planet. You’ll play as adventurers starting out … Read More
A Superb Owl Snippet
A quick unedited snippet from the currently untitled first book in my new series. Despite claims to the contrary, demons couldn’t be expelled by family recipes, essential oils, visualization, or really strong curry. And a “friend” telling someone their kid is possessed doesn’t guarantee they actually are. If this friend’s daughter got better after a bowl of soup then either she wasn’t possessed in the first place or the demon left of its own accord. Probably because it didn’t want to be associated with idiots like her. [A Superb Owl Snippet by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 3rd February 2021]
Happy Birthday, Mr. Serial Killer
Today marks the third anniversary of the publication of the first book in my Serial Killer Z series, Infection. Admittedly, that’s a little bit misleading because the first Serial Killer Z book published was Serial Killer Z back in October of 2018. Which makes October the official birthday of the series as a whole. But today is a birthday so that’s good enough. So, Happy Book Birthday, Infection. Try not to kill everyone at your party. Serial Killer Z is series I enjoy writing and there will be more books but if you’d like to try out the first book for free you can get it by joining my mailing list. [Happy Birthday, Mr. Serial Killer by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 3rd February 2021]
January Writing Update
After my less than productive 2020 I’ve decided to focus on getting the first three books in a new series out by the end of the year. Regular readers (or anyone who clicked that link) will know that I said I had early drafts of the first two books in my supernatural crime series done. It turns out I was wrong. The first book was a bit of a strange length and the second book had a lot of holes that needed fixing up. After a couple of weeks of teeth gnashing I came to the conclusion that I could solve both problems by combining the two books into one. The plan quickly turned into cannibalizing the first book to create a new opening for the second and filling in the remaining holes with something new. Which means I’m back to having an unfinished first draft of the first book. But it’s a much better first book so I’m happy. Overall word count for the month was 33,082 which is a good start towards my goal of 365,000 words for the year and the most productive January I’ve had since I started tracking my writing in 2012. Which means it’s … Read More
Film Friday – Rubato by ESMA
Directed by Félix Ferrand, Florian Magnin, Jordan Mercredi, Corentin Provost, Marjolaine Robin. Created during the third and last year at ESMA Montpellier, in France. You check out the film’s Facebook page here – https://www.facebook.com/rubato.esma [Film Friday – Rubato by ESMA by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 29 January 2021]
Film Friday – Dracula (1931)
Only available until 23rd January… [Film Friday – Dracula 1931 by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 15 January 2021]
“News guy wept and told us”
[“News guy wept and told us” by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 13 October 2020]