Well, after a week of fairly sweltering heat, then a cool down and then a warm up, we’ve got another few days of nice weather. Not too hot, not too cold. From tomorrow, though, the temp is starting to ramp up again. Oh, well, that’s what happens in Perth in summer!

So, today is my brother’s birthday. Or would be if he was still with us, but it happens. He would be 74 and probably just as cheeky as he used to be. I call myself a wordsmith, but he wasn’t too shabby himself. Verbally that is. I’ll have a drink later to celebrate him.

Earlier this week, we went to the Titanic Exhibition in Perth. While it was informative, I was a bit put off by the AI-sounding voice over. I haven’t done any research, so I don’t know if it was, but the lack of contractions and emotion makes me suspect it was. Also, I’m not aware if they realise that Molly Brown wasn’t the slim figure in the picture on the wall. But for people unfamiliar with the details behind the story (we’re Titanic avid nuts), then it was informative. The raw footage of the Olympic being launched was truly captivating, I will say.

But the next day was a day off for me and as I had talked Stu into going to a local printer (love their work) we decided to spend the day on the new trainlines. Late last year – well, late for us – Perth’s first elevated trainline was completed and this was the first opportunity we had to ride on it. We’ve been on ones in Victoria – well, on YouTube, anyway, and they were pretty awesome. I was a little disappointed in ours ’cause they put up these barriers either side of the line so you couldn’t actually see much of what you were passing. Yeah, okay, been on that part of the trainline before, so I do know, but it would have been interesting to see it from higher up.

That particular trainline was then extended out to new suburbs south of Perth. That part of the line was amazing. We went through the last major council area, then there was a lot of farmland until we got to another bustling suburban area. What a contrast. The stations are mostly new, except for the heritage listed ones.

From there, we caught the train partway back because another of Perth’s lines was extended last year and by catching that extension, it was easier to reach our final station where we’d parked the car. The day was not as humid as the previous day, when we went to the Titanic, and it wasn’t a scorcher, so it was a great day out. Totally fun day.

On to updates.

Updates

I do have a new update completely unrelated to any of the works I currently have going. I will be entering a short story competition – and I’ve actually paid money to do so. Update on that – I have sent the story in, so let’s see what happens. Fingers crossed!

Clans in Conflict

For those who don’t know much about it, this is a series about a clan that is lost travelling through dimensions due to a scientific experiment gone horribly wrong and about the city-state Part 2 concludes in.

Dark Dimensions Part 1 and 2 is recounting that journey to Torkandisch. Dark Reign is the next book in the series and covers the next 12 months in the city-state.

The Dark Road is back with the beta readers. This story takes place about 16 years later. Lots in Torkandish has changed and there is lots of intrigue and heartache throughout this book. Some funny instances, too.

But Dark Beginnings will take us back to where it all started in Tordun, covering Vlad’s rise to power and, perhaps, that fateful experiment, along with the first 15 years of dimension-hopping. Dark Beginnings is still on the backburner. I have started this and I will return to it.

So, that’s what’s in store for anyone who wishes to immerse themselves in this world.

There are also going to be other stories, along with a special edition of Dark Dimensions where the two parts are combined. That will be in the future.

Speaking of other stories, Deadly Convergence is centred on Torkandisch 5 years before the Clan lands in the city-state and follows a crime that twists into something else. This is available only on Kindle and on Kindle Unlimited.

Okay, the Ryan Locke story is with the editor. From there, I will engage my cover artist and it will be published as an ebook exclusively to Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. I finally have a working title to it – Explosive Reality. Still working on it.

I am still considering the following idea, but I have been too busy to do more than consider it. I haven’t done a lot with Alex Travis and his mother Katarina. I feel that their history should be told, but I think that’s going to be in a book between Dark Reign and The Dark Road. So, stay tuned for that.

Consequences

This series follows the rise of Marek from a mastermind thief to the saviour of a nation.

Heart of Deception is now available through Amazon and Draft2Digital. And an update on that is that the 10 copies ordered came through early, so there will be a copy donated to Midland Library, as well.

Legacy of Risks will follow in the next few months, once cover art is finalised for it. The reason why it will take a few months is because I’m applying The Emotion Thesaurus options to it.

Dangerous Heart will then go to beta readers.

Watch this space.

There will be some short stories come out and, possibly, a fourth book that covers events much later after Dangerous Heart. Definitely a “watch this space” moment.

Other Universes

Strefinobhan

With Heart of Deception released and my work on the Otherworldly Emergence series coming to a conclusion, I should be able to get back into editing the first book of this series and sending it to beta readers. I am still unable to say when this will happen, but hopefully sooner rather than later.

Paranormal

Again, this will have to wait until work on the Otherworldly Emergence series is completed. One of my paranormal pieces, however, is in the Emergence series, so stay tuned for updates there.

Speaking of which, you can find the Otherworldly Emergence information at the website below.

Bushland Castle Productions

I have finished editing one novella, Not your Normal Heroes. I am still editing the other and will have that editing finished by the end of the week.

I have received the feedback for both of my stories and I may finally have a name for the second story. At the moment I’m calling it either daemon hunter or ghost hunter, but that’s not the actual title. Still working on the title itself.

Pitches for this novella series has now closed and we are working hard on our manuscripts to bring them to you in a timely manner.

All of the information regarding the novella series is at the website:

https://www.bushlandcastleproductions.com/emergence

BCP is planning its next series, which will build on the Otherworldly Emergence but this time will be Otherworldly Origins. Stay tuned for further information regarding that (along with a link).

Coming Soon through BCP Creative

The world we know is about to change forever. Hidden for centuries—or even millennia—otherworldly creatures such as vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, gnomes, and more finally step into the light. Whether by choice, accident, or necessity, their existence can no longer be denied. Otherworldly Emergence explores the emotional, societal, and fantastical consequences of this revelation.

Each novella will tell a unique story set during this critical period of emergence, offering readers different perspectives and settings while connecting to the shared theme.

While you’re on the website, is information about their nonfiction series Australia: Living in the 70s. If you have a life story about living in the 70s in Australia, check the website for more details on that series. I know if I were to submit, it would all be about CountDown, Sandman vans and learning about Unionism through school (and other things, of course).

Also check out their podcast – Finding Elara. Learn about Mindfulness from other creatives – not just writers, but other creative persons, as well as worldbuilding and other information. BCP are about to start on their 3rd season of the podcast, so stay tuned for updates on that.

At the end of each segment, there’s a prize drawn. Go in to win books and other goodies!

Not only that, but Finding Elara has just made it onto YouTube. There is a Halloween special up that features one of my short ghost stories being read out live. So, just search for Finding Elara and have a listen. I’m the one in the blue hat.

Finding Elara is in season break at the moment and coming back soon with Season 3. In the meantime, there are mini episodes with interviews with local writers at a convention in Bunbury last year.

The upshot of being involved in the Otherworldly Emergence is that it has opened up a whole new universe for me which has been expanding exponentially. The possibilities in that world are almost limitless and I have to admit to being distracted by writing in that universe.

Having admitted that, I will say that I have completed a story that links both my stories in the Emergence series and starts a whole new series in itself. It’s very, very exciting and a lot of questions raised by the second story are being answered in follow up novels.

Grow Write

Once every fortnight, Grow Write meets at the Midland Library in Midland, Perth, Western Australia. We are very excited to announce that our very first anthology is being printed and we hope to have it in our hands very soon. Watch this space!

It has arrived!

We are all excited to share this anthology with everyone. It is available on Amazon currently.

Polishing your work.

This was supposed to be about editing, but it’s grown beyond that. So, I’m not writing about editing this blog – that’s the next blog. This is about polishing our own work. Why and how we do it.

This something I really hate. And the reason I hate it is because I’m a big-picture person. When I write, I don’t see words. I see the action, the places. I hear the people, I smell what they smell. While I don’t often put that in my writing, I get it all. Which is really annoying at times, because my protagonists and other major characters tend to take on a life of their own and it’s nothing for me to be on the verge of sleep when one will say “I want you to do this with me”. Seriously? I’m sleeping! And I have other things to write. (Usually the phone or the tablet computer comes out for me to send an email to myself so I can make a note on my writing program.)

But polishing is an important stage of our work. It enhances our writing and improves our skills at words and teaches us how to make our stories stand out for readers.

We have whole worlds in our heads. They are populated with our characters who are just as real to us as our friends and family. I know because I’ve left one or two of them traumatised over a weekend and come back to get the impression they’ve gone through quite a lot of booze (not giving out any names here).

Now, our whole reason for writing is to share those worlds and characters with other people who can look through our words to experience what our worlds have to offer. For a long time, reading was a major way of learning, entertaining and exploring ideas.

Now? Now we have television, social media and streaming platforms to occupy readers’ time. We have to get past TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, X, Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube and many other platforms – including streaming TV, to engage with our audience.

Whilst we do that within our writing, by polising, we ensure that writing grips the reader every moment that they’re reading and that they don’t want to put our world to bed. We want them to have sleep deprivation (at times, I admit it). We want them to sit in a chair and read. We want them to sit on the beach and read. Or in a paddock or on a lawn. Wherever they feel comfortable – which includes libraries and cafes.

How many times have you read a book and put it down before you finished it because it didn’t engage you or something that was so wrong with it pulled you out of it? I know I’ve done it. I’ve got quite a few books on my ereader that I just haven’t finished. (And I’ve only just discovered some downfalls I have as a reader, too.)

What I’m trying to say is that we need to grab the reader’s attention from the first page. (Yes, I’m still digressing. I promise, I’ll stop soon.) Then we need to keep that reader’s attention through the rest of the book. I know there’s a number of pages (approximately), but I have no inclination to remember what it is. Because I’m more focussed on my stories being the best they can.

Now, that means our stories have to be believable. The characters have to be relatable and three-dimensional. The action has to be reasonable – and don’t talk to me about fight scenes in movies. Not discussing that. But what I mean is, make any action you write believable. Discuss the action with people who might be able to help you out. If your action scene involves a boat and you know someone with extensive boating experience – especially in the Navy – then get their help. Make it believable. Don’t go and think “it’s only a story”. Not good enough for most readers. I remember going to one of the James Bond movies many years ago. Now, I like James Bond. It’s fun, it’s exciting and, while farfetched, mostly believable. Not this particular one. My father taught me the laws of physics and this movie defied those laws in the first few scenes. It pulled me out of the story so much that I nearly wasted the money and walked out. I have never done that in a cinema. Laughed at stupidity on the part of the directors, etc, yeah, but not walked out.

Now, you might wonder what this all has to do with polishing.

It’s simple. If your words don’t make sense, then your story will suffer. If your dialogue has your characters stuttering or not making sense, then your readers will walk away.

There are 2 things that help with that – diversity in reading – believe me, I’ve read most authors over the years, including Alistair McLean, Agatha Christie, H G Wells, Jules Vern, Isaac Asimov and, not to neglect the author who introduced me to science fiction, Andre Norton. I’ve also read Mark Hayden, Steve McHugh, Robert J Crane, Rick Gualtieri and Charles Phipps. Oh, and C L Schneider and Kelly Blanchard Dale. As well as many, many more. (Yes, I know. Anne McCaffrey, Stephen Donaldson, J R R Tolkein, Marion Zimmer Bradley.) What I’m trying to say is read all genres – and YES, I have read Mills and Boon as well as Elizabeth Lowell and Ann Maxwell. And still many more.

The more diverse your reading, the more your mind opens to how writing works. Stephen King says there are no rules to writing. I apply only 2 sets of rules – grammar and punctuation (yes, Australian grammar and punctuation is different to that of the USA). Be wary of conventions – conventions can be broken.