Journal Episode 2 - Writing

This last month has been a rebirth of sorts. A riotous gathering after the isolation of lockdown. Not a real gathering of course, mostly, a gathering of writing energy. All frothy goodness.

The unwinding and relaxation of lockdown measures here in the UK has been officially paused as of yesterday. The graph charting the rise in covid cases is grim. My thoughts with everyone affected by this terrible virus.

Vocal has given me a new short term purpose to my writing. Deadlines to play to, low word counts to be constrained by. I hadn’t expected it, figuring I’d tinker with it a bit and enjoy it like an idle pastime. Instead I’ve found my voice needs an audience, someone to express to. If you read through my published stories here on vocal you’ll see a bias towards poetry. I have always enjoyed writing poems, but these are the first I have published to the world. I hope readers are enjoying them.

There will be more poetry to come, I may add to the growing summer sonnets collection over the next few months and then I shall return to a topic I began to write about four years ago. Grenfell tower, a tragedy so unnecessary and terrible in its outcome it can seem almost unreal. Unless of course you lived through it. I was taken at the time to begin to capture the mood of the nation, and will revisit my work this year with a view to mirroring the mood on that terrible day to now. So little has been done. It’s hugely shocking.

The voices beneath the Pools of Magic call to me once more. My fantasy novel series has been a work in progress for two years now. It has been a pleasure to visit it and be amazed as it grows. My focus has been on drafting the first novel in this vibrant world. As the story has unfolded interesting histories and adventures have come to light that do not fit into the novel itself. I am excited to bring these stories to you. I shall begin to publish some of my latest stuff here as well as continue work on this first novel in the series. The writing is about half way through as a whole project, and finishing some these adventures will be stepping stones to completing the project. I feel as though I have begun to live in this world as well as our own. It is a wondrous place to me, filled with such sweet sorrowlings. I can’t wait for you all to meet some of the characters who reside and adventure there.

I have also launched into writing guides and campaigns for my favourite game systems, a side hustle to see us through these summer lockdown days. Guides for Dungeon and Dragons and Warhammer already exist, and I am about to start working on stories for Marvel Crisis Protocol and Stargrave.

On a hobby front I am committed to becoming a better painter. I paint little model character miniatures. Mostly for games of the table top or board game sort, but sometimes now ones just to paint. I have noticed a real improvement in my impact over the last six months. Confident now in the key techniques and becoming more adventurous myself in choice of colour, boldness of shadows and light. Perhaps I am connecting through creativity with my story creations, either way I am hobbying it up and thoroughly enjoying it. Perhaps I shall write a bit of background to some of these pieces and publish them here. You know what, that sounds like fun.

It seems funny to be talking so openly of my love of hobby, my love of geek. Henry Cavil is open in flaunting his geek credentials. If superman can I can too.