Hello everyone!

Yes, its been a bit of a slow writing week so far. I think I even missed one of these blog posts last week.

There are a couple of reasons for that, well... one big one. That has been to do with perhaps still having the bad stomach from a couple of weeks ago, and also, for quite a while, I've been trying to organise seeing a doctor for several ailments that have developed since I last saw a doctor in 2018.

Its been a long, convoluted journey that's taken two months so far and I've still not actually seen one. In fact, I've not even managed to speak to one yet.

On the other hand, I have been booked into have blood tests, which have taken more than a fortnight to organise from the appointment's request to actually having it. That has been a bit of an adventure in itself.  I'm due to have that on Wednesday.

Its taken so long because of restrictions due to the 'good old plague' that we've been going through. I can understand, but it just feels like it takes so very long to get stuff done.

So far, that whole thing just feels like its bogged me down quite a lot and I haven't managed to get much done in the way of writing at all.

On other news, after some more of a kerfuffle because Hermes was being Hermes and being particularly difficult, I managed to get my Blood Bowl box set through the post, or rather, I had to claim a refund and order a replacement copy. I wonder if the couriers are still withholding the old box from the seller? wretched couriers.

Blood Bowl Second Season Boxset

I'm enjoying reading the rules and there's a fairly big dose of nostalgia about it from my childhood and also, I've a couple of friends interested in the teams, while I play with the dwarves from previous posts. There are even talks about starting a wargaming YouTube channel eventually. I'm not sure when. There are other things to consider.

But onto writing, I have been still planning a few stories. There are two short stories and a novella that I've be concentrating on to get down in first draft form. They'll be the Gwaeloch Irisgarth fantasy stories, like the others and once they are done, I'll work my way through editing the short stories and novellas and get them out there.

I'd been asked about my intentions with them - by someone who seems particularly forgetful - but they do seem genuinely curious, if quite irritating. They were also asking about covers, which is something that shouldn't be though about just yet.

Anyway, I'm hoping that once the blood tests are done with, things with the doctor should feel like they're progressing and I can soon start fully concentrating on things again.

Al the best to each and every one of you. Farewell.

 Hello everyone!

Well, there is a little to tell for this last week, but not too much.

That illness persisted for a while. I still have it in some regards, but I'm feeling a lot better. Darn stomach bugs... Yes, I'd really not felt right with that, and still don't feel a hundred per cent. And this was while I was waiting on the doctor to call too. They still haven't, but hat's to help sort out a few other ailments instead. Things should progress soon. I'm to go get my blood tested at some point soon. More on that another day. I know the health service is over stretched, but I'm getting a bit tetchy about a few things now.

But with writing, not much has happened. There's been a fair amount of planning going on. I've been bitting and bobbing with a new novella and a short story plan, but that stomach complaint has got in the way quite a bit.

One thing I have managed to do is to work out a better magick system, to actually formalise parts of it and come up with the ten disciplines, to at least be used in relation to the professors at the Magickal College. I'd sort of pantsed it in regards to the magick in the three stories I've got first drafts for already. Now I have a proper reference sheet for it. I want to get some background/character sheets done for the heads of those disciplines at the Magickal College soon, then I'll feel comfortable with it.

Anyway, soon I should be able to get my head around another fantasy short story and another fantasy novella. Which is nice.

But other than that, I've also been waiting on a box set of Blood Bowl. It should have already arrived, but I'm still awaiting its arrival. Sigh. I'm sort of getting into that a fair amount and am quite excited for it to actually arrive. I have a Dwarf Blood Bowl team and part of a Norsca Blood Bowl team already. I just need to learn how to play.

Blood Bowl Second Series

Anyway, farewell everybody!

 Hello everyone!

Well, I've started planning a couple of first drafts to follow on from fantasy novella I finished. One is a short story based on what will happen were wizards to start a barroom brawl in the same fantasy series. I like the idea of an elaborate chaos spilling out into the street because of some petty semantic argument of some minor magickal technique.

The other story is a fantasy novella and will have the same sidekick as the first novella in it. A Fimir village guards a pocket dimension holding the shard of a god. A pirate fleet and an army of cultists want to gain the shard and try to conquer the village and the heroes are on the side of the Fimir.

I've got a fair way into planning both of these tales and I would have liked to have started one, preferably the short story, but I've come down with some sort of stomach bug which sees me having to go and sit on the toilet an embarrassing amount of times. Its getting a bit tedious now. I've had it most of a week now and I'm getting to feel a bit downtrodden by it now and it'd be nice to get back to normal. Hopefully that'll happen soon. It should do, It seems to be changing fairly quickly in regards to some of the symptoms.

Anyway, not much else has happened. There was a Pagan Moot in Derby that I had to miss, two in fact because of this, but I was able to catch up with some folks while at home. The newer group seems to be developing well and the older one is chugging on like normal. I think there was a glut of new faces at both, which is nice.

But other than that, nothing much has happened.

I did managed to stat reading a new games book recently, based on Lankhmar setting by Fritz Leiber for the Dungeon Crawl Classics game set for their TTRPG, very curious stuff. I look forward to playing some of it.

Lankhmar ruleset for DCC,
(Dungeon Crawl Classics)

 Hello everyone!

Well, well, well, I did manage to finish the novella during the week, which I'm pleased to announce. It was on Thursday that it happened and I think, with a word count on that day of over 4,700 words, I think its the most productive day I've had in a while. The novella now weighs in at a little over 25,000 words so far. 

I've yet to do an edit on it though and I think that it will be cut down a bit, but I'm expecting that. I'm sort of aiming to self publish this novella and as long as it totals more than 8,400 words in total, I'm happy as there are minimum restrictions to stuff being published in the way I'd like to.

Anyway, it has now been added to a 'to be edited' pile with a couple of short stories in the same series. I want to do another couple of novellas and about 4 short stories that I'd like to have down in first draft form and then I'll work through the stack, editing it.

Though with the next few stories, I'd like to make that post four thousand word daily total an average. Perhaps I am being hard on myself with that as I am sort of comparing my productivity to what I was able to do a handful of years ago, but those days saw me working so hard, I ended up in hospital. So that's something to work around. Anyway, the 1,400 words a day average I did during the novella, I'm happy enough with.

Anyway, what have I been doing since Thursday?

I've been planning the next couple of stories: that's what. There is a short story based on what happens when a wizard college pub has a bar room brawl and  there is a novella based on a three way battle over a trans dimensional portal to a pocket dimension at the centre of a Fimir village. Pirates are involved.

Friday saw me also attend a birthday party. The lady who inspired the sidekick in my novella had her 50th birthday, which was nice.

Also, yesterday was May Day, a day of celebration for me, and celebrate I did. I'm feeling much the worse the ware for it today though. But after seeing my dad, I went to The Dolphin and The Flowerpot in Derby and a few friends were bumped into there, which was nice. Though I had pencilled in meeting a friend in the suburbs for an afternoon trip, but things were left a bit late to organise things with that.

But anyway, if you like Vikings, history and folktales, take a look at his YouTube channel here.

The Flowerpot, Derby

The Dolphin, Derby