Ghostwriting pros and cons. Is it worthwhile or soul-destroying?
I used to do a lot of ghostwriting, and it has its pros and cons. I should preface this piece by noting that, as I have written 100s of ghostwritten … Read More
Inspired By Silicon Valley, I Now Want To Be A Quirky Coder. Hello Python!
I have been binge-watching Silicon Valley on HBO Max, and it has made me want to code. I think I am having a mid-life crisis, which might be related, but … Read More
How To Escape The Per-Word Trap And Make Real Money As A Writer
I have been paid per-word or per-hour for about five years now. In my previous bouts of freelance writing, dating back decades (I’m old), it was the same. For writers, … Read More
The Penguin: A Brutal Descent Into Gotham’s Really Grim Underworld
HBO’s The Penguin is a brutal, stylish, and unflinchingly dark crime saga that delivers everything I hoped it would after watching The Batman. It is set just a week after the events … Read More
Switching Focus To Short Stories To Make A Fortune
Or a pittance. Time will tell… The popularity of short stories has waxed and waned over the decades. They have always been around as myths and fables like the Arthurian … Read More
AI Writes Poor Prose – Use It To Fix Procrastination
And how to make an AI assistant I use AI to cure my colossal procrastination but don’t use it for any writing – you can probably tell. I was a … Read More
The White Lotus Season 3 is in stunning Thailand, where I live. Is it realistic?
Plus, is the show any good? I just finished watching The White Lotus Season 3 and loved it. As I mentioned before, tons of friends hassled me into watching the … Read More
Don’t Watch The Fantastic ‘The White Lotus’ On A Plane!
As the latest series of The White Lotus is set in Thailand, where I currently live, friends have pestered me incessantly to watch the show. Even an old fellow I … Read More
Scheduled Tasks On ChatGPT Is Actually Pretty Cool
Scheduled Tasks is a new function on ChatGPT, which I have been playing around with recently. It is still in Beta, but it works really well. It looks at first … Read More
Fantastic tunes to listen to help write more and focus
I listen to tunes when I write. This is often to drown out the noise of fellow humans, but I also really like it and it can induce flow state. … Read More
I’m now addicted to Dredge and Balatro
I have Dredge and Balatro on my iPad and frankly, they might be causing a productivity problem. I brought this on myself but am actually pretty happy about it. I … Read More
After Career Advice From ChatGPT I’m Trying Something Drastic
I don’t use ChatGPT for writing, as the output is a bit bland. You can probably tell by my garbled syntax. Writing is also my livelihood, and I am mildly … Read More
The Occult – Rankin, Lovecraft, And Marenghi Are Warping My Mind
I’ve always been weirdly interested in the occult. I blame rock music. (Just kidding – rock rules and hail the darkness!) I recently realised that the last three books I … Read More
The most depressing day annually, and weird Christmas traditions
Happy Christmas and New Year! If you don’t celebrate either of them, then I hope you have had a good January so far. The New Year always marks a time … Read More
Next year, I am improving my chess skills. Here’s how
I recently decided to get better at chess. I was on the school team back in the day, but I was the lowest-ranked board, and our side was generally rubbish. … Read More
To Monetize Or Not? Reaching An Astonishing 100 Subscribers On Substack
I hit 100 subscribers on my Intriguing Times Substack yesterday and am pretty damned excited about it. ‘Astonishing’ is admittedly a bit hyperbolic, but it is apparently good for SEO. … Read More
From Zork to AI Dungeon: How AI is Revolutionizing Interactive Text Adventures
AI is so damned useful that I am overwhelmed and am still thinking of ways to use it. You can probably tell that I don’t use for writing by looking … Read More
How to be more productive when writing – great music and apps!
I listen to music and use a few apps that really help when writing, and consequently, I thought this might be something helpful for others. I write for a living. … Read More
Getting Substack subscribers and changing writing focus
It has been around a month and a half since I launched my shiny new Substack. Previously, I’d had a science fiction and fantasy newsletter for a month and it … Read More
Plotting vs. Pantsing: What’s Better for Writers and Readers?
In the world of fiction writing, few debates are as enduring as “plotting vs. pantsing.” Writers and readers alike have strong views on the merits of each approach. Some prefer … Read More