THE LIBRARY IS OPEN

FRI, JUL 11, 2025 - 14:33

Fantasy fans, rejoice — because today you’re in for a treat!

Recently, Jimzip.com underwent a big overhaul with an entire new section added. The new Short Story Library is a repository for bite-sized fantasy and adventure, updated with new stories frequently and totally free to read.

But it gets better – because today I’m thrilled not only to announce that a new short story, ‘The Masked Regent’, has been added, but that stories are getting audiobook versions as well!

Yep. You can head over to the library and listen to it right now. And more audiobooks are on the way.

VISIT THE LIBRARY

I’m proud of my stories, big and short, and have vowed never to use AI in my writing. My writing is 100% human-made, ideas and all, and they take time to plan, write, edit, and share. So if you appreciate all that work and like what you read, why not buy me a coffee as a thanks?

You can do so at: Paypal.me/Jimzip

The new Short Story Library is a repository for bite-sized fantasy and adventure, updated with new stories frequently and totally free to read.

For now though, thanks for being awesome and keeping reading alive. Now, I have to get back to it!

Jim :)

HIJINKS AND HUMOUR AND HAND-GRENADES, OH MY!

SAT, JUN 14, 2025 - 15:21

It was a chilly Friday night in Melbourne when, dressed in my shabbiest woollen jacket, I stepped from the biting wind into a small cinema lobby, proving that the cinema is often a good escape in more ways than one. And someone who knows all about cinematic escapism is Wes Anderson.

- SPOILERS FOLLOW -

I knew nothing about The Phoenician Scheme when I booked the tickets — and that’s how I like it. I tend to avoid trailers for most films nowadays and with Anderson’s in particular, feel relatively certain that entertainment and eye-candy are in store.

That signature style was evident from moment the film began, as a meticulously styled Benicio del Toro sits in a luxurious and retro light-aircraft cabin — before it explodes, setting the tone for a story filled with bombs, guns, poison, and grenades.

The Phoenician Scheme is categorised as an ‘espionage, dark comedy’ which neglects the family-drama part that arguably forms the core of the film. The plot centers on Zsa-Zsa Korda, a ruthless billionaire arms dealer portrayed by del Toro who, after surviving his sixth plane crash embarks on a path of redemption, though inadvertently. While attempting to create a legacy through ruthlessly executed infrastructure projects in the fictional Middle Eastern ‘Phoenicia’ (which bears no relation to the ancient Phoenicia), the brazen, heartless Korda summons his estranged daughter Liesl, a nun-in-training, to give her a ‘trial run’ as his potential heir — a wise move, seeing as he spends most of his life avoiding assassination attempts and sabotage.

The plan is for her to inherit and carry on his ambitions if he meets a sticky end, but first the pair embark on a journey, meeting with all the stakeholders and reconciling on the way. Liesl’s ideological bent slowly erodes while Korda confronts his moral blind spots, and the pair make a wonderfully coordinated value flip as Anderson guides us through delicious and bizarre locales and encounters, all inhabited by a star-studded cast including Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

It’s impressive how Anderson recruits familiar archetypes and then injects fresh life into them with whimsical, absurdist qualities. Tropes like the stuffy admiral, the communist freedom-fighter, the Arabian prince, and the old mother superior all make appearances. However, under Anderson’s hand these cutout tropes are all subverted. The radical politely and cheerfully acquiesces to reason, the old business magnate playfully joins an impromptu basketball game, and the mother superior displays corruption in service of piety. It’s all an exercise in creative unpredictability.

Another hallmark of Anderson's storytelling is the way characters reveal their backstories through monologues. In most films, this approach would feel forced or corny, often relegated to clichéd "hero hears a villain monologuing" scenarios. But Anderson's reality is so heightened and the characters so often devoid of normal human emotion, that these monologues serve as essential windows into their inner worlds, providing the audience with the necessary depth to understand and connect.

Anderson recruits familiar archetypes and then injects fresh life into them with whimsical, absurdist qualities.

By this point in time, Anderson’s style is fully developed and realized. He knows what he's about, and so does his audience. There's a lot to be said for a well-established, trademarked look and feel. But there's also a downside. It's very opinionated. You either get it or you don't — a point illustrated when the young couple beside me in the cinema got up and left two-thirds of the way through, or by the lady to my other side who shot me a baffled look as the final credits rolled, as if trying to divine just how bamboozled I was.

Still, few of us can hope to be as recognizable and confident in our craft as Anderson, and whether or not his movies hit home, I often leave with a glow of inspiration and a drive to make something new. This time was no exception. As I walked out of the warm cinema into that cold air again, I will admit to feeling confident. I've been closing in on a manuscript in the last few months, but sometimes it seems too big to handle. This film was a reminder that its always possible to prise oneself out of a funk, and that to navigate the difficulties of life, sometimes all we need is a little comedy and whimsy, and the confidence to see it through.

Jim :)

TIME TO RELOAD?

THURS, JUN 5, 2025 - 12:32

Ask people what they think of The Matrix Reloaded and you’ll often get a half-smile and a shrug. “Bit of a letdown,” they might say. “Got too talky,” or “Didn’t make sense.”

Fair enough — after the first Matrix movie, expectations were understandably sky-high and that’s always a recipe for disaster. But after watching this film over twenty times (yes, really), I believe that Reloaded is one of the most underrated sequels in modern cinema. In fact, I’d argue that philosophically and conceptually, it might surpass the original.

The reason is that, rather than simply offering more kung-fu and bullet-time, Reloaded deepens the world of its predecessor in a way most sequels don’t manage. It expands the metaphor, taking what began as a sleek, high-concept allegory for the digital world into ideas of purpose, causality, agency, and control.

Watching it as an early twenty-something, I thought I had a pretty good handle on it but two decades later, I still find myself discovering novel aspects to the script — though sadly, I also find that my verbatim recitations of the Architect’s speech have fallen by the wayside. Whether that’s impressive or concerning is up to you…

Ignoring the strangely bendy Agent Smith courtyard battle, there are indeed some top-tier action sequences, the freeway chase being a standout. It holds up even in today’s CG-laden cinematic landscape and is an exemplar of practical effects, coordination, and tension, probably one of the best car-chase sequences ever made (not counting The Blues Brothers, of course!) And let's not forget the amazingly well-choreographed ‘ghost’-fight, or the battle in the marble hall, which utilises some truly lip-smacking slo-mo.

But again, what brings me back time and again isn’t the action, but the ideas.

Let's be honest, the Wachowskis did not simply snatch up a bunch of computing terms and throw them into a script. From rogue programs to system anomalies, cause-and-effect subroutines to firewalls and calculated outcomes, this film is packed with layers and meaning and understanding. Concepts like recursion, determinism, and interdependence are mapped onto the characters in clever, often poetic ways. Just look at Persephone’s aching monologue about desire. Or the Oracle’s half-smile as she describes programs versus prophecy. Even casual table-talk inside the Nebuchadnezzar at breakfast feels loaded with implication.

And it’s this layering of meaning and character that gives Reloaded its pulse. Every face on screen — whether they have five lines or fifty — feels distinct, motivated, memorable. Niobe, Locke, the Keymaker, the Merovingian, Seraph, even the Trainman. It’s a characterisation clinic. Nobody feels extraneous. Every line serves a purpose. Which is the point of any good program.

That, more than anything, is what makes this film special to me. Not just that it ask hard-hitting questions — but that it does so with a full cast of unique voices, each part of a broader philosophical engine. I’d go so far as to say it isn’t just a sci-fi movie, but a speculative thought experiment — with lots of guns and leather.

If there is a complaint from me, it’s actually the third film, Revolutions, which felt more like a conclusion-by-necessity. Don’t get me wrong — I like it. It ties things off and has its moments. But it leans heavily into spectacle and loses much of the gooey, chocolatey dialogue that made Reloaded such a delicious treat. All of which is why, for me, Reloaded sits alongside the first movie in a little dual-throne of its own. Different moods. Same calibre.

If you’ve only ever watched it once—or not at all—I’d strongly recommend giving it another go. Preferably with fresh eyes and no expectations. Let the world, the dialogue, and the depth surprise you. Because buried beneath all the slow-mo and sunglasses, The Matrix Reloaded has a lot to say. And once you start decoding it, you might just find yourself reloading, too.

Jim :)

WHY 'STORY' BY ROBERT McKEE STILL MATTERS

SAT, MAY 31, 2025 - 18:44

It was back in 2007 while working on a TV series called 'Frontier' (which was politely rejected from a local network exec, but remains one of my prouder early stabs at writing), that a good friend gifted me a copy of Robert McKee’s 'Story' with the words, “You need to read this, Jimmy. This guy is a Hollywood legend.”

Being young and busy, I naturally read the first few chapters and then allowed distractions to get in the way, negating my smarter and wiser friend's efforts. Yet, when I finally read it cover-to-cover (ten years later…), ‘Story’ ended up becoming one of those writing books I’d not only come to cherish, but also one I reference constantly.

'Story' is also a title which almost every serious writer back in the day had read, and which fewer and fewer nowdays seem to know exists. And yet it still matters. It’s a classic for good reason, because it serves as both a guide, a coach, and a waypost for little lost writers (which we all are, at times).

McKee is indeed a Hollywood legend, having trained dozens of excellent writers and actors, from Peter Jackson to the Pixar team (who consider reading McKee’s material a ‘rite of passage’). He doesn’t pretend to hand over a secret formula. Rather, he’s refreshingly open about the fact that nobody can truly teach you how to write a great story. What he can do (and does well) is explain what a story is, how it works, and how you might notice when yours isn’t.

McKee’s Story earns its place because it treats the art of storytelling with respect.

The most useful parts of the book lie in its examples (which are drawn from admittedly dated, though still critically acclaimed films), and in its layout of core mechanics: conflict, structure, causality, and change — the latter enacted through a shifting of values, either positive to negative, or vice-versa. McKee walks the reader through the scaling of scenes to sequences, sequences to acts, and acts to whole arcs — showing why conflict and change aren't just necessary for good stories, but the fuel itself, and frequently making the case that every beat in a scene must turn — that is, move a character or the story from one state to another.

A personal highlight for me was his section on writing “the negation of the negation” — stories that reach all the way to the far edge of a value spectrum (for example, not just hate, but beyond that to the rejection of love itself). This kind of escalation helps make sense of why certain moments in film or fiction hit so hard — and why others don’t. It helped me identify problems in my own early work, whose failures were previously hard to pinpoint.

McKee’s tone throughout is equal parts teacher and entertainer. You get the sense that he’s used to standing in front of packed seminars, commanding a room — which he frequently does — and providing lamplight-clarity in the sometimes misty mire that is writing. His energy and love of the art is palpable — especially if you listen to the audiobook, which I really recommend.

I should also mention that while Story was useful, I found McKee’s follow-up book 'Dialogue' to be a fantastic supplement, and yet another book I find crucial at times when I sense myself drifting. While Story offers structural foundations and remains a skeleton key, Dialogue has helped me build characters which are more agile, more authentic, and more interesting in general.

Like most writers trying to sharpen their craft, I’ve read a lot of books and researched everything from other writers’ story-grids, to Shaun Coyne’s ‘The Story Grid’, to the endless rabbit-holes of plot theory and beat discussions online. McKee’s 'Story' earns its place because it treats the art of storytelling with respect. It doesn’t promise stardom. It doesn’t dumb things down. It just gives you the tools, and trusts you to learn how to use them.

Recommended for any writer of screen, stage, or prose looking to dig a little deeper, rather than “just winging it.” You might not need all of it, but I’d be surprised if you didn’t find something in there that made each scene in a manuscript better. In a time where tv shows and movies are pumped out to make money and the art of a good story, well told, is being sidelined, 'Story' is a jewel of a book that's more relevant today than ever.

Jim :)

ENTER THE CRUCIBLE

Fri, MAY 23, 2025 - 12:50

In anticipation of my upcoming fantasy adventure novel, ‘This Emerald Crucible’ (set for release this year in 2025!), I am excited to announce that we have an official website, and it’s live!

If you’ve been following the journey so far and are hankering for a little more to chew on, or if you’re curious about the world of Aliru, or if you just want to know where this new chapter is going to take us (and happily, I can reveal it’s to adventure, mystery, and magick!), then go check out:

This Emerald Crucible - Official Website

Note that the novel is still in the final feedback-collection phase, but as soon as that’s done the page will be updated to reflect the release-date (and hopefully some positive reviews!). Not only that, but there will be a launch party later on this year to correspond with the release, so stay tuned for details!

A big fat warm thanks to everyone that’s supported this project thus far — you know who you are!

With This Emerald Crucible, the world of Aliru is set to gain two new heroes, deeper lore, and some of the threads being woven behind the scenes may poke out just enough to be seen…

I can’t wait to share it with you.

Jim :)

A.I. M.E.?

Thurs, MAY 15, 2025 - 9:57

On the 1st of October 1950, Alan Turing published an article in the philosophical journal Mind, in which he proposed a test designed to answer the question, ‘Can Machines Think’.

The question was clearly a response to the rapid development of computing and Turing’s involvement in the British code-cracking efforts of World War II. Yet, the ‘Turing Test’ or ‘Imitation Game’ as it came to be known, would become one of the most pertinent questions of computing for the next 70 years. Could a machine actually pass itself off as a human when interacting with an actual human?

Many efforts to create a machine that could do just that were attempted over the next half-century, and some even claimed success, though these programs were often heavily flawed and required excuses to be made for them, for example that they were a human ESL speaker, or a human with psychological issues.

It wasn’t until March of this year however, that a study evaluating the newest kid on the block, LLMs (or Large Language Models) provided ‘the first empirical evidence that any artificial system [had passed] a standard three-party Turing Test.’

Big news to some, perhaps. But to anyone who has been paying attention, no surprise, really. As with most of the tech-generation, I’ve been using ChatGPT for over two years now and long ago recognised its potential for human-like discourse.

The problem, of course, is that once something becomes human-like, it can be abused, and ChatGPT has turned into the perfect cheating device.

I’m an avid reader and in the last year alone, I’ve encountered almost a dozen books written (I’m relatively sure) entirely by ChatGPT or a similar technology. How do I know? There are a number of signs, from incoherence and contradiction, to that ‘GPT’-like lack of personality and formulaic structure. In short, I’ve had that many conversations with the machine that, ironically, I’ve become rather good at picking it out.

The situation isn’t good. Navigating online bookstores has become a minefield, with material devoid of intent, passion, or responsibility deluging the literary world. It’s become the latest trend to become an ‘author’ by using these technologies. In fact, some services even encourage it.

Sudowrite, a platform which touts itself as ’The AI tool with unparallelled story smarts’ will generate a full, multi-chapter book for you with just a few prompts. In their words, you can ’Write a novel from start to finish. In a week.’

When confronted with all this, I sometimes feel dejected. After all, it’s taken a lifetime to learn and hone my skills as an author. My latest book alone has taken 4 years to write, and this industry, which was already difficult to crack into and survive in, is now steadily filling up with noise and trash.

A faint hope remains that this is just a trend and that, like image generation, people will soon see that all these creations, while superficially flashy, lack soul and provide no basis for contemplation. Services may lure many in with promises of becoming ‘an artist’ or ‘an author’ or ‘a songwriter’, but their creations will impart no learnings, nor skills, nor true agency, nor real reward. The reader gains no true insight nor inspiration, while the user remains just that, wholly relient on another to produce anything. The hard truth is that to call yourself an author or songwriter or artist, you have to learn. To develop a craft using the blob in your own noggin and the limbs you posess.

Some years ago when this new technology was emerging, I stated that I would never use it to generate ideas nor content for any of my stories. And I stick to that. So if you read my books, rest assured you will get a 100% human-brain generated story, written by me.

Perhaps they’ll be imperfect, but I believe that’s part of the value of human-made works, whether art or music or prose. Humanness is inherently imperfect. And though we may eventually read books written by AI authors and watch AI standup-comics on stage, true stories come from human experiences, from flaws and failures and learnings, rather than perfection and dazzle. In short, real story is the product of a particular author, uniquely told.

- Jim

A New Chapter in Aliru: This Emerald Crucible Update

Tues, APR 15, 2025 - 16:22

It's hard to believe, but I've been working on my latest book 'This Emerald Crucible' for close to four years now. And I do feel a touch of guilt that it's taken so long to bring to life — but stories often grow at their own pace.

In fact, This Emerald Crucible has undergone significant changes since the first draft — one of which was a full re-write, another of which was splitting the book into two parts. It's taken a while to sharpen focus on the right parts of the world, reshape the characters, and refine the tone to match the story I wanted to tell. But I think it's been worth it.

This Emerald Crucible centres around Reiuk, a hard-edged gardener from the parched, desert city of Tenolar, who gets tasked with saving a rare and vital plant from extinction. This sends him across the seas to a little known island where lush jungles and ancient ruins whisper of forgotten knowledge & splendour. Crossing paths with Teth, a brilliant but testy young archaeologist, and Kindri, a charismatic journalist who holds cards close to her chest, the trio are soon swept into an intrigue that will force them to learn about the island’s true nature — or be consumed by it.

In this story, we're back in the world of Aliru (where 'The Torril City Mysterion' was set) but this is not a sequel, nor a prequel. Rather, it’s what I like to think of as a skewquel — a standalone tale which explores a different time, different people, and a new corner of the world. It’s designed to be accessible even if you haven't read Torril, but for those who have, you'll find familiar threads, gain a deeper understanding of how magick in this world works, learn more about its history — and perhaps even discover a dark threat, moving behind the scenes…

The current manuscript is sitting at around 670 pages which, frankly, is pushing the limits of what my publisher’s printing press can comfortably handle. For comparison, Torril City came in at about 410 pages. Editing will see this number change but I hope that whatever the final count, each and every one of those pages will be worth it. I promise they'll be packed with adventure, discovery, and more than a few surprises.

The incredibly warm and enthusiastic reception to Torril City has been humbling, and I'm so excited to share this new chapter of Aliru with you all soon. This Emerald Crucible is still on track for release this year (2025).

Again, thanks to you all for the patience and support. Get ready to step through the jungle mists of the Emerald Crucible with Reiuk, Teth, and Kindri, and see where the paths of Aliru might lead to next!

- Jim

THANK YOU, AWESOME NERDS!

Mon, FEB 10, 2025 - 09:39

A big shout out to everyone who came out to yesterday's Midsumma Street Festival. In true Melbourne fashion, the weather was unpredictable but perfect and it made for such a good mood in the street.

In particular, I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who picked up a copy of Torril City, including (sorry if I misspelled your name or didn't catch it!):

Jeffrey, Justin, Dandelion, Kat, Steven, Rufus, Will, Owen, Zach, Ali, Carlos, the lady who bought a copy for her teenage grandkid, Baja, Nick, Cameron, Andrew (& Andrew's Friend), Shay, Raphael, Paul, Tina & Zel, Lia, and last but not least, Aud (check out her Instagram here!)

All of you (plus those who stopped by for a chat or to say hi) really made the day a bunch fun, and it was great to meet you all. I really appreciate your support ♥.

For those that picked up a book, enjoy your read and stay tuned here to jimzip.com for news about my next release, coming in this fine year of 2025! And for those who didn't…there's always next time (or Amazon, or your local bookshop)!

Cheers, awesome nerds!

MEET & GREET

Sat, JAN 25, 2025 - 16:55

It’s that time of year, again! The Melbourne Midsumma Street Festival will be taking place on Sunday, Feb 9th in Smith St., Fitzroy/Collingwoord. It’s a wonderful day filled with energy, activity, and colour, with live music, food, and activities galore, so come along and enjoy the scene!

Once again, I’ll be parked at the Boardies Booth (near Charles. St., opposite Coles), so come by and say hello! There will be plenty of board-games and cool drinks at the bar, and who knows, perhaps you’ll pick up a signed copy of The Torril City Mysterion?

I was really thrilled to meet some of you last year, and I look forward to seeing faces new and old again on Sunday!

See you on February 9th!

THE R.C. PRINCIPLE

Thurs, SEP 12, 2024 - 11:25

One of the most challenging aspects of writing fantasy is finding ways to navigate similes, metaphors and sayings.

It sounds silly, but to create the most immersive experience for the reader it’s necessary to relegate the vast treasure trove of real-world examples to the proverbial dustbin, because they are of no use to us.

Think about it. Perhaps you have a character in your story who leaps into the fray whenever danger is near, and they’re renowned for their pluck and courage. Another character tries to describe them in a dialogue by saying, ‘Bruk? Yes, he’s as brave as a…’?

Brave as a what?

In a world (or universe) without lions, we need an alternative or we break immersion and diminish the credibility of the whole telling. Doing this requires some mental gymnastics, for the substitute needs to feel natural and authentic and, of course, it needs to be understood by the reader without effort.

The only valid option is to use terminology and concepts which belong in your world. I call this concept the, ‘Robinson Crusoe Principle’, because you’re basically stuck on an island (ie. your world), limited to a certain ‘geography’ of ideas and expressions. Anything I pick has to come from this island, or the story is cheapened.

Make sense? Great! Well then, instead of just inserting new analogues into well-known sayings, why don't we go one step further and make our phrases do double-duty?

For example, instead of a ‘lion’, you might say, ‘brave as a newborn greyhorn’. I don’t know about you, but for me this immediately calls to mind a beast which has pluck. A creature that is probably dangerous and formidable right from the get-go.

We’ve therefore deepened our character by defining an easily graspable characteristic, while also slipping a little worldbuilding to the reader unconsciously. Not too shabby, eh?

I will admit that when I first started writing fantasy, I was a serial over-user of real-world references. It was lazy and made my writing amateurish, and I was really glad when my editor pointed it out. After all, ‘his mind ping-ponged about,’ isn’t exactly fitting for a character living in a muddy, medieval dystopia. I doubt that world will ever experience the unbridled joy that is ping-pong.

That was a long time ago, and I’ve since learned to enjoy the process of inventing new ways to play with common expressions and imagery. Sure it's a challenge, but it also makes one conscious of how often the real world tries to intrude on your fantastical creations.

A Lost Civilisation?

Thurs, AUG 22, 2024 - 14:47

A while ago while enrolling at Manchester University, I was asked why I wanted to study Egyptology. My answer was simple: I’ve always loved ancient history, especially Egypt's predynastic period. I would easily have studied the Olmecs or the Sabians of Harran instead but as those courses weren’t available, I took what I could get. "Oh", I added, "and I really enjoy the work of Graham Hancock.”

That probably wasn’t what Joyce Tyldesley — a warm and patient egyptologist with four decades of experience and an impressive body of scholarly work behind her — wanted to hear, and I was aware that by throwing Hancock's name about I was risking my chances of being accepted. Despite my concerns, however, I was thrilled when an acceptance letter arrived and my course began under her tutelage.

I would soon come to realise that both she and my other instructor, Nicky Nielsen, were not only familiar with Hancock but also with students magnetised towards a study of Egyptology because of him. And to my surprise, both proved refreshingly open on the subject.

To explain my surprise for those unfamiliar with Graham Hancock, it’s fortunate that your introduction hasn’t been tainted by the often hostile academic world, press, or internet. While critics often label him as a ‘pseudoscientist’ or a proponent of ‘ancient aliens,’ these claims are misleading. And as someone who has followed Hancock’s work for nearly a decade and read all his books on the subject almost a dozen times, I feel I can clarify a few things.

Who is Graham Hancock?

Hancock is a journalist who over the last 30 years has developed a hypothesis that a large chapter is missing from human history. Indeed, his proposal is that a great civilisation of antiquity was wiped from the historical record, and that the world and its cultures as they exist today are to a large extent a fragmented, dizzied re-emergence of what went before.

It’s important to clarify that he is not a scientist and has never claimed to be one. Likewise, he does not and has never proposed that ‘aliens’ or ‘atlanteans’ built the pyramids, nor that they were responsible for any of Earth’s various ancient megalithic structures or cultures. He does not think his theoretical lost civilisation was more technologically advanced than ours. And for good measure, let’s add that there’s no mention in his works of prehistoric hyper-futuristic crystal-powered shark-people creating the modern delight that is deep-fried ice-cream, either.

Darnit…it's those pesky hyper-futuristic crystal-powered shark-people again!

On a serious note though, it's not alright that tags like ‘anti-science’, ‘racist’, ‘white supremacist’, or ‘misogynist’ are routinely thrown about in order to rip the chair of legitimacy from underneath him. Clearly, this is done so by parties who are either ignorant, or duplicitous, or both, but I am happy to inform you that Graham is none of those things.

In brief, Hancock’s main concern is the human story as we know it — a story he believes has been mishandled. And this hypothesis isn’t mere whimsy but the result of three decades of research in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, geology, astronomy, and paleontology, among others. It’s been gleaned from combing through journals like Nature and PNAS. It’s the result of travelling the world, diving the oceans, talking to tribal leaders and storytellers, of scrutinising archaeological sites and studying the skies. Indeed, it’s the result of finding a scattered handful of pieces of a grand puzzle and slowly drawing them together to form the most logical image he can make.

So…is he right?

Right now, thanks to a certain TV show which we’ll return to shortly, Graham is facing an army of ‘debunkers’ and critics who seem hellbent on discrediting or flat out ‘cancelling’ him. But the question we should be asking isn’t whether Hancock is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but whether his ideas merit consideration.

Personally, I think they do. In fact, his works have persuaded me that the core of his argument is on the money, and that although greatly derided and thrashed by critics and sceptics alike, Graham will eventually be vindicated by the slow and steady build-up of supporting evidence.

This has already begun. Graham first introduced his ‘lost civilisation’ theory in his 1996 novel Fingerprints of the Gods, in which he stated that a cataclysm around 12,900 years ago killed off America’s megafauna, drove sea-levels up by around 120 meters, and almost wiped humanity off the face of the planet.

At the time of publishing he was unable to prove that a cataclysm had in fact happened and what form it had taken, even though all the signs he’d found pointed to one. This lack of a ‘smoking gun’ resulted in all kinds of ridicule and scorn from the media and academics. However, recent research suggests that a cosmic event, possibly comet fragments, did impact Earth around that time, causing massive floods and global upheaval. This lends credibility to Hancock’s ideas, even if the fine details of the event remain disputed.

We should not for a moment imagine that hostile reactions to new ideas are uncommon in academia. Time and again, pivotal characters in various fields who follow evidence and construct novel explanations are disbelieved, even attacked, before their claims are vindicated and they end up making grand contributions to science. J Harlen Bretz, for example, argued all his life that cataclysmic floods scoured the North American landscape and was treated awfully by colleagues for 50 years before he ended up getting the Penrose Medal (the Geological Society of America's highest accolade).

Where's the evidence, then?

One of the sticking points for Graham's opponents is the lack of physical evidence. Why can't he show us any ancient cities or structures or remains from this seafaring, technologically capable civilisation of his? And it's a fair question.

But let's not forget that if this catyclism did happen, then continent-sized icecaps melted down and vast tidal surges periodically claimed the seas as they rose by around 120m (and a great deal more happened, as well). In the event, a landmass equivalent to roughly 10% of the earth's total land area was lost, and any great sea-faring civilisation of the deep past along with almost all remnants of its coastal cities and activities would be extremely difficult to find. We might expect, however, that anything that did survive would be large and solid enough to withstand that punishment, or be buried underground, enduring the slow march of millenia afterwards. Graham's work often focuses on places and structures like these.

Despite the fact that expecting to find remains of anything after 12,000 years is a long-shot, I think Graham has cobbled together a solid body of potential leads across the 6 books he's written on the topic, from sunken coastal complexes to odd megalithic achievements and even potential remnants of shared knowledge and belief.

Debunking, Dedunking, Destructing

Hancock is no stranger to having his ideas pilloried, and the latest example was a contentious debate on Joe Rogan with archaeologist Flint Dibble. Sadly, what could have been a really wonderful debate which brought both sides to a constructive discussion was reduced to a spectacle, as Dibble came in guns blazing and did his best to discredit and cast Graham as a deceitful loony.

As mentioned, this is nothing new and to be fair to Dibble, there is a lot of looney out there. In the past few years alone a deluge of books has flooded the stores, all jostling for a piece of Graham's market-pie. Their blurbs utilise Graham-esque language, their themes are similar, often clearly influenced by his work but always with more sensationalised claims. Most are pale facsimiles, uninspired and lacking intellectual polish, and not worthy of serious study.

Then there's the 'ancient-aliens' community, including adherents of Zecharia Sitchin and various YouTubers claiming to be ‘alternative historians’, none of whom seem capable of – or flat out ignore – proper and responsible research. ‘Ancient Architects’ and such channels are prime examples. All of this serves only to muddy the waters and makes it hard to find genuine, sensible and credible sources for information. They are on the rise, and it is very concerning that poor scholarship creates such entertaining content.

Come on in, the internet's fine! YouTube and social media are hotbeds for loonies, but that doesn't mean we should lump everyone together.

Still, it's all too easy to lump Hancock in with this crowd, either out of ignorance, or the intention to destroy the value of his work, resulting in armies of experts (and non-experts, alike…) feeling some primal need to eliminate a 'threat' to their coveted fields of study. Indeed, the now infamous series Ancient Apocalypse presented by Graham himself was recently named 'the most dangerous show on Netflix'.

Curious, really, as I hadn’t felt reframing our ancestors as smarter than we realised was that bad…

But is it dangerous?

I hardly think so, even though in my opinion Ancient Apocalypse did very little justice to Hancock’s work. The show was clearly designed and produced to appeal to a mass-market and it utilised the same, awful approach that destroyed the Discovery Channel and National Geographic over a decade ago, throwing credibility out the window with dramatic music, flashy CG and a few sped-up crash-zooms. It placed spectacle, sensationalism, and commercial success above respect for the audience’s intellect, and drew attention to Hancock for all the wrong reasons. In short, this show was, in my view, akin to transmuting numerous doctoral theses into a children’s cereal advert.

(Perhaps I am alone there, however, because audiences loved it. The show’s Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at 85%. But that is another post entirely…)

Why It All Matters

The debate around Hancock isn’t just about who is right or wrong. I certainly don't agree with everything he says. But I don't have to. It’s about the importance of questioning established narratives and exploring alternative explanations.

Archaeology is a painstaking, difficult, convoluted discipline which must rely on interpretation of material remains to draw conclusions. And the operative word there is interpretation, because so much hangs on context and inference and opinion. The result is that we change things frequently, tossing aside one theory and digging up others as new evidence comes to light.

Indeed, with almost 400,000 years now allotted for anatomically modern humans to roam the planet, the mainstream narrative simply can’t be the only one. How can anyone possibly say that they know for sure what happened over that length of time? Or that no great civilisation existed in prehistory? It would be ludicrous and foolish to do so. The truth is that what we call ‘history’ is simply the best guesswork of events over the last 7,000 years and as stated earlier, we’re not sure about most of it.

Surely, therefore, as long as there is evidence to support an idea and good reasoning behind it, it should be permissible to hypothesise? Given the limitations of our knowledge and that fact that our understanding is expanding all the time, remaining open to new ideas — especially if they challenge the status quo — is vital. It's exploration itself which allows paradigm shifts to happen.

The world is a big place. There's room for ideas. Things are more fun that way.

Hancock’s work is therefore valuable not because it is infallible but because it breaks the mould and encourages us to think about our past with fresh eyes. And there's another reason. Discovering his work rekindled an almost extinguished childhood passion for studying the ancient world in me. It spurred me to go out and explore the topic far more thoroughly than I even would have otherwise, seeking out and reading works from a wide range of authors. I've since delved into texts from Toby Wilkinson, Rosita Forbes, Flinders Petrie, Walter Emery, Thor Heyerdahl, Joyce Tyldesley, Robert Bauval, Arthur Posnansky, Kara Cooney, Charles Hapgood, Robert Fuson, and Christina Riggs, just to name a few. And these authors aren’t all ‘alternative historians’. Many are thoroughly mainstream and even then, all of them have a slant of their own.

Graham’s work slots readily into this corpus of interesting ideas and research. He’s not a ‘threat to science’ or ‘dangerous,’ but a person with compelling ideas, who challenges us to look again at what we thought we knew.

Whether you agree with him or not, I encourage critics to read his books with curiosity, rather than dismissing him out of hand. You may just fall in love with the excitement and awe Hancock holds for the human story anew, just like I did.

I hope you’ll forgive this self-indulgent and rather enormous post. Sometimes, it's important to add a little counterweight to the abundant and oft ill-informed criticism out there.

A list of Graham Hancock's books on the lost civilisation hypothesis (A = available as an audiobook):

• “Fingerprints of the Gods” (1995) - A
• “Heaven’s Mirror” (1998)
• “The Message of the Sphinx” (1996)
• “Underworld” (2002) - A
• “Magicians of the Gods” (2015) - A
• “America Before” (2019) - A

Expand full article…

Adventureland

Wed, AUG 15, 2024 - 9:03

To all who come to this happy place, welcome. […] Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, […] and the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.

On a cool California morning on July 17, 1955, the most ambitious amusement park ever imagined was revealed to the world. Televised on ABC television to an estimated 90 million viewers across America, Walt Disney gave a short and iconic speech before the gates were opened to the public for the first time.

Over succeeding decades the park would change, parts added and removed as trends came and went, but Disneyland’s goals would remain steadfast. It would remain place where visitors could dream and where they could see dreams become reality.

My first visit to Disneyland was in 1997. See the gumpy kid with the camera bag? Yep, that's me.

I first visited Disneyland in 1997 with my family and remember only vague slices of the experience. Memories are far clearer from my next visit with a friend in 2009, when we roadtripped down the east coast from Vancouver to stay overnight at Disneyland Anaheim itself.

I’d been having a bit of a rough time back then and was emerging from a bout of depression which had plagued me since the year before — the first serious case I can remember. But the morning I awoke in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and stepped outside onto Main Street, into the warm air and with fingers of dawn sunlight stretching across the charismatic buildings, I was transported away in a way I hadn’t been on my first visit. And not just physically. Exploring ‘Adventureland’ with its thatched roofs, tiki-totems and river cruise, I was captivated by the ambiance and the excitement it stirred in me. In Tomorrowland, I clearly recall stepping from the dark tunnel of Space Mountain and telling my friend that, “I didn’t think I could still be thrilled like that,” then surreptitiously wiping my eyes.

Perhaps that sounds dramatic but, fittingly for that place, it were as if some spell had been broken. I felt human again and it was this experience that made me realise the power of escapism. Of adventure and magic.

Over the course of the day as we explored this imaginary world made real, I was overwhelmed by the effort and attention to detail. Once you step into the park, you never see a seam, with everything from the rides to the ambient music to the plants and trash-cans meticulously designed.

Many don’t seem to notice or appreciate the surroundings there. Some are only there for the rides, others wander about eating their ice-creams, while other still consider themselves above it all and write the place off as ‘tacky’. But to anyone paying attention it’s difficult not to find Walt’s creation astounding.

Watch out for those hippos! Adventureland is immersive and brims with exotic beauty.

To me, the seed was planted. This was what I wanted to do. To thrill and delight and stir emotion in people, just like this place had in me. Disneyland pulls together many disparate ideas and concepts and melds them into a coherent whole on a massive scale, and I realised the whole approach contains lessons galore for writers. It brought home that previously nebulous phrase that “thoughts become things,” and more importantly, it showed the power of immersion and polish when an creating an impactful experience for an audience.

Writers might not have access to hundreds of empty acres to build on or billions in funding, and we might not have the glitz and glamour factor of a video-game or movie, but we don’t need any of that. All we need to transport someone away is words.

The ‘cinema of the mind’ is a powerful thing and — not to channel my inner Bob Procter too heavily — if you can see it all your head, then it’s just one more step to make it real.

In a way, I find it thrilling to imagine that through writing, I’m creating my very own Adventureland for readers to explore.

Jim :)

Flashback: The Lemon Lime Vodcast

Thurs, MAY 23, 2024 - 10:07

Buried deep within the hidden corners of my YouTube channel, a series of deactivated videos sits like an unused bassline, patiently thrumming away as if waiting for a moment to join the song.

It was early 2005 when, armed with a trusty Sony HDR-FX1 (which had no HDR functionality…) and a whimsical sense of optimism, I ventured out into Vancouver's bar and pub scene to film a video-podcast which covered new music, movies, and video games. I didn't expect much from it, but there were very few other 'video weblogs' going around at that time and Apple's new iTunes podcast service was looking distinctly quiet, so I gave it a shot.

I dubbed the project, 'The Lemon Lime Vodcast' and thought the name quite punny and clever, and although a recent article about the bygone 'vodcast' fad boldly proclaims the origin of the word 'short for “Video-On-Demand-cast”', I actually intended for the word 'vodcast' to do triple duty, combining 'vodka' with 'video' and 'podcast'.

As for the 'LLV' (as it came to be known) itself, it would go on to enjoy two-and-a-half seasons in that many years, and gain some good traction in the early YouTube world, rising to number 32 in the Podfeed.net 'video weblog rankings', just underneath some now retro-classics like 'Tiki Bar TV' (coincidentally also filmed in Vancouver), Diggnation, and Rocketboom.

For the series title sting, 'Siren on the 101' by Silverstrand, I got permission from the band itself and to this day, a little badge sits next to each episode on YouTube: "Copyright-protected content found. The owner allows the content to be used on YouTube."



Filming the show was a blast. It featured various funky bars around Vancouver, in which I hosted the LLV alongside the wonderful (and ever cheerful) Michelle Miazga, with Zach Shore as our cameraman. I was thrilled to work alongside them both and owe them a lot of thanks, as well as friends, bands, bar-owners and the viewers for making the project the success it was. Two-and-a-bit-years after it went live, I was truly sorry to see it come to an end, but other projects (and a full-time job) were taking up my attention.

The LLV videos had been inactive for a long time and when nostalgia beckons, I sometimes take gander at the thumbnails and remnisce about the early days of content creation. Very rarely, I'll get an email from an old viewer who comments on how much fun the show was, or asks if it's ever coming back (the latest of which prompted this post).



It's odd because here I am 20 years later, still technically doing the same thing and still loving it. Sure, the LLV is gone, and Pixorama is different, but the skills I learned on projects like that have been invaluable in my content-creator journey, and I'm still very lucky to be able to bring a smile to viewers' faces.

And what about bringing the LLV back? Well, I know it would be a different story, today. Content creation ain't what it used to be. Still, it goes to show that you never know what kind of impact a little idea might have, and that if you never try, you never will.

Jim :)

Progress Report: This Emerald Crucible

Wed, FEB 28, 2024 - 20:51

It was in February of 2018 that I recall wiping my forehead dry and taking my first deep breath of humid jungle air. Cambodia was in the midst of a stifling summer and there I stood, trusty Fujifilm camera in-hand, ducking and picking through some of the world’s most beautiful and enigmatic ancient ruins.

Like so many before me, I was dumbfounded. Angkor Wat is perplexing, to say the least. It’s a sprawling complex whose whole purpose is still unclear, and whose full extent continues to grow with every turn of the archaeologist's spade. Those structures which remain standing are vast and silent, most holding their secrets close. And yet the odd carving seems to scream for attention and rememberance.

It should therefore come as no surprise that I was immediately inspired by the place, and began jotting down notes even before I’d left the site.

The idea was simple. I wanted to extend the world of Aliru — the world I’d created in The Torril City Mysterion — and weave a story that could transmit the feelings of mystery and majesty I’d experienced. The story would take place in steaming ruins and time-worn stones. I couldn’t think of a better vehicle for delivering this excitement and adventure to readers.

With that, the seeds for This Emerald Crucible were planted. It would be another two years before I began working on it in earnest, but today I’m thrilled to announce that the first draft is finished.

There’s still a way to go, but already I feel that this new addition to the ‘Aliru Anthology’ is a worthy companion to Torril City. This is not a sequel, nor a prequel. It features different characters in a different time and place, but should the reader pay attention, they might find little sparkles along the way which illuminate a greater whole…

Stay tuned for more announcements. I can’t wait to share This Emerald Crucible with you all very soon.

Jim :)

Come Say Hi

Mon, JAN 29, 2024 - 9:09

It’s summer in Australia, which means it’s time for festivals, fairs, flings, and fun. And one festival which happens on my doorstep just happens to be Midsumma, a month-long celebration of people and love – if you want to get all hippylike.

But for the past three years, my partner and I have also been regulars at another venue on our doorstep. A board-games bar called Boardies on Smith St. in the trendy Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. It’s become our second living room and we’ve been lucky to forge a good relationship with the staff and owner, while enjoying some funky cocktails and of course, learning a bunch of new boardgames. If you're ever in the area, you have to go visit, it's a treat!

Not only is it a great venue, but a while ago the owner kindly offered to sell my books on his bar, which has been fantastic for me as the clientele is mostly wonderful nerds and fantasy fans. Then, a month ago he added a new twist to the game, by mentioning that Boardies is going to have a table at the Midsumma street festival on February 11, and that I’d be welcome to set up shop there and hawk my wares.

Of course, I was thrilled with the idea and said I’d love to.

So, if you happen to be in Melbourne at the Midsumma festival on Feb 11, 2024, come say hi! The Boardies table will be located in Peel St. on the small park beside Two Birds Café (also a fabulous venue, if you’re after a good brekky and coffee).

A huge shout out and thanks to Craig from Boardies for organising this with the event planners, and I hope to see you there, dear reader!

Jim :)

Am I Detecting Notes Of Cynicism?

Sun, JAN 28, 2024 - 09:52

I sat down to watch Wonka a few nights ago. And while I do have criticism, overall it was a passable addition to the 'Roald Dahl Universe' (yes, that is happening). Sure, the movie leant a bit too heavily on CGI, Timothé Chalamet is not as charismatic as Gene Wilder (though far less creepy than Johnny Depp, so we'll take it) and the plot was predictable — modern cinema seems content to ignore subtext and clever scripting to focus more on visuals, so that’s nothing new — but it was around the third song mark that I started to wonder if the musical genre perhaps needs to take a little masterclass…because we were only 15 minutes in.

To be fair, Wonka contained a few welcome surprises and a sense of oddball creativity that harkened back to the loose-boundaried fantasy films of the 1980s. It also contained a few toe-tappers that are both genuinely chuckleworthy and catchy. The songs, written by a Joby Talbot ('Sing'/'Sing 2') and Neil Hannon (an Irish singer-songwriter with comedic inclinations) cover some well-trodden terrain. The ‘Oompa Loompa’ song and ‘Pure Imagination’ are examples of this. But it includes a couple of nice new additions, too. ‘Scrub Scrub’ has managed to lodge itself in my brain and slips out in mumbles as I’m doing housework, while ‘You’ve Never Had Chocolate Like This’ is a worthy cheerleader for the film.

The problem is that, like so many films nowadays, the inclusion of musical numbers was at times clunky and at other times unnecessary. In the worst instances, the songs actually took me out of the film. And don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of the musical. But it seems that increasingly, musical filmwriters and their songwriting compatriots are forgetting a golden rule when it comes to characters flexing their voiceboxes.

That rule is simple, and it was explained perfectly by musical theatre addict, Mo Murray:

…characters should speak when the emotion is too great for silence; sing when the emotion is too great for speech; and dance when the emotion is too great for song.

I believe story theorist and screenwriting guru Robert McKee would agree wholeheartedly, and I have long felt the same way. In musicals, songs are not just add-ons. They carry significant narrative weight and often reveal a character's inner thoughts or advance the plot. It's a unique feature of this wonderful genre, allowing a deeper emotional connection with the audience. So if and when a song happens, it must matter.

Even before Disney’s Frozen, when princess Anna blurted out, “…don’t know if I’m elated or gassy, but I’m somewhere in that zone!” and needlessly tossed aside the immense power of song for a cheap poopie-joke (thank you, K. A. and R. Lopez…), I’ve been cautious about new musicals. I was burned badly again by The Greatest Showman, perhaps the biggest misstep in musical history with its overproduced, unjustified, and poorly written songs (wasting the talents of a truly wonderful cast), but that hasn’t been the only film during which I groaned when a character opened their mouth to sing.

Wonka, more tactful than the aforementioned examples, floats just above the tideline where songs are thrown in just to meet the demands of a genre. At times, musically-fitted words tumbled out of characters’ mouths without much cause, yes, and the numbers don't begin smoothly (recall Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals where the audience almost doesn’t notice a song beginning). But I didn’t find myself wincing with trepidation or an air of vicarious embarassment, wondering if I was going to be able to relax or pray for deliverance as the actors tried their best to perform the unperformable.

This is all to say that overall, while I worry about the musical as a genre, I’d recommend Wonka. It was creative enough, fun enough, and will certainly be a hit with kids. I just didn't feel it was anywhere near daring enough. It didn't make me uncomfortable or tickle my nerves as many of Roald Dahl's stories routinely do and as the original Gene Wilder 'sequel' ('prequel?', 'sidequel?') did. And the songs, clearly designed to cater to the masses (no ‘Wonderous Boat Ride’ in this film!), were not always memorable. In general, though, the film manages to hit a sweet note.

Jim :)

Egypt: Land of Mystery

Thurs, OCT 26, 2023 - 19:39

Two days ago I returned from a month-long trip to Egypt, not quite as tanned as I'd expected, definitely thinner, and with my mind still reeling from the things I'd seen and done and learned.

Modern Egypt is a world of contradictions. It's both organised and chaotic, cruel and kind, poor and wealthy, and even now after days of reflection I'm having a difficult time trying to abbreviate my feelings. Perhaps they can't be. Perhaps they will remain a jumble of disconnected ideas and images. It is, after all, a very complex place. The past is constantly battling for attention in the present, and the present has its own problems to deal with.

I was dismayed as everyone else was on October 8, when two Isreli tourists and an Egyptian tour guide were murdered in Alexandria. At the time I was in Saqqara, just south of Cairo, and the news hit the region like a storm squall. Everyone was talking about it in low and disappointed mutters, worrying about what it would inevitably lead to. Most of the people I met and talked to were realistic about the implications for the region, though one of my drivers muttered darkly that this was the beginning of the final war, which no part of the world would escape. I sipped my carbonated pineapple drink, staring at the desert slipping by out the window of his van and listening politely as he worked his way through the problem and finally changed the subject.

By the time I left Egypt two and a half weeks later, things had indeed worsened, and I will admit to feeling relief as my plane finally reached the Indian Ocean on the homeward stretch to Australia.

Still, nothing will dim the memories of the beautiful things I saw and the experiences I had. There are few places where hospitality still plays such a large role as in Egypt, and fewer places still with such an incredible material legacy. I can't wait to share some of these things with you, so stick around for an announcment on that, very soon.

Jim :)

UPDATE: This Emerald Crucible

Tues, OCT 10, 2023 - 11:46

I first toyed with the idea for This Emerald Crucible back in the summer of 2018 while travelling through Cambodia, for few things can charge up your inspirational battery like a visit to the enigmatic temples of Ankor. Like silent sentinels from a forgotten age, the structures that await the visitor in those steaming jungles are utterly remarkable and if you've been lucky enough to visit, you'll understand immediately why I felt my creativity sparking up.

No matter how much research you do before a trip, actually being there is always different and in the case of Cambodia, it surpassed what I'd imagined. Standing on the causeway gazing at the hulking, graceful monuments, my imagination couldn't help zipping off to wrestle with questions about their purpose and design, and what kind of minds lay behind their construction.

But it was while sitting at my hotel in Siem Reap watching one of the most ferocious downpours I'd ever experienced that I began jotting notes for what I tentatively named 'Deeds, Mouldering in Shadow,' a new story about a young man charged with saving the last seedlings of an exotic fruiting plant. At that point, I was already well into the first draft of The Torril City Mysterion - "A Pinch of Peril", and I began toying with the idea of intertwining this story into Torril's world, Aliru, which I had already come to love so much.

Well, it's five years later and I think it's finally time to announce a couple of things. Firstly, the first draft of This Emerald Crucible is almost done. It's currently enjoying a round of proofreading with some of my eagle-eyed and wonderful friends before it zips off to the editing desk. I think it's shaped up very nicely and I'm excited to have reached this point, once again.

The second thing to announce is that I lied to you all, because This Emerald Crucible will not be "a one-shot novel set in the world of Aliru", as my homepage claims. At this point, it will almost certainly be two books – the reason being that once I threw myself into the story and became familiar with these new characters, I felt their story needed to play out properly.

If you're a fantasy fan like myself, then this news is probably welcome because there's nothing like sinking your teeth into a great big tome. As long as it's a good one. And that's what I'm hoping This Emerald Crucible is. I really hope when it finally drops, you'll enjoy it as much as I do.

Jim :)

A Quick-Take on AI

Sat, APR 22, 2023 - 23:04

I'm an optimist but I have to admit, things are pretty crazy right now.

As a writer, graphic designer, and content-creator who’s with two decades in these professions, I’m witnessing a revolution because in the last two years alone, all of these professions have come directly into the firing line, each at high risk of being ‘destroyed’ by new AI technologies.

At least, that’s what a lot of alarm-bell smacking journalists and furious artists would have you believe.

Honestly, things are moving so fast that nobody really has a clue what’s coming, so with the introduction of services like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and various new, AI-driven video editing apps (many of which are still emerging), some would have us believe that entire industries are about to become obsolete.

But I see things differently. I don’t believe this is the end of human endeavour (unless we’re about to experience an AI-driven apocalypse — totes possible) and I’d like to explain why.

If you’re a nerd like myself, then you’ve no doubt played around with some (or all!) of these new image-generation technologies and, honestly? They’re more than just impressive. They’re magic. I mean, what’s more incredible than coming up with an idea and seeing it appear before your eyes? Never before in human history have we had the ability to watch an idea take shape so quickly and visually. This development is huge.

Text-based AIs like Open AI’s ‘ChatGPT’, or Google’s ‘Bard’ are also amazing, even now in their early stages. And they’re only going to get better.

So of course I see the risk; that a client who asks for an illustrated novel cover will head for AI generated art, far more polished than anything I could come up with in the same time. And for far less money. I can also imagine that people won’t buy my books, in favour of something an AI wrote, which may be both more profound and coherent (and probably also cheaper, too!).

Totally fair. I get it, and I don’t blame people for choosing AI over me if it saves them money and time.

However, there’s something missing from AI generated content that machines will never be able to replicate, and as corny as it sounds, it’s the human-factor.

The reason I go to comedy stand-up shows, for example, is not to hear jokes. I go to see personalities telling those jokes. People whose delivery and style I enjoy. Sure, an AI will be able to duplicate these things, one day, and maybe an android Bill Bailey will dance across the stage and reel off his set with perfect timing and endless energy.

But I still won’t be watching Bill Bailey, and to me (and plenty of other people), that’s the only reason I’m there.

This applies to almost all types of human activity. I don’t just go to a cafe because I like their coffee and menu items, but because I like the interactions with the staff. I want to support a cafe owner or local bookshop because it’s a human endeavour, and as another human, I empathise with their dreams and goals.

I hope the same applies to my own work. I hope that when people read my books, they’ll enjoy them not just for the content, but because they also empathise with a human who has put a great deal of work into creating them for other people’s enjoyment. And that they’ll also appreciate the ideas and dreams that that person has tried to express.

Now, that’s not to say that general AI, when it eventually arrives, won’t have similar dreams and goals. It probably will, and we’ll probably end up enjoying content created by AI personas like we do human personas. The point to consider here is that AI won’t eclipse the experience, but add to it. We won’t give up on watching human stand-up comedians, we’ll just watch them and AI comedians.

As for my work as a designer, I am already using midjourney to inspire myself. It’s great at generating colour palettes, and its compositions can be used as guides for my own work. The thing is, I don’t use it to replace the work I do, but augment my process, because personally, I love the challenge and satisfaction of creation. Again, it’s not eclipsing me, but functioning alongside me.

There is one thing I’ll state right now, however: I do not ever intend to use AI to generate written material. I love and always want to create characters, ideas, problems, and solutions myself. So, if you read one of my books or stories, you can be sure it’s me that’s written it.

Otherwise, though, what I believe AI offers is an endless stream of inspiration to tap into. An endless variety of ways to visualise an idea or overcome a block, or to nudge me onto an alternate, creative path. I have no interest in giving up design or writing or creating fun videos, because I love all of these activities. I want to continue to learn, and improve, and share what I’ve achieved, and it seems to me these are universal, human desires.

I hope that people realise that AI doesn’t have to take that away, but rather lessen our reliance on human labour for mundane tasks, and open fuller, more varied experiences to more people. I also hope it doesn't decide to wipe us out. But hey, it's a big universe, and why go to the trouble of squashing all the ants when you've got endless possibilities to explore?

With no way to tell what's coming, all we can do is wait and honestly, rather than worrying myself sick, I'd rather play the optimist.

A Wardrobe-Change is in Order

Wed, APR 05, 2023 - 12:13

Whatup, fantasy fiends?

Once upon a time, in a past life (see, from uni until my 30s!) I was a graphic designer. So, when the chance came up to try my hand at the cover for my self-published book, "The Torril City Mysterion", I dove in with gusto!

This was a fun and rewarding process that allowed me to bring my vision to life. But as we all know, there's always room for improvement. Plus, a good book cover design is more than just an aesthetically pleasing image; it's a visual representation of the story that can speak to readers and make them want to pick up that sucker. A good design can capture the essence of the telling, set the mood, and pique the reader's interest.

Thus, while I have fond memories of the original cover, I’m excited to announce that Torril City is getting a little update.

Take a gander. I feel this new cover captures the characters more accurately while giving the book a fresh new feel, and I hope you’ll agree!

Yep, the same great story, with a fresh, new look™. This cover will be going live at some point this year, so keep an eye out!

I hope you're feeling funky and fabulous, wherever you are.

Magic and Meaning

Tues, JAN 17, 2023 - 08:48

As a fantasy author, I believe there's a unique power in this genre. It can inspire and uplift like no other, giving us a chance to rekindle a little childlike fascination, hope, and magic. Nowadays, we could all use a little more of that.

We're all exposed to various dramas every day, whether political, environmental, social or familial, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of these problems. Just take Covid-19. After that saga and the many difficulties and uncertainties it brought to us all, I personally found myself taking solace in some good old fashioned escapism. In tales which present other possibilities and ideas.

And it seems I wasn’t alone.

The recent, meteoric surge in popularity of the Marvel cinematic universe, Game of Thrones (and similar shows), and Brandon Sanderson's epic tomes are just a few examples proving people’s hunger for stories in this incredible genre. People are craving other worlds, adventures and magical creatures, not to mention incredible, one-of-a-kind personalities to delight and excite.

As an author, I naturally keep an eye on the industry. I revel in watching other creators capture the imagination of their audiences, and it’s been truly inspiring to watch the metamorphosis of media over the last decade. Creativity and quality are at an all-time high, so whether you're a longtime fan of the genre or just starting to explore it, I hope you find just as much joy in the magnificent array of stories we have now access to.

I'm so grateful to be part of this community of dreamers.

Torril, A Year On…

Thurs, SEP 29, 2022 - 10:29

Howdy, fantasy fiends!

Believe it or not, today marks the one year anniversary of the release of The Torril City Mysterion, and I can’t believe how time has flown by.

I still remember a time when I battled inwardly with self-publishing. After all, I’d heard horror stories, listened to publishers and big publishing houses alike condemn ‘indie’ authors. At one time, I even got into the querying game, spending months researching agents, crafting letters, logging everything in spreadsheets, and eating the inevitable rejections — and it was all to avoid the ‘shame’ of remaining unsigned -gasp!-

Well, it’s a year on, and here’s what I now know about self-publishing: It is the ultimate freedom for authors.

Sure, the journey has been a bit of a rollercoaster. There have been difficulties and heartbreaks at times, and when I published Torril City in Sep, 2021, many years’ worth of worry and doubt were sitting on my shoulders. But I’d spent the time learning the craft. I’d done the hard work, and been through the journey from drafts to re-writes to edits. And most importantly, I’d written the story I had always wanted to read.

The support that I received from readers, friends, and family, therefore, told me at once that it had all paid off. Plus, connecting with readers all over the world, and hearing their thoughts on my work — to know that my words have touched so many people — is something I feel incredibly fortunate to have experienced.

So, to my readers out there, near and far, young and old; you are everything. Thank you for not forgetting about us indie writers and here's to many more adventures together!

TIME TO LAUNCH

Wed, NOV 10, 2021 - 12:45

If you’re like me, you get a bit excited when it’s finally time to lift the lid on a project. After all, as Zac Efron once eloquently put it, “The deep, soul-quenching thrill of creation is a uniquely human experience which at once enriches and revitalises our lives.”

OK, Zac Efron never said that. But the point remains; there is something very fulfilling about completing a project. And what’s even better is sharing it with the world.

That’s why I’m so thrilled to announce that right now, The Torril City Mysterion — my first fantasy slash mystery novel — is going to print. Worldwide. It will be available through the regular channels such as Amazon, but will also be available at any local bookstore within two or three days. That's right. You can walk into your local bookstore and order a copy, just like that!

I'm incredibly lucky to have this opportunity, and so grateful to all the people who've helped me along the way. From my wonderful editor, Stacey Dumoski, to my friends and family, and of course my husband, Moritz, who has been there reading drafts from day one. You are all amazing, so thank you.

If you’re curious to snap up a copy, stay tuned, I'll post some links shortly.

The Torril City Mysterion will be available in softcover and eBook format.

A Little Spit 'n Polish

Wed, SEP 29, 2021 - 10:23

In 1963, Ian Fleming gave an interview about the craft of writing. His advice was pretty clear. He followed a set schedule every day, in those hours he wrote 2,000 words, he never looked back at what he’d written, and in six weeks he had finished a book. After a rather brief revision and publishing process, it was then time for the next James Bond story.

Dame Agatha Christie is on record saying something similar, although she places far more emphasis on the planning phase. “The real work is in thinking out the development of your story and worrying about it until it comes right,” she explained in an interview. “That may take quite a while. Then, when you've got all your material together, as it were, all that remains is trying to find time to write the thing. Three months seems quite a reasonable time to complete a book if one can get right down to it.”

If we only focus on the letter points from both these authors, then, writing seems very straightforward. It’s an idea followed by planning and writing, and then the book is done. Yet, strangely, both authors gloss over what I consider the most important element of writing. Namely, that of editing.

Sure, in a quiet space and with no distractions anyone could write away and bang out a chapter a day, and doing so, one could theoretically finish a book in a couple of weeks. The problem there is, of course, that any book written so quickly would undoubtedly be slop — even with good planning.

I have no doubt that both these authors did plan their stories meticulously before diving in to writing, but I still find it odd that they place so little emphasis on editing. The fact is that I also plan very thoroughly before writing. I create a small outline for the story, then an expanded outline. I then plan chapters out individually, noting who is in the scene, their goals, what the chapter goal itself is. I have spreadsheets and notes for every kind of detail, even images and music to help fasten things in mind. But I also tend to read over what I've read every single day, and in this time inevitably find a boatload of things to modify or delete. It’s incredibly time-consuming and I can easily spend a week on one chapter.

I once (in)famously stated in a YouTube video that, “[creative endeavours] are 10% creation, 99% modification,” and faulty as my math was, I still stick by the point. I reckon that editing and rewriting make up the bulk of my writing process, and really wonder how these authors-of-old handled it.

The simple truth could be that I don’t possess the mental acuity they did, and that their drafts were so perfect that editing was barely necessary. Or that they had editors who went to town and polished the book up without author intervention.

Either way, though I hear woeful tales of authors reaching the dreaded ‘editing phase’, I actually love it. Reading over and altering my work is great fun and has so many benefits, from solidifying the plot and minutiae in my mind to helping me consider what I’ve written more thoroughly. It allows me to plant links and connections which I can use in the future, and which I otherwise wouldn't have planted without careful inspection.

Plus, it results in a polished, shiny-ass story. And who doesn’t like one of those?

The Road to Publication - PT. 2

Tues, MAY 04, 2021 - 09:38

READ PART ONE HERE

So, Siltari had been rejected. I'd been rejected. Not as many times as J.K. Rowling, but who was I kidding? I wasn’t going to keep pitching this book for ten years.

Pitching is exhausting. It’s time consuming and kind of degrading. And I want to spend my days writing, damnit. Not begging and scraping. Not wading through a throng of hundreds of thousands and waving until some traditional publisher finally looks down from above and takes pity on me—

-whoa. Just one, cotton-pickin’ second, there. Was that sarcasm? Was I becoming…jaded? I’d barely even waded into this world of gatekeepers. I’d barely tasted rejection. What right did I have to be so critical of something so tried and true?

Well…perhaps it was that book I read about the publishing industry, which had stressed how useless it was to try and make a living from writing? Perhaps it was hearing from published authors how much they were making, or their stories of disappointment once they’d finally signed that magical contract? Or, perhaps it was that course I’d done from a veteran of the traditional publishing world (with her 30 years of experience), siphoning my joy and excitement away by the lecture?

I looked over the notes I’d jotted down from that one…

…chances of getting picked up less than 0.1%…publisher won’t have any real budget to market my book even if I get signed…cover design would be out of my hands…publisher would only care about my work for one season, then drop it to focus on other projects…likely advance for new author only $2,000-10,000…expect you to bring your audience to them, not the other way around…
Right. So, why exactly was I excited about traditional publishing, again? All these years of work. All this trouble, and all these glittering prospects to look forward to, just for that fabled ‘prestige’? A little feather in my cap? What a load of knobbly-cheddar!

It was just six months after my attempts at pitching ‘Siltari’ when, after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and weighing up the pros and cons, the realisation dawned that traditional publishing wasn’t for me. At least, not at this point in my journey. What was surprising was the fact that, when I finally decided to self-publish, I immediately felt a massive weight lift from my shoulders.

I realised I now had freedom. I’m a resourceful chap. I was a professional graphic and web-designer for 15 years. I’ve got experience in film, narration, and have some great connections. I work hard and am more driven than a Trabbi. I realised that it would be difficult. I realised that I had to keep expectations low. But I also realised: I could do this.

And here we are, another half-year later. It has indeed been a hell of a lot of work. But things are moving. I’m working down my strategy doc. I’ve been building my social media presence. I’ve dabbled in the art of building relations with bookstore-owners, rallied an army of friends and fans. I’ve organised marketing channels and crafted advertising materials. And most excitingly, I have printing and distribution with a great self-publishing house locked-in.

So, in August this year, 2021, The Torril City Mysterion will be my first published book.

Will this all be a disaster? Maybe. Will it ever become a viable source of income? Probably not. But that was never my reason for starting this journey. I genuinely feel I have awesome stories to tell and even if this is the path of most-resistance, then just like my books, I’m going to put my heart into it and come up with the best damned ending I can.

The Road to Publication - PT. 1

Wed, APR 28, 2021 - 13:16

Ah, traditional publication! Cue the heavenly chorus! What greater music is there to an aspiring author?

The steep, craggy road to publishing a book began for me in February of 2020. That’s when, after almost ten years of writing ‘The Binding of Siltari’, I began to seriously pitch it to publishers.

Of course, like a good little author, I didn’t just throw it about. I read and researched for months before sending those carefully crafted query letters. I listed publishers and agents, found out who they’d represented and tried to do a little personality sleuthing to see if they might be a good match. I found good reasons to approach each one of them and tailored my letters, accordingly. And, lucky me, I heard back from a whole five of those thirteen queries.

Seeing that first, unread reply in my inbox was a thrill — until I opened it. There, in line two, were the words, “Unfortunately, the story is not what I’m looking for, right now.”

I remember sitting straight and blinking. Not what she was looking for, right now? Alright, well, when would she be looking for it?

I was never to find out. The email ended with a cut-and-copy line wishing me all the best for the future, (in fact, on second look, the entire email might have been cut-and-copied…) and this response set the general tone for all the others I eventually received.

But my book was good, wasn’t it? Great, Auntie Nelly’s Chocolate Drops, I’d worked so hard on it! It wasn’t something I’d banged out in a month. I’d kept my expo trim! My dialogue was punchy! My character arcs drove the story, damnit! Robert McKee, how had I failed you!?

I mean, I wasn’t going to have to…self-publish, was I?

I shuddered.

No. I had worked too hard and had too much pride for that, damnit! Nobody should be subjected to such indignity. The self-publishing world was a latrine, wasn't it? A fail-party, where the armies of the unschooled and unfit poured their collective drivel. A world riddled with punctuation errors and poor-formatting…of cheap, fiverr-produced covers and prices, $2.99 and under…

No. I would never-…it was traditional publishing or nothing. I mean, J.K. Rowling! Remember how long she tried to get published? I certainly do. In every single supportive text-message I’ve received, over every single coffee-house chat, since then, nobody has let me forget it. And I’ve had to invent new expressions of gratefulness to deal with the inevitable reminders.

READ PART TWO HERE

The Quadrilogy Is Over

Tue, FEB 02, 2021 - 15:07

- CLICKCLICK! -

I pushed my chair back and stood, gazing at my computer screen for a moment without moving. I was done, but finishing a project always brings with it a Bhuja-Mix™ of emotions, and this was a large project.

It was December of 2020 and after almost a year’s work, I had just finished narrating the last in a series of fantasy books for a wonderful client.

My feelings were all over the place. I was thrilled to have completed such an audacious project, in which I had the pleasure (and pain) of voicing over 50 characters and experiencing a fantastical journey — both literary and professionally — but now it was done and the client and I wouldn’t be working together again for a while. Perhaps ever. I wouldn’t meet the characters again, nor would I traverse the world I’d been living in for so long.

That’s a strange feeling.

On such projects, when you’re conversing every other day, dealing with feedback, getting and sometimes giving advice, and basically helping each other to reach this milestone, and when you’re immersed in someone else’s (or occasionally your own) work, it’s not unusual to develop a bond to a client and the material. I certainly do, anyway.

Perhaps that’s something more common in narration; a strange gig by any measure. It’s lonely at times. It’s laborious. It’s technical. And it hurts. Some days I step out of the booth and don't want to open my mouth again until the next day. Sometimes, not even then. Joints and muscles ache, and going into that little void day after day, night after night, only to hear yourself is a test of endurance and a strange game of testing your own limits, in which damaging your own voice often spells ‘Game-Over’.

It’s tough to keep your energy up. It’s tough not to drift and lose the connection to the material. It’s tough when you listen to your work and find it sounds different to what you wanted, then scrap sentences and paragraphs — even entire chapters and character parts. But there’s certainly a reward at the end of it all.

I think we're all storytellers by nature. I love telling stories and always have, even before I tried to amass crowds of students at lunchbreak for fantastical journeys before the next-period bell rang. I love to write, and I love to read, and since I began narrating I’ve discovered a love of reading aloud.

I find a lot of pleasure narrating, and as with anyone who loves their profession, I try to learn more with every project. So when a client gets that final recording and replies with joy in exclamation marks and superlatives, I’m over the moon.

That happened on this particular project, and I was reminded once again that the hard work is worth it. Not only had I developed a great professional relationship with a client, I’ve also been priveliged to turn my skills to something I can be proud of.

If you’re a fan of fantasy, then I really hope you get a chance to hear my take on the Seven Citadels quadrilogy by British author Geraldine Harris. Written in the late 70s and 80s, this series’ rights were recently acquired by a film producer in Los Angeles who contacted me for the narration. It’s a curious, exciting and touching story full of bizarre and interesting characters, which will certainly make an amazing cinematic experience. I hope it made an interesting series of audibooks!

I hope to go into this series a little more in a future post, but until then...

Ciao!

Masterclass: The Verdict

SUN, JAN 03, 2021 - 11:28

I promised in an earlier post (see 'Masterclass') that I’d follow up my experience with Masterclass, so here we go.

I’m always trying to improve my writing — whether it be through finding tips from pros, reading books, or coercing friends into giving feedback — but last October I took the plunge and dropped €200 on a subscription to Masterclass, the web-based learning service where one can take classes taught by prominent names in various industries.

In my last post, I related how I’d found the course by Margaret Atwood enjoyable but not that helpful. I’d also done David Baldacci’s course and found his far more structured, with better delivery and a more technical approach. So my views were a bit muddled. Since then, however, I’ve done every writing course they have, and I think I can help other writers curious about taking the plunge to make up their minds — because I’ve made up mine.

The verdict is basically this: At first, I honestly felt that the offerings on Masterclass weren’t worth the price. The courses seemed very hit and miss, they are all relatively short, and the homework is kind of ‘meh’.

Some of these opinions haven’t changed. But I can elaborate, and there are two upshots…

Firstly, yes, the courses are hit and miss. Some might be strangely structured and felt like the instructor simply sat down and babbled for a couple of hours, after which these rantings were cut and ‘ordered’ to try and make a coherent series of units. R.L. Stine’s course made me never want to write again, it made writing seem that inconsequential and pointless, and David Mamet's felt like he’d been coerced into giving a scathing, almost sarcastic review of the industry rather than a helpful guide to writing for stage, (also, the amount of time he spent sketching on a whiteboard while trying to explain the simple point: “You need complications in your plot,” was borderline ridiculous).

Others — notably those from Dan Brown, Joyce Carol Oates, Malcolm Gladwell, James Patterson and Aaron Sorkin — were the opposite. I could tell that a great deal of planning went into them, and their content and delivery were excellent. These courses made me feel I was actually learning, and their words still stick with me when I sit down to write.

For these courses alone, I think the price was worth it.

Then there’s the problem of the courses being short. At around 2.5 - 3 hours each, it’s true that all these instructors have their work cut out for them to compress a lot of knowledge into a short sitting and I do understand the challenge. But honestly, it all feels too compressed. They really just manage to squeeze in the basics, the surface-level tips, anecdotes and advice as each unit zips rapidly by, then BAM!, you're done. This is great for people with short attention spans, and it is nice to have things be concise but my hope is that in the future, Masterclass will add a ‘season 2’ to a lot of these courses. That would allow a deeper-dive and really allow these pros to give proper instruction.

That said, I have already noticed that a few new courses have popped up since I began my subscription and this is fantastic. So even if there is no ‘season 2’ for many of these courses, it means that new content from new artists and industry professionals will continue to come.

I have to admit: I’ve been content with my subscription. €200 is steep, but I personally feel I’ve gained enough interesting insights to justify it, not just on the writing process, but on the writing industry, the ins- and outs of publishing and even how to manage the promotional side of being a writer. Another way to look at it: I imagine that paying for a web-seminar from a bunch of pros during COVID would be much the same experience.

Bottom line: If you’ve been writing for years or you’re already published, you probably won’t glean much from Masterclass. But for the beginner or aspiring writer, this service provides both advice, encouragement and some valuable ‘aha!’s which might otherwise take a lot of time, trial and error to attain.

I hope this review has been helpful.

Jim

Masterclass

MON, OCT 19, 2020 - 17:04

Last week, I did something I don't usually do. I actually let an online ad get me interested in something.

Now, YouTube had been hounding me for over a month with this crap, but for the first time (I think ever), I actually liked what I was seeing. So, I went and checked out this 'Masterclass' thing. Website looked good. Courses looked interesting. 'Aight,' I thought, and dropped €200.

For those of you who don't know; Masterclass is a streaming-video service which provides 'classes' taught by celebrities and big names in various industries. And for that price, you get a one-year subscription and can 'learn' everything from talking like an astro-physicist to playing the ukulele. At least that's the idea.

My first impressions? Neat, I suppose. It's neat to have a little look behind the curtain at how professionals work and it's neat to hear what they have to share. In a week, I've done two of the writing courses. One by Margaret Atwood, and another from David Baldacci. And while I enjoyed them both, their approaches were very different and I do have some comments.

Firstly, all these 'courses' are short. Too short. Each seems to run to about 2.5 hours and if you're an audiobook or fantasy book buff like I am, that feels like a prologue. Then there was the structure of each. In Atwood's course, she tended to speak much more candidly and give advice from the heart, and that was nice. But unfortunately, for me it also wasn't that helpful. Being the first course I watched and really liking Atwood's work, I was quite disappointed. David Baldacci's course, on the other hand, seemed far better planned out, and I found it far more in-depth, structured, and helpful.

I think the main problem with all these courses, however, is that they just aren't (as the name suggests) 'Masterclasses'. I feel they're more like 'primers'; short talks given by pros, and I was a bit peeved that I already knew almost all of what I heard. Having written for a few years, you'll discover most of these things intuitively. Or learn from others. Or read articles and books.

Now, not to say it wasn't helpful at all. Sure, I picked up the odd, new tidbit, but I feel Masterclass is actually aimed at beginners to the industry/craft. It's also possible that in the future, some of these pros will come back and do a 'part two', and if that happens, this might end up being worth the money. But right now, I'd say hold onto that purse-string! I'll keep going and report back, again.

Ciao!

Update on Torril City

WED, OCT 07, 2020 - 9:01am

Not that it matters, but it was satisfying to see that I'd cracked 60,000 words in my first draft of Torril City, yesterday. For those of you who like page-counts, Pages also says that 100 pages. Huh.

Honestly, I've always been confused at why 'page-count' is a thing, though. I mean, it's the one aspect of a book that's completely meaningless, seeing as every single book has a different combination of typography, page-size and layout... One might as well ask, "what's the spine-width of your book?" But I suppose page-count sounds nice.

Anyway, that's where we're at. I am absolutely loving writing this draft and compared to Siltari, it's been a breath of crushed gelsi-root — but I have another post about the process coming, so I'll end this one here.

Peace!

All blocked up

SAT, OCT 03, 2020 - 8:22am

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never really had a problem with writer's block.

Whoa, whoa! Hold on, there, before you grab that pitchfork — that's not to say I don't get stuck while decision-making or finding resolutions. Sure I do. But that dastardly spectre people call "writer's block", where one sits in one's chair for hours, weeks, months, then pulls one's hair out because that perfect solution simply cannot be found? Thankfully, not yet.

At this point, I'm actually starting to think it's a myth designed to scare off novice writers, because what people describe as "writer's block" seems to me an exaggeration of a natural facet of the writing process: problem solving.

Every writer shoots around the core of a scene only to miss the mark, now and then. Every one of us has become stuck trying to resolve a scene or character arc in a satisfying way. The problem isn't that we can't find a solution, but perhaps that we're not handling that problem with the right mindset.

That said, there are occasions when frustration sets in, as I think a recent tweet of mine demonstrated nicely:

Considering J.R.R Martinning this scene and just killing all my characters with fire. That'd be easier than making it work, at this point...#WritingCommunity #AmWriting

— James McLeod is querying (@James_McLeod_) September 25, 2020

It happens!

But one way I tackle 'stuck' situations is pretty common, I think; I attack it with as many alternative ideas as possible. So, say we need a scene were the murderer needs to vanish from a crime scene quickly. Well, he could climb out the window. Shimmey up the chimney. Squeeze behind a bookshelf. Crawl under armchair. Find trapdoor under rug or crawl into ventilation system. Etcetera.

Most of these will be pure pfaddle and a bunch of freshly picked cliché. But now at least there's some turned soil to grow some fun ideas from.

So, what if it's a windy day, and the criminal cracks the window behind the curtains to make the fabric ripple. He hides behind the door until the protagonist enters, then slips out behind him, undetected? Some misdirection is always nice.

And even if I settle for an idea that isn't some-new-kind-of-genius, the way the scene is written can always make that mundane solution entertaining.

So, if you get stuck, have faith that you'll solve it and don't self-diagnose your problem with the fabled block too quickly. It only makes for unnecessary frustration.

Writing is problem solving, and you will figure it out. Best of luck!

So, What have we learned?

WED, SEP 30, 2020 - 7:32pm

Learning is odd. I feel it’s one of the only facets of the human experience which continuously gets more rewarding, for there is no law of diminishing returns, there. The more you learn, the more you wish to know. On it goes.

And after more than a decade of plotsing, screwing-up, re-writing, and learning, what a feeling it was to finally press ‘Save’ and leave my first manuscript behind for a new adventure.

The Binding of Siltari was a journey that was both long and frustrating for me, but absolutely thrilling and satisfying, as well. I can’t explain exactly what I learned along the path to 170,000 words. It’s one of those unquantifiable things. But what I can say with confidence, is that my writing is unrecognisable from what it was when I started in 2008. And not just my writing. I feel I’m a completely different person, too.

One of the most important things I learned, however, is the art of planning.

I no longer dive in to writing with just a vague idea in mind. I no longer throw characters in without knowing who they are. I no longer write scenes by following a feeling. (I’m also no longer able to read a book, or watch a film, without constantly trying to pick apart the mechanics of it. But that’s a post for another day...).

Another concept which taught me a lot was that of restriction. Siltari was an incredibly difficult story to write because I limited myself in so many ways with the setting and idea. It’s a very introspective story of a character in (what could have been) a very claustrophobic environment. But this forced me to really do a deep think about how to make it interesting and keep it moving; to explore every possible avenue and turn what is (for the protagonist) a horrible, unpleasant situation engaging and enjoyable for the reader.

I'll let my readers tell me if I had success, there. But now that I’ve embarked on my second novel, The Torril City Mysterion, all these things are paying off in a great big way. What I learned in Siltari has allowed me to plan a story which is so much smoother to write, and I can’t wait to share the progress with you all.

Welcome back, kid

TUES, SEP 22, 2020 - 12:38pm

Welcome to jimzip.com, my online home for almost fifteen years. It's undergone a lot of changes in that time, but I think now it will be easier than ever for people to get to know me and my work.

Here's where you'll find my musings about tunics, the world of fantasy books, movies and authors, and about my journey as an author, as well.

Enjoy.