Hello. I’ve been a bit quiet on here over the last couple of months, mostly because I’ve been so busy, and somehow it’s March already. So I thought a quick update report was due. There’s a lot of stuff I can’t talk about yet, which is the other reason I’ve not posted in a while. So, time to dance between the raindrops a bit. So please bear with me a while longer.
Books
What I can say is that I’m currently working on three different novels. All of them are at different stages and at least one of them is not what you would expect from me. I’m still writing fantasy but these are stories set in a new world.
For the time being I’m done with Balfruss and the rest. I have no idea at the present time if I will ever revisit that world. I have a few ideas rattling around that would need developing further. So never say never, but for the time being I’m working on something completely different. It’s scary and exciting, creating new worlds, new people, new creatures. It’s been quite a while since I’ve done anything in a new world so it’s been a lot of fun.
I hope to have some news in the next few months that I can share but for the time being I’ll just have to be vague.
Reading
I’ve been doing an interesting experiment over the last couple of months. In addition to watching TV shows including, The Witcher, Altered Carbon, Star Trek Picard, I’m Not Ok With This, and many others, I’ve been rewatching The Expanse.
When I first started watching Season 1 a couple of years ago, I really struggled. I’ll admit it, I had to force myself to chug away on season 1, but then something clicked and I began to love it. Now, it’s one of my favourite SF series. The experiment I’ve been conducting is that I’ve been reading the novels for the first time and then rewatching the corresponding TV series. It’s not a perfect 1:1 ratio, so there’s some overlap. However, it’s proving fascinating to see where changes were made to the TV series from the book and try to understand the reasons why it was done. Over time I’ve began to notice quite a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of the two mediums. There’s all sorts of stuff you can do in a novel that you just couldn’t get away with on TV and vice versa. From a storytelling perspective it’s not something I’ve done before and I’m learning a lot.
Events
It’s early in the year, and obviously with a lot of uncertainty in the media at the moment things might change. However, next month from 10-12th April, I will be attending Eastercon. This is an annual SFF event for fans. There will be lots of panels, readings, fantasy and SF and basically it’s a chance for SFF fans to just hang out for a long weekend. I’ll be there, on a couple of panels probably, but I don’t know which ones yet. So keep an eye out on the website for more information about the programme. The event moves around the UK and this year it is taking place at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole Hotel, which is walking distance from the NEC. So it’s easy to get to via train and car. Come along and say hi if you’re around.
I’ll see how the rest of the year pans out but I suspect I will be at at least a couple more events later in the UK.
Stephen Aryan 