A WHOLE YEAR!?!?!?!

Honestly, I'm as surprised as you are.

I originally started this blog so I had a regular place to talk about all my creative endeavours, especially writing. Over the years, I also talked about music, travel, films...all kinds of things. Since moving to Colombia at the start of 2017 to, quite literally, start a new life, my writing had to take a backseat to my day job (teaching English). I still did it, but not as much (it 'helped', that before Colombia, I was largely unemployed for two years, so time to write was a luxury I had).

Then, last March, I started a different teaching job with substantially more hours. My writing basically dried up, not because I didn't feel creative, but because my creativity was being channeled into making videogames and music - and also trying to find time for writing would have been too much to take on. So writing faded into the background.

BUT NOW! My oh my. I recently had a baby. I mean, I didn't literally pop him out - you can thank my partner for that - but I helped make him. I'm looking at becoming a stay-at-home dad, at least for a bit. This means, for the first time in nearly three years (and somewhat ironically, given that newborn babies are a handful and supposed to take up a lot of your time), I'll have time to spend writing.

I'll still be working on videogames and music, but I'm learning to manage my time with these activities, too. For instance, for the last year or so, I've been hammering away at 'game jams', which are themed competitions (usually just for fun) that are designed to encourage creativity in a short space of time. I really enjoy doing these, but it would be nuts of me to try to keep doing them, so instead I'm going to focus on completing one or two games in order to release them properly (ie. retail, on sites such as Itch and Steam). You can eyeball everything I've done so far HERE! [Cube Road is the main game I'm working on right now].

Music-wise, writing this for games has itself been a fun challenge. I've steadily been working on new Cardboard Dead Boy stuff, which I'd like to release by November but we'll see how that goes. For now, you can stick your eyeballs HERE for new stuff (which there will be sooooooooooooooon).

And now back to the writing. I'm in the process of compiling details of all my publications to date, as well as reviews (of which I've had a very nice amount of positive ones). Before Colombia, I also edited/formatted novels/anthologies, so I'd like to get back into that, too. I'll update this blog soon with details related to this. Fiction-wise, I'm looking at dipping my toes into the murky waters of self-publishing. I mean, I've been self-publishing my music for years, so why not my writing? All my previously published stuff is now out of contract and/or (sadly) some of the publishers no longer exist, so the plan is to take a bunch of these, tweak them (since I now have a much stronger grasp of grammar, thanks to the day job) and include them with new stories. The theme(s) will be smalltown horror/interdimensional apocalypses/collapsing realities. More news on this SOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!

And that's ya lot FOR NOW. If you're a writer and/or interested in hiring me for editing, please email wayne(dot)goodchild(at)virgin(dot)net. Cheers!

RED EYE: A JOURNEY THROUGH HELL

Eagle-eyed readers will remember I occasionally mention working on video games. In truth, I don't have a lot of time to do this at the moment, but I still try and enter game jams (prompts/challenges) so as to give myself a kick up the bum to actually finish something. The latest one I entered was A GAME BY IT'S COVER, which tasks you to pick a fake Famicom game cartridge and create an actual game for it.

I choose RED EYE: A JOURNEY THROUGH HELL by Brent Ashe [Instagram / Twitter].

His description is pretty succinct and felt really easy to do, so I did it! --> 

An endless journey through Hell. You pilot an airliner between fiery rock formations as demons hurl pitchforks of damnation. Pick up and drop off your accursed passengers as you ferry them to their final destination. We love to die, and it shows.

You can give it a whiz via https://atomic-toilet.itch.io/red-eye either in your browser or by downloading to your computer. It's pretty difficult, but it is possible to "win", hopefully in a way that doesn't betray the whole 'endless journey' aspect. Hint: there are 30 Passengers, but you can't/don't need to save them all.

I AM NOT DEAD

Hello! I know it's been a while; please excuse me. I started a new job teaching English here in Colombia and the schedule's a bit bananas, plus I moved house and we all know how messy that can get.

Anyway! I haven't really had time to do much creative stuff for a while now, but that doesn't mean I don't have some irons in the fire. Those who regularly point their eyeballs at this blog will know I submitted my most recent novel, A WRETCHED PLACE, to a publisher last year. Well, this weekend they requested the full manuscript! Nothing like seeing an email from a publisher, thinking "Oh well, here's another rejecOH WHAT?!" Fingers crossed they like it enough to move forward with it...!!!

That's it for now, but I intend to pop back on here later this week with news about some other re-ignited projects. HOWZAT?!