Matt Kelland

They're all wrong, obviously. Except for me.

The last few weeks have been a battle with depression. So I allowed myself one last weekend of self-pity, and now it's time to get my shit together. I'm feeling positive and actually looking forward to taking care of the things I've been putting off all year.

Pretty much.

Probably. Everyone I'm speaking too is jittery about everything. This just adds to it.

The Suffumigation of the MacGuffin How a Regency magician helped me deal with writer's block

When you need inspiration, you have to go digging wherever it takes you.

open.substack.com/pub/mattkell...

For years I've been sick of journalists who quote random people on Twitter to make it sound like public opinion. That's the ultimate in lazy journalism.

My preferred AI tool for the last six months has been Gemini, but after today, I think I'm going to be finding myself using Claude a lot more. (I've barely used ChatGPT in the last year anyway, so boycotting that isn't an issue.)

One of my stories starts with "Fuck!" because that was the best way to throw the reader right into the middle of a chaotic action scene. The rest of the story is about a very mild-mannered old lady, so the contrast works well.

The Harmony Codex

Headache: couldn't write, read, or anything requiring open eyes. So I lay on the floor listening to music. I'd forgotten how wonderful that is. Not music as background, total immersion, letting myself be aware of the depth of sound.

Also, this is an amazing album.

open.spotify.com/album/0qEIPJ...

My March reading list Death, hell, zombies, murder, aliens, rogue AIs... I'm keeping it mostly light-hearted this month.

A real mixture this month. Some modern, some old, some re-reads, some new to me.

mattkelland.substack.com/p/my-march-r...

He also wrote The Terror, which is far better than the TV adaptation

I have so many memories of that game.

Saw this and couldn’t help thinking of my Mum. She'd have hated the grammatical errors, but loved the sentiment.

Wrote my chapter for today.
Might do another one (or two) if I can't persuade my wife to spend the afternoon playing board games.
#amwriting

Too much TV might spoil your… prose writing I’m aware the title of this blogpost might sound like old-fogey nagging, but it has a serious point. And, to reassure you, the cure is easy. We learn storytelling from just about anything, and much…

Here's my own take on the problem identified by @thelincoln.bsky.social - Too much TV might spoil your prose #writing nailyournovel.wordpress.com/2022/04/10/t... #writinglife #writingcommunity #writingq

I'm thinking of doing the same. I also have Fi.

Incidentally the word for "Home" is to be found on a page about yellow flowers. Which, since that's the title of the novel I'm writing, amuses me.

(PDF) The Voynich Manuscript: Decoded PDF | The Voynich Manuscript (VM) is an illustrated codex hand-written in a unique writing system whose pages have been carbon-dated to 1404-1438 CE.... | Find, read and cite all the research you need...

This 2022 article claims to crack the Voynich code, and reckons it's a profession of Catharism, written in a form of encrypted Arabic. The word for "Home" is on a page about yellow flowers. (Which, since that's the title of the novel I'm writing, amuses me.)

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

(PDF) The Voynich Manuscript: Decoded PDF | The Voynich Manuscript (VM) is an illustrated codex hand-written in a unique writing system whose pages have been carbon-dated to 1404-1438 CE.... | Find, read and cite all the research you need...

This 2022 article claims to crack the code, and reckons it's a profession of Catharism, written in a form of encrypted Arabic. The word for "Home" is in Line 2, on page 100.

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

I like this one.
One real language.
One made-up language.
One transliteration into a real alphabet.
And one that could be a made-up language, could be a cryptogram, or could be a complete hoax. That one's mine.

For the third time in a row, I have replaced the screen protector on my ancient Pixel4A5G with no blotches, bubbles or mishaps.

I'll be sad when I finally have to get a new phone because I'll have to learn how to do it all over again. Yeah, I know it should be the same, but you know it's not.

Sun Ra: Do The Impossible - Watch the documentary now! | American Masters | PBS Discover the extraordinary life of poet, philosopher and music visionary Sun Ra, who self-produced more than 200 albums.

I'm really enjoying this documentary about Sun Ra. Not my usual style of music, but I can't help but admire his unique creativity.

www.pbs.org/wnet/america...

Today, however, I wrote absolutely nothing. But I've pretty much got the next two chapters mapped out in my head.

Also a result.

Damn, that was good. Not what I was expecting at all, and I was pleased to find out that the Delia Derbyshire influence was entirely intentional. Shame they couldn't have filmed it in Wales, though.
Thanks for the recommendation.

Very much so.

Is it? It feels like it's been the same day on repeat since about mid December.

I didn't write a new chapter today. At 2am I realized what was wrong with the chapter I wrote yesterday, so I rewrote that instead.

Small Black Cat

I'd take my cat for a walk but she says it's not really her thing. To be fair, she's 15 and arthritic, so I can respect that.