P.J. Loop

Ah, well, the main characters are Worth, Webb & Distance. There are nine core characters, if you include the bewhiskered creature that prowls at night. Eight if you don't.

Episode One sadly doesn't include any lampposts, or concerts, but it does have chaffinches, kitchen sinks & one or two gadgets.

Thank you for the feeback! Yes, I'm never quite sure. When I put it too short, people get the wrong idea, but too long gives too much away. I guess I will get the balance right eventually —hopefully 😅

Thank you! I am currently finishing off the draft of Episode Two, but both Episode Three and Four have quite a bit of work completed also. The entire series arc is plotted, but with enough gaps that serendipity can still play dice.

Episode One is essentially going through final layout/print checks.

An image of a weird ransom note with redactions, the message reads: Two security specialists, [redacted word] Worth and [redacted word] Distance —adept in the art of Harmonics— are pseudo accused of an impossible theft in their alternative steampunk world of Onaia. It takes all their skill, the help of [redacted word] PoliceGuard detectives, the clandestine [redacted word] of a mysterious [redacted word], and the truly [redacted word] —to save their entire city from collapsing into chaos.

Too long for a hook? Asking for a book.

#scifi
#sff
#mystery
#books
#booksky
#indieauthor
#writingcommunity

Absolutely agree. Everything should have a melody.

I've found the best way is to escape, wait until you spiral back out again, I usually catch hold of a comma splice, and convince myself to leave it there for effect.

An image of "The End of Worth and Distance : Episode One"'s back cover, the text reads: On the back: FIRST, THERE WAS DARKNESS THEN... CAME THE NOISE ?! In a world where the wrong sound can ruin your breakfast, steal your livelihood, or bring your construction project to an end permanently, what happens when things get truly incomprehensible? Security specialists Ash Worth and Victoria Distance have the misfortune to find out. Skilled in the science of Resonance—and the art of friendly arguments—they are a force to be reckoned with, until strange forces reckon back—putting them on track for a disaster of truly bureaucratic proportions. Pseudo-accused of an impossible theft they set about trying to find the real culprit. Whilst attempting to clear their name—and their office space—they encounter odd PoliceGuard detectives, bizarre occurrences, and mysterious creatures that creep around at night, purring at the moons. The story of ‘The End of Worth and Distance’ blends science fiction, mystery, darkness and humour in a tale where cutting- edge nostalgia and weird technology meet the impossible. BY THE SPIRALS!! HOW CAN THIS BE THE END? teowad.co.uk | pjloop.co.uk | spiraldust.co.uk Author blurb: P.J. Loop is real, although he cannot explain why. Never a young nor old-soul, instead he was thrust into the world of being a self-proclaimed middle-aged sentience. This explains his overly cautious behaviour with occasional bouts of midlife crisis, and penchant for writing oddness. On the spine: P.J.LOOP An Eighth Configuration Novel TEOWAD • EPISODE ONE <Spiraldust Publishing Logo>

I might use this as the final back and spine of 'Episode One'.

I may also not.

That's the problem with being a fickle fiction author.

But at least I'm not a fickle fictional author any more.

What do you think?
Does it explain enough?

#scifi
#teowad
#mystery
#booksky
#amwriting
#writingcommunity

There are books written completely without them. And writers who declare you should write without them (& sneak them in at the end). I cannot imagine it myself. No matter what, there are always some detractors somewhere. People also seem to have a thing about named vs numbered, or the order of them.

A picture of an author realising that words have more side effects than first appreciated. Essentially a close up shot of man with glasses, frowning at a computer screen. This is mostly what he does, except for the days where he's laughing maniacally, or frowning whilst away from a computer screen. And no, this isn't AI. Generative models can't get the right balance between sideburns and unkempt beard fuzz, and —as far as I'm concerned— they never will.

Say what you will about chapters, whether you love/hate them, they definitely help save sanity when doing typesetting & page layout.

Really brings home a meaning of 'waterfall' when you realise there's a missed line to fix at the start of a section, only to then suffer the consequences.

#amlooping

Totally, awkward making sure everyone has something to be doing, but in the right balance. Not having characters just wallhanging, or fighting to speak/act. I find people bursting through doors to announce 'that one line' and then running away, just to keep numbers down, is not a great alternative 😅

Anything involving my PoliceGuard characters. It's fine when it's action based, but when there's protocol to be followed or more than two characters I find it tricky. I learned that over time because I unmeaningly left nearly all of those scenes to write until near the end of the process. 🤦‍♂️

Okay, I think the editing is done.

Wow.

Yes, I'm still going through and doing layout...
That stuff never ends. 😂

I’m not getting my hopes up with this one.

If it works, great. If not, sobeit.

Still blurred.

All the days are numbered anyway.

What difference can anyone make?

This is the final test.

RADIO SILENCE WILL COMMENCE (for tests).

#scifi
#sff
#mystery
#books
#booksky
#indieauthor
#writingcommunity

What are five things in your upcoming release?

1: Two likeable but confounding security specialists.
2: A struggling PoliceGuard inspector.
3: Fluffy creatures that mew at the moons.
4: Mysteries of puzzling proportions.
5: A world half-powered by Harmonics & Resonance.

#teowad
#booksky
#amwriting

Guess it's counted as a 'darling' that got lost along the way, but good news is I've already found a home for it in the novella, 'Worth & Distance : The Red Dress Fiasco'. So, it shall live on, and perhaps we'll find out what was on her shopping list?

Knowing her it was probably 'get more gaskets'!

Thanks! Yes, the printhouse visit was to put an ad for their services in local publications that made sense. One read by small businesses. An antidote to Worth who kept trying to get full page adverts in the broadsheets. That's when a pickpocket met her automated thief protection built into her bag.

I actually have a 'deleted scene' of Distance going shopping, where she ends up foiling a pick pocket by accident.

T'was cut due to "Relevance, M'lud". She didn't buy anything or share the list, so I don't know.

She wasn't just shopping though and planned to stop off at the printworks too. #teowad

This image shows a screenshot of my Scrivener binder, it depicts the scenes at the end of the book, and my progress going step by step, checking for: - arc continuity and plot holes - character development corrections - repeat words - reducible sentences (Oh... the reducible sentences) - improvable prose - mischievous chaffinches For anyone who doesn't know, it is painstaking work, and there are no shortcuts. This screenshot also reveals some of the scene names which don't appear in the book, but every scene must have a scene name —otherwise its just unfair. Some examples are: 'Deadheading', 'Post-sign', 'Novemulus construction' and 'the way is shut'.

This image shows a screenshot of my Scrivener binder, it depicts the start of the book and my progress through laying out for the paperback format. This is something, that before writing my own book, I didn't know existed. And I'm not entirely sure I'm glad that I know such things exist in reality even now —if editing was painstaking, this takes the gem-encrusted biscuit. This covers: - making sure the rendering of each line doesn't create widows (even though Scrivener supposedly has protection against this —it doesn't). - making sure that there are no weird gaps at the start and end of pages, or sudden gremlins trying to reinvent what negative space means. - making sure that the timing and pacing of how the chapters lay out works well for the format. - Some of things can actually involve changing the written word, because for each format, there are just some ways that sentences do not align. These are subtle changes however, never in the actual meaning of the text. - Making sure that my special additions, beyond the text are good. I have not yet looked at the hardback layout, I'm telling my brain that it doesn't exist just so that it will keep with me and reach then end of the paperback. Then, I'm planning on a nice treat before I break the news. I don't think it suspects a thing at the moment. Again this screenshot shows some of the scene names, like 'The beginning' (really imaginative that one), 'Be prepared', 'Honourable Mentionings', 'Slow Chaffinches', and so on. One of my favourite is 'Stealing time'.

Jeesh, it's probably only authors, those laying undersea pipes & long distance runners who know what it is to be a few strides away from the end. 1st image shows editing/review status, 4 scenes to go in episode one! 2nd image shows layout progress for the paperback! 😌

#booksky
#amwriting
#amediting

Going through and dealing with overused words is not my idea of a fun Friday evening. Especially, and specifically, when you learn quite how many times you use the word 'particular'. 😲

On one page I had 4 occurrences!

I challenge you to see how many you have.

#amwriting
#amediting
#overusedwords

Worth being cautious is an interesting thing.

-- 8< --

Distance scowled. He then understood why his brain was being cautious about jokes. She took her experiments very seriously. By way of apology, he found an intelligent question to ask.

-- 8< --

#amwriting
#WIPSnips
#WriteSky
#WritingCommunity

Right, here’s a proper video, none of this mysterious nonsense.

Here we can see a bit more…

Hang on? It's still blurred?

Maddening chaffinches!

#scifi
#books
#booksky
#indieauthor

Licensing music's a nightmare, so on this platform at least..

Audio: Eleven Music

For original music, see YouTube

Just to clarify, as some people have been confused by this, my main protagonists are friends.

Definitely.

They're just skilled in the art of arguments too, that’s all.

They're definitely nothing else.

Not one iota.

So, don’t start with all your “will they, won’t theys”

#scifi
#sff
#booksky

I’ve got to stop it with these one word descriptions.

Light?

What does that mean when it’s at home?

Or, even when it’s blasting across the galaxy at the speed of, well… illumination.

Can a realisation travel faster than light?

#scifi
#sff
#books
#booksky
#indieauthor
#writingcommunity

Fun Q. I don't often have weapons... gadgets, yes, misused Harmonics, absolutely —but not weapons. So this section is rare.

But then this is from my other WIP novella entitled, 'Worth & Distance : The Red Dress Fiasco' —which is a tad different to my main series, and somewhat sillier.

Today...

Ok, let's get into this marketplace set-up. So, I've created the site, built the infra, planned the products, configured the categories, fixed the auth issues, played havoc with UX, coded the fiddly bits. Right, now I need to...

Define VAT & Tax settings.

🤦‍♀️

"Whose idea was this again?"

A few years later...

An author has a brilliant idea.

"I know, I'll set up my own site to sell my book."

"That'll give me loads of freedom and I won't be tied to corporate madness to get my story out to the world."

"Yes, great, there's all sorts of things I can do."

"It can't be that hard."

A long time ago...

A Senior Software Engineer has a long day.

"Jeesh, if I see another logistics problem it'll be too soon."

"Who on earth came up with Tax as an idea?! It's terrible."

"It's a miracle parcels even make it to their destination."

"Don't get me started on Customs..."

#amwriting

Overall, all my characters dread what's happening.

They'll be able to find out once I've finished book four. For now they'll have to settle in knowing Episode One as a ready to publish book, and Episode Two as an almost complete draft.

They have some inklings in EP Three. But EP4 really is key.

We won't get into what Maki & Xam fear, because they're truly dealing with nightmares off in Episode 3.

The kind that make it difficult to balance my writing between the light & the dark.

That make me think I might even have to do a split compile, one for younger adults, and one for older kids. 🤷‍♀️

For 'Pink Trainers' their worst day has already happened, so living and dreading are sometimes one and the same. I don't believe they even take much time to think about it these days. They are working towards their goal, and that is it. Linear thinking at its worst.