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Book Release! Penal Earth
When Duncan Chambers executes the murderer of his partner, the wealthy son of one of the richest men in the solar system, there is only one place for him to go: Earth.
With three other criminals all sentenced to the solar systems largest penal colony Duncan is challenged in more ways than he could have ever envisaged and this new world isn’t like what humanity had been told.
Penal Earth is a story I’ve been working on for many years. It’s had a few different directions but I settled on the story that is now there for all to read. Get it here: https://amzn.eu/d/bIubrx5
The Death of NaNoWriMo
*These are my thoughts and feelings and not that of anyone or organisation outside of myself*
Earlier this year I informed my fellow Municipal Liasions(ML) for my region that I was standing down as an ML.
I stepped down mainly because I felt I had never stepped up into the role like I’d always wanted. In the five years I was ML there was always an outside factor that derailed my attempts at building the region back up to what it was. Covid was a key factor, but then was personal matters, last November for example I had got dumped and that all but ended NaNoWriMo for me for the month. It was like that every year, something would come along and derail me. Aside from this last year I felt I wasn’t getting any traction. I organised four or five write-ins, including one that I had to travel about an hour to get to, and only one of them had anyone attend. Then all the allegations about minors being at risk in the forums came out and it changed the entire tone of the month. People shut down their profiles en masse and it became almost a feeling of trying to support those who were still writing while the NaNo board began their investigation.
Now, I was also dealing with the mental health fallout of having that relationship end so I lost track of a lot of the details of what was going on. And between then and a few weeks ago I’d fallen out of the loop fully. It’s only been the conversations that my regional MLs have been having that made me aware of what a nightmare it appears to have become. From poor communication to a liability contract that would include ML’s, who are volunteers, to give over numerous personal details for checks to a company that has a questionable history. That contract also appeared to put any responsibility onto MLs regardless of what happened in forums and other online spaces.
NaNoWriMo also seems to require any non-nanowrimo spaces to have any connection to the organisation removed. So Facebook Groups or Discord servers for example. Considering how unfit for purpose the NaNo forums are (and how dead some of them are), and how essential Discord had been for my region for example during lockdown, this was going to limit engagement even more than I’d noticed was going on.
This is really quite heartbreaking for me in a lot of ways. I’d been doing NaNoWriMo for a couple of years but had never really engaged in the community. But after a breakup in 2013 I think it was I went to an event and met some of the other writers in the area and that became a regular thing. Over the years I made some amazing friendships and connections that spread into other ares of the business. One of those connections lead to the Sparks anthology that had my first published story in. So I’ve got a lot to thank NaNo for, and seeing it falling apart like this is horrible. I’d been having doubts about being an ML for the last couple of years. It’s one of those things that once I was inside it a little and saw some of the moving parts of it I lost a little passion for it.
As I said earlier, I never stepped up in the way I wanted to as an ML. It’s the same as why I don’t want to step into a managerial position at work. I don’t think I’d be able to step up in the way that I’d want to. When I was at school it was always mentioned by teachers that I was a leader. Looking back, I’m not sure, but I also take into consideration how much was knocked out of me in the years in the car trade. That time for me has passed.
I look at NaNoWriMo now and hope to dear god it its sorted out in a way that there will be MLs come November. They are the lifeblood of NaNoWriMo. Without them it will not work even close to how it should do. Right now it feels like they’re being sidelined for raising concerns, which to me means the ones that’ll be left are the ones who are desperately trying to save NaNo, or the ones who will abuse the power they think they have.
What I’ve written here is all opinion. I haven’t looked into it in the depth I should have done, and I’m screaming into the void. But if someone from NaNoWriMo HQ sees this, please change the direction the organisation is heading. It’s on life-support right now, but time is running out to save it from becoming a shadow of its former self.
Good Morning, 20th of February 2024
Howdy folks, how are we all doing this morning?
I have not slept too well but am quite proud that I’ve got my arse out of bed and I’m at my desk writing this post before cracking with on Penal Earth 2 instead of just rolling over, pulling my blanket up and going back to sleep.
I’ve still written everyday this year. I’m very happy with this consistency that I’ve got going at the moment. Some days are better than others. My words written range is quite broad, ranging from 201 words on the 17th to 1192 on the 10th. Do I want to try and aim for more 1000 words plus a day? or do I just keep going as I am at the moment? It’s working, and has been the most consistent I’ve been with writing for a long time. Honestly, at the moment I think keep doing what I’m doing. This is working, and although I want to push myself and grow I don’t think changing my method at the moment would be a good idea.
That said, I do want to knock out a thousand words today if I can. I’ve got a couple of days off from the day job so I can get my arse in the chair and get some work done.
On those words, I’m off to grab some cereal and then get some bloody words wrangled!
Have an awesome day, folks!
NaNoWriMo 2023 Day 10
Howdy folks! I am about 5k behind on the word count but I’ve found a vein of a story that I am building from. It’s gone from being random novellas to what will be a book two in a series. I don’t know where this series will go yet, but the first book was a lot of fun to write and it was my 2020 NaNo project. I’m not too bothered about being behind, I know I can get 50k in a month. My focus is more getting a workable story done, or at least the bones of one and I am getting a half decent idea of where I want to take this second book. Before I started on it recently I had no ideas how I was going to do a sequel. Don’t get me wrong I’ve got ideas about some of the elements I want to put in there, but I hadn’t really sat down and thought about it. I’m also being reminded that I’m a bit of a discovery writer and I learn the story as I ‘m going. I feel I’ve got away from that a little so it’s feeling good writing like that again.
The month is going a little slower than I’d like but a head cold has led to little sleep which has knocked me off my feet a little. But it’s settling down a little so I’m going to try and get back in the flow of it next week. I saw next week as I have my daughter this weekend so she’ll be my focus. I might write after she’s gone to bed tomorrow and after I’ve dropped her home on Sunday but my time with her is more important.
Right, I am going to get some words wrangled before going off out with my partner for a few hours.
How are your writing projects progressing.
Ramsgate 06/10/2023
Peter: On a whim we’ve come down to Ramsgate. Neither of us have been here for a long time and I am pleased we’ve made this our destination for the …
Ramsgate 06/10/2023
Good Evening, 27th December 2022
Howdy, folks! How are we all doing? Are people having a good festive period? Mine has been pretty darn good, but it’s back to work tomorrow. Which I am looking forward to, I enjoy my day job a lot and I like the routine (if shift-work has such a thing), and as most of my shifts are early’s I tend to have the rest of the day to get stuck into what I need to.
In the week before Christmas I had very little time to focus on writing, but I did manage to squeeze writing time in. This years NaNo project is still in process and I didn’t want to go too many days without working on it. I’ve had seven days this month where I haven’t done any writing at all, and likely a few days where I haven’t worked on NaNo ’22, but I’ve not let too many days in a row where I’ve not worked on it. Something I’ve talked about a lot on here is momentum, and I think it’s something that’s very important. I’ve lost momentum before and it’s very hard to get it back. I’m worried it’s going to happen again, so I’m hoping I’ve done enough so far with this story to stop me from hitting a roadblock that stops me dead like has happened in the past.
I don’t want this year to end with a bang, and I definitely don’t want it to end with a whimper. I want it to end with a nice steady pace, similar to where I am at the moment which rolls right into 2023 and continues.
I haven’t spoken much about my mental health publicly of late, that’s simply because I’m feeling better than I have done in a long time. Okay, then I’ve ever felt. Yes, there’s a long way to go. There are still things which really eat away at me, and as I kinda tick one thing off another three crop up. But I’m working on it all. I have less bad days now then I used to and the good ones are more frequent. I don’t believe it’s one or the other. I think some days are a mix of both, while others are neither. Those are the days I have most of, but even those days tend to be more towards the positive side of life.
The biggest lesson I feel I’ve learnt of late is to get a decent amount of sleep. Life is a lot more settled when I’m more rested.
HRH Queen Elizabeth II, Rest In Peace
Yesterday, the only monarch as a Brit I’ve known passed away at 96 years old. After 70 years as our monarch Queen Elizabeth breathed her last and for the first time I heard the words ‘The King’.
The public out pouring of grief has been beyond anything I’ve ever known. I think where she was the first really visible monarch who travelled the world extensively helped put her in many people’s hearts. I’m not historian, but I’ve not really heard of any other Royal, or head of state that did as much as she did in terms of engaging with the people of the Britain and the Commonwealth.
Something that I feel has really stood out about Elizabeth II was how she presented herself to the world. She had a dignity, a calmness, a sense of duty that I think many of us could learn from. For someone who was never meant to be monarch she took the role on seeming to view it not only as a duty but a privilege. I don’t think we’ll ever see a head of state with such determination and selflessness. Even if King Charles III carries on his mothers ways (which I’ve seen commentators mention that was how her father ruled as well) I don’t think he’s going to be able to. I think she was one of a kind and one we’re going to miss.
Queen Elizabeth wasn’t perfect, and she’s had her critics and many of them are spewing a lot of hatred online. I respect honest, constructive criticism, but some of what I’ve seen is just nasty and vicious for the sake of being nasty and vicious. Yes, she was the ruler of an empire built on rape, murder and theft. Colonisation was horrific and I don’t think it’s something we should be proud of.
I don’t know what her thoughts on that were, from what I’ve seen people say over the past day I doubt she ever shared them publicly. From what I can make out she never shared anything like that publicly. Even to the point of clapping for the same length of time at the Royal Variety Performance so’s not to upset anyone if she clapped less for them.
I think people wanted to hear from her regarding the recent allegations made against Prince Andrew. One person I saw online took particular issue with the fact that Prince Andrew walked by her side as she attended Prince Philip’s funeral. The shock of a mother wanting her son by her son as they laid to rest a husband and father.
There’s been so many controversies just in my life time alone, but I don’t think they will be what Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered for. I think it’ll be the woman who served during the Second World War. It’ll be the woman who lost her beloved father when he was still in his fifties and she was twenty-five, and then being crowed Queen while still grieving his loss. But her determination, her sense of duty, her dignity, and so much more made her a monarch that I think will go down in history as one of the greatest. I heard a few commentators referring to her as Elizabeth the Great yesterday, and I think that is fair. How many of us would have wanted to be in her shoes? Okay, she had wealth and power beyond the wildest dreams of many but would we want the worlds eyes on us every step we made? When I think about my family (mainly extended family) and what some members of it have done I’m not gonna be too hard of the late queen for not saying or doing this in regards to scandals. And don’t forget, we don’t know what she said behind closed doors.
I’m going to remember Queen Elizabeth II for the smile she had when she realised one of the royal guards was actually Prince Phillip dressed up to make her smile. I’m going to remember a woman who looked like she put her duty as Queen above anything she could have wished for herself.
On a side note, I hope I’m half as active as she was. Especially in those years when most people are settling into retirement.
Thank you for your service, you can rest now.
Good Evening, 15th February 2022
Hey folks, how are we all?
Today I’ve written 1061 words in total. Most of those were this evening during an online write-in, and I’m very weary down with the first draft of the story. There’s one character whose story needs wrapping up, and I’m not quite sure how I’m going to do that but I’m going to think on it for a couple of days.
Tomorrow I’m going to be starting a new short story, well it’s a second draft of one that I’ve already written for an anthology but I’m not overly happy with it.
I’ve now got two short stories that are hand written this year that I need to type up, but I’m going to sit on them for a month or two and then type them up. I want to let them settle before the next stage.
Not a bad day all in all.
Have a good one, folks!
Peter Germany's World 