Leaving the EU and Plans for the Future

You probably know by now that Britain is leaving the European Union, and you don't need me to tell you how that's all going down. I'm not here to give my thoughts on it, but inevitably these circumstances will be affecting my plans for the future, so here's a shot update on how that looks to pan out.

- My plan to start anongoing webcomic is being put on hold. I'll still be working on Sea of Spheres here and there, but with the climate currently uncertain I'm not sure I'll be able to dedicate the time or the hosting costs to a three year project.

- The time I would be spending on the webcomic will now likely be going in to working on some single issue, small press comics. This is mainly to get some practice in and get my stuff out there. The first one is going to be about John Paul Jones' attack on Whitehaven Harbour during the American War of Independence and the various interpretations of that story.

- Less than Three will be publishing a follow up to The Reminiscence of Good King Carnack. It should be fun. Since I sent the final manuscript off for the Carnack short this time last year I expect you'll probably see a similar release period.

- I'm going to try to get at least one Modern Realms illustrated novella out some time by the end of the year. My original plan for this was a much larger project of a whole series illustrated by different artists. I think that plan was a little ambitious, so right now I just want to take it one step at a time.

- There are other, further plans in development too on the Stand Up Comedy side of things, but I'm not going to say too much before I have more concrete certainty.

- Other than that, it'd really help if you'd check out my book Tales of the Modern Realms, and my Ebook The Reminiscence of Good King Carnack.

Whatever my thoughts are on the matter, this is where we are now and I have to start making plans to deal with that. In the words of Conan “He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man's soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?”

And a Lemonade for the Boy

Just a quick update on what's going to be happening over the coming months.

• I'm getting a story published by LessThan Three Press. It's been in the works for a while and I'll be going into more detail soon. It's my first paying gig, so I appreciate all the support from those interested.
• Obscure Comic of the Month is going to be taking a break for December and January to make room for Fallout 4 the coming year's affairs. This blog won't be devoid of content however, as...
• You'll be seeing a new Lisa Cummings shot story. I've been meaning to follow up The Case of the Exploding Meat, and It's been great to work with the character again. Lisa Cummings and the Five Minute Murder should be landing shortly before Christmas.
• I've been thinking about starting a webcomic. It's still in the prototype stages at the moment, but I think a weekly, three panel strip should be an achievable target. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things art wise, and should have some conclusive goals by January.
• It's likely I'll be doing a Stand Up Comedy for charity some time in April. I'll post details closer to the time.
• I'm back on Twitter, I won't be posting there much, but feel like It would be useful to engage with other creatives. Follow if you're interested.

And that's all for now, hopefully all this stuff will pan out and we'll see a productive year ahead. Thanks for bearing with me.

Too Much Too Young

So my performance at Worlds Biggest Liar this year did not land me in the top three, which was a little disappointing given that I felt my work this year was better than the last, where I came third.

While it would be remiss of me to disrespect the fine turns put on by the winners, I do have to say that this year's turnout was certainly a step down from what we had over the last two year, with only 7 entries as opposed to the usual 12 to 15. I feel that the way the selling of the tickets was handled might have had something to do with this, and I may explore my thoughts in depth in a more detailed article next month.

In the mean time I do plan more non-Biggest Liar based stand up in the future. Also, keep your eyes peeled, a short story should be coming before Christmas too.

What's Happening

I've been a little quiet on my blog front as late but that's because I've just recently got back from a trip to the US. I've also been gearing up to a few things in the near future. Here's a run down.

• New York Comic Con. Of course, I couldn't resist, most of my time has been dedicated to getting my Doctor Strange costume together. Hope to have a great time as usual, but nerves eh?
• Worlds Biggest Liar 2014. I lost my title last year, so nows the time to retake it. The event seems to get bigger and bigger every year, so I don't know if everyone I know who wants to come will be able to fit in the venue this time.
• The Arrest Us comp over at LitReactor hasen't called the winners yet. Feedback for my story was mixed, but valuble. I'm currently writing a full legnth Lisa Cummings novel, so hopefully things will move in the right direction.
• I may be back on air soon at Hospital Radio Haven if we manage to get the recording suite working. Makeing the time to broadcast has been my biggest obstacle, so being able to put shows together on a Sunday, say, and broadcast at a later date may get me back on again.
• I'm planning on putting my existing Modern Realms stories together as a sort of prototype for a self publishing project. Currently working on it as and when I have the time though, but may put more thought into it once NYCC is through.
• More illustrated short stories to come!

Other than that you can find me on Tumlbr or Deviantart for my rants (former) and occasional doodles (latter).

Thanks for reading.

Snooping Around

Sometimes you just want to do the thing.

World's Biggest Liar 2013

So I came in third place this year. It was quite a departure and a risk that I took, so I'm glad it worked out, but I can't say I'm not a little disappointed I didn't take 1^st. My opponents were clearly worthy however, and third is nothing to be sniffed at. Some recent reportage below.

The Independent

Times and Star

Whitehaven News

Leeds Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble was great. In many respects it was much better than NYCC for checking out small and independent projects. I talked to quite a few people and picked up a lot of interesting stuff. I even got to meet Kate Beaton of Hark a Vagrant fame, and she did an awesome Macbeth sketch for me which I may show some time in the future. I'll probably be writing a little more about what I picked up at the con some time in the future.

Looking at a few of the projects on display got me thinking about a few projects of my own. Watch this space.

There are also a few other things that I want to talk about over the coming weeks, so I'll keep you posted on coming developments.

...

Just a quick bit of news before we start this next part. My internet hardware is switching over tomorrow and I'm a little skeptical that it'll all run smoothly, so I just thought I'd update you on a few things in case it doesn't.

I'll be participating in the WorldsBiggest Liar 2013 at The Bridge Inn to defend my title on the 21^st November. Tickets are sold out but if you're going to be in attendance I'll see you there. Good luck to all others fellow liars, I hope you're bringing your A-game this year because I know I am.

I'll also be in attendance for LeedsThought Bubble on the 23^rd – 24^th. It's my first year going there so I'm not sure what to expect. Either way hope to have a grand old time there anyway and hope to meet some cool and interesting people.

I'm still trying to get my first book published, sending off another bunch of submissions this weekend. I've also finished the first draft of my second novel, so we'll see if that goes anywhere also.

All other updates will be going through my deviantart, or one of my three tumblr pages (last one is NSFW, don't click on it Mum).

That is all, regular writings may continue.

Anyway, I also do other Things

I've mentioned a few times I'm a DJ on Hospital Radio Haven. Here is a documentary about it.



I will stress that I'm cut down to one hour shows every other week at the moment. But Whatever. Still working on that novel.

So anyway, I hold a world title now. This is true and not a lie.

So I won the title of Worlds Biggest Liar 2012 on Thursday. Some coverage of this can be found below. I'll be updating with any further stuff that might be published.


http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/some-very-tall-tales-at-world-s-biggest-liar-contest-in-cumbria-1.1014563?referrerPath=news

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/features/the-worlds-biggest-liar-the-art-of-fibbing-8323440.html

To be honest, I walked into the competition purely for an interesting night and a few beers at The Bridge Inn with a few friends from work. Having done a little stand up and radio comedy in my time I though it'd be worth a crack at entering. I had a feeling that I'd be out of my depth when it came to the other contestants, some of whom had won it year after year. After getting up and telling my tale of an un-aired episode of Time Team involving a grave of Roman Badger Legionaries, I felt a little more confident with my chances. Didn't think for a minute that it'd win though.



And so, after fifteen minutes of photos and talks with the local papers I was getting interviewed by some Australian radio show over the phone. I didn't get the name of the show, If anyone know it and it's online give me a shout. I'd love to hear how drunk I sound.



For those interested I was originally going to go with a story about American dollars having the nickname 'dead presidents' because they were actually made out of dead presidents. Then one morning I woke thinking of the badger story and the rest was history. Naturally I'll be defending my title next year, but I've also thought of turning my lie, and similar tales, into a small comic book series. It's still in it's uncertain phase at the moment, I'll have to learn how to draw badgers for a kick off.



I'm still working on that novel by the way.