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Tuesday 18 March 2014

Progress Report March 2014

The first rewrite of 'Billy and the Carinthean War' is complete. I've now begun a read-through to check for any glaring errors and to see where colour needs to be added. Then it's on to editing and preparation of graphics. It's a strange feeling, as I know I'm drawing towards the end of my time with Billy. I'm really going to miss him.

Once the Boldre Wood Trilogy is completed I shall return to work on the third QT Anthology. I have a good number of stories for it already, but I hope to add many more. This being the third in the series, I feel a need to make it even bigger and better than its predecessors.

After that, I don't know! There are always more stories to be written, but for now my head is too full of Billy to concentrate on them. I'll let you know my plans when I know what they are!
K.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Piscine Precipitation

The UK has experienced some pretty unusual weather these last few months and, just as it looks like we might be through the worst of it, it's now started raining fish. Yes, fish. Alright, it was only one fish, and it was most likely dropped by a clumsy seagull, but even so, a fish dropped out of the sky.

That's it, I'm taking my umbrella out whatever the weather. Just imagine: 'How was your day, dear?' 'Well dear, I was walking along the road when a haddock landed on my head. Guess what's for tea.'

Tuesday 4 March 2014

New Stories

There are two new stories on the QT website today, and it's all thanks to Richard. In an attempt to keep our ideas flowing, we've been setting each other writing challenges, of which his latest was 'Alien'. Perhaps thanks to the fact that I just finished the Astrobiology course run by the University of Edinburgh on Coursera, it really seemed to trigger something.

One's a bit daft, the other is more sober. The daft one is 'Universal Programming' and poses the suggestion that TV could actually save mankind. The sober one is 'One of a Kind' and is a teacher's account of an unusual pupil.

I hope you enjoy them, and thanks again to Richard.
K.

Monday 3 March 2014

Puzzle Games

I use my Samsung tablet for various things in day to day life. I plan artwork on it, I tap out story ideas on it, and once the days work is done, I play games on it. I'm not fond of popping bubbles, or matching gems, though I can be tempted to lengthy Sudoku or Mahjong sessions, but I've spent many hours trawling the Google Play Store for something to really get my teeth into.

I've long had a thing for mystery/ puzzle games, a penchant that grew from the excellent Myst series for the PC, which were set in mystical lands navigated by means of solving puzzles and problems. It's a genre like no other for capturing the imagination, but sadly such games take a lot of developing and many of the big games companies have steered away from them.

But then I stumbled across Fireproof Games during one of my desperate hunts. Fireproof have two games out, 'The Room' and 'The Room Two' which hark back to a time when games were built to enchant, to confound, to challenge. The graphics are astounding, the controls simple and intuitive, and the puzzles tricky enough to entertain without being so frustrating you're tempted to throw your tablet out of the window.

I'm checking their website daily for any sign of 'The Room Three' because, quite frankly, I need another quality puzzle game. Urgently.