July 2024 Update: I’m Back!

I’M BACK, BABY!

Helloooooo everybody! Welcome to the updated and renovated website of yours truly!

Unfortunately, I let the website’s health and content stagnate and, in some cases, just rot. The last few years have been very eventful, and I didn’t think anything could top the turmoil of 2021 (if you know, you know) BUT… somehow this year – or rather the past 12-18 months – have been absolute doozies.

I won’t go into too much detail, other than to say worsening bipolar disorder played a significant part in that. (Thankfully, I’m getting things under control and the past couple months especially have been an absolute 180.)

Probably the best thing in these past few months has been the return to writing – I mean, in over twenty-five years I’ve never ever really stopped writing, but like most writers, even those without mental health disorders or other distractions, there were periods of serious stagnation. Progress was either made in feverish manic bursts or not at all. Self-doubt about my work and my identity as a writer would creep in, then feed back into the procrastination patterns.

I’m happy to say this hasn’t been the case these past couple of months. I’ve actually been more productive than I think I have in my entire life and career. (I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with my new meds levelling things out in my monkey brain, tsk tsk.) I’ve been busy writing several nights, if not most, every week; sometimes writing on lunch breaks (or sneakily on the job between customers) and the rare day off. I realised, even before I started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, that a little bit of work every day was better than what I was doing. That goes for the progression towards the final result AND the building of better, sustainable habits that ultimately focus less on goals/outcome and more on practices. It’s been giving me more motivation and passion again for my writing and more free time to do things outside writing. (Anyone who knows me knows how much I love gaming and going out for a boogie*!)

So, on that note, I should probably update you all on the actual writing (after all, that’s probably why you’re here!):

My current WIP is a novel-length supernatural/psychological horror story set in the north-eastern hinterland of New South Wales, Australia – a pristine, largely untouched forest that harbours a great power… a corrupted power that plays with the mind of the tormented and punishes the weak and sinful.

The main character is a man running from his problems. Ringo and his daughter, Sophia, are spending the summer camping in this idyllic wilderness, away from the madness of the city and the bitterness of memories. However, the forest begins to take on an ominous, threatening aspect: the positions of the trees seem to change nightly; the earth swallows up anything Ringo kills for food before he can retrieve it. Ringo is plagued by visions – or hallucinations – and at night the forest is filled with strange, unearthly sounds in the darkness beyond the campfire.

Ringo can feel the eyes of something Other, watching them.

But when Sophia vanishes one night, Ringo is thrust into the fight of his life: he must find and rescue Sophia while evading the stalker pursuing him through the forest. In the course of a single night, Ringo will be forced to face his greatest demons, the darkest corners of his own mind, or he just may not make it out alive – and neither will Sophia.

The way I’ve come to describe this story – tentatively titled Discordia, or Project: Discordia here on the website – is “[Adam Nevill’s] The Ritual meets Silent Hill“. Fans of the Silent Hill games will see the influence, the abstract and metaphorical manifestations that set that game series apart from its contemporaries; The Ritual connection comes from characters who are out of their depth in a hostile environment (despite Ringo’s projection that he’s a seasoned outdoorsman) and the forest setting.

I’ll tell you… (And this is just my opinion here) It’s been hard making the Australian rainforest scary! The North American/Canadian wilderness that we see so often in films – and their many eerie legends from indigenous folklore – as well as The Ritual‘s own Scandinavian forest setting, they seem to be the kind of places where you’d truly believe dark and sinister things would happen!

Ironically, Australia represents one of the oldest family of indigenous cultures AND some of the oldest land-mass in the world. I think there’s a serious case of ignorance about indigenous folklore, even here in Australia among Australians of all descents, and a lack of appreciation for the darker, scarier aspects of our mysterious, ancient land and its possible supernatural inhabitants… After a lot of research into the region I had in my mind for the setting (which came after reading Gregory P. Smith’s amazing memoir, Out of the Forest, I did manage to find something juicy to use as the context for my story – though I am taking some creative liberties without trampling on the original myths or some of the more sensitive history of the locale. I think it will be a satisfying marriage of thoroughness and sensitivity and imagination.

But I don’t want to oversell it – it’s still early days, but I will keep updating over the coming months. I will likely be pitching it to traditional publishers when the time comes before I consider self- or indie publishing.

Last thing I should mention: 12 months ago I released my poetry collection Bright Skies, Long Shadows, which sold fairly and many readers reached out to me to share their praise for the book. (Anyone who bought it but didn’t review, reviews are the breakfast of champs – and keeps ensuring food remains on us writers’ tables! So get on it – Amazon and Goodreads are perfectly fine and take a minute or two to do!) I am planning however to do a bit of a soft relaunch. I’m hoping to enroll the book in Kindle Unlimited to widen visibility and makes it more accessible to more people. I’ll make a separate post about this at a later date, when I know what’s happening.

Sorry about the long post! I hope it finds you well and I look forward to the next update!

‘Til next time!