Posted by Tom on Sep 1, 2010 in
Podcast On my last trip to Cornwall I was able to visit the various places and sights that inspired independent game developer Matt Clark to create Barrow Hill, a brilliant, atmospheric adventure game set oddly enough in… Cornwall. I really got a kick out of seeing things in real life that appeared in the game.
I have put together this video so that you can see these places too, including an old barn, three ancient holy wells and an enigmatic stone circle. Hopefully you will enjoy the video enough to be inspired to check out the game, and even to make a trip to Cornwall yourself!
By the way, you can also view a gallery of photographs of these locations by going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomrbaynham/sets/
You will find the game website here: http://www.barrow-hill.co.uk/
Matt’s soon to be released new game, Bracken Tor, has a website here: http://www.brackentor.com/
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Posted by Tom on Jul 29, 2010 in
Podcast I had the privilege to attend this fantastic event organised by Pete (http://twitter.com/booksellerpete) at Clerkenwell Tales (http://www.clerkenwell-tales.co.uk/), an independent bookshop in London. Both Cory and China are well respected, best selling authors in the fantasy/science fiction genres. It was great to listen to readings of their latest novels and hear their views on a variety of writing-based topics. The event was hosted by Robert Sharp (http://twitter.com/robertsharp59) of English Pen (http://www.englishpen.org/).
Due to the popularity of the event the venue was moved to the large church next door, which explains the rather echoey sound quality to the episode. Due to the ill health of one of the members of the audience, the discussion had to be cut short, so I must apologise for the abrupt conclusion to the discussion.
Contact details for the authors:
Cory Doctorow – http://twitter.com/doctorow http://craphound.com/
China Miéville – http://chinamieville.net/
Promos:
Flagship Magazine – http://www.flyingislandpress.com/flagship
Max Buffer’s Media Museum – http://www.mediamuseum.co.uk/
Podioracket – http://www.podioracket.com/
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Posted by Tom on Jul 23, 2010 in
Heritage & Empire,
Writing I am pleased to announce that you can now purchase my first novel, Heritage & Empire, directly from Smashwords. The direct link for my book page is http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19524
As well as the typical online reading and PDF editions, you can also purchase the novel in a variety of ebook formats, including Kindle, epub and Sony Reader. Within a few days you will be able to buy the novel through the respective company sites too, such as direct download to iBooks if you have the iPad or iPhone.
If you want to try before you buy, you can sample 25% of the novel for free! Also, I have already begun work on creating the podiobook version of my novel, which will be released in full for free. I plan to release episodes each week, starting in August.
Posted by Tom on Jul 22, 2010 in
Heritage & Empire,
Writing I am pleased to announce that my first novel Heritage & Empire is now complete and is being prepared for ebook distribution. I am so pleased to have completed this project that has taken several months, and is the first creative endeavour that I have brought to completion. I have begun recording work for the free podcast edition of the novel and I hope to begin releasing episodes in August.
I will update you when I have the details of how to purchase the novel, but for now enjoy the spectacular cover artwork by Stefan Hansson.
Heritage & Empire Cover
Posted by Tom on Jul 2, 2010 in
Heritage & Empire I’m pleased to announce that Stefan Hansson (http://stefanhansson.org/) will be providing the cover artwork for my upcoming novel Heritage & Empire. Stefan is a very talanted sketch, computer painted and 3D artist, and produces wonderful work. His concept art is simply breathtaking, an example of which is displayed below. Do take the time to look at his portfolio!
I’m really happy to have Stefan on-board for this project, and I am looking forward to us all seeing the finished product.
Posted by Tom on Jul 1, 2010 in
Writing After a killer couple of weeks, full of long writing sessions, I have reached a mjor milestone on the creative path towards a completed novel. The first draft is now complete, with a word count of just over 100,000. Now I am going back in edit and cleaning up the text. Currently the first chapter has been edited and I am partway through the second.
There are also developments with getting the cover artwork done. I have seen some preliminary pieces, which look fantastic already, and I hope to have the artist fully signed up before the weekend.
It has taken me about 13/14 months to get this far, mainly due to procrastination, but I can foresee getting the book recorded as a podcast and published in ebook form within a couple of months, so this is a very exciting time for me.
Posted by Tom on Jun 19, 2010 in
Podcast In this show I give a quick update on the progress of the novel (one chapter and an epilogue to go!). The main feature is the panel of authors who spoke at the UK Games Expo 2010 in Birmingham. They give a little history of their writing, read sections from thir new novels and answer audience questions. Great stuff for all budding writers! Links to all below:
http://www.everyworldnews.com/
http://magnatune.com
http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk
http://www.mdlachlan.com
http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/veteran-paperback
http://www.stephendeas.com/
http://www.mediamuseum.co.uk/
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Posted by Tom on Jun 16, 2010 in
Giveaways Hi all,
It’s freebie time! If you would like a free copy of the excellent hidden object game Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, follow these simple steps:
- Head over to the game page here: http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/1305
- Click ‘Buy it’
- Enter the coupon code FREERAVEN
Enjoy! Please pass this on, as the promotion continues until the end of August.
Posted by Tom on May 18, 2010 in
Writing I just passed 80,00 words last night, and can see light at the end of the tunnel. It has been great to begin filling in a lot of the back story and history of the world, but I have had to resist the temptation to info-dump.
I have found in the past that I begin hating my own writing when I have to start defining history or geography in concrete terms. While I have a little of those feelings at the moment, having an adventurous tale already mostly complete means I feel confident about editing away at the background elements until I feel happy with what I have done. I can’t wait to get back to the early chapters and bring them up to scratch too, as I feel my writing has vastly improved as I’ve worked through the tale.
As far as future projects, I have one longish short story planned as my next endeavour. After that I have the tidy up on my bit of fan fiction, and then on to the realms of cyberpunk…
Posted by Tom on May 14, 2010 in
Podcast This is the first in a series of irregular video episodes. This time I show you somewhere that has proved to be very inspiring when it comes to writing fantasy fiction: the beautiful Hornecourt Wood, Outwood, Surrey, UK. I managed to view the woods right in the middle of bluebell season, and you’ll see plenty of those and other species of plant life in the video. I have another project lined up for next year which may make extensive use of this wood as a backdrop, so watch this space!
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Heritage & Empire
