Aside from having a list of work in progress I need to finish I also have stories that are waiting to be unleashed on the world.
I have of course got Beach Town: Survivors [Part II] which is being edited as we speak. So it’s on the horizon. Hopefully it’s worth the wait for those who will buy/download it.
Next on the list is the surprise new story. Coming under many categories or genres although horror in nature. It’s a mix of; zombies, military, war, science, alternate history and politics. It’s spanning five decades although the majority will happen in present day Britain. It’s called Battle of the Zombies at the moment and I can’t think of more to say other than looking forward to showing you all
If you enjoy writing blogs, short stories or even poetry then you might be interested to enter.
From 1st December you can submit a short story to me for publication on my site. Stories should be within 1,500 words and focused on the holiday season and or Christmas themed. Entry is free. This means anything around this season is okay. Follow the guidelines below:
1,500 words limit – anything exceeding this won’t be accepted
Themed around the December holiday season/Christmas
No abuse in an form
ONE story allowed to be submitted
Must include word count, name and any site details at top of story
Correctly formatted. Ex. 12 point Times New Roman double spaced
Submit to psychwizard@yahoo.com
CLOSES 15TH DECEMBER- IF NOBODY SUBMITS I’LL EXTEND IT
Your story if accepted can be published on my site. You can’t distribute it yourself if you win. My site will have the exclusive right to post it. Any violation of this will mean the story will be removed.
Other than that this is a great bit of fun! I really am excited to see what comes up!
Welcome to my post. I hope you are well and that you’ve been productive today – or are just great in general!
Given my recent stint over the last few weeks of being slightly less productive than normal, I am now back on track. I’m back writing my novella in the Survivors mini-series of Beach Town. By now you are all familiar with the town name and hopefully the first two novels, which you can find right here 👈 Let’s assume you are; which makes things a lot easier.
My first Survivors tale, part I was a very dark take on the group of survivors hiding out in the ‘rich’ estate where they rapidly succumbed to other people’s evil and the undead. I take you through that journey to now come to part II which is a continuation yet a self-contained story. Part II is different in the way it is played out, being seen from the perspective of different groups as opposed to one. It is also split into a familiar location within the town and a new, unseen location slightly outside of town. We meet familiar and new faces. We see the extent of the social structure of the groups. There is some political aspect I guess, but it isn’t that prominent yet. The vast majority of survivors are in dire straits but doing the best they can. Being in groups strengthens them. We have cases of survivors going insane. I also introduce some new concepts on the zombies, such as more evolved or somehow more attuned undead to this story.
The towns rats have come out as well with the lack of people and have caused issues of their own. This was an issue I wanted to explore in Beach Town: Hope, but ultimately decided against it as the novel already had its own storylines and it added nothing to the main plot. It wouldn’t have worked as a sub plot or even an interesting point. It does however make sense to add this detail to the novella as it is some time since the initial outbreak and apocalypse. The rats are a main source of disease in the new story. So, you’ve read the first part which was fairly settled compared to the second part.
In other words, a huge overhaul of characters, dynamics, plots, storylines and general arc are going to create a very fun, yet overwhelmed and busy world in a short amount of time. Fun in the sense that it is classic zombie horror stuff; back to plenty of zombie killing, plenty of character conflicts, silly tropes, devastating aftereffects, disease and illness (thanks rats), good old-fashioned fighting!
I hope it’s going to be quite the shock compared to the first part. That is the point, to take the idea of survivors and build on it. As it’s still in the first draft stage I might be telling you all this too early. I guess I just hope to bring you all into this world and make it a place you enjoy reading about. As a fictional town I created, it is quite the place to experience. I hope to bring to you a map at some point too. I know I should have done this for the first book so please forgive me. A map will bring things to life and make it easier to visualise the story.
One more point is that the setting of a once quaint town ravaged by the dead to me at least, is terrifying. The main reason being that it is isolated from another town or city, the island is literally home to one town and nothing more. There is no working dockland that the survivors can access, and even if they could, they probably couldn’t operate the ships.
The streets offer a dark, dreary chance of survival as people move between buildings. The nights bring harsh cold winds and storms. People cannot rely on the authorities who have since the apocalypse started, been killed or turned into rogue survivors themselves. There is no real power other than that the people give themselves. It’s brutal, yet it’s a normal way of life for these people now.
Politics is almost dead yet propaganda reigns supreme as the radio station broadcasts horrifying lies about the Resistance, intent on disassembling its structure.
Welcome to this short story post. I decided to start a story on Medium to give me something to write on that platform. It really will be a short story. I don’t usually write in first person but oh well. I am also letting you go to read the first part by clicking the link at the end of this post. Hope you enjoy. This is an ongoing story.
…
The foul stench of death breezes under my nose and the woman cradles my torso. Lingering fear slips beneath my shallow breath and tickles my throat. “We fight to the death,” I add. She sits up and slumps her head on her hand and gazes into my eyes. I feel the doubt creep into my mind. We should fight, and we must. But the nameless wanderer like me, had that pale look of desperation and weakness.
“I can’t fight, I’m too weak,” she says, her thick European accent is hard to figure out, could be French. I was not in the mood to ponder such thoughts so I just glared back hoping she’d go to sleep. But sleep was not easy, wolves howled, seemingly closer than before, and seemingly in larger numbers.
“Don’t worry, we will be okay.” She lays back down and huffs. I know I can’t keep myself from worrying and have to open the tent netting. The fresh cool air brushes my face and the smell of mildew is already filling the fields. There is nothing to see and nothing to do but wait. Sunrise was many hours away, and they’d have to endure the isolation just a little longer. But no, through the thick black and slivers of moonlight I see not one but several corpses sway toward us. I go to move, and the stench creeps around the tent and claws inside…
Read the first part on Medium now 👇 All feedback is welcomed. Criticism is welcomed.
Feel free to read the shortest story snippet ever below. Some writing fun. Just another short story development which may never come to fruition like most things.
Everyone is familiar with Microsoft Word. It is a well known, worldwide document writing software on computers. A lot of computers used to come with it pre-installed and you would then have to pay to activate it.
However, despite using it to write stories, my subscription expired in April and I have not renewed it. To be precise my office package expired including email. In the past I’ve used programs like Open Word, which I had pre-installed on my last laptop. I haven’t really looked into free software but it is a lot better, it is free and most of them do the same as Word. I have also changed how I view Microsoft, I don’t value it. I never liked the company.
Now you can use Microsoft 365 online for free, but this post is about alternatives, because I am not recommending the company for anything. Please consider doing some research into their history, their aspirations, and oh yeah, take a look at how Bill Gates has hijacked the healthcare system in the USA.
1) Google Documents – allows you to work anywhere. It is functional offline too.
2) Zoho Documents
3) Libre Office – I use this now, and it really is fantastic, you can even edit PDF using this software for free without buying Adobe!
4) Abiword
5) WPS Office Writer
6) Apache Open Office – great software, although I still prefer Libre. This is a good basic alternative.
Of course all computers usually come with software called WordPad which is basic, but allows you to write and create document without issues. Formatting is limited. Going even simpler, Notepad is available, and to the barebones, Sticky Notes.
Now that covers some alternatives. I think people are scared to venture from Word since it is the go to software for many. I want you to know that choosing another software does not make you inferior! No! It makes you better!
I have just created a Wattpad account, because apparently you can write and publish stories on the site. I was a little wary of this since it could potentially be unsafe as there is no protection. But the site says that work published is protected. So, I decided to start publishing a romance story on there.
I don’t usually write romance but the story seems interesting. It is a part of a story I have just started writing, however it is a story of events which took place before the current story I am writing. So, a sort of prequel. I have not mentioned this on Wattpad as I want to see if it is liked by people and to develop a story on the platform, essentially giving it a try.
The story is called Discovery Avenue –
‘Peter is on an all night drinking marathon, until he gets into the mood for sex. The only problem? His girlfriend is at home in bed, waiting for him. Will he continue on this dark night looking for an encounter, or will he go home?
This is his story of a sexually charged night looking for an affair or romance. Will his discover love or lust or will it be danger for him?’
Above is the link to the first and second part of the story, which is mature, as is this story. I would encourage anyone who likes reading my posts or short stories to check it out and if you like and comment on Wattpad it tells me that I should continue with the story. Ultimately what it is about is a man changing for the worse, coming to realise what he should not have taken for granted, coming to accept himself and essentially a loving ending, or so we hope. There will be dark scenes and there will be black mirrors so anyone not prepared to look into the dark soul should not read it. I hope you enjoy following the story as it progresses. I intend to write a passage every day at least. They will be short as to keep people interested. Part 1 is called ‘uncomfortable dinners’. I have no idea where this will go and I don’t really hope for any kind of professional interest, it really is a vanity project, but one that I would love to explore and write nonetheless.
Aside from that thank you for checking out this post!
Good morning fellow writers! I hope you are enjoying the rising of spring. Here in England it is sunny, warming up by the hour and the trees are finally getting the leaves back. I am sat here now on my laptop and in the sun coming through my apartment window. I drink tea from a glass. I have no radio or tv in the background. For the last few hours since about 5am I have been writing.
This morning has been a writing morning for sure. Not just any session though, it was the start of a new romance novel and so far I have managed to write 8000 words, no I am not kidding you. It took me just over 3 hours. I didn’t even pay attention to the time and this is why: because this story is coming naturally to me, I can see so many things, so many characters and their lives and motivations and what scares them and I know what the story is about. At its core, the story is a love story, hence I categorised it as romance.
I don’t usually write love or romance novels or stories, but I will include those elements into my other works. However this story that has come to me is too powerful not to write. I would say the ease of typing it out is due to the fact I can see it clearly. This is indeed a rare moment, especially for me. I would write and write until I could do not more, either because I cannot see a way forward, or because I am bored. That rarely happens. This is a story which I want to tell and more importantly, is touching and pulling on my heartstrings if I am honest. It is about a mans life after his relationship leaves him devastated. Learning to live again, he soon discovers truth.
What are you writing today? Do you believe in love? Why? I will reiterate the importance of a writing goal or schedule in order to increase you productivity and creativity. It fosters good clear routines and can help to maintain motivation. Writing does not have to be confined to one project. I would recommend more than one thing to focus on, so you could write on wordpress, part of you novel, some poetry, maybe a diary. A writer needs to write and developing the habit sooner rather than later will make you more confident, and makes it easier to crank out all those words.
*Update – I have finished my writing session at just under 10,000 words. Incredible work in 5 hours.**
You spin and spinthe room is the lustful gain of sintilt your head and the lights go blindmove your body and you're inside my mindchasing a ghost around an open floorpushing your bare hips against that stone wallslitting your throat at the ballno more nice games... and no more amour.
psychedelicwizard 