M.H. Thaung's Blog: Musings, page 3

Very short stories #53

I hope you’re having a good month so far. February’s gone by pretty quickly here, though it’s been mainly tedious stuff like reorganising cupboards. That said, I’ve spent far too much time playing Kingdom of Loathing. It’s an online text-based RPG notorious praised for the artistry of its graphics. (In case you haven’t come across it before: Everything is stick figures.) I’ve played through the game a few times, but that was well over 10 years ago, probably nearer 15. It’s great to see the game’...

Very short stories #52

Happy New Year! Perhaps a bit late, but I hope you have a good year ahead of you anyway

This year’s starting with a big change for me: leaving the job where I worked for nearly 16 years. It’s definitely time to try something new!

At the moment, the lack of regular commitments feels weird. My brain’s still in holiday mode. It’s prodding me to make the most of my free time, rather than lounging around reading comics all day I’m still on a break from serious writing (fiction, I mean—the academic ...

Festive greetings and a book sale

Bargains!

I’m doing my usual pre-Christmas mad runaround, so here’s a quick update. ALL my novels are discounted until the end of December, to just 0.99 in your favourite ebook stores. Please tell any friends who might be interested Quick overviews below.

The Diamond Device (Accidental Capers, Book 1) When diamond power promises to replace steam, an unemployed labourer and a thieving noble join forces to thwart a bomb plot.

The Sapphire Solution (Accidental Capers, Book 2) A disgruntled young c...

Panto time 2023

Now the nights are getting longer etc, I’ve just had my one engagement with the looming festive season: our annual pantomime trip. We attended the first performance of ODYSSEY: A Heroic Panto. As with my previous panto reviews, the show was staged by Charles Court Opera. They’re a professional opera company (brilliant at Gilbert and Sullivan performances), but each year they also get silly and put on a pantomime.

If you don’t know what pantomime is, here’s a brief overview. Many performances are...

Very short stories #51

On holiday again My big recent achievement is getting a new PC. Because the Daz 3D stuff can be so processor-intensive, I treated myself to a monster-sized gaming machine with disco lights. So far, I’ve resisted installing any games at all, but I’m sure that won’t last.

Setting up a new machine always gives me a combination of anticipation and dread. What essential data is still sitting in the old machine when it gets wiped? How can I customise the new interface to look like the old one? Where ...

Very short stories #50

Wow, where has the month gone? It doesn’t feel that long since my last post, though at the time I was wishing for better air conditioning. Now I’m oscillating between having the window open and wondering whether to put the central heating on. There are plenty of conkers—well, horse chestnut seeds (pods? husks? casings? these things)—scattered on the ground, marking that we’re into autumn. Next we’ll be getting out the boots and waterproof jackets…

Book reviews

Hmm, this seems to have been a mont...

Very short stories #49

I hope the summer has been treating you well. It feels like ages since my last blog post. I guess it’s not really been all that long, by my leisurely standards. As always, work expands to fill the time available, and it’s difficult to carve out time for anything else. Matters haven’t been helped by Covid hitting our household for the first time a couple of days ago. It’s definitely not over, folks!

In book-related news, both my first in series novels are available at at a knock-down price (0.99 ...

Very short stories #48

I’ve been on holiday for the last week. It’s no coincidence that’s when I find the time to write these posts. Although there was work I couldn’t put off (I recently became head of my department and we have some urgent deadlines), I had a chance to explore the Daz 3D software in more depth. With my packrat tendencies, I’ve a tendency to accumulate interesting-looking assets without actually putting them to use. Much like the tottering TBR (to be read) piles that most book lovers know and… maybe l...

Yet another contest

Just a little update that after The Diamond Device was dropped from the Self-Published Science Fiction Contest, I dusted it off and entered it into the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. It was lucky to secure a spot: all 300 spaces were filled within 41 minutes of the contest opening!

There’s a handy list of entrants here that you can filter by judging team, audiobook availability etc. And for more detail of selected books, have a look at the list we’ve put together here.

If you’ve read any of t...

Very short stories #47

This past week, I’ve had a leisurely holiday at home. It’s an attempt to pre-charge the batteries before a particularly busy summer at work (which reminds me I’d better dust off my other website).

The Diamond Device didn’t make it to the finals of the Self-Published Science Fiction contest, but I’m really pleased it got as far as the semifinals. If you want to check out the 7 finalists (out of a starting group of nearly 300), have a look here. It’s encouraging to see such a mixture of SF subgenr...