Nick Bryan's Blog, page 20

2048 - Ideally this would be my review score... (WriteBlog #20)

When last we met, I was having some massive writing days, but also worrying that I was maiming my ability to function in a basic human way. I was also developing a growing addiction to 2048, the stupid tile-matching number puzzle which has managed to somehow bypass my usual instinctive avoidance of timesink phone games.

Not content with pouring hours into the Doctor Who version on my computer, I have now downloaded the actual app for my phone. It has not improved matters. But anyway, this isn't meant to be a weekly blog where I moan about my latest procrastination discovery (although that by far one of the biggest challenges I face in my authorial life, sadly) - how's the actual work going, Nick?

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Hobson & Choi #60 - "Bad Decisions"

The end of the Dog Dilemma storyline that's been running since #50! Can Hobson get out of this with his pride, his dog and his pulse intact?

Probably, to be honest, as no Hobson means no ongoing serial and I can confirm it is continuing. But what about the dog???

So, yes, another minor turning point in H&C. It's also the end of March, and if anyone fancies voting for us in the Jukepop Top 30, that is always handy. Thank you all. There may be a WriteBlog later if I can pull together the time and inspiration, but if not, there's always the post about turning 30 I did the other day.

30

Today is my thirtieth birthday, as you probably already know if you follow me on social media, we're friends in real life or spoke to me for any length of time in the last month. To mark this occasion, here's a short blog post, including a picture of my amazing cake. If you find this overly self-indulgent, don't worry, my new Walking Dead review is up today as well.

So, well done me. Three decades and still alive. After a Philosophy degree (yes, I have a Philosophy degree - ask about the meaning of life now!), so many novels I've lost count, some therapy, some houseshares, some drinks, a whole lot of fuckin' TV reviews, fifty-nine Hobson & Choi chapters, thirty H&C Podcasts, nineteenWriteBlogs and the realisation I enjoy numbering my projects far too much, here I am.

I'm pretty sure this is the most together I've been in my life since I hit self-awareness at around 16, which is terrifying and reassuring at the same time. The writing is finally coming together, after I stopped attempting literary fiction about the human condition and just embraced my love of blowing shit up and telling jokes about shit.

Happily, avoided too much moping about being old by realising that my younger self wasn't as good as the current one, so I'll accept the shortening of my life in order to not be such a pain. Which sounds like a dilemma from a science-fiction novel, now I think about it. "This injection will make you less of a dick, but also shave ten years off your life... will you accept it?"

Yeah. Alright then. Probably won't write that novel though, it sounds terrible.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #30 - "All Together Now"

It's almost my 30th birthday, so it's time for our thirtieth podcast! I'm pretty hungover from last night's party as I type this, but happily the actual show was recorded a few days back. Meanwhile, in the fictional world of H&C, the net is closing...

You can play the episode in the player below, download the MP3 here or subscribe on iTunes to have it thrown at you every week. Or if you hate iTunes on principle, you can point your RSS reader at our Libsyn page to get every episode.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #30 - All Together Now by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

Novel Editing - Snake eats itself, then spits self back out and says "Yick!" (WriteBlog #19)

I started these WriteBlogs back in October, mostly as a way of creating imagined mass peer-pressure and encouraging me to finish my damn novel edits. Since then, they've gone through a range of topics, including thoughts on comics writing and moaning about my near-misses with writer's block.

Well, this week we came full circle, as I got back into the novel edits hard, and ended up working on the very chapters I was blogging about when I first started the whole cycle. And then... well, I deleted a lot of them. This writing shit is brutal.

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Hobson & Choi #59 - "Life Choices"

The current Pete Vole/dog-focused storyline is coming towards an ending, and here's the chapter that drags it there, as Hobson faces the dilemma he's been avoiding for a few weeks.

So yes, we're headed towards another conclusion. How can our heroes get out of this? Will everyone (including Markus the dog) even manage it? Tune in next week.

And now, I go to prepare myself psychologically for my upcoming 30th birthday. Good luck, me.

Walking Dead review: "The Grove"

This week's Walking Dead review up now on Dork Adore! Another two characters in hours of solo misery!

And, in less glaring but still memorable news, only a week until my 30th birthday. Le gasp.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #29 - "Gone Quiet"

The final confrontation begins! Upcoming Hobson & Choi projects revealed! The most exciting podcast since... ever?

You can play the episode in the player below, download the MP3 here or subscribe on iTunes to have it thrown at you every week. Or if you hate iTunes on principle, you can point your RSS reader at our Libsyn page to get every episode.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #29 - Gone Quiet by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

Hobson & Choi Podcast #29 - "All Together Now"

The final confrontation begins! Upcoming Hobson & Choi projects revealed! The most exciting podcast since... ever?

You can play the episode in the player below, download the MP3 here or subscribe on iTunes to have it thrown at you every week. Or if you hate iTunes on principle, you can point your RSS reader at our Libsyn page to get every episode.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #29 - All Together Now by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

Bursting The Pipes - Man Writes Story (WriteBlog #18)

Two weeks ago, I spent the best part of seven days bashing my head against the same short story brief, before concluding that I simply didn't have the right idea. So, last week, I went off to write other things, only to be distracted by the plumbing in our house going wrong.

This week, at last, I got my shit together. A nice man came over and rearranged our pipework (only sounds dirty) so we can have both hot water and heating at the same time. Meanwhile, I went to multiple cafes, battered the keys of my poor netbook within an inch of their lives and seem to have produced, at long last... stuff.

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