Archive for the ‘Dirk Dangerous’ Category

Astonishing Adventures Magazine Issue 1 is now available in print through Lulu and includes my short story, The Electron Jockey. The free PDF of Astonishing Adventures Magazine Issue 1 is also still available.

I’ve been belting along with "Mrs H.’s Knitting Circle" today, adding a couple of thousand words to the story. Its got murders, shoot outs, detective work, intrigue, a heist, a confession, a nice cup of tea but no actual knitting. Depending on the final word count I may go back and switch a few sections from described dialogue to actual dialogue but with only three and a half thousand words allowed it can be tough squeezing everything in.

I was reading the end of "The Steward, the Kriegsherr, his Femme Fatale & her Brother" and the start of "Dirk Dangerous and the Giant Balls of Doom" and I felt there needed to be a bridge between them. It means I won’t be introducing Dirk to the world for at least one more story which is a shame as I like writing DD. On the flip side I get to bring in another group of characters who’ve been hanging around in the back of my imagingation, Mrs H.’s Knitting Circle. A group of young women with many talents but when they meet knitting isn’t on the agenda. I’ve knocked out the first eight hundred words about them tonight so there are definitly legs on this one.

Just heard from Astonishing Adventures Magazine that they’ve accepted "The Steward, the Kriegsherr, his Femme Fatale & her Brother" for issue 2. It’s a sort of sequel to "The Electron Jockey". I’m already 600 words into a sort of sequel to this one with the working title "Dirk Dangerous and the Giant Balls of Doom".

I got home from work tonight and inspiration struck. I’ve knocked out the first seven hundred words of a new, pulp short story introducing Dirk Dangerous and his faithful batman Johnny.

I’ve just sent off "The Steward, the Kriegsherr, his Femme Fatale & her Brother" to Astonishing Adventures Magazine. Fingers crossed they’ll like it and have space to run it. Thanks to everyone who read it and gave me feedback and to John for proof reading it for me too.

A few tweaks on the page on my web site for stories I’ve written for Astonishing Adventures Magazine and a few finishing touches to the story I’m finishing to send off to them.

"The Steward, the Kriegsherr, his Femme Fatale & her Brother" came in at almost four thousand words. I’ve done a first polish to bring it down to just under three and a half thousand so it’s the right length for Astonishing Adventures Magazine. It’s a sequel of sorts to "The Electron Jockey". I’m a month and a day ahead of the submission deadline I’ve got time to polish it a little.

I’ve almost finished the follow up to the (to be published) Electron Jockey. One scene in the second act and then the third act to write. Four characters have become the focus of the story hence the new title I’m toying with of "The Cook, The Kriegsherr, His Femme Fatale & Her Brother" although I’m still calling it The Warlord as a working title because I can’t bring myself to use the acronym TCTKHFFHB and the full title is a bit long…

Astonishing Adventures Magazine have accepted my short story, The Electron Jockey, for inclusion in their first issue. I went on a writing course taught by Richard Hill at the University of Liverpool Department of Continuing Education a few years ago. I always remember him describing a short story as a Tea Cup going over the edge of a table while a novel is someone having tea and part way through a tea cup is knocked off a table and smashes and then they have to clean it up. I followed it when writing The Electron Jockey. I didn’t intend it to be part of a series but I did deliberately leave the plot incomplete. I’m glad of that because now I’ve got somewhere to go for a sequel.