Best of 2013 - Top Ten TV Edition

Hello, and welcome to the final section of my Best of 2013 series. Earlier posts covered Music, Movies and Podcasts and Books and Comics, and now we're finishing on TV, the only area of culture to get a whole post of its own. Well, I do blog about it a lot, so I seem to have accrued more opinions. To make those thoughts easier to digest, they're arranged in an internet-friendly Top Ten format.

If you want to compare and contrast, my Top Ten of 2012 appeared on The Digital Fix as I was TV editor at the time. I am no longer, as I wanted to devote more time to the fiction writing, so we're over here for the 2013 countdown. I've stuck to show which actually aired in 2013, and there are some omissions simply because I haven't seen them - Netflix's new House of Cards series, for example, may well have made the list if I'd viewed it. (I got the DVDs for Christmas if that helps.) Here we go.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #18 - Witnesses

The messy action sequence continues as Hobson and Choi try to tell the difference between confused hippy and blood-crazed wolf. Meanwhile, I size up the competition in the back matter.

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 #18 - Witnesses by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

Hobson & Choi #46: "Passive Resistance"

Yes, it's the day after Christmas, but the Hobson & Choi update schedule waits for nobody! Chapter #46 is up now, as our heroes try to dig past their personal problems into the meat of Case Three!

Good to be back, not that H&C ever really went away. We're maybe about an hour later than usual, sorry if you were waiting. And if you're bored of your family Christmas already, good news: ten minutes of escape!

Looking forward to some high-end Hobson & Choi stories in 2014 - #50 is coming! And not long after that, the second year begins. Wow.

Hope all's well, as ever. See you soon.

Doctor Who Christmas review!

Matt Smith regenerates into Peter Capaldi in an episode that covers one hell of a life span. Any good? New Doctor Who review on Dork Adore.

And that's my final individual TV episode review for 2013, I think. Back here early next week for the full-year round-up, and back later today for H&C #46. Hope you all had a good Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It's nearly 11:30PM on Christmas Eve and I've not got any presents to wrap, which may explain why I've ended up writing this instead. I should be doing something, dammit. (Considering I have to leave the house for my annual church visit at 7:50AM, you could argue that I should be asleep, but shut up.)

So, my overarching message here has to be Merry Christmas. To anyone reading this especially, as I'm not planning on plugging it on Twitter or anywhere much, so if you found this, you must've made some effort to engage. Or stumbled across it on a fluke. Either way, may your day be merry and not shite.

My Christmases recently have become increasingly quiet, as friends from back home in Essex have ended up scattered around, due to family relocation, marriage, deployment to Afghanistan, etc. My own family is pretty small, so this leaves us with a fairly contained affair. Lots of time to think.

Long story short, I've ended up planning a lot of the broad aesthetic decisions for the possible Next Novel. This is potentially unwise, as I really need to make myself do the editing on the one I finished in November, rather than casting it aside for the newer, shinier thing.

Anyway. Even though I am thinking about my writing a lot, dwelling at length on future goals probably isn't the right material for a Christmas post, it's more New Year fodder. For now, despite my endlessly grinding, introspective brain, I'm hoping to manage a hazy sense of warm Christmas enjoyment. We'll see.

Merry December 25th to all, hope you get whatever you're after out of it - in terms of fun, presents, decent Doctor Who specials, anything. Back here soon enough with a Hobson & Choi chapter, potentially some kind of Who review as well.

New TV review: Homeland finale!

If you don't want to wait a week for my Best TV of 2013 post, here's my review of the Homeland review on The Digital Fix.

That was a reference to my just-posted 2013 Books and Comics round-up, in case that wasn't clear.

Best of 2013 - Books and Comics Edition

I'm off home for Christmas tomorrow, I should be packing a bag, so it seemed an ideal time to type up the second installment of my 2013 cultural intake summary! This time: Books and Comics!

If you want to see my movies, music and podcasts of choice, that was last week. TV to follow next, once I've formed an opinion on the Doctor Who Christmas special.

But first, it's time for stories told in page format. From a wide perspective, the big development this year was my moving entirely digital in both these areas. I can comfortably read digital comics on my widescreen monitor (though if anyone wants to buy me a tablet for Christmas, don't let me stop you), and started properly using my Kindle all the time. It's great, my room is much less drowning in paper. But what was I reading, exactly?

Hobson & Choi Podcast #17 - Bleeding Upwards

It's the Hobson & Choi Podcast Christmas special, and there's nothing festive whatsoever happening, as the team look into that horrific bloody murder they stumbled across last week. Fans of tinsel will at least find some mention of the season in the back matter. Happy holidays!

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 #17 - Bleeding Upwards by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

Hobson & Choi #45 - "Big Troubs"

Hobson & Choi's third case begins here! A new day dawns back in Peckham, but what have our heroes been called in to deal with?

And since this is the final H&C chapter before Christmas, I included a brief H&C festive message at the end. Don't get excited, it really is just a short paragraph. Not a story or anything.

But yes, this is the last chapter before the Day Of Santa, so I guess it's definitely Christmas now. I'm off to listen to festive music and wrap my presents, hope you're all on track.

Best of 2013 - Movies, Music and Podcasts Edition

As half-predicted in last week's WriteBlog, my fiction-writing has slowed to a standstill thanks to festive distractions and an inconvenient cold. I'm just about keeping up with Hobson & Choi commitments, but aside from those, all quiet.

So, both to keep this blog ticking over and because I genuinely love reviewing stuff, I'm going to do a few posts about stories, shows and stuff I enjoyed during 2013. These are in no particular order and may involve items released pre-2013 that I've only just got round to dealing with, though I'll try to keep those to a minimum.

This time out: movies, music and podcasts. Subsequent posts will cover books, comics and TV.

TV review: Homeland

My penultimate season 3 Homeland review on The Digital Fix, and pleasingly, I'm definitely on board with this show again now.

Also, the start of everyone's last working week before Christmas. Hope you're using it well.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #16 - Could Be Darker

The big midway action sequence begins this week in the story, as Hobson & Choi discover why one generally doesn't lurk around strange buildings at night. Meanwhile, in the back matter, I get a bit overexcited.

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 #16 - Could Be Darker by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

New TV review: Agents of SHIELD

Guest-review of the Agents of SHIELD mid-season finale on Dork Adore. Surely it's stunningly eventful?

That was a refreshing reminder of why I stopped writing that show up week-by-week. Ah well.

Hobson & Choi #44 - "The Hammer Falls"

All kinds of grim visitations involving Hobson in our second Case Two epilogue. Will he be okay? It'll be close.

So yes, a mere couple of hours after blogging about H&C's anthology appearance, here we are with a new chapter. I'll leave you alone for a bit now, I swear. It's a decent chapter though, the final moments of Case Two, before we launch into Case Three next week.

As ever, the Podcast is still going as well, if this still isn't enough Hobson & Choi. Enjoy.

Anthologies, both JukePop and Comic Book (WriteBlog #10)

Those of you who see my updates on any form of social media are probably familiar with the photograph on the right of me (and my thumb) in the Jukepop Serials anthology, as I posted it more or less everywhere on Tuesday night.

Now, for anyone who fancies some context, here it is: Jukepop Serials, the publishers of Hobson & Choi, have produced a print collection of their ten "best" serials.

Review: Homeland!

Review of last night's UK Homeland episode on The Digital Fix, as ACTION-BRODY leaps into ACTION.

Only two episodes left, and I'm pleasingly excited. Also, Christmas coming pretty soon.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #15 - So Far, So Awesome

The calm before the metaphorical storm, as Hobson and Choi have one last fateful check-in with the Social Awesome crew. Elsewhere, I have been watching UK TV for once and writing comics.

As mentioned in the show, if you want to see our newly well-stocked Web Fiction Guide page, go to WebFictionGuide.com and search us up.

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 #15 - So Far, So Awesome by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud

New TV review: The Walking Dead

Walking Dead! Mid-season half-way semi-finale kinda-review! Exciting times. Death, zombies. Up now on Dork Adore.

First weekend of Advent! If you're currently riding out the office party hangover, hope it doesn't hurt as much as mine.

Hobson & Choi #43 - "Sad Receptionist"

Case Two epilogue spotlight for Angelina Choi, as she attempts to deal with romance and street crime at the same time. Tense.

This week's chapter is a few hours late, sorry about that. Technical issues, fixed now. Hope none of you had withdrawal twitches in the meantime.

More excitingly, we were #6 in the Jukepop Top 30 for November! Best placing yet! Woo! Thanks to all for voting, don't forget to continue.

Also had some new and quite charming reviews on our Web Fiction Guide page. Check them out, leave one yourself, whatever you like.

Most importantly, hope you enjoy the chapter. Case Three beckons!

Comic scripting - Invisible words? Too many words? Words? (WriteBlog #9)

And now, a change of pace: a blog not about NaNoWriMo. About six blogs ago, I wrote about a bunch of short pitches I was putting together for some comic stories. Well, while I busied myself with bashing out a novel-third in Nov, I also heard that two of those had been accepted. So, yes, if all goes well, two shorts by me will appear in GreyHaven anthologies in the future. Good times.

Now, since I only had to write paragraph-long summaries originally, this news also means I must now write the scripts for both these stories. So, that's been my project since NaNo finished. How's that gone?

Homeland review!

Review of the latest UK Homeland episode on The Digital Fix!

And yes, got a lot of votes for H&C at the end of November in the end, so thanks everyone. A couple of nice new reviews on our Web Fiction Guide page too, which is pretty cool.

Hobson & Choi Podcast #14 - The Outsider

This week, Hobson heads back to the Social Awesome office and shines the spotlight on one of the other suspects. What will he turn up? Meanwhile in the back matter, a little NaNoWriMo post-mortem, maybe talking a tad slower now I'm not in such a rush over that.

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 #14 - The Outsider by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud