And we're fast approaching the end of April, so if you fancy voting for Hobson & Choi to help our top 30 efforts, now is the time. Recent episodes have been good too, so go for it.
Fighting The Skeleton Army - Fleshing out NaNoWriMo writing (WriteBlog #23)
This week, I came within 1.5 chapters of finishing the second draft of the novel! But this isn't quite the victory lap blog post yet, I'll get to that next week. This week, after editing 5.5 chapters worth of NaNoWriMo work (I wrote the last seven chapters during NaNo 2013), I finally worked out the real difference between this and better, more carefully written first draft material.
No, it wasn't the terrible spelling and barely comprehensible sentences, those would've happened anyway.
Hobson & Choi #64 - "En Route"
And this is the final H&C chapter of the month of April, so if you want to help us jerk up a few places in the monthly Jukepop charts, now is the time to get the reading/voting done. Ta very much.
Lastly, in case you missed it earlier, I just did a post paying homage to one of my favourite superhero comic series, the Black Panther run by Christopher Priest. Check that out.
And now, away to the cafe for typing. Writing blog likely to follow either later or tomorrow...
Black Panther by Christopher Priest - A Homage
I recently subscribed to Marvel Unlimited, a Netflix-esque system that gives me all-I-can-eat Marvel comics for a fairly low price. Not bang-up-to-date ones, but I've not read half the comics I wanted to over the last decade due to financial concerns, so I can keep trawling for a while.
However, as well as striking out for new material, I've also re-read some old favourites, and I'd like to talk about one of those now: Black Panther by Christopher Priest and various artists, a series that ran from 1998 to 2003. The Black Panther character has existed since 1966, King of a fictional African nation called Wakanda, and mostly associated with standing in the backdrop of Avengers groupshots in the later decades of the twentieth century.
Attentive readers may note Priest also wrote Quantum & Woody, a series even closer to my heart than Black Panther. I started reading Panther due to following Priest over from Q&W, barely knowing who the character was, and Priest made me love it in approximately one issue. If you want a gushing tribute to Q&W, here's one I wrote in September 2012.
But anyway. Black Panther. What was that about?
The Trouble With All That (WriteBlog #22)
Since last week's London Book Fair adventures, I've returned to my normal life and tried to live the lessons, y'know? I've emailed a couple of people, spoken about things, set wheels in motion, and then... well, at some point I had to sit down and do some writing again.
And honestly, it almost felt a bit dull compared to all the faffing around checking my book options and seeing pretty colours. Not to mention, there are so many things to be done on the vague self-pub checklist, there's always some other task I could/should be doing.
Hobson & Choi #63 - "Good Morning"
Seriously, it's fun writing this stuff, like doing a whole new novel. We've established ourselves, we got rules, we got characters, onwards to the next adventure.
Hopefully you guys enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. You never know. And happy Easter, just in case I post nothing else in the coming days!
Game of Thrones review time!
Good episode, though. So, how does it feel to exist in a world without the Hobson & Choi Podcast? I know I'm still getting used to it...
Hobson & Choi Podcast #33 - "A Long Weekend"
The conclusion is here! Hobson and Choi face the epilogue of their big wolf-case, while I deal with something even more heartbreaking: the end of the podcast itself. At least you get an extra-length 15 mnute episode before it goes away.
Thanks to everyone who listened to the podcast while it existed - as I've said in various episodes, I enjoyed working on it a lot, so I may one day return with a new audio-based vehicle. For now, though, this is the end. If you want more multimedia material, I did a video blog the other week.
You can play the episode in the player below, download the MP3 here or subscribe on iTunes. Or if you hate iTunes on principle, you can point your RSS reader at our Libsyn page to get every episode.
Hobson & Choi Podcast #33 - A Long Weekend by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud
London Book Fair 2014 - "Eventual self-published author Nick Bryan goes to seminars, eats crisps!"
I normally have a writing update in this slot on the blog, but I haven't done much work this week, as I went off to London Book Fair 2014 in Earl's Court. So, I thought I'd write about the experience from my perspective as an internet-using nearly-maybe-self-published author, on the off-chance it helps someone else or satisfies some curiosity.
(Although for anyone who is here for the writing updates: I got another short comic story pitch accepted by the nice chaps at GrayHaven Comics, so things are progressing.)
Anyway, for one week only, let's move the adventure outside my room. I went to London Book Fair and what did I learn?
Hobson & Choi #62 - "Peace In Our Time"
All of which means: Exciting new things! Starting next week! Always fun to move onto a new one of these, explore a new bit of London, do new character jokes around the office. Exciting times.
Been at London Book Fair in last few days, seen some stuff which may well have implications for the future of H&C. More to follow, I'm sure. For now, work to do...
Game of Thrones returns!
Game of Thrones is back on! And with it comes my inevitable review for Dork Adore!
Enjoy. And now, excitingly, I'm going to check out the London Book Fair. Exciting stuff.
Hobson & Choi Podcast #32 - "Crazy Like A Wolf"
It's here! At long last! The final battle! #HOBSONVSWOLF!
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 #32 - Crazy Like A Wolf by Nick Bryan on Mixcloud
Game of Thrones plot reminder blog!
And if you missed my amazing video-blogging debut, it's only five minutes, go on, treat yourself. Maybe.
Man Edits NaNoWriMo Third On Video - A WriteVlog Experiment (or WriteBlog #21)
I have a new iPad, so decided to play with the video function and do this week's WriteBlog in straight-to-camera video form. See me struggle with what a chapter is, the sound on my computer and where exactly I'm meant to be looking!
Good times. In terms of actual content, this is me talking about starting edits on the final third of my novel - which I wrote during NaNoWriMo - and worrying that it is garbage - because I wrote it during NaNoWriMo. There is some embarrassing turning-off-the-sound stuff which I have't edited out because it made me laugh when I watched it back - potentially I should be a bit more brutal with myself, but for a first effort, I think is okay. There may one day be a second effort.
Anyway, if I bang on much longer, I'll defeat the labour-saving purpose of doing it on video in the first place. Here it is!
If you're reading this in a format that doesn't support YouTube embeds, here's a clickable link to the original.
Hobson & Choi #61 - "Taking Out The Trash"
This is the first half of a two-part epilogue to the current big, confusing storyline, and then we move into a glorious new era. Hobson & Choi #63 - featuring stuff you've never dreamed of. But first, we take out the trash.
Thanks everyone who voted for us in March - obviously still keep doing that in April, we always need love. Should find out our chart position in the next day or so.
Now, back to the novel...
Walking Dead season 4 finale review! Brief Captain America 2 mini-review!
Walking Dead season 4 finale review up on Dork Adore now! Did the pace finally pick up?
And yes, it's a day late, sorry about that. I was out on Monday seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier, then I was doing other stuff, and things spiralled.
Since I mentioned Cap 2 - I'll do a brief mini-review here since I don't have any plans to do a longer one. Good, solid action-superhero film, probably the best of the Marvel-Avengers sequence not starring Robert Downey Jr. Good to see Marvel can pull off largely-serious action as well as the comedy stuff. Actually did justice to the comics it's based on, and they're really good.
