New book, new merch, and convention cancellations

The worst time to launch anything is during a pandemic, unless you happen to have the cure to the virus. My new book, Tales of the Fantastical, is not a cure, and it was due to launch tomorrow at Dublin Comic Con. Following the advice of the HSE, the convention is postponed until August.

The book, however, is already out! Kindle and paperback editions are available on Amazon.

I had hoped to have the book and new stock available at the convention this weekend, but it wasn’t meant to be. Thankfully, I had an opportunity to put everything on the Limit Break Comics store, to join the comics for a brief period. All of those copies will be signed!

New Merchandise

The new merchandise comes in the form of a new zine, a new writing guide, new stickers, and a range of bookmarks.

The Necromancer’s Field Guide to Raising a Family is a short zine written as if from the point of view of Arnold Schultz in The Black Pages.

25 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block is a slightly revised version of an ebook I wrote in 2014, published in print for the first time in this square book. It’s colour-coded to match Pocket Prompts, with each chapter providing the thinking behind a day-to-day practice anyone can do along with an exercise focused on writing something as a result.

My new bookmarks are all perfect for small books, designed to make the reading experience fun even as it ends. I’ll be designing more in the future, because they were a ton of fun to produce, and I’ve wanted to do them for years without having a printer that could do them affordably.

I love stickers, almost as much as I love pins, and right now they’re within my budget to produce. I had a ton of fun working on new quirky designs, and restocking on some of my old favourites from last summer. A big shout-out to Gary Moloney for his assistance with the Irish translation on my Comics are for Everyone (in Irish) sticker; I also worked with him making the Cork Mafia sticker.

Quiet around these parts…

Dublin is quiet. Irish events are shut down for the foreseeable future. I might be lucky and still get to do my first event of the year in May, otherwise I’m not sure what the future holds for my other creative outlets that aren’t writing.

Still, it could be worse. I have the advantage of already working remotely for my day job as a part-time copywriter, so I’m not out of work or needing to leave the house every morning. I’m putting time aside to write more regularly to complete the fourth book in The Black Pages. With that will come a relaunch of the series with new covers.

Chat soon!

I’ve been wanting to blog more often, but long-form content can take a lot of time and I need to focus on fiction for the time being. With that said, expect shorter posts, covering a bunch of different topics.

In the meantime, I need to get back to work writing my novel, and planning a short series, with a friend from Cupán Fae likely to check in on me in the near future to see how much progress I’ve made.

The virus has made the future uncertain in a lot of ways, but it’s the best time to sit back and do some writing. Let’s see how self-isolation works.

Cover Reveal: Tales of the Fantastical

Announcing my next book – TALES OF THE FANTASTICAL – a collection of short stories from 2017 to date.

Containing dozens of stories, TALES OF THE FANTASTICAL is one writer’s equivalent of an artbook, showcasing new and old work within the un-boundaries of speculative fiction. As well as an exploration into THE BLACK PAGES, the book contains a plethora of the fantastical, stories to raise eyebrows and twist logic.

TALES OF THE FANTASTICAL draws inspiration from plays on words and taking a sideways look at the world around us.

The book will officially launch at Dublin Comic Con on March 14th.