Ink and Paper

Double done! So after a few more late nights of swearing, unexpected formatting errors, laptop failure and waiting nervously for Amazon to approve the manuscript, the paperback version of the "Aurora" short story anthology is all done and ready to buy!

Some people have been in touch and asked for an actual paper book, presumably because they prefer physical books or don't own a Kindle, so now all of the short stories that I wrote for the New Baby Challenge are available to buy for £4.99 (which covers all of the printing costs).

Thanks very much as well to the people who bought the ebook - it's very much appreciated!

Get it here!

Episode VIII: The Baby Awakens

Good grief - has it really been a month since I last posted here? Since Aurora's sleeping patterns have shifted, it feels like longer. It used to be that I'd get up at 6 am and get some writing done while the house was asleep. Now that she wakes up at 6.15 and Celeste wakes up before Aurora's morning nap, I'm down to an hour in the evenings.

However, I haven't been idle in all this time...

Big news...

The Mr Banks RPG

Now that I'm older and I've been forced to watch Mary Poppins more times than I'd like to count, I found I've developed a certain sympathy with Mr Banks, the stern and autocratic father of the story.

Sunless Skies Shanty

I really, really like the Fallen London universe. For those people who don't know, Failbetter Games - one of my favourite developers - wrote this amazingly intricate series of stories for their games Fallen London (a free online RPG) and Sunless Seas (an eldritch horror 'em up in a gigantic underground sea).

London gets stolen by space bats and stowed in a gigantic underground cave. If that doesn't pique your interest, you've probably not got a pulse.  Which can actually be a problem in this universe.

Guest Contributor: Celeste Chapman (aged 3 years and 2 weeks)

I have a magic cape that stops me from flying up into space. If I did, I'd miss my little sister. I have magic powers in my hands - SHAZAAM! This hand has run out of magic, so I need to use the other one for a while.

"Shazaam!" summons bottles of Fruit Shoot. It may take more than one incantation before Daddy gets off his bum and fetches one.

Toddler Swearing

Because Celeste is a toddler and has no swear words for when she gets annoyed, this week she's been creating her own. Imagine these shouted by a pig-tail framed cross face and you get the idea. Translations required, please.

• Fatcha-batcha!
• Fireworks!
• Fireworks on you! (accompanied by a throwing hand movement)
• Vasha-wazza-vazza!
• Scap! (also accompanied by a throwing hand gesture)

It's extremely cute, but laughing at her about it rarely makes the situation any better. I said "No...fireworks on you!" one time as a joke and she started crying. I am not a good parent. I'm not even sure what I was apologising for.

I assumed that it's explicit. I have no idea what any of them mean.

Guest Contributor: Celeste Chapman (aged 2 and 358 days)

Mummy yummed up Aurora. Then a crocodile yummed up Mummy. Then a penguin ate some lights and got parps in his tummy. Then a hat yummed up Aurora. That's the brilliant crunching story!

A vampire hat?