Tag: Pegasus

Festive Updates: My Creative Projects in Progress

Hi everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the festive spirit. Personally, I love this time of year and having some time off. It’s great to catch up with people, also.

I like giving these updates every six months or so on all my projects. Occasionally, these posts prove really popular. Other times, I’d be lucky if anyone apart from myself reads it at all. Such is life, I guess. First, an update on my longer-term projects.

Wheelchair Wars

This has now been fully critiqued. I am about to employ a successful author to read through it to see how it could be improved. I’m aiming for the stars.

Romance Short Stories

Critiqued, but I need to work through the suggestions and rewrite as appropriate. Hopefully, this will be significantly improved over the holidays

Pegasus

The first draft is complete; the next needs to go through the critique process.

Distant Love

First draft being written.

The blog itself is going quite well. Last year, it received 1,746 views. It’s looking like this year will be more like 2,746. Still, quite a way to go to become profitable, but moving in the right direction.

I have 2,700 followers on Bluesky. Hoping to get that up to the 5k range by next year.

Plenty of things planned for next year, and hopefully, see you there!

September writing update

My dear readers, I do hope life is good. These are exciting times for my writing and this website. Shortly, the website will pass two thousand views with a quarter of the year still to go. This will be the first time it has passed this milestone in a calendar year.

For some background, the limited research I have done suggests that you would need approximately twenty-four thousand views to generate a modest income. Yes, I’m still a long way off, but not as much as I was.

I am now regularly getting visitors from Google searches. Even Bing is sending the odd person my way. This has the capacity to grow exponentially in the future. Interestingly, most of my visitors are now from the US.

Other positive news is that as of today, I now have two thousand, two hundred followers on Bluesky. Bluesky is becoming integral to my overall strategy. The fact that I can now generate AI images to go with posts is of great assistance. It makes them more appealing to click on, I reckon.

Much slower growth on Twitter – ninety-three followers now. I’m wondering if I should go premium, but I haven’t decided yet.

On the writing front, this is my update on each major project.

Wheelchair Wars – Final draft is close to completion. Hope it will be finished by Christmas. I will try to get it traditionally published, but failing that, I will self-publish in the new year.

Pegasus – Work has yet to start on the second draft.

A compilation of romantic short stories – On its second draft.

Long distance Love – I’m enjoying writing this story, and it has some way to go yet.

There will also be more book/TV/film reviews in the months ahead.

Thanks for all your support.

Distant Love (Part 22)

Maeve hears Derek take a large breath. He speaks in a serious tone. “Your ship has no landing gear. To have a soft landing, you will need to initiate the thrusters at certain points as it descends. Even then, it would ordinarily be considered a crash landing.

“I’m going to change the holographic display. You will now see a much smaller ship in front of you and the moon in the distance. Your landing area is marked out, along with the different points on the trajectory you need to take action at.”

The new holographic display appears.

Maeve stares in awe. “I don’t know about. Can you not do it remotely, or maybe get an AI to do it?”

“I’m afraid not. Unfortunately, I will be unable to communicate with you as you near the surface. No AI has been trained on what you are about to do.

It’s up to you, and you alone.”

There is silence. Maeve says, “I understand.”

For the next ten minutes, she watches the ship approach the moon. She launches the thrusters at the first marked point. Then releases.

Derek speaks. She can hear the fear in his voice. “I’m about to lose communications. Best of luck, and I’ll see you soon.”

My Journey as a Writer: Updates and Goals

Hello, dear readers, I hope you are all doing well. A quick reminder to consider subscribing to the website to be kept fully updated. It really is the best way.

So what have I been up to? Well, not too much in the last day or two (I’m so lazy). Before then, I did make some steady progress.

Wheelchair Wars – The reworking is almost complete of my far future dystopia, where people with disabilities are forced to fight to the death for entertainment. I’m hoping to have it published (probably self-published), but I’ll try to look for an agent in the new year. I joined an online writing group, and I think I have significantly improved my writing skills. Like everything I do, I will always endeavor to improve.

Pegasus – This action-packed story set hundreds of years in the future recently came to an end. Like Wheelchair Wars, it will be reworked and published at a future date.

Distant Love – I only started this recently. It is still easy to find Part 1. This is my latest story – a sci-fi romance. I’m still working this one out in my head, not sure how long it will be.

General Overview:

I am on track to get a record number of views this year. I’m hoping to break the 2,000 mark. From research, to be a professional blogger would need an absolute minimum of 24,000 views per year. I’m a long way off, but not beyond the realms of impossibility to do it in a few years.

I now have 1,400 followers on Bluesky. My plan is to try and get over 2,000 by the end of the year. Then drive that audience towards here, along with my Twitter and Facebook followers.

Please don’t be afraid to comment. It would be great to have some feedback.

Pegasus (Part 144)

Images of destroyed buildings and women wailing in grief appear on screen. The man began to speak again –

“Similar scenes are being repeated throughout the news. Not only is there this powerplay at the top, but individual habitats and settlements on the Moons, Mars, and Earth are declaring their independence. The Imperial Army has declared that the integrity of the Empire will be maintained. Suzie, it’s hard to see how this ends without much bloodshed.

Breaking news – Nuclear missiles have been launched. It appears the General Atkum has given the authorisation. More missiles have been launched in retaliation. We are minutes from the first detonations. Billions of lives will be lost.”

Tabitha stared into my eyes. My heart was racing, and I was breaking out into a cold sweat.

What had we done?

And was there anything we could do to make amends?

Pegasus (Part 143)

I woke up several hours later. The morning time cycle had started, and rays of light illuminated the room. Tabitha’s arm was resting across my chest. There was only one thought on my mind.

Were there any reports about the death of the Emperor?

I looked around for the remote control. It was resting on the chair beside the bed. It occurred to me that a hotel habitat may not have a great selection of TV channels. Still, those of the nearby habitats are likely to be picked up.

Immediately, I tapped Tabitha’s arm. She looked at the screen aghast, just like me as I turned the volume up. There was an Asian woman in a studio speaking frantically in a language I didn’t understand, but “War” was emblazoned in red along the bottom.

Switching between the channels, trying to find something in English or Irish, I came across 24TVNews. A man in a black suit was speaking to the camera. He was breaking up in tears as he spoke –

“Suzie, the star system is at war. Several hours ago, news was released that the Emperor had died. Almost immediately, power plays among his former generals broke out. Hours later, and the first reports of violence are coming through.”

Pegasus (Part 142)

“We are from O451 and on route to a holiday habitat. Currently experiencing technical issues with our ship and wish to rest. Are we cleared to board?” I responded.

There was no reply for a few moments.

“You are cleared to board.”

In truth, I thought little of it. Maybe it was her first day on the job or something like that. A bit overzealous.

The autopilot kicked in as we drew closer. It set the ship down right in front of the hotel.

“Let’s party!” Leanne shouted.

Tabitha frowned, “No, everyone, keep your heads down. We could be the most wanted people there ever were.”

They seemed to take her comments in. We all had rooms in different parts of the hotel building so as not to draw attention to ourselves and set a time to meet up the following day.. Tabitha and I were on the 17th floor. The hotel was modelled on hotels in Cuba from the 1940s, before the rise of Communism in that country, with luxurious wooden furniture in the lobby. I was surprised by how few other people were around, and our floor seemed empty.

The room was compact with a double bed ensuite, and a television set built into the wall. Exhausted, we took off our clothes and fell asleep.

Pegasus (Part 141)

The rest of the crew broke into hugs, kisses, and high-fives, too. We had achieved the incredible; the Emperor was gone. I imagined impromptu celebrations breaking out throughout the solar system. The riches of the Empire could now be shared with the destitute. Democracy could be brought back. My eyes welled with pride.

After a few minutes, Leanne, who had finished kissing her woman, asked, “Where next?”

It was such an obvious question, but one I had never given any thought. I looked at Tabitha, but she raised her shoulders. “Well, let me see if there is somewhere safe close by. Here, T451, only forty minutes away. It’s a hotel habitat. We can lay low for a while, make sure we’re not being hunted before returning to whatever you call home.”

There were no objections, so I took it as a go.

The joyous atmosphere continued till we were close to our new destination.

The ship’s onboard computer tried to initiate the docking procedure but was blocked. Instead, we received a voice communication from what sounded like an anxious woman. “We have no record of your reservation. Please state your business and where your origin point is.”

I look at the rest of the crew holding my finger up to my mouth. I examined the map of habitat locations, trying to determine a plausible origin point.

Pegasus (Part 140)

I brushed past him shouldering him to the ground. “Come on! We don’t have much time.”

The other ran around the frail man and after me.

Another explosion, this time much bigger. I glanced back to see the palace in ruins. The devastation was only going to increase. My heart skipped a beat when I saw troopers under one of the pyramids but they scuttled.

It took another six minutes of hard running before we reached our ship. I was never so happy to see it. The ground shook violently from a further blast. I knew that the habitat would not maintain stability for much longer.

I went straight for the controls, my eyes fixated on the rear camera waiting for my last comrade to board.

A moment later, the ship was lifting off. A blast from the rear pushed the ship forward. I pulled the lever back hard as it skimmed over the surface before rising up through the thin at atmosphere and into space.

Cries of joy erupted. Then a huge piece of space junk flew in front of the ship. I looked into the rear view camera to see the Emperor’s Habitat being blown apart.

We did it. We actually did it.

Tabitha threw her arms around me and planted a kiss.

Pegasus (Part 139)

The corridor turns left, then right. All the time, I could hear the pounding feet of our pursuers. Then an explosion goes off behind shaking the building and knocking us off our feet. The ceiling has fallen in behind us, covering everything in a white dust.

I struggle to my feet knowing that we are now racing against the clock. Tabitha does likewise, her jaw clenched.

A lift is only a few feet away. We get inside knowing there’s no chance we would leave our comrades behind.

I press the button to go down a floor and we go back in the direction from which we came.

As the lift opens, there is another explosion. ab

We run. In front of us are the enemy troops who pinned us down earlier. We start firing hitting them in the back. Only one of them manages to turn around, his eyes wide open as his body is riddled.

Charging down the stars I roared, “Everyone to the ship. It’s going to blow!”

Then came out of their cover positions and followed. Then we all came to an abrupt halt. The Emperor, now a sickly yellow stood in front of us. Barely audible he said, “Whhaat have you done?”