Third Draft – Finished!

After a whole lot of effort, I’ve finally finished the 3rd Draft of The Aeon Academy! Unlike the second draft, where I essentially re-wrote the entire novel, I was able to retain a lot of scenes in this draft that I’d written back in the previous copy. I think that’s a good sign moving forward.

I also feel like there’s significantly more cohesion with this draft as a whole. The plot is developed, foreshadowed early and engaging (I hope!). I also think there’s better links between each scene.

I’m going to let the manuscript sit for a week (or two), then re-read it several times before going back to edit it. Hopefully the fourth draft will be just focused on tightening up sentences and editing on a less severe level than my previous drafts. I’m aiming to have this one done by the end of November.

Thanks for all your support!

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Second Draft … Complete! (Hooray!)

After much toil (work started somewhere around October last year, interrupted for months at a time by school) and a half-finished edit (I edited most of my novel, completely changed the story and began a drastic rewrite – I called this my 1.5th draft) I’m proud to announce the second (or technically third) draft of The Aeon Academy is complete! Whew!

Concept Images – Part 2

Concept images of Belpo (the main city of The Aeon Academy) and its surrounds, part two:

The view from a busy road during night-time in Belpo.

Concept Images – Part 1

Concept images of Belpo (the main city of The Aeon Academy) and its surrounds:

A Belpo City Train Station, somewhere towards the outskirts of the city.

Updated Chapters

I’ve recently updated the sample chapters on this website to include some major changes. I’m basically rewriting the entire story, so while these first three chapters might seem quite similar to how they used to be, there are drastic changes down the line.

The biggest one is the setting. In the first draft, the Academy was set in a forest amongst mountains. Now, it’s set in the middle of a city. What about those mountains? Well, they’re now north-west of the city, and come in use later in the novel.

Also, I’ve cut a lot of characters, particularly from the Guard. R.I.P. Vito, Reva, Candace and Michele, who were all members – albeit highly undeveloped members – of the team in the first draft. They may be used in other books, though…

Anyway, those three new chapters are now up:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Any feedback, thoughts, or queries would be much appreciated. Let me know what you think!

Oh, and Happy New Year to all!

Updated Blurb

My novel’s changed a fair bit between the last time I updated this site, so I felt that it was important to change the blurb on the homepage too. Here’s the updated blurb:

Wayne is just another faceless, orphaned boy in a backwater city, until a conflict with another orphan spirals out of control. He wakes up in hospital, where he’s told he’s a Neohuman – a person with special abilities – and offered a place at a school for people just like him.

The school isn’t exactly a restful place, the days sprinkled with full-contact sparing sessions and psychotic maths teachers, but Wayne has never felt more at home.

When he becomes the target of a shadowy organisation and stumbles into a shocking web of conspiracy, he must use all of his newfound skills to survive. Alone, powerless and hunted by the very people he must protect, can Wayne outlast the night?

Are there any ways I could improve this? Do you think it’s a bit lengthy? Does it give too much away? Does it make you want to read it? Any feedback/thoughts would be much appreciated. 🙂

Double O Zero – The Affable Agent Published On Wattpad!

A while ago, I posted a ‘choose your own adventure’ type story, called Double O Zero – The Affable Agent. As of today, the story has now been published on three different platforms; this WordPress site, as a game on text adventures.co.uk and as a story on Wattpad.

While all these sites obviously have no selection process when it comes to allowing stories to be placed on them, I still think that this is a good step forward in creating an increased literary presence for myself. Hopefully, people will read the short story on these websites, like it, and come to this webpage for more 🙂 .

Are there any other publishing platforms that would work for Affable Agent that I’ve missed out? If you have any good ones, don’t be shy to let me know!

New-Look Website!

Recent visitors might have noticed that the header image for the Aeon Academy has been slightly modified. If you looked closely and refreshed the page a few times, you might’ve even noticed that sometimes it changes to another image!

The two header images were created in Adobe Illustrator and you can see them in their full majesty below.

Header Image One. A panorama of the top of the mountain range in between Belpo City and the Aeon Academy.

Header Image Two. The skyline of part of Belpo City.

So, now that you’ve been able to look at both images, which one do you prefer and why? You can either take part in the survey below or comment at the bottom of the page.

Double O Zero – The Affable Agent

Double O Zero – The Affable Agent is an interactive comedy story that I wrote a month or so ago. Essentially, it’s a parody of the spy/adventure genres, where you must rescue an informer, Matias, from the fruity clutches of the Orange Apple.

You can play/read The Affable Agent by reading it below (aka the old fashioned way) or you can visit http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/xwvqjbi97emf3t7ugworla/double-o-zero-the-affable-agent and play it in your browser.

Have fun and remember not to take the story with anything resembling seriousness!

How to Play:

This is an interactive story, in which you chose which particular storyline you want to follow. At the end of each paragraph, you will be offered with several choices which direct you to another paragraph.

Introduction:

You slap the alarm clock next to your bed sleepily. It takes you another few minutes to get up and then it’s half an hour or so until you’re barrelling down the highway in your car towards work. You’re a government agent, working for an organisation that doesn’t actually exist. You’re one of their best agents – not that that’s really saying much – which means that you have access to one of the few coffee machines that actually work. The thought of coffee speeds you into the car park, up the stairs and to the coffee machine. Sipping contentedly, you make your way back to your desk and sit down.

Go to 1.

Happy 2014!

This might be a bit early or a bit delayed for those of you in different time zones, but, to everyone in the correct time zone, Happy New Year! 😛 . I thought I’d include all three chapters in one post as a gift. Hope you enjoy it!