Tag: Charles Parkes

A Dev’s Progress

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Getting this to work was one of the hardest things I’ve ever attempted : )

Updated first two chapters

I’ve updated the first couple of chapters of The Aegis Saga – Blood using the new ‘turn page’ feature from ‘Brain-bug’ and the new open world style feature from ‘Explore Stonecross’ – (p.95).

Want to hear about it when The Aegis Saga Blood is released? (I will only ever email you when a story is released.) Now all the code is in place, I’ll be continuing through the rest of the chapters on the heels of the editor Juliane Ashwood!

Second life

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So I spent the week getting sunburned at Art in Action. My first life at the moment is managing The Art Academy, my second is helping Tanya run her sculptor’s practice – and my third is Choicescript.

A busy but awesome life!

We took the dogs and we camped in our trailer with an airbed. Tanya is sculpting a leaping springer spaniel. Art in Action is all about demonstrating your art for the visitors, which means lots of talking and answering questions, so by the end of the day you’re pretty tired and ready for a glass of wine, or um two.

Tanya-Art-in-Action-Charles-Parkes

 

An editor!

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I’m really happy to say that I’m now working with an editor to bring ‘The Aegis Saga – Blood’ through it’s last stages.

Juliane Ashwood has most recently professionally edited two Choicescript games including parts of Samuel Harrison Young’s current edition of ‘Trial of the Demon Hunter‘ and the beginning of Sam Kabell’s ‘Unnatural‘.tumblr_inline_o9uyztqocc1tlmnj9_1280

She won first prize for her entry ‘The Beastie Watch‘ in the 2016 Choicescript Competition – pipping me to the post (I won second place!) Her other works in progress include ‘Fantasy Foods Ltd.‘ and ‘A World Once Lost‘.

Juliane writes and edits business copy for a small business in California and has written copy for various other organisations over the last several years. She’s also beta tested various other Choicescript games (and is termed a ‘Beta Tester Extraordinaire’ on the Choice of Games forum.

I hope that Juliane’s editing will help turn ‘The Aegis Saga – Blood’ into something I can be really proud of. If I’m really lucky that might lead to my spending a bit more time writing. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! ; ) I’ve still got to release ‘Blood’ first . . .

 

 

Trains, rain – and an awesome song

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I had a hell of a day – I can’t even describe how horrible trying to travel around the country by train was today . . .

=- BUT -=

This evening I also received my ending soundtrack – ‘Lady of Flowers’ sung by lonnamarie

I think she’s really talented!

Lonna is singing a lament based on one of the songs sung by the defenders of Solace. If you want to know what the city of Solace is, and why it’s people sing songs like the Lady of Flowers . . . well you’re just going to have to read The Aegis Saga

; )

Phew – at least I know who I should be talking at, I wonder if any of them will listen?

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I’ve spent a lot of time trying to map out who I’d like to contact when The Aegis Saga – Blood is published.

Reviewers come in all shapes and sizes and I’ve focused on people who have shown any interest in interactive fiction, starting from those who’ve reviewed Choice of Games titles or Hosted Games titles, before going through a range of indie game reviewers and fantasy ebook reviewers.

Those that have twitter accounts I’ve followed, those who don’t I’m trying to track through WordPress follows, reviewer listing sites or even simple old-tech lists : )

There’s a lot of advice out there about putting together press kits, press releases, preparing for podcast interviews, the do’s and don’ts of review asks.

It’s a tough old world out there getting a review or two – especially when you’re starting out and trying to differentiate yourself amongst the clamour. Guess we’ll have to roll the dice and see!

In the meantime I’ve had fun doing some screenshots for my press kit – which is kinda tricky when you’re writing a text game . .

Charles-Parkes-The-Aegis-Saga-Author-Newspaper

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The Aegis Saga -Book One

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Will you lead a remnant people to the stars? Or else choose to murderously ascend the human throne? Or will you become monstrous, warped by magic and barrensblight?

The Aegis Saga is an interactive fantasy story in which you can choose your own rich path through the bloodline politics of The Two Kingdoms, the blighted wastes of the Barren Lands and the golden power-soaked cities of Lydia.

The Consort is gone, the heirs are dead, and you may be the last surviving successor to the Yellow throne. Or not.

Start your journey in Book 1 of The Aegis Saga. Coming soon.

Shattered, in a good way

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Wow, what a marathon day.

Started with a 10 hour round trip, finished with a ten hour proofing session. . .

Shattered-tired-Charles-Parkes-author-writer-interactive-fiction

Today was cool because I managed to get the entirety of ‘The Aegis Saga – Blood’ out for final beta-testing.

That means submission to Choice of Games for publishing under their Choice of Games label might not be too far off. So when I say I feel shattered in a good way, I mean it feels like I’m a little closer to getting this thing published.

It feels like the journey’s been pretty epic so far, and I’ve got to say – writing is one of the most enjoyable things in my life right now (after my partner and dogs of course, but that goes without saying ; )

Stuff I’ve enjoyed the most:

  • the COG forum community. They’re just great. I’ve never met so many people willing to give so much time and support to people trying to write choicescript.
  • the times in between. For some reason a lot of ideas seem to come to me when I’m out walking or doing something else that clears my mind.
  • growing my confidence (let’s face it, saying that you’re trying to write your first story feels a bit like being a dog that’s owning up to a big mistake on the carpet)
  • the fun of writing the world of Eris (it just feels awesome all the time)

 

Adrienne Valdes’s first illustration for ‘Blood’

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Aegis-Saga-BLOOD-Comet-Charles-Parkes(websize)

Love the touches in the sky and the reflections in the water. Adrienne is not only a great artist but is also lovely to work with and I’m looking forward to commissioning more work from her in the future!

We should shortly have a cover image for ‘Blood’ too, which I’m very excited about. The thing I’ve enjoyed the most about getting this first illustration is that I write thousands of words about the world of Eris, but this picture gave me one of the strongest impressions I’ve had of standing back and appreciating the place : )

Thanks Adrienne!

Adrienne’s website is: https://vandaldinesere.carbonmade.com/

 

‘Venom beneath the skin’

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It’s now submitted! In a short month the judges will decide on the winners (there are a few categories in there).  The competition title is ‘poisonous intent’.

My story is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, but set within the fantasy world of Eris. It was written over 31 days and I hope to use it as a basis for a full length story.

It’s a comedic romance with a little action, told about two races and two lovers (potentially! The narrative is choice-driven, so that’s up to you!)

Would you like to hear about about new stories when they are released? (I will only ever email you after one of my releases)

I love interactive fiction and indie games and I hope this short story will help a few people get acquainted with me and possibly even get interested in my full length story ‘The Aegis Saga – Blood’.  Now the competition is drawing to a close, I’ll be getting back to preparing ‘Blood’ for release through Choice of Games’ Hosted Games label.

I hope you enjoy ‘Venom beneath the skin’ when its released, and please keep your fingers crossed for me in the competition.