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Oliver “Shiny” Blakemore
Oliver “Shiny” Blakemore

5.3K Followers

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Sep 15, 2022

Not the Dresden Files for a Reason

Magic and Music — Know what really grates my gills? All those people who make something that’s exactly like everything else and then they talk at you with long, beery breaths to explain that, no, but this is actually totally different! And here’s the Wikipedia spiral I wrote to explain how! I have, for…

Writing Life

4 min read

Not the Dresden Files for a Reason
Not the Dresden Files for a Reason
Writing Life

4 min read


Sep 8, 2022

Nova by Samuel R. Delaney

Wrong hero. Too few drugs. — This dude wants to be Jack Kerouac. This book’ll take you on a journey. Not the enlightening, transcendent rise that Delaney wants it to be, but that’s mainly due to my mistake of not taking all the drugs that would probably fill in the gaps in the narrative. Because Delaney…

Review

2 min read

Nova by Samuel R. Delaney
Nova by Samuel R. Delaney
Review

2 min read


Sep 1, 2022

Writing advice to my twelve-year-old self.

Hey, kid, no one will ask for that story. — I’m getting to that stage in life where my childhood friends are doing cool jobs. We all reach this stage, I think. For me, a lot of my friends seem to have grown into being teachers. I’m not sure why exactly. …

Writing Tips

3 min read

Writing advice to my twelve-year-old self.
Writing advice to my twelve-year-old self.
Writing Tips

3 min read


Aug 25, 2022

The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Ah — ambition. That’s why I don’t like it. — My sister wanted to breed dogs. She doesn’t like the personalities of most dogs, though, and she’s allergic to dog hair. Her solution: the newdle. Or the poofoundland. Depends on your preference. Cross a poodle with a newfoundland and you might get the ideal dog for someone like my sister…

Books

4 min read

The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Books

4 min read


Aug 18, 2022

The Ingredients of Stories

And how to shop for them — It’d be cool if you could shop for the ingredients of stories, wouldn’t it? Like, head over to the antique store with a vague sense of “I’m going to write something!” And leave with all the elements you need in order to make that happen. That would be brilliant. Thing…

Writing Tips

3 min read

The Ingredients of Stories
The Ingredients of Stories
Writing Tips

3 min read


Aug 16, 2022

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

Half as clever as it should be. — Foundation and Empire tells the story of what happens when a God complex clashes with severe headaches. A person who amounts in the books a folk hero in the form of Hari Seldon has decided that he knows exactly how to direct the next thousand years in order to shorten…

Books

2 min read

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
Books

2 min read


Aug 12, 2022

Slan by A.E. Van Vogt

Pretty sure it’s racist. — Slan is the story of Übermensch Jommy Cross and his adventure in trying to achieve world peace through the cunning use of demonstrating superior genetics and the precise application of stealing free will through psychic superpowers. It’s cool, though. Jommy only takes free will from people who would have wasted…

Book Review

2 min read

Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
Slan by A.E. Van Vogt
Book Review

2 min read


Aug 9, 2022

Why You Should Set Reading Goals

What am I reading right now? I will tell you. — Life is too short to read anything except what you want to read. That said, how do you decide what to read? That’s a serious question. How do you decide what to read? We all have different decision-making criteria. I like hearing the preachy, pushy excuses people assign to their…

Books

5 min read

Why You Should Set Reading Goals
Why You Should Set Reading Goals
Books

5 min read


Apr 14, 2022

Marketing (i.e., catnip) for Writers (i.e., dummies)

Marketing makes as much sense as a staircase into a blank wall. Writers are contradictory animals. We’re shy, but we also want our stories to get attention. There’s a psychotic break there somewhere. Not sure exactly how that works, but it does. We want to tell stories to people. The…

Writing

3 min read

Marketing (i.e., catnip) for Writers (i.e., dummies)
Marketing (i.e., catnip) for Writers (i.e., dummies)
Writing

3 min read


Dec 23, 2021

Dead Mentors: Franz Kafka — no explanations needed

The mythical suffering artist and which god your body is a temple to depends on lifestyle — The trouble is that the image of the lonely writer is a little bit of a lie. When we write, none of us write in isolation. Not quite. We’re all joining an active conversation as old as literacy itself. By having an opinion and putting it out there, you join…

Mentor

4 min read

Dead Mentors: Franz Kafka — no explanations needed
Dead Mentors: Franz Kafka — no explanations needed
Mentor

4 min read

Oliver “Shiny” Blakemore

Oliver “Shiny” Blakemore

5.3K Followers

The best part of being a mime is never having to say I’m sorry.

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