I am not an artist by any sensible definition. I can draw well enough to explain an idea to myself, but not well enough to pretend the result is finished art. And yet I have still built beautiful worlds.

I have been creating worlds for as long as I can remember. That sounds rather grand, but it began simply enough. Like many private habits, it was not originally meant to become anything public. It was something done because it was interesting.

Beyond Winter's Silence is nearly finished. The first draft is complete, the retcon pass is underway, and publication is due in May. That is a practical fact. But it is also a moment worth pausing on, because the book that is almost ready did not begin with a plot. It began, as everything in this project begins, with a question about how a place actually works.

On writing Beyond Winter’s Silence, building the worldbuilding guide series, and learning the machinery of publishing.

Silent Winter is out now, and it seems a good moment to say something about what kind of book it is, and about the world from which it comes.

Every long-term project has an odd little origin story.Panimálay’s just happens to involve Vikings giving Greek hoplites the side-eye across a homemade map.

It’s been about a year since I asked the question: Can you have too much tech? Back then I set myself a small challenge — see if I could live almost entirely from my iPad and leave the Mac Mini switched off unless absolutely necessary. A modest bit of restraint, perhaps, but also a test of whether I really needed all the “stuff” that had crept into my digital life.

Some people move on from their childhood fascinations. I never did. Fantasy role-playing, wargaming, creating mythical lands, and an incurable interest in history have been with me since I was about seven or eight—perhaps earlier. The only other lifelong constant is the band Rush, but that’s another story.

The cellar has been quiet for a while, though not empty. Time and boxes tend to accumulate together. Since I last wrote, the drainage renovation has been well tested — no leaks, hooray — but life’s other downpours, from work to recovery and a myriad of distractions, have soaked up my time. The Boss has also stored more junk down here “for the tip,” so I’m back at square one on the rubbish-removal front.

I have a lot of tech. Probably more than most but given my previous career I guess that's not surprising. I had to test code on multiple devices - OK I could have used emulators but hey, I just wanted the flashy hardware. November 2024 saw Apple release the new Mac Mini and I am a complete Apple geek. The new Mac Mini probably has the best spec of any current Apple computers (at time of writing) and is REALLY cheap (for power versus buck). My mouth was watering I had to get one.

I used to take a Dictaphone in to the bathroom when having a bath. I came up with some of my best solutions to things when in the bath, as paper gets soggy, recording the thoughts was the best option. There is nothing like relaxing in a bath staring at the ceiling and letting your mind go to wherever. Likewise, sitting free of work for 6 weeks watching the world go by after my surgery was like having a very long bath and allowed me to think on things.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - Lao Tzu. In the case of a Blog it begins with the first post; this then is that first single step. Hopefully there will be a few more steps to come! I am sure that there are a lot of Blogs with just a first step and I aim that this one will prove an exception, only time will tell.