Coming Up On My Patreon

This really needs a frame

December's episode of The Chronicles of the Deep Patrol will be an unusual one. I began in December 2017, so this is the 13th episode, and the anniversary story. Like the first, it's double normal length, being about 13,500 words in the current draft.

It's the last story in this particular series. I've used up most of my better space opera ideas so I have decided it's time for a new serial. Obviously I hope you stay for what comes next (see below) but if not fair winds and safe travels. The 13 stories and the ancillary material will remain archived, and sometime next year I'll compile them all into one volume - the e-book will be available for patrons on the Patreon site, and it and a paperback will be put on the Amazon for sale to the general public.

There will be more Gunn and Deep Patrol stories, but not immediately as I need to let my subconscious chew on a few science fiction and adventure tropes.

So what is happening there next year? Well, I'm going to launch another serial, again in thirteen parts. It will be an Age of Sail Fantasy, with the series title Tapping The Admiral*. There's going to be sailing ships, mutinies, pirates, shipwrecks, pistols and muskets and cutlasses, a vaguely familiar world that gets weirder the further you sail, curses, elves, and monsters. Maybe some romance as well? And I'll probably draw some maps.

Probably going to change this

This also launches in December with A Triumph At Sea, making it a double story month. As it is the first one this is also double length (13,100 words in the current draft). So it's Quadruple-Word-Count-December.

I'll be adding a further tier to rewards, so that if you subscribe for $20, then in addition to a zine/booklet with all the content for the month I'll put in some hand-annotated maps of what's been going on in the story.

I have rough drafts of thirteen stories for Tapping The Admiral so it will definitely run until December 2019. As before I will be re-writing and polishing them as the year progresses. The story follows four of the crew who were at the greatest sea-battle in history, and what happens to them afterwards. They take ship for varying destinations, but their fates are intertwined, eventually leading them to discover some dark secrets on the far side of the world.

Thank you for your support this year. I hope you enjoyed it, and will enjoy this new story as much. Or more even? Maybe so! If you have any questions or comments, get in touch.

Cheers,
Neil.

Spoilers for the Battle of Trafalgar

* Tapping The Admiral is a phrase meaning to have a crafty drink that one is not supposed to have. After Nelson was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar his body was preserved (against his wishes) in a barrel of brandy. Supposedly** when the barrel was returned to shore and opened, it was bone dry; someone had "tapped" the barrel and drunk the brandy.

** As we have the records of the people who closed and opened the cask in question, it should be noted that there is no evidence for this story.