A Hidden Treasure: Crimson Skies

 

Yeah, I'm procrastinating again. Just an update on what's going on: I've been working on my follow-up to Gentlemen of Fortune. This new story, The Pirate King, will be released as an e-book on 19th September (Talk Like a Pirate Day, naturally).

Anyway, I like to give shout-outs to obscure gems from time to time. Since pirates are on the mind, I know what I'm choosing. Crimson Skies is an arcade-style flying game released in 2000, based on a collectible miniatures game of the same name. The game takes place during the 1930s, in an alternative history in which the United States and Canada have broken up into 23 squabbling nation-states. With most roads and railways crossing hostile borders, air travel has become the primary means of transportation. The zeppelins that ferry passengers and goods across the continent are a lucrative target for air pirates, and the government air militias formed to fight the pirates regularly face off against one another in sabre-rattling contests.

The player assumes the role of Nathan Zachary, a self-proclaimed "gentleman pirate" who sees himself as a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing from those who can afford the loss while minimising collateral damage. The game follows Zachary and his gang, the Fortune Hunters, as they embark on a series of adventures across this balkanised continent. 

It feels weird talking about games I haven't played (it's hard to find and harder to run on newer machines). Nevertheless, I've been watching Let's Plays on YouTube and have become truly engaged with the Fortune Hunters during their travels thanks to their endearing sense of camaraderie and likeable personalities.

The game's story is divided into five arcs, each of which features around five missions:

1. The Fortune Hunters search for a ship in Sir Francis Drake's fleet, which was lost in a storm somewhere in Hawaii (which has gained independence and become a constitutional monarchy in this universe) and was purportedly carrying stolen Spanish gold. They tussle with the Medusas, an all-female pirate gang led by Justine "Battle Axe" Perot, and also foil an attempt by the British to establish a colony in clear violation of Hawaiian sovereignty.
2. Nathan's old friend, the renowned aviation scientist Dr Wilhelm Fassenbiender, is kidnapped by Soviet agents in Pacifica (a nation-state encompassing Washington, Oregon, and British Colombia). The Fortune Hunters mount a rescue, and then carry out a raid on the Boeing Aviation facility where he and his daughter work, putting them into conflict with a private air force established by Paladin Blake.
3. Johnny Johnson, a studio executive in The Nation of Hollywood (a nation-state encompassing California), claims that his nation will never be threatened by pirates. Nathan becomes determined to put his old rival in his place.
4. During a period spent resting in Sky Haven (a pirate city in the Rocky Mountains), the Fortune Hunters are kidnapped by a vicious new pirate gang known as the Black Hats. Nathan must team up with his rival, Black Swan, in order to rescue them.
5. The Fortune Hunters have discovered a connection between the Black Hats and Sacred Trust, a new private security company which has been poaching many of Paladin Blake's customers. They travel to Empire State (a nation encompassing New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), in order to expose them.

Since I was only watching Let's Plays, I haven't been able to look at the gameplay, but it's mainly revolving around flying or customising planes with different engines and munitions. All in all, the game has brought a very pulpy adventure feel with elements that kind of resonate today, such as punishing corporate greed and state regionalism.

Before I go, I'd like to tie this into some trivia I dug up during research for my pirate stories. For those who are unfamiliar, a Letter of Marque was a document issued to ship crews which sanctioned acts of piracy against the enemies of the issuing nation. It was common practice for the colonial powers to issue these in times of war, to help bolster their fledgling navies. This practice was formally abolished by the Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law, which was signed in 1856 by 55 nations. 

However, the United States - despite agreeing to uphold the agreement - is not officially a signatory. This means that the USA can still issue Letters of Marque (albeit requiring Congressional approval to do). One notable story was that the crew of the Goodyear blimp Resolute allegedly held a Letter of Marque to fly anti-submarine patrols during the early years of the Second World War. This was later debunked as an urban myth, as the Navy didn't have Congressional approval to issue a Letter of Marque and subsequently requisitioned the vessel. Nevertheless, it made a great concept for a story, and probably influenced a lot of air pirates in other works of fiction, including Crimson Skies, TaleSpin, and Porco Rosso. I hope to do something with the concept myself in the near-future.

Well, that's about it. Happy writing.

A Spot of Mead and Cheese

(Not actually worn for the occasion)

Well, I'm dreading the return to whatever my daily grind is going to be. Friday was quite busy. Not only did I return home from Swanwick, but I also made a guest appearance on a pirate-themed episode of Mead and Cheese.

For those who are unfamiliar, Mead and Cheese is a show on the student radio station, DemonFM. The hosts, DJ Mead (Corey) and DJ Cheese (Tom), play music, discuss popular culture, and are advocating for more sales of mead (I agree, because mead is good).

Anyway, the show's Patreon supporters were given the chance to vote on a themed episode, and the winner was pirates. I then received an invitation to appear on the show, since my main project is a series of pirate stories. I've never been on the radio before, and I knew that Mead and Cheese takes a rather laid back and silly tone, so I decided it might be good for a laugh.

I appeared on the show alongside two other guests; a musician named Kieran McCavana, and one of the show's patrons. Me and Kieran were given a pirate quiz, but in a sudden twist, it was about music piracy rather than the high seas piracy I'm accustomed to. That said, the tie-breaker was a "two truths and a lie" about that kind of piracy, which I ended up winning.

There was also a fun game called "pitch invasion". The guests and the patron were asked to come up with a pitch for the next Pirates of the Caribbean film (you can read my views about the franchise here), but it had to involve mead and cheese. There was then another round in which we had to write an anti-piracy ad to be included at the screening, but it had to include a tragic element and something ridiculous that you wouldn't steal. This was followed by a discussion of our favourite pirate films that aren't Pirates of the Caribbean. In case anyone's wondering, mine's Muppet Treasure Island.

On top of that, there was some opportunities for promotions. I was able to promote my book, Swanwick, and my poetry blog. Kieran was also able to promote his latest single, "Just a Loser".

All in all, it was a fun experience. I hope the listeners had as much fun as I did.

Mead and Cheese is broadcast live on DemonFM every Friday between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. If you wish to find out more about Kieran McCavana's work, you can find him on Facebook and Instagram, along with his producer, James Knapp. 

Anyway, I'd best chase the horizon (and flee the energy companies trying to extort me).

Happy writing.

Swanwick 2022: A Different Kind of Swanwick

Writers not pictured due to heat

It's that wonderful time of year again; my annual visit to the Swanwick Writers' Summer School. I know folks are disdainful about Christmas songs in the summer, but I suppose I often joke about getting excited for Swanwick like a kid getting excited for Christmas. This year was my sixth visit to Swanwick, but it was my first year serving as a member of the school's committee, which provided a completely different experience. I got elected at the end of last year's Swanwick, and took on the role of co-ordinating the school's TopWrite scheme, which offers subsidised places to 18 to 30-year-olds who are looking to start their writing journey. I also ended up being assigned to the tech team, which meant sitting in the control booths at the back of the hall and making sure that the microphones and screens were working.

That sanitiser was standard committee issue

Like last year, I ran a course at Swanwick on the Tuesday morning; specifically a single-session course about writing action scenes. I'd initially put it forward as a two-part short course, but then agreed to compress it. I didn't get many attendees, but that's the time of the week when a lot of people are flagging (myself included, so it was kind of comfortable). That said, those who did attend came to me and said they enjoyed it and got a lot out of it.

Anyway, let's do the breakdown of the week. Courses at Swanwick are divided into three categories: Specialist courses, which comprise four hour-long sessions spread throughout the week, which run after breakfast; short courses, which comprise two sessions which run before and after lunch; and workshops, which comprise a single session which is run either after the afternoon tea break or in the morning sessions on the Tuesday. Since I was on the tech team, I had to be on hand for certain courses, but I was mostly able to be at the courses I was interested in. I guess we're the only people who have to book our courses in advance.

Specialist Course - Short Stories

My chosen specialist course this week was on Short Stories, taught by Ingrid Jendrzejewski. Short stories is what I normally write, so I wanted to make sure I was on track for that. I'd blown the dust off an air pirate story I'd started for one of my final year modules at university, and was using that in the exercises. The first part of the course looked at writing the endings first, which is something I don't normally do, but it's definitely something that's worth thinking about. There was also an exercise which involved making the protagonist's shopping list, and another involving writing something in different points of view. I hope to apply it to subsequent Kestrel and Scar stories.

Short Courses

Promoting Your Work

On Sunday, I attended Joan Harthan's short course on Writing Groups. I was originally in a writing group in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, which was how I ended up discovering Swanwick in the first place. The course offered some great pointers about how to set up a writers' group, including a group exercise in which one person facilitates and times a writing prompt, along with shared feedback. It came up with some fun or dramatic pieces. I'm looking to set up a writing group on Discord, and I think I came up with some interesting pointers.

Monday's course was Promoting Your Work with Val Penny. The sessions looked at various platforms and strategies, along with things to avoid (like vanity publishers). This is something I'm struggling with at the moment. I'm aiming to use social media (mainly Twitter) as a marketing platform, but I don't want to degenerate into repeatedly tweeting "buy my book". I'd been distracted by an issue with one of the screens (not to mention the heat), but I might have ideas about where to go. In fact, I was on the radio to discuss it yesterday. But I'll talk about that tomorrow.

On Wednesday, I attended Writing Believable LGBTQ+ Characters, taught by Spencer Meakin. They ran this course in the previous year, but I'd been unable to attend due to a clash. Ever since I exhibited Kestrel and Scar at university, someone once asked me "Do they f***?", and was very disappointed when I said they hadn't (because I don't write any explicit sex scenes). Since then, I've been thinking about their sexual orientations. The first session discussed the various orientations, and discussions of pronouns along with acceptable language. The second session looked at the various LGBTQ+ stereotypes, and provided pointers on how to establish a character's orientation through subtle hints. As someone who favours the "show, don't tell" school of thought, I think it gave me a lot to work with.

Thursday's course was Writing Competitions with Vivien Brown. This is an avenue that I haven't really touched upon, so it provided an interesting insight. The first session involved looking at handouts for different contests and filling in a worksheet with what they're looking for, entry fees, prizes, and who is eligible to take place. I looked at one called To Hull and Back, which involves submissions of funny stories, and I'm seriously considering entering something. The second session looked at common blunders to avoid when submitting.

Other Sessions

In previous years, I've avoided the single-session workshops so I can use the time to write. This year, I was on hand for tech in a couple of those sessions. One of these was the Prize Winning Readings. Every year, Swanwick runs a series of competitions judged by Writing Magazine, in which the prize is a place at Swanwick. This can be either a poem, a short story, or a children's story. The winners are all invited to this event to read out their work, and I heard some truly poignant pieces.

On Tuesday morning, I attended Toni Bunnel's session on book covers. She provided some decent pointers, and I received a nice reminder about cover formatting, having previously looked at it at university. There was also an activity which involved matching titles to covers, which was a nice bit of fun. Of course, there was the pointing out of one elephant in the room that's Amazon's shambolic paperback cover formatting. When I published Gentlemen of Fortune last year, I fell afoul of that to the point that I decided to make all subsequent titles e-book only until I have written enough for a decent-sized collection.

Wednesday afternoon added a new feature, known as Swanwick Success stories. A number of delegates - myself included - were invited to speak about the role Swanwick played in their writing journeys. I largely improvised my speech, but I think it went well, and it was a great way to show new delegates what they could be going on to do.

In a one-off event, I attended a special screening of How to Avoid Death Forever, a short film by Ella Muscroft. The story follows a pair of teenagers who are suffering from inoperable brain tumours, who decide to find ways to enjoy what little life they have left. It provided a great mix of comedic and dramatic moments, including one line about the characters' hometown being suffocating that made me tear up (something that resonated with me thanks to my own lockdown experiences).

Evening Events

As always, Swanwick isn't just about the courses. There are an array of events in the evenings, along with after-dinner speakers on some nights. I don't usually attend the speakers because I like to use the times for writing (which often ended up being spent setting up for later events). But I do enjoy the evening events. This included "Birds of a Feather" on the Saturday night, in which writers could meet and network with other writers of the same genre. There's also a poetry open mic, a prose open mic, a busker's night, two quizzes, and a fancy dress evening. There's also the Page to Stage, in which delegates can submit a short play before the school, and then they can be picked up by directors to perform them one night. I was on hand for that, and enjoyed a mix of comedic and dramatic pieces.

One of the new events added this year was a Firepit Singalong. Although it had been threatening rain, and quite frankly I hoped the event would manipulate the laws of Karma and Sod into making rain, it was a fun night spent toasting marshmallows and singing a few campfire songs (including sea shanties).

The theme of this year's fancy dress was "Another Night at the Movies", and I decided to go as the harmonica-playing gunfighter from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It was a fun night, and I did manage to do my gun spinning in a (relatively) fluid motion. But I still haven't mastered the macarena. There's also the final night, in which delegates are invited to suit up, including a farewell

Wrap-Up

If there's one thing I wasn't able to do this week, it was get some writing done. My committee responsibilities kept me busy, and there times when things got hectic. But I expected this. I'd finished a draft before I travelled out, so I could use this week to let it rest.

All in all, the Swanwick magic is still there. It was great to be back, great to see people again, and great to feel appreciated for the work the committee had put in. I'm still on the committee, and I'm excited to get things ready for next year. But for now, I think I need a rest.

Happy writing.