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The “Quiet Corners” Collection Has a New Home

I’ve been experimenting with video content for TikTok and Instagram’s Reels for the last few years. No, I’m not doing reaction videos to people cooking or lip-syncing to someone else’s song. I’ve mostly been building off my work with the “Old Haunts” series, aping off the short looping mise en scène style and trying some new stuff that is weird and occasionally creepy. I’ve been calling these experiments “Quiet Corners.”

They’ve been fun to make, and the verticle phone screen is an exciting format, but this work takes time to make. The algorithms tend to favor creators who take weeks or months between posting new content. So it always felt like I was throwing my work into a void. To solve that, I’ve launched a new Reader Resource page specifically for “Quiet Corners.” Check it out here.

From now on, any experimental videos I create will be added there. I don’t totally consider “Quiet Corners” canon the way I do with “Old Haunts,” but they’re all set in Lovat and the world of the Territories, so don’t be surprised if there are hints and details that expand the world a bit more and connect to other stories playing out.

Enjoy the videos, everyone!

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The Stories So Far

I have made a new video, well… videos, really. Headphones recommended. Check it out:

As many of you have noticed, I’ve started to experiment with more video content lately. Seeing what I can do by taking advantage of vertical formats found on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Along with these experiments, I’m also trying to be more mindful in promoting my books.

So, for fun, I assembled the four looping animations you can see in the videos above, and I’ve been sharing them on Instagram and TikTok for the last few days. Each is designed to fill a vertical smartphone screen and loop seamlessly. I’m pleased with the result.

With each book, I’ve had an undercurrent of thematic “elements,” and each of these videos is based upon those. These aren’t the traditional four elements but beats designed to help me focus on the sensory side of worldbuilding. The Stars Were Right had its darkness and shadow, Old Broken Road was fog or mist, Red Litten World had its icy cold, and Gleam Upon the Waves was obviously water and the sea and I have more planned for the two remaining books.

If you’re new to my series, the first book, The Stars Were Right is available on eBook for only $2.99. You can find out more over here, and expand your knowledge about the weird world of the Territories here.

Let me know what you think of the videos in the comments below. Feel free to share any of them with friends who you think would love the series. Leaving reviews/ratings and word of mouth is the best way you can help me promote my books.

Happy spooky season, everyone!

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Introducing “Quiet Corners” an “Old Haunts” Deviation

For the last year, I’ve introduced my readers to my “Old Haunts.” Looping vignettes and visions from the City of Lovat. Sometimes they’re relaxing. Sometimes they’re creepy. Often they ooze atmosphere, and yeah, I consider them all in canon, part of the Bell Forging Cycle, and tied into the ARG. (Those who have read the books will find loads of fun little details.)

Those longer and larger videos take time to make (I did a whole live stream on what goes into their construction), and while I enjoy that process, I want to explore less rigid forms that don’t take so damn long to build and embrace some of the new video platforms that have emerged. Enter “Quiet Corners”—clips made for TikTok and Instagram’s Reels.

These will often be shorter and less rigid, and while they tie into the world of the Territories at large, they might not always “work” the way I intend for “Old Haunts.” Think of “Quiet Corners” as experiments. Ways to explore whatever is in my head, glimpses of Lovat and the Territories, where strange things happen unbeknownst to heroes and the machinations of Founders. They’re fun, weird, occasionally creepy, and a nice place to stretch me creatively. I’ve already got a bunch up, and you can check them out via the links below. Enjoy.

Watch via:

TikTok

Watch via:

Instagram Reels

Quick Note: While “Quiet Corners” can be viewed on your laptop or PC, a smartphone is recommended as these videos are made specifically for the vertical 9:16 phone resolution.

There is a lot more to come in the future. Who knows what you’ll see. Be sure to follow me on either platform so you can stay attuned to Lovat’s “Quiet Corners.” I’ll see you among the tangles of the scrape and the span, roaders.

Random Thoughts Regarding Super Bowl LIV
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Random Thoughts Regarding Super Bowl LIV

So, the NFL’s big game happened last Sunday, which concluded the 2019 NFL season. I watched it, and I have some thoughts. I’m hard at work on the next novel, which is why things have been quiet around here lately, so I thought it’d be fun to share.

🏈 Football in General

This was the first full game of football this season that I watched in its entirety. Which is A) a bit weird for me and B) served as a reminder of what I gained by not watching. In past years, on a typical week, I’d watch—at the very least—the Seattle Seahawks play, and usually Sunday Night Football. With pregame coverage and post-game reporting that came to about eight hours of football-related stuff per week. Multiply that across the season and being conservative, that’s 17 eight-hour workdays in total not counting playoffs and such. That’s a lot of time to give up. This year, after cutting cable, I spent that time writing Gleam Upon the Waves and working on some of my map projects. Funny enough, I never felt like I missed out on anything. I still followed the Seahawks. I still saw the big plays. I had my best season in my fantasy football league at work. But I never missed watching football. Funny that.

🙆‍♂️ The Game

These weren’t my teams, and I don’t harbor any animosity toward the Niners despite them being one of the Hawks’ rivals. I like Kittle and Sherman a lot and would have loved to see Sherm get a second ring. That said, I also like Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce, and it was great to see Reid, in particular, finally get his championship. Plus, the game was excellent. Lots of back and forth. Plenty of scoring. Close the whole time. It was the best part of the entire event, which hasn’t been the case for some years.

💃 Halftime

Meh. Kari-Lise and I both were disappointed in the halftime show. It was too long, and it felt incredibly disjointed. The song cuts came so fast one wasn’t allowed time to get into a rhythm before it was cutting to something else. Remember this song? Remember this one? How about this one? Much of the backup dancer costuming was terrible, as was that weird knock-off Pitbull whom I am too lazy to research. (I’m decidedly not a Pitbull fan, but I’m even less of a knock-off Pitbull fan, apparently.)

📺 The Commercials

Eesh. These were awful. Almost all of them. Outside of a few gems that seemed to bring something new—namely Amazon’s Alexa ad—everything came across as awkward and forced. They were brands trying to be genuine while decidedly being the opposite of that. This isn’t surprising in an era when marketing strategy runs along the lines of “Sunny-D is depressed” and “Steak-umm reflects on society.” These were focused grouped into oblivion, and it showed. Most had an incredible lack of self-awareness and a misunderstanding of whatever culture they were targeting. To paraphrase my pal, Peter, most came across as the dying gasp of an industry format that wants to move towards the organic viral-ness of TikTok but doesn’t understand how to get there. He’s not wrong. (Also, now that I have seen celebrities and brands infiltrate TikTok, TikTok is dead to me. The fun weirdness is gone. Like Instagram, it’s becoming a wasteland of ads.)

🥨 The Snacks

I made a decent spread of food that is terrible for you (Frito Pie! Pigs-in-a-blanket! Jalapeño Poppers!) but are a joy to eat. So the snacks were great. A+ snacks. Will snack on again, just not on the reg.

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