Ochre vs Gold

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The Splintered Land stories started with Geneve’s quest to save the world, which (spoilers!) she managed with great success! There was a cost, which sucked, but we’re now re-visiting the same world sixteen years later to see whether it was worth it. The bedrock of the Splintered Land are its people. We met four main races in the original trilogy. Part of my exploration with the story is persecution and xenophobia. The long-lived People, for example, are better at just about everything, which put them on the firing line from, well, just about everyone. You’d think a species on the sharp end of discrimination would understand it well enough to not practice that bullshit, but no. I explore some of this in the upcoming trilogy (starting with The Copper Bard). A returning character from The Splintered Land is Sight of Read More …

Things we’ll laugh about in five years

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Our cat Harry went missing. It’s fine, he’s back now, but it’s the how that really shows how awesome people are. Harry is adventurous … to a fault. He’s a black tom, entirely too sure of himself, and doesn’t understand the difference between mine and also mine (formerly: yours). Because the cat loves sleeping on his head and eating, in that order, without more than a three-hour break between each cycle, when he was gone for a day and a night we knew something was up. I printed out around 200 flyers and dropped them to all our neighbours. I encouraged neighbours to look in their sheds, garages, and under house areas, because we’d had hellacious wind and a curious cat could easily have wandered somewhere to get accidentally shut in. This was the right thing to do. Within a Read More …

Morgan, the Raven Queen of Or'sen, sitting on a throne. Two giant ravens appear as wings behind her.

The Triumph of Uniqueness

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Geneve’s original trilogy (starting with Blade of Glass) was built on the idea that we are better when we work together. I’d penned the series when I noticed the dark trend of social and regular media megacorps juicing us together just to get the clicks. Her story was set in a world much like ours, and not too far in the future. We couldn’t stop hating each other, and so everyone died. Why she and her fellow Tresward Knights survived was because they are absolute badasses. The whole trilogy is a collection of badassery, where people can summon the power of the gods through perfect sword strikes, or a broken-down illusionist can change reality if he’s willing to put it all on the line (yes, Meriwether, I’m looking at you). My upcoming trilogy (starting with The Copper Bard) is still Read More …

The Things Editing Teaches You, version 274

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I’ve got a new trilogy coming out soon*, which means I’ve been in the editing house of horror. My friend Cassie and I used to have divergent views on editing, where her position was, “Editing makes the book better!” and my position was, “I’d rather sand my hands than edit.” She is, as it happens, correct 🤣 My normal editing process involves a read-through, then a read-aloud. I’m looking to extend the read-aloud into the audiobook edition of the book, but the base minimum is to get the machine to read the manuscript for me. After this it gets farmed out to beta readers, then the editor. Here’s what I’ve learned this time: If this post amused you, consider hopping on my mailing list, where you’ll no doubt here hear more about my failings as a writer in the weeks Read More …

FIGHT: Vellum vs. Atticus vs. Scrivener

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There’s been a little bit of disruption in the “writer’s tools” market recently. I see a lot of questions online about which tool is the best, and having spent my time in the various saddles, I thought I’d break down which I think is best. TL;DR: Wait, I thought this was about Vellum, Atticus, and Scrivener… WTAF are the other tools for? Good catch. Let’s consider writing as workflow. For example, your workflow might start with an idea, then an outline or timeline, a draft, editing, and finally production. I’ll focus on Vellum, Atticus, and Scrivener here, but my workflow relies on a good notes app, and a great timeline tool. Unless you can keep a word bible in your skull, you’ll need a notes app. If you’re an outline (rather than discovery) writer, you will benefit from a timeline/plot Read More …

The Little Synology that Wasn’t

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Recently I did an inventory of the tech that powers the writing empire. You’ll probably notice a change of the site URL to parrydox.com, because I got tired of trying to convince people that .co was a valid domain (.co.nz and .com being most people’s mental search/replace). As a part of this process I ensured I was using the best tools for the job. In my writer’s stable I need: A good suite of writing software (currently Scrivener + Vellum, but likely to move to Atticus – to be covered in another post once I’ve thoroughly kicked the tyres); A website (you’re probably looking at it – props to FastComet, who offer excellent service – they actually respond to support tickets!) that showcases my books and how to get in touch with me; Some kind of mailing list provider; and Read More …

Bookshine Reviews Blade of Glass

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And Steph liked it! “Richard Parry’s worldbuilding and plot are superb here, but what really stood out for me above everything else was his knack with characters. The dialogue exchanges are natural and witty, and you get a real sense for each individual character, their growth and the depth of the connections they forge as the story progresses. Even the horses have their own personalities and moments to shine – although not so much that they steal the show or disrupt the main plot. In addition to the classic fantasy tropes of good vs. evil and racing to find ‘the thing’, Parry has mixed in some interesting moral dynamics about corruption and perfection, dark and light, and who decides who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. I love the races of ‘others’ introduced here – the Read More …

On Existential Angst

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Steph over at Bookshine allowed me to sully her blog with a topic near and dear to me after editing The Splintered Land. You can find it here: [Writer Angst 101: Continuity] If you like what you see on this site, maybe join my mailing list or become a patron!