It's my birthday.
Allegedly, I don't know, I wasn't exactly paying attention.
I made this banner today. If I remember, I’ll put a song in every post, and you can click the banner to listen to it. They’ll typically be youtube links so they’re more accessible.
I want this Substack to become more immersive. I love words on pages, they’re cool, but I want to do more than that.
I may also buy a synth when I have more money. Maybe one day the banner will lead to my sci-fi music. I really want to put my more sci-fi poems to synth music.
It’s my birthday!
I am 32 years old, which is half a stack of years, if you play Minecraft.
And that’s probably what I’ll be doing tonight.
(Edit: I actually started writing a few new posts, redesigned a poetry book cover, wrote some jokes, and started a podcast with my mum)
You can see the first attempt at that on instagram and tiktok.
Anyway, I am 32 now.
I wonder where I’ll be when I’m 64. Maybe I should write a letter to my future self and post it here sometime. I have plans.
This time last year I announced the opening of the crowdfundr for WHO KILLED THE HUMANS? the punchier, darker, funnier sequel collection to WHO BUILT THE HUMANS? That’s gone okay so far. I’ll be shutting down the tiers which have no support so I can make the thing more streamlined, but the main body of the book feels done to me.
It’s ugly and malformed, but done. I am now in the chiselling stage.
So it’s my birthday. It’s also National Book Lovers day.
You can’t make stuff like that up.
If you want to help me celebrate, please consider buying one of my books, or visiting one of my youtube channels. I do a lot more than just books, I also make
standup comedy
Minecraft videos
Lego models
strange noises at 3:33am
comedy sketches on instagram and tiktok
For books, comedy, and stuff like that
For Lego, comedy about Lego, and shirts about comedy about Lego
I’ve also had a go at redoing the cover for BEYOND UNCERTAIN STARS, that novella about the afterlife that was in WHO BUILT THE HUMANS?
I plan to republish it on its own soon, so it can have a new life.
And of course, the cover will specify it came from WBTH.
WBTH was very high value, still is, but a normal author would have split it into multiple books. But I had a vision:
A book that was a universe, that could be re-read loads of times and still feel new each time. A book which rewarded a reader’s change of direction, a hyper swapping of interest. A book that was more than a book, but a collection of intersecting universes that changed shape under the psychic pressure of being perceived, and which changed the way its audience perceived it depending on the direction at which they crash-landed on its first planet.
If you get through one chapter of a universe and want to visit the next universe, it’s as easy as turning the page.
Because no two chapters from one universe are next to each other. The multiverse is jagged and fragmented, but effortlessly easy to navigate because each chapter has directions at its end.
I think you should check it out.
Happy birthday to me