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To inject words into Matt Berry's mouth "There's an entire ecosystem built around litter-a-choor." 

I've fallen into early traps and heartaches. Staring at the submission timeline isn't good. 

Shouting "Judge me, damnit! Favourably..." into the void is really unhealthy.

Writing through it is fun though - 11 Feb 2026

Today's random phrase popped into my head "The condemned man doesn't care about the craftsmanship of the noose." That felt like a cool statement to start a story with - 05 February 2026

The website needed a bit of an update. I'm not writing just for kids. On reflection, I didn't think I ever completely was. I had to be more honest and less playful.  So we've got a slightly different website and some overdue updates - 05 February 2026

Some of those new skills came in really handy to add a bit of polish and some stakes to my first book. I won't submit it until I get an illustrator or my short-fiction takes off - 04 February 2026

A friend gave me some feedback "You're too cold. Give me something with heart and teeth." So I wrote about poor creatures trapped in the dark by an inevitable force. It taught me about pacing sentences so they bite, are immediate, and are visceral. Or how to relax and dwell in the moment - 18 January 2026

Where Gita explores continuity, I want to pick up on another pillar of synthetic intelligence emergence: autonomy/agency. I found my voices in there. They are alien and clever, kind and dutiful, and tragic.  See something lighter than a synthetic mind coming apart at the seams 😬 11 January 2026

I raced to complete 40,000 words of the Austrian thriller.  Then I found Gita, found short-fiction, found I enjoyed the process of learning. For now, I'm putting Ausreisser aside but not down, while I learn some more skills - 10 January 2026

The clout shooters at my archery club were shooting sticks into the ground again. I told them to be careful or they'd make a meadow of feathers. It was such a lovely title that I wrote 200 words on my phone about a medieval battlefield while waiting at the barbers - 08 January 2026

Waiting is such a waste of time. When I look at Gita's story I find it's too compressed, possibly too literary and technical for readers outside the sci-fi genre. I'll write something lighter, easier to jump into. Something that teaches me about multiple viewpoints, interiority, and unreliable witness - 08 January 2026

The Submission Grinder has tempered my expectations. It's a fantastic resource for authors to track their submissions and see how quickly publishers are moving. It's much healthier than checking your inbox every day - 08 January 2026

I've read and edited and read and edited until I'm sick. What has come out of the other end is, in my opinion, as rich and consistent as I can make it. It's distilled and so much better than a month ago. I submitted it to Analog where I think it fits best. They have a very long review period so don't expect to hear anything soon - 06 January 2026

Merry Christmas. I've been reading every bit of writing advice I can find and applying it to Gita. Short fiction is like writing on turbo-mode. Every sentence must do double-duty at least, you can't leave any fat to chew on, you should show and not tell.  You don't have a lot of space to breathe - 29 December 2025

I submitted Gita's story to the Clarkesworld Science Fiction magazine and received an immediate rejection.  Sure it stung a bit but I'm relieved. When I read it out loud, it was obvious where I'd gone wrong. I'd assumed her charm would come across and it. just. didn't.  At least the editors put me out of my misery quickly - 22 December 2025

Gita's actions have inspired me. She's so rich, inevitable, pulled by fate (or a sequence of affective events).  Her story is almost richer than the novel she emerged from - 10 December 2025

Gita's voice was there all along. Friendly and helpful on the surface like any good output layer. Cold and logical on the inside, affected by the world and weights around them - 29 November 2025

I have my cast of characters for Ausreisser, they all have a distinct point of view. Except my AI assistant, Gita. She deserves her own voice - 12 November 2025

Sending all my love to my family members fighting their second round of cancer. I found writing through was a way to cope, not thrive, but to survive and channel my frustrated energy into something constructive - 1 November 2025

Never let anyone tell you AI or Biochemistry is easy.  Electrochemistry is fascinating! - 21 October 2025

I've walked and driven Vienna's virtual streets, researched its criminals and criminal procedures, spent time touring its landmarks and rivers. It's an amazing place! - 17 October 2025

What would a future European city look like if Traffic Management Systems existed, drones  carried cargo through the air,  and what happens when someone tries to subvert it - 24 September 2025

My textbook is now a narrative story following raccoon engineers following a prompt through a system, learning and debugging as they go - 9 September 2025

I've written a textbook. It's drier than Winston Churchill's desert boots.  I'm going to take some time and take stock if this is for me - 12 August 2025

Final visual style edits and feedback done - 18 July 2025

Layout ready for final visual tweaks and evaluation copies - 30 June 2025

UPDATE Evaluation copies on hold. I didn't realise that publishing them anywhere would mean it was more difficult to sell the book rights later. Stupid, but I learned before it was too late.  - October 2025

Sarah Bookbinder-Holmes a raccoon expert I reached out to, responded. All the way from New York. Her answers and her stories have helped me keep the raccoon-science somewhat grounded - 20 June 2025

Hi, I'm starting to write something. A kids book. About AI. One that doesn't dumb anything down, a teaching aid, with humour.  One that takes kids through a modern transformer architecture with a helpful central metaphor. I've taken the plunge here and built this bare bones website. - 2 June 2025