A Roundup of My Year
Screenwriting, Conventions, Ancient Artefacts and Travels
Hello and welcome to this weekly roundup - which will actually include a review of my year, a thankful and reflective look back that will mostly cover January to September (the months I wasn’t sharing with you here on this newsletter). I’ll probably forget some things… Still this’ll be a long one with no pretty photos for you to skim (until the end). Hopefully you’ll enjoy learning what I’ve been up to - if not, it’s a nice reflection for me.
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I’ll start though by saying Happy New Year! Thank you for your support reading this newsletter over the last third of this year. I hope you have a great next year. Though there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world, I’m hoping that exciting new things will come our way, that 2024 will be balanced less bumpily than this year was. Some high- and lowlights:
January
The year started out rockily, with a series of endings. The nicest one was finishing my second full-length novel and proofreading it with my parents. (I’m still working on the third as loyal readers know.) There was a Christmas get-together with my school year that we didn’t know would be the only one of the year where we were mostly all present, there was a death in the family, and what was my first and only phone I’ve owned decided to implode (not literally), but being the fool I was I hadn't backed up my photos properly from our family holiday to York, to staying with a friend in Bath and visiting Bristol, to almost two weeks in Germany staying with a friend in Augsburg and visiting Füssen, Munich, and Trier where we actually stayed and properly explored. So, yeah, it seemed like I was losing a lot in January and I think that feeling carried on into February and March really.
February and March
I did promise highlights and for the life of me I can’t really remember too much of what went on, outside of my screenwriting course at MetFilm school. Maybe I’ll talk more about the previous two screenwriting courses I’d done online sometime in the future (as I may talk about writing two novels in that same time) but there’s not too much to tell, other than that I produced a screenplay each time, learnt something new, and felt overprepared for the in-person course. It was six months and the first half (the 2022 months) didn’t seem too taxing, and as we moved into January I loved writing my third screenplay, a TV pilot based off the non-Minecraft elements of my Diamond Dimensions Universe. I worked with my tutor over zoom to really perfect that story. With all the lovely feedback I received from the course the screenplay’s reached double digits on the draft-counter. I’ve sent it off to a few more things recently so here’s hoping.
(In early February I went to an applicant day at Brighton Screen and Film School (I’ve deferred to next September but we’ll see). The day felt like a failure as I just stayed in my shell as if I was twelve again alone on the school playground, but a good thing to come out of it was the professional TV director that did my portfolio review said my screenplay was professional-looking and that she wanted to read more!)
Some real highlights of the MetFilm course were actually being around fellow creatives, a whirl of so many cool ideas, and for one session to work together outlining a season of TV - it really showed me the value of collaboration and made me feel I could be a part of something like that one day.
The read-through of my first seven pages was incredible - I still have the recording as it was a certain kind of magic at work to hear my characters come to life. I also loved the setting of the course - at an actual film studio in London where things were going on! (It was right by a park and old house with art exhibitions that I got free entry to too!) But the theme of failure on my part seemed to pervade. I felt a bit out of control and lacking when it came to telling real actors who came in one day what my story was about, who their characters were and how I saw the scene. Maybe I needed more practice. Then I over-practiced my pitch to a producer who came in for a separate session, rushed through an info-dump while looking at the floor. So not great, but they were learning experiences after all.
April
I think that basically bring us to April. I’m not as introverted as I was - in fact there’s a certain aliveness I only feel at large gatherings, but I still retain a fear and shyness. The last session of the MetFilm course gave me a feeling akin to what I’d had with my class from school - after our last session we headed to a pub and actually talked and considering I’d only shared twelve full days with these folks and not uttered much I felt amongst friends.
So, yes, April. April was a wonderful month. I started by doing watercolour concept art for a somewhat proper pitch-deck and show bible, Stranger Things-style with a fake old book containing information about the series. I’m really proud of what I have now at the end of the MetFilm course - a somewhat polished script and bible and pitch, and of course some screenwriting friends.
On the train journeys towards the end of the course I’d been pretty active on twitter when it still felt sane to do so - I’d been planning and researching a very exciting event - Star Wars Celebration.
We were lucky enough to witness all the new announcements, trailers, casts for all the exciting new Star Wars projects, and be invited to an early showing of that week’s Mandalorian episode with the cast and creators. Both of those times in that massive hall in the ExCel will stay with me forever - I felt maybe as passionate as big football fans behind the net when their team score a cup-winning goal or something. It was the feeling of being amongst a collection of people that all loved and knew the same thing, in varying ways but all there out of love not looking for attention online.
What will also stay with me forever was my first time meeting some Star Wars authors. I didn’t get to meet everyone I wanted to who was attending - I almost can’t count Charles Soule as he had to leave and signed my Vader comic on the way out. But I’m so thankful for those that sat in a line on that table that shared a little moment of their time, their writing journeys, their passion, kindness and advice. I’ve met Star Wars actors but to meet the creatives behind so many wonderful stories that I’ve read was something else. (Not to mention the fact that they have my ideal job and were telling me how they got there.) It might prove to be a life-changing moment but we’ll see.
It was a while ago and they rush so things are a bit hazy but I remember someone (maybe
, and Cav if you’re reading this please pass on my appreciation to the others), that said that if I’d written something, self-published whatever, I was a writer/author, not aspiring. I definitely remember a funny exchange with Adam Christopher as I spent a few seconds getting to a white page he could sign then he flicked back a few to a black page as he had a silver pen. I remember Lydia Kang’s kind smile as she told me to keep writing. I remember George Mann sharing his beginnings as a Dr Who fanfic writer who got in some magazines and worked up from there. It was all so inspiring. And a short while afterwards I met Christopher Cooper, editor of the official Star Wars Insider magazine.Quite embarrassingly now I gave each author a USB drive with some word documents - a letter about me, and my novelisation of the unfinished Clone Wars episodes I talked about in this week’s writing journey post. I still contest that the authors could read it as it was only novelising something already produced - but they’re under contract not to so they kindly accepted a USB on which they could only read a page about my writing journey. But I wanted to share with them my passion and how I’d tied elements from their novels or comics as easter eggs or call backs in my novelisation, as if mine was some official canon story.
The exciting thing was though that Chris Cooper took my USB with more excitement and grace than the authors could, he could read the short story, and did, and got back to me with such a kind letter of advice, his writing journey, his admiration for what I had done so far - and we still email…
Later in April I went to London for a day, my first actual day trip on my own, which maybe is an important milestone. I met the band Bastille for a signing which was wonderful, though the staff at the record store were very strict. I actually managed to make some friends in the queue and defy the staff to talk to the band (flustered but still I said mostly what I wanted to say) and get them to sign things that weren’t just their latest record. I’m very grateful that I went to London that day as for the second half of the day I went to the British Museum.
That was once again leaving comfort zone city behind as my previous experiences at the museum were some bad school trip memories - but I wanted to go as I was very much into Ancient Egypt having written my Watchers screenplay and done all the pitch artwork. I tried to find objects most related to what I was writing about (at least from the same century) - but of course the one in my screenplay actually related to the pharaoh I was writing about was in storage. While I was there though I looked on their website for a map and saw about study rooms, and how you could request to look at artefacts…
May
Ah May, perhaps the most bumpy month of them all, topsy turvy and yet reaching some equilibrium even as gods throw heavier weights on either side of the scale.
Late April and into May we went on our big holiday of the year, which was lovely. We drove from home through France to have some time in Bruges, then up to stay with our friends in the Netherlands (in a beautiful village near Amsterdam) , and came back via Ghent and Ypres.
I’d never been to Belgium before so I saw things I hadn’t seen before - sounds obvious but hopefully you catch my drift. (What a weird saying.) Having been to Italy before and seeing some much Italian Renaissance art and architecture it was like Bruges and Ghent were slightly cooler, less bright versions of that, if that makes sense. What I mean to say is that they were equally beautiful and awesome, maybe like the sun and the moon. In Bruges especially, first discovering those squares and houses, spires and canals and art like those of Bosch, or painted windmills or old churches. Highlights in Ghent were the museums, the overgrown ruins of an abbey, and seeing the altarpiece Adoration of a Mystic Lamb by Jan van Eyck open slowly out for us one morning. Ypres too had its sombre wonders - an excellently done Flanders Fields museum, moving in its scale and intricacies of individual stories, and of course seeing the Last Post at the Menin Gate. We only had one night there compared to the cities but each’s character will stay with me.
In the Netherlands of course as well as the joy of staying with our friends - and eating all their food! - we went to Haarlem which was an amazing city, with an impressive cathedral, a café atop the multi-storey carpark, and a lot of nice board game and comics shops! We also went to the palace Het Loo, a “little Dutch Versailles”, as well as going on amazing walks into nature, in forests or by the water, seeing tens of storks all nesting, or stroking friendly lambs, and re-visiting a star-shaped fort-town.
Many bouts of good news came on that holiday as well which made it all the more enchanting. I forgot earlier to mention that I also met
at Star Wars Celebration, which was a delight, and thanks to subscribing to her newsletter I got to beta read one of her books that year. I won’t go into too many details but that was a highlight of the year - reading the work of a writer I admire before anyone else, being able to give feedback. It was a wonderful way to spend my time after the holiday and after the drama after the holiday, which I’ll get to a few paragraphs down.I also got the email from Chris Cooper on that holiday, and after starting a new twitter account as myself, I was making connections and getting to know more all the authors I’d met, being a more active part in the Star Wars fan community, and had joined a chat full of other aspiring Star Wars writers. While not as much as I’d have liked has come out of that chat, I feel at least I’ve made a few friends there that would would support me and my writing and who I could talk to if I committed. One amongst them,
, is graciously reading through my first novel to offer her feedback and editing advice, I’m very grateful and want all of you reading to subscribe to her publication dedicated to her favourite Star Wars character.But any way I think that period of April and May were the highlights of the year. Holidays, new online connections, and we did a lot physically too, climbing the bell tower in each Belgian place we stayed, going on 10km walks in the Netherlands.
Which made it all the more of a shock when my father had a heart attack a week after we got back or something. (Life had been going so well so of course there had to be a wet fish waiting to slap me in the face. (Another weird saying.))
I’m not going to divulge too much other than there was the insult to injury that we were visiting the house where the BBC comedy Ghosts was filmed, which meant the hospital he ended up at was two hours away from home. Remarkably in the time I spent in that hospital, I managed to reconnect with some friends, write some articles and listen to a hefty dose of podcasts with all the people crafting my favourite Star Wars stories. I guess my way of dealing with it was to stay active, mentally, at least. He’s fine now, by the way. It just made convincing him to watch the last season of Ghosts this year a bit harder.
May ended on a better note, though. I still went to MCM comic con as there were some panels with great authors about writing sci-fi and fantasy. For sci-fi there was Stark Holborn, Lavie Tidhar and Una McCormack - the latter signed a Picard book to my dad. ‘Live long and prosper’ was particularly relevant.
And I asked the right questions this time when I met the fantasy authors afterwards, about querying mostly, and all the authors there gave me their great advice (like Samantha Shannon’s three Cs of a query letter - be confident, concise and courteous) and kindness, wishing me well in written messages (as Sebastien de Castell did, recommending his agent too) or even telling me to let them know how it goes as L. R. Lam and Saara El-Arifi did. Since hearing about their books and their writing process and meeting them all I’ve picked up many of their books to read next year. I suggest you do too.
June and July
As you can imagine we had a quiet summer really. Sadly my dad couldn't come with me and my mum to see Depeche Mode in concert but after becoming a bigger fan of the band over lockdowns their new album Memento Mori (aptly named for this year), and the show they put on, were highlights for me this year, stars in the darkness, as in the lyrics of their song Never Let me Go.
We built up to days out to Canterbury and then a few nights staying with friends near Oxford, seeing some great things there like an exhibition on Knossos, visiting the botanical gardens and Blenheim Palace.
The highlight of July though, something I feel very privileged to have done, was to visit the British Museum’s Egypt and Sudan department’s study rooms. I filled out the form and eventually arranged a date. Despite being the only fiction writer (self-published and with no screenplay credits at that) amongst serious researchers, they let me in and completely complied with my request. I can’t share photos, but I actually got to hold the artefact from the story I first started when I was 14/15, got to see and handle three of the few artefacts in the world to mention Pharaoh Ramesses VIII.
It’s amazing how much weight a scarab about two centimetres long can have - emotionally, I mean. There was the fact that I was seeing and handling something I couldn’t find photos of online, an artefact I was interested in on a historical level. Then there was the fact that I’d already added so much meaning to the object because of the part it plays in stories that have defined my creative journey, from my first non-novelisation self-published book to my best screenplay. I was holding the real version of an ancient magical object held and used by the characters in my story. Then there was the fact that the more I looked at the thing, the more I noticed the grains of sand still left on it, or the intricate way the legs were carved - I was holding a beautiful piece of art made thousands of years ago, created by some living person that long ago and now in my hand…
They also brought out all the books I’d requested to look at. I managed to read one, a more digestible guide to Medinet Habu, the temple in my Watchers story. I scribbled pages of notes and got a good understanding of everything on the site, every room and major piece of artwork - the book was written as if a tour guide was taking you around. I skimmed through a book with photos of ancient scarabs similar to the two they got out the archives for me (as well as a wooden statue that had somehow survived!). But then the main book I’d asked four turned out to be five big volumes - maybe they were A2 sized? With folios and a description of everything found there, from the first temple to the Romans, Copts and present day.
It was a journal of sorts of the archaeologist who somewhat rebuilt the site as it would’ve been, describing every room in all its eras, all the foundations and modifications etc. - the volumes were actually the 1920s first editions so I had to be pretty careful with them. If you ever need someone to draw you a map of Ramesses III’s mortuary temple, I’m your guy. I had to go back to the museum for two more days in September, a few days before I started this newsletter, to finish through it all, but I gained such a comprehensive understand as well as two new story ideas for films/books, and the staff in the library were more interested in my writing, I think.
August
The major thing in August was another step in my growth was to take my first trip away alone - a night in Bristol. It was a long train journey but worth the trip. I managed to re-take all the photos I’d lost of the tower in the park, the suspension bridge, the boats and houses on the river, minus my friend :( but more than that too! I went really to see the VR Lascaux exhibition at the museum (I re-took all my museum photos too, especially the Ancient Egypt stuff (my visit October of 2022 had given me new ideas for my Watchers screenplay)). Lascaux is a major site of importance in my second full-length novel, as perhaps the most famous painted cave. Since then it has become important to me too, like the scarab but probably more so as I created a whole fictional reality-religion based on the site and similar paintings across the world.
I’m not ashamed to admit (okay maybe a little), that I almost cried into the VR headset, which probably wouldn’t have been good for the staff there. I’d visited the 3D-printed, sculpted and hand-painted recreation of the site in France in the summer of 2022 while finishing my first novel and planning the second. It was magical to be back there, in VR, with a Morgan Freeman-esque spirit of the cave saying words to me not dissimilar to the mythology of light I’d created, and being able to see artwork closer, notice details I hadn’t before and that no photos will give you, being able to paint on the walls myself (no doubt embarrassingly spit-blowing), sticking around to soak up every ounce of information on displays or recreated sections in the exhibit, even after the next group had come in… That was run on sentence and I’m sorry. I also visited some great book shops and the Clifton Observatory, with its obscura and caves and layers of history that I hadn’t known about. It was a successful trip.
I had a similar experience to the VR Lascaux when I got sucked into the art and mind of Hilma af Klint at an exhibition at Tate Modern. I won’t go on too long about that but it was the first exhibition where I’ve bought the expensive guide at the end - it moved me and resonated beyond appreciation.
September
We’re almost done now, don’t worry. At the start of September my family had our second holiday of the year, up to York then to Hadrian’s Walls and back via a night near Creswell Crags.
York will be the central location for my next novel (#4), so it was great to return there, to once again take photos a second time. The nice staff at the Jorvik centre let me record the whole ride through the recreated Viking streets which will come in handy… And I also learnt a lot about the city’s Roman past. I could go on for longer (I took far too many museum photos, or so I thought…) but the one object I was very happy to see is the Cawood sword, a sword that will inspire the aforementioned novel as it has a mysterious inscription on both sides of the blade, in two different scripts. It’s a bit like the Rosetta stone of swords, but its meaning is undeciphered so far.
I’d visited Hadrian’s Wall before as well, but when I was 11/12 (I had my birthday there!), and homesick on a school trip. This time was a lot more enjoyable, we stayed in a lovely B and B and I soaked in every aspect of the scenery and history and took literally thousands of photos (for the sake novel #4). Again though it was something of genuine historical significance and to my own history as well.
Which brings me to Creswell Crags, Britain's only publicly accessible and known-about prehistoric cave art site. Once I’m finished with my current short story it will be the subject of the next one. The staff were all really kind, going beyond the usual tour and showing interest about my writing. It was great to talk to people who shared a similar knowledge base about prehistoric artwork. I’m hoping to volunteer there as there may still be things to find, and just generally to help such an important historical site. It was incredible to be close to real ancient engravings again, of an ibis, deer, auroch and more. Go and visit!
And when I came back from that trip, it was near my birthday, and I started this newsletter. Since then you’ve know what I’ve been up to, or could if you wanted to go through the archive on the website version.
Some thank yous
I have lots of people to thank this year but it’s easier to thank those I can tag on a post like this. Despite the current situation of Substack, thank you
for being my inspiration to join this platform, and also to Gareth L. Powell who’s left, for hosting my first actual post, a text-interview for his Writer Wednesday feature.A massive thank you and shout out to
of the incredible Cosmographia and The Books that Made Us, where he hosted another highlight of my year, my reflection on reading The Return of the King while being on my last class trip to Italy last year.
There are those on here that I knew from before hearing about Substack, and those I’ve only found on here. I’m glad I’ve got learn more about you all this year. I’m grateful for your support and insights (in no particular order):
, , , , , ,, , , , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , … the list could go on (I read a lot on here!). You’ve all been beacons in different ways.And thank you to all my friends and family and others who’ve subscribed too. It’s nice to know that you’re reading! :)
The Future of this Newsletter
I’ve said in some previous posts that I’m mulling over what to do next with this newsletter - to move it or not. And really I think the schedule that I had been keeping was winding down, there wasn’t too much story left to tell for my writing journey, I’ve finished serialising Children of Shadows, and the weekly roundups… maybe some weeks they’d be better bi-weekly.
Some have already left Substack, others are looking for alternatives, others are continuing on like nothing’s happening (so have I). I’m still mulling it over, waiting to see what more of those I look up to will do in time, if the people behind Substack itself will do something. (I won’t stop reading the many fantastic publications on here, but might just host my small following somewhere else.)
So, it comes to this: I’m taking a hiatus. I’d have to have pre-schedule posts as I’m away anyway for the second half of January - a very exciting trip to Scotland with a friend that I will tell you all about.
But I’m thinking… monthly. On the last day of each month now I’ll give you a recap of my month, the author parts and the other parts to an extent, whatever floats my boat (a third weird saying for the day.) So expect an email from me in some form at the end of January. If you’re reading this and aren’t subscribed, please consider doing so, so you can definitely make any possible move with me in January.
Until then, once again, Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for reading - this post, or any since I first started on here on my 21st birthday in September. I am so grateful for all your support, and although this newsletter is changing, I’m hopeful for the new year, and sharing my experiences and learning with you! Let me know how your week/year went, if you feel like it. I’d love to hear how you are, how your year was, and what you’re looking forward to in 2024. (I’ve got the button to comment below, but you can reply to this email if you want to share privately.) I know this has been a rough year, or end to the year, for some if not most, but let’s celebrate the sparks that outshine swathes of darkness.
I normally put the thank you at the very end, but it felt more appropriate up there. I’d be remiss though if I didn’t include…
This week’s books
This segment showcases the new additions to my research and fiction collections. This week of course contained Christmas Day, a day for unwrapping many tomes in my household.
First, the fiction. I unwrapped
’s wonderful novel (the hardcover in the centre), a decent amount of Star Wars, catching up on some slightly older comics and books, including the four Choose Your Own Adventure books by . I’m getting closer to having every canon Star Wars story. Another Phillip Pullman that I’m looking forward to read after loving the TV series, and those two Rick Riordans almost complete my collecting of his mythical universe - I’m really enjoying the Percy Jackson series on Disney+. The Inheritors was on my list as I know it’s about prehistory, and the cover I first saw of it had some shaman artwork that I’ve already written my own shot story about!
Onto the non-fiction, except The Eagle of the Ninth that I forgot to include in that first photo - I remember reading some of that story at school and of course now that I’m writing my own Roman Britain historical fiction it felt like a must read. The others were pretty much all surprises from my wonderful parents. We know David Harewood from Supergirl but not much about him personally and it’ll be nice to rectify that. London: The Biography was recommended by a reader of this newsletter,
- thanks again! As you’ve read, the British Museum, despite the fact it’s a bit keen to hold onto its artefacts, has been good to me this year, and the other books should be very helpful with my writing. The first in that Writing Notebook series, based on City, we bough in Ghent - I plan to work through that first one if not both on my trip to Scotland.
I’m very lucky to receive all these books this year. (We almost needed another new shelf!) This last batch will all be so valuable for my future fiction writing, and just general history education. I hope I’ll be able to share those stories, and how reading all this history will inspire and realise them, sometime in the future.
Cheers,
Harvey
Great recap! Good luck with the year ahead, whatever you decide to do. Thanks for all your ideas and sharing your work related to my podcast.
Happy New Year!