jdfitzroy

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Savage Beauty

My sister's book is available on Kindle and as an awesome paperback.

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Book 2: A Writer's Journal

A journal entry for the process of starting book 2 of my sci-fi space opera trilogy.

A new year, a new book! I’ve started writing book 2 of my epic space opera trilogy. I’d planned to begin writing book 2 on the 1st of January 2025 and besides the cold weather, I ventured out to sit in my favourite environment and begin the novel. Having struggled with the slow evolutionary process of book 1 (Fugue), I wanted this continuation of the story to be a tighter, quicker process. Many…

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Night Owl

A Screenplay by JD FitzRoy INTRODUCTION This screenplay was written as an experiment in the art. It is inspired by various short stories and tells the simple tale of two characters in a moment of transition. What I find fascinating about reading screenplays is how, once you extract all the usual fluff of prose and sentence structure, you are left with a sharp and distilled look at character and…

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Game Design Log 2: Defining Ermwood

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Game Design Log 1: Finding Ermwood

In the last two months there’s been a great deal of creative fun as I ramp up the graphic design aspect of my work. With recent inspiration and a cool new concept, I’ve started work on a new card game. The process has been both challenging and very rewarding. Having played several card games, I began to form concepts for my own mechanic. I’d wanted to reshape and re-theme Bruce Glassco’s game…

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Writing Challenge | "Hole in the City"

A new micro-short from my writing challenge series. This time, a future noir crime thriller.

by JD FitzRoy Write a 750 word fragment as if taken from the middle of a bigger story or novel. Future Noir Thriller. Freed from the stuffy, damp basement, Buran breached into a ground-level corridor. Her torchlight, a silvery knife stabbing the gloom, yet unable to penetrate the full corridor length, whichever way she turned. Uniform in length and emptiness. Isolated from the sticky neon…

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The Spice of Life

I wanted to write a little something on how details can shape and improve writing. Here, a selection of random characteristics and some examples. Hopefully, these will help identify problem prose or present spice like adding a burst of flavour to a good meal. DETAIL Sights, Sounds, Smells, Tastes; When describing a colour, what colour — be descriptive even in the hue. Don’t stop with “blue” or…

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Amazon Author Page

Just a quick update on my profile. As I complete work on more wonderful creative projects, I have updated and completed my Amazon Author Page. It’s looking a little sparse at the moment, but I have great plans for this year and beyond so please take a look. My sister (AJ FitzRoy) and I are already hard at work on a second volume of the Consumption short stories with lots more ideas and…

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Writing Challenge | "Nyt Manifold"

A 750 word short story challenge taken from the centre of an imaginary novel.

by JD FitzRoy Write a 750 word fragment as if taken from the middle of a bigger story or novel. Science Fiction. ‘You got that, synth?’ the general asked. ‘Yes, sir,’ I replied. I’d seen the voikit in use, all the organics had one. It was as common among them as yawns and toilet breaks. He’d turned the cube over in his ancient, leathery hand. They got so old, so quickly, momentarily drifting.…

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THE NOVEL, On Finer Details

A new post on my continuing experience of writing and editing a novel.

As I complete the editing of my first novel (part 1 of a trilogy), I turn attention to laying the plan for book 2. But while planning this, I find myself reflecting on book 1’s journey. Too often, I would get sidetracked in the writing process. Fiddly details like names, the starting sentence/paragraph or overall structure kept interfering with the flow. And too often, I would stop to resolve…

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Found Material

Need creative inspiration? Try some a found material project.

By JD FitzRoy Writing is a lengthy, time-consuming craft of patience, focus, and resilience. Balancing narrative sculpting with every-day distractions is tricky. Inspirations, note taking, organising research, and the not-so-simple act of weaving all these into something that flows, will always be hard but fun. Much like playwright Colin Teevan, whose historical dramas required research kept in…

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"I just want 11,780 votes"

Word salad for the day...

Trump comedy gold! The (tortured) Question In preparation, obviously, I would assume for an indictment, what are your thoughts of her, because there’s some, discussion, that she may have some questionable background, you know, there’s some, her father may or may not have been a Black Panther, I think that was discussed. She’s had, perhaps, incorrect relationships with some of the people, some…

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Writing Challenge | "Clockwork 1833"

Historical fiction. A writing challenge. Write a 750 word fragment as if taken from the middle of a bigger story or novel.

by JD FitzRoy Write a 750 word fragment as if taken from the middle of a bigger story or novel. Historical Fiction. ‘It is my pleasure.’ ‘Indeed, indeed. I must admit, I was surprised to find you so engaged. Especially for someone so… young,’ Charles said. Ada followed Charles up whispering stairs, into his study. Curtains drawn, the dark furnishings and thick drapes consumed the light.…

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Dune Imperium Mega Game Box

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The Little Death

A new short story for my website.

By JD FitzRoy Drained of everything she once was, those doll-like eyes look, but they do not see. She cannot turn from them. She wants it to end. I am deluged by phosphorescence from a quintet of suns. Two bloated orbs kiss the horizon, the others more like bright stars, poised overhead. Squinting, my somnolent mind dials the luminosity down. Dirty pumps crunch over… not stones or sand, but ten…

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THE NOVEL | A Journey

This is the beginning of something new from Graviccino! An ongoing journal for all those aspiring writers!

INTRODUCTION Beginnings are delicate things… As I near the end of my first proper novel’s editing, I want to turn to a journal for its creation. And in the process, find a new story to tell. One filled with pit-falls, dramas and great expectations. So here, I will begin a journal describing the process of writing this novel. Things an inspiring writer might look out for, perhaps, or simply as…

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Creating a Board Game

Utilising experience gained from re-designing the Dune: Imperiumgame-board, I turned to a project I’d considering for well over a year. Scribbling notes and coming up with ideas for a game’s core mechanics of the game is one thing, feeling like you have something serious and taking it development is quite something else!

In many ways, the development of a game is like that of writing a novel itself. Turning all those disparate nuggets and cool thoughts into something that feels cohesive, makes sense and follows its own narrative path.

With this in mind, FUGUE the game, is based on my novel of the same name. Emerging through the final stages of writing and editing the novel, I found myself turning inexorably toward the game. Fully embracing and building prototype designs during the spring of 2023.

The game? Well, it’s an intriguing blend of worker placement, deck building, combined with themes and core mechanics woven from my novel. Much like adapting a novel to the screen, this experience found me re-imagining sequences in new and interesting ways from the written word, finding ways to give action to often introspective thought. And, of course, not spoiling the novel’ for those’s various plot-points.

Below are a few photos to tease the design (see graviccino.art for the images). These are subject to change, especially as I print and begin play-testing the game during the second half of 2023. Some graphical elements like the artwork that appears in ‘worker placement’ boxes are temporary, giving me and others an idea. During play-testing, I will be seeking to commission art based on the novel to go into these spaces. And then, perhaps, the project will transition to Kickstarter. Watch this space!

As this continues, I will write further posts on developing the various aspects of the game and perhaps impart some useful information for others.

Hope to see you soon and maybe we can all play this game together one day.