Ryan M. Patrick

Going to be another busy month as I push to get The Europan Deception done and into its next phase!

Writing

In my writing, I want to get to 120,000 words done (out of a currently-planned 140,000) for that book. I hit 50,000 last month and I don’t see it being an issue in August. I should be on track to get it to…other people in early September. Not jinxing it, but I think I’m in good shape.

I’ll also be working on my current short story (“Initiative”) and try to get it complete and submitted by the end of the month. More on my short stories this month, I want to get more into writing/submitting them – an area where I haven’t had any success yet.

Finally, I’ll work on Crush Depth here and there, that – and editing Trials – are my two big projects for September-December.

Reading

In August, I plan on reading:

• The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell
• The Vanished Diamond by Jules Verne
• Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert
• Doorway to the Stars by Jack McDevitt
• Cosmic Strife: Assault by Steve Gavin

Video Games

Getting back into video games after a roughly year-long absence (since Starfield, really) where I didn’t play much outside of my Tuesday night “Game Night” with my hometown buddies playing Call of Duty, Fortnite, or Apex Legends.

Working on two games right now, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb on my (recently-upgraded) PC and trying to 100% all of the achievements for Dragon Age: Inquisition on my Xbox. I’ll probably finish the former this month, and if I do I’m going to start on Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines. It’s been on my backlog for a while and I think it’s time to make the leap. I hear it’s similar to Deus Ex and Dishonored, but set in Los Angeles (!) and I think it’ll be a blast, especially since 2024 hasn’t hit the same way as 2023 did with Hogwarts: Legacy, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, and Starfield.

Thanks and I hope you all have a great month!