Ryan M. Patrick

The month went by quickly! Onto 2025.

Writing

I was about 55,000 words into Crush Depth when I realized that one of my subplots – carried from previous versions – no longer works. Thankfully, I have a fix! Just need to work it in. I’m probably on track to finish in April or May, pushing me out a month or two, but it’ll be worth it. Might be a 2026 release now.

Beta feedback on The Europan Deception has been very positive. Still planning to edit in January and February (while I work on some other stuff) and get it to the Pentagon in early March. Definitely a 2025 release.

I’ve also been poking away at a Tim Powers-inspired contemporary/urban fantasy set in Chester County, Pennsylvania – the area I grew up in – in the mid 2000s. Lots of religious themes under the surface while keeping the text on the page comfortable for everyone regardless of faith. I’ve got an outline and am about 15,000 words in as I work on it when I get stuck on Crush Depth. It’s currently titled Memento Vivere, “remember life,” but that might be subject to change.

Reading

This month, I read:

• The Treadstone Transgression by Joshua Hood – paint-by-numbers spy thriller. 4 stars.
• Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell. Another great entry in the series. 5 stars.
• Antarktos Rising by Jeremy Robinson. Great ideas, really weak writing. 3 stars.
• Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress. Great sci-fi, 5 stars.
• The Halley Traveler by Mike Mollman. Really neat hard sci-fi book with some great ideas, but it is present tense (which I hate).
• Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Great end to the trilogy, don’t love his writing style. 4 stars.
• After Moses by Michael F. Kane. Really good Firefly-esque sci-fi thriller. 5 stars.

Video Games

It’s been a Call of Duty month. Beat the Cold War campaign while playing a ton of Black Ops 6 zombies and multiplayer. Only other game I played was Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, which I beat early in the month.

Thanks and I hope you all had a great 2024!