Tag: books
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Crush Depth 21: Editing
Old posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. Ah, editing. Simultaneously my favorite part and my least favorite part of writing. Thankfully, from a big picture standpoint, Crush Depth is in good shape. That’s honestly to be expected considering it’s the fourth draft of the same story concept. But there’s a…
Ryan Patrick
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Wasted Words and Canceled Projects
I threw out a 100,000 word completed manuscript in December of 2025. It was the 2nd full version of Crush Depth – check out my blog post series on it if you want to know how I’ve recovered (and am now on the 4th version). And it stung. I had spent a lot of my…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 20: Chapters 42-Epilogue – The End
Old posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. This is the end! Chapter Forty-Two: Pick up as soon as the last chapter ended. The survivors board the Nautilus; mosasaurs gently guide the submersible upward taking into account “the bends”. Lots of discussion and speculation, and a few points where they think…
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Crush Depth 19: Chapters 39-41 – Conversation
Previous posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. This is the part of the novel I’m the least sure about and that I’m likely going to fix the most in edits. The core concept is fine, but I think the pacing is wonky. More to come in edits. Chapter Thirty-Nine: It…
Ryan Patrick
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End of January/Beginning of February Update
What a year already! The Saturn Anomaly Still at the Pentagon in its prepublication security review. Probably need to ping them soon. Crush Depth It’s done at 88,000 words. Now, the hard part – editing! I’ve got some beta readers look at it but I’m also making my own edits. I think it’s in great…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 18: Chapters 36-38 – Climax
Old posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. Last time, the mosasaurs had stopped their attack, but also had stopped talking. The surviving characters need to figure out how to speak with them again to see if they could help. Chapter Thirty-Six: The mosasaurs stop communicating. Debating options, Parkowski hypothesizes the…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 17: Chapters 33-35 – Deliberations
Older posts can be found on the main Crush Depth page. Last post, the mosasaurs attacked the other submersible Seaquest in the cave system and forced the protagonist and other main characters on the Nautilus to retreat. Chapter Thirty-Three: Continue from where the last scene ends. Parkowski demands an explanation for what happened. The Navy…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 16: Chapters 30-32 – Recovery
Older posts can be found on the main Crush Depth page. This is an incredibly valuable exercise for me and it also gives my readers an insight into my writing process. It’s been a long journey but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Chapter Thirty: Parkowski’s head is briefly probed by one…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 15: Chapters 27-29 – Aftershocks
Previous posts in this series can be found on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. We left off after the big attack at the midpoint. The habitat is damage, some characters are dead or wounded, and the crew is recovering and theorizing about what the creatures are that are attacking them. Chapter Twenty-Seven:…
Ryan Patrick
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Technical Accuracy vs Rule of Cool
I love Top Gun. Who doesn’t? Both the original 1986 movie and its 2022 sequel are great, pro-America, pro-U.S. military action movies with great characters and flying sequences. The original is one of my all-time favorites and the sequel is pretty good too, especially compared to the slop Hollywood has been putting out the last…
Ryan Patrick
Ryan M. Patrick 