Tag: reading
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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 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 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
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Crush Depth 14: Chapters 24-26 – The Aftermath
Older posts can be found at the bottom of the main Crush Depth page. In the last post, the mosasaurs attacked in waves and the crew of the habitat fought them off. This is somewhat different than the first two Crush Depth drafts where there was one big attack that the submarine wasn’t able to…
Ryan Patrick
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Crush Depth 13: Chapters 21-23 – The Big Attack
Old posts are on the main Crush Depth page at the bottom. This has been the midpoint of every single draft – and, yes, this is the fourth full version of this story concept! Versions 1 and 2 had the mosasaurs attack the USS Arizona, Versions 3 and 4 switched that to the underwater habitat…
Ryan Patrick
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2025 In Review – Sales & Finances
I’m very transparent about my writing, especially the business side of things. This is a very secondary source of income for me – I do this more to get people to read my books than to make any real money off of it. If you DM or email me, I’ll send you 1 or all…
Ryan Patrick
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Jan 2026 Update & Monthly Goals
Still doing these! The Saturn Anomaly Still at the Pentagon, but it’s fully edited. The only work I’ve done on it is to do some math on how long it’ll take after I get clearance to publish it – 60 days is what it worked out to. Hoping to hear back and set a release…
Ryan Patrick
Ryan M. Patrick 