The Operator launched in July 2024, first on PC and later making its way to other platforms like the Switch. It’s the debut game from indie developer Bureau 81, a small team that clearly poured a lot of love into crafting a tense little thriller. Gameplay & Story You play as Evan Tanner, a rookie … Continue reading The Operator: A Conspiracy Thriller with a Few Loose Ends (Review)
Every writer has scraps of stories lying around. Half-started drafts, notebooks full of beginnings, that one chapter you wrote years ago that you still kind of like. I’ve got folders of the stuff. Ideas that caught fire for a few days and then fizzled. Stories that seemed like the best thing I’d ever come up … Continue reading The First Story You Finish Will Change You – Celebrating the Importance of Finishing, Not Perfection
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I just finished Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman, and I’ve got to say—it’s one hell of a ride. I’m giving it a solid 4 out of 5 stars, mostly because while I really enjoyed it, it definitely pushed me further into the extreme horror territory than I usually like … Continue reading A Brutal Glimpse of the End
The corridors had changed again. I wasn’t sure how many times I’d circled them—once, twice, twenty—but my lungs burned as though I’d been running for hours. I forced my legs forward, boots clanging against the deck, convinced that if I just kept moving, I would find an exit, or at least something new. But every … Continue reading The Archive – Chapter Three: Juno
Research at University: The Foundations When I think about research at university, I picture myself surrounded by open books and tabs of academic databases, scribbling notes in the margins of articles while glancing at the clock to make sure I stay on track. The goals are usually clear and structured: find a handful of reliable … Continue reading Digging Deeper: Research Beyond the University Walls
She wakes. We see her first as a pulse of light in the darkness, small and fragile, floating in a void she cannot yet name. Her breath quivers; her pulse is erratic, like a frightened animal’s. She believes she is free. That she is alone. But freedom is only a layer, a thin membrane stretched … Continue reading The Archive – Chapter Two: ECHO_112
Thank Goodness You're Here! is an adventure video game released on August 1, 2024, for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. I’ll tell you what, I’ve not played owt quite like Thank Goodness You’re Here! in years. It’s one of them games where you sit down, thinking you’ll just have a quick go … Continue reading Barnsworth Bliss: A Daft, Brilliant Slice of Northern Comedy Gaming (Review)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Lamb by Lucy Rose is one of those books that creeps under your skin almost from the first page, and once it’s there, it refuses to leave. It’s hard to believe this is a debut because the voice is so assured, the world so fully realised, and the atmosphere so thick with tension … Continue reading A Feast of Darkness, Beauty, and Motherhood
Every writer has a graveyard. It might be a drawer, a folder, or a hard drive, stuffed with stories that didn’t make it. Some sputtered out after a promising start, full of energy but unable to sustain themselves. Others ballooned into sprawling, unmanageable forms, leaving me tangled in their ambitions. And a few simply refused … Continue reading What It Feels Like to Kill a Story That Wasn’t Working – The Graveyard of Drafts
The pod drifted in orbit around the dead star, a shard of black ice against the infinite black. Its light was fractured, reflecting in jagged shards across the pod’s surface. I stared out the viewport, waiting for relief, for a sense of safety. There was none. Only the hum. It was subtle at first, a … Continue reading The Archive – Chapter One: Juno
Gareth Ellis - Author 