Daniel Stride's Blog
In December 2016, my first physical box of Wise Phuuls turned up on my doorstep as a de facto Christmas present: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2016/12/25/wise-phuul-hardcopies-squee/ Not quite as special-day-convenient with Old Phuul in August 2026, but I can report that the physical box arrived today. I have been cheerfully signing copies for friends.
I have said this before, but I truly hate Culture War nonsense. At best, is tantamount to two (or more) dogs urinating to mark their territory, a hollow language of performative symbolism. At worst, it is all of that, plus a giant distraction from meaningful issues, and a means of allowing the very people responsible [ ]
Climate change has done a number on winter in Dunedin. Gone are the days when snowfalls were a regular occurrence even frosts are substantially less nasty than they used to be. In fact, the last time Dunedin had a proper snowfall was Spring 2022: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2022/10/06/dunedin-spring-snowglobe-2022-edition/ Well, today, at least, Dunedin had a proper winter s [ ]
The afternoon of Saturday, 1st August, 2026. The most-awaited moment in my writing career to date: after years of toil and frustration (and editing, toil, and frustration), Old Phuul is now loose upon the world, available in e-book and paperback. I hope you enjoy the madness that is Rhea. If you don t, please at least [ ]
Completed reads for July: July actually started off a good reading month, until I discovered that it was actually a writing month A new and eccentric writing project has begun this month: I have started on an epic poem, The Lay of Notich Serpent-Tongue. It is written in traditional blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), and [ ]
The BBC has long been criticised for the short-sighted destruction of its archival programming in the 1960s and 1970s. And with justification. Britain s cultural heritage suffers from a Black Hole as a result, and dedicated people are still picking through the ruins, in hope of finding a lost treasure. But at least the BBC s decision [ ]
Grief is a natural state of mankind. Sometimes, Gloom straps you down, and feeds you spoon-fulls from Denethor s cup of bitterness. But sometimes? Grief strikes you like lightning from a clear sky, and leaves you wondering if you have stumbled into a bad dream, where you find yourself pinching yourself to see if this horrible [ ]
When last we heard from Rings of Power, it was the licensing of the name Pallando, only found in Unfinished Tales. Well, as per an Empire Magazine article, it looks like we are getting another agreement with the Tolkien Estate, with the usage of the name Khamûl the (Black) Easterling: https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/rings-of-power-season-3-ringwraiths-nazgnagol/ Khamûl a name [ ]
My first ever prose sale to a short fiction market was a chess story, Knight to f6. Today, I can report some luck with another one, a 2300-word magical realist chess piece, The End Game, which has earned acceptance from Angry Gable Press upcoming Cozy in the Apocalypse anthology: https://angrygablepress.com/submissions/ Ironically, I had forgotten I [ ]
I currently have a new and extremely eccentric writing project: a sword and sorcery epic as written in traditional blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). I am currently 294 lines in. Whether or not it ever sees the light of day, it s good practice for the old poetry skills. But never mind that. Chess Dot Com [ ]