Where Have I Been? It’s Been a While! 

Well… it’s been a while, hasn’t it? 

Almost six months, in fact. 

I couldn’t even really tell you where that time has gone. It feels as though I published my last post, blinked, and somehow half a year disappeared. A lot has happened during that time, though, and I’m finally feeling ready to start writing here again. 

To be completely honest, I couldn’t initially remember why I stopped. 

I’ve just had a look through my blog drafts and reread the last post I published, and it sounds as though my motivation was already at a fairly low point. That was probably the catalyst for the break. I had a few difficult weeks where I wasn’t enjoying things very much, stopped posting, and then life simply continued as it tends to do. 

One week became a month, a month became several months, and here we are. 

I didn’t stop writing entirely, although it looks as though I did take a couple of months away from it. More on that shortly, because writing has actually become a much bigger part of my life since I last posted. 

First, though, let me fill you in on what I’ve been doing. 

Quite a Lot Has Happened 

The last few months have been a little all over the place, with their fair share of both highs and lows. 

I’ve been lucky enough to have two fantastic holidays, one to Norway and another to America. I currently have work-in-progress drafts about both trips, so I’ll hopefully be sharing much more about them soon. 

I also took a day trip to Paris by bus, which was certainly an experience and deserves a post of its own. 

There have been plenty of smaller things too. I went to see The Odyssey, which was incredible, and watched The Mandalorian, which I thought was okay but not exactly fantastic. 

The biggest change, however, has been work. 

The role I was in was placed at risk of redundancy. It was a job I felt perfectly suited to, and I was genuinely disappointed when that chapter came to an end. I managed to start a new job, and on paper it seemed like another role I would be a great fit for. 

In reality, it hasn’t quite gelled with me yet. 

I’ve struggled to settle into it and, honestly, I haven’t enjoyed the transition as much as I hoped I would. Maybe that will change with time, but it has made me think much more seriously about what I want from my work and where I would eventually like my career to go. 

Because of that, I’ve been putting more time and energy into things outside my day job. I’ve begun making plans for a business of my own, which is something I’m genuinely excited to pursue. 

It is still early days, but having something that feels like mine to work towards has given me a renewed sense of direction. 

Rediscovering Why I Enjoy This 

A couple of things inspired me to return to the blog, but one of the biggest was reading a book about Nintendo by Keza MacDonald called* Super Nintendo*. Its a fantastic read, and had some eye opening insight into some of my favourite games. 

It reminded me of how I used to read magazines such as Custom PC and PC Gamer, poring over every page and studying every screenshot. I would get genuinely excited about upcoming releases, new hardware and games I might not get to play for months or even years. 

There was a raw enthusiasm for the media itself. A love of the game, so to speak. 

For the first time in a few years, there are several games coming out that I’m genuinely excited about. Writing about them gives me another way to indulge in that excitement, think about why I’m looking forward to them and hopefully share some of that enthusiasm with other people. I’ve bought Halo: Campaign Evolved, the first physical game I’ve bought in years and while I’ve yet to play it the reviews have only got me more excited 

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy writing. While I’ve continued working on my own projects, there is something uniquely enjoyable about writing about the things I love. 

Creating something entirely new is rewarding, but so is sitting down and talking enthusiastically about a game, film, book, hobby or experience that has meant something to me. 

I think I had forgotten that slightly. 

Writing The Ashes of Fellwatch 

In one of my first posts of the year, My Goals for 2026: A Year of Consistency, Creativity and Being More Present, I wrote about wanting to complete the first draft of my debut novel. 

I’m very pleased to say that I’ve made some significant progress. 

I’ve now written more than 46,000 words, created a draft cover and built an author website ready to begin growing a mailing list. Even better, the first three edited chapters are now ready for early readers! 

Writing The Ashes of Fellwatch has been incredibly liberating, although it certainly didn’t begin that way. 

At first, I had such high expectations for the book that I struggled to write anything at all. I had convinced myself that every sentence needed to be perfect the moment it appeared on the page. 

Unsurprisingly, that made writing almost impossible. 

It took me roughly six months to write the first 500 words. I would write something, question it, rewrite it and then convince myself it wasn’t good enough. 

Eventually, something changed. 

I managed to break through that barrier and, almost all at once, I went from struggling to write a few hundred words to producing more than a thousand in a single sitting. 

Once I accepted that a first draft didn’t need to be perfect, I started enjoying the process far more. The story began moving, the characters started feeling more real and writing stopped feeling like a test I was constantly failing. 

It became fun. 

I’ve loved the process since then, even when it has been difficult. There is still a very long way to go, but seeing the word count grow and watching the world gradually take shape has been one of the most rewarding parts of my year. 

I’ve also been spending time thinking about how I might advertise the novel when it is eventually ready for publication. 

I’m not approaching it as a traditional side hustle or trying to turn every hobby into another source of income. This is a project I’m creating primarily for myself because I want to tell the story. 

That said, it would be incredibly exciting if something I made purely because I loved making it could eventually earn a little money too. 

Changing Priorities 

My priorities have shifted in other ways over the past few months. 

I’ve been spending much less time on my phone and have started reading more again. I’ve also spent less time focusing on hobbies such as LEGO and Pokémon. 

I still enjoy both of them, of course, but I’ve been concentrating more seriously on my financial goals. That has meant being more careful about how much attention I give hobbies that make me want to spend money. 

Because the more LEGO sets I look at, the more LEGO sets I mysteriously decide I need. 

I haven’t actually bought a set since April, when I picked up the UCS TIE Interceptor during a trip to LEGOLAND with friends. This year was also the first time in four years that I didn’t participate in the LEGO Star Wars May the 4th promotion. 

That might not sound particularly dramatic to everyone, but it felt like quite a change for me. 

I don’t think I’m losing interest in those hobbies. I’m simply trying to enjoy them in a more balanced way rather than feeling as though I constantly need to buy the next thing. 

So, What Happens Now? 

Looking back, I’m still not entirely sure why I stopped blogging. 

I think I had a difficult few weeks, lost my motivation and simply fell out of the habit. Then there were holidays, the redundancy situation, a new job, plans for a business, work on the novel and all the other things life decided to throw into the mix. 

But I’m feeling motivated again. 

I’ve got a backlog of work-in-progress posts, including my trips to Norway and America, as well as several pieces about The Ashes of Fellwatch and the website I’ve been creating alongside it. 

There are also games I want to talk about, books I’ve been reading and plenty of smaller thoughts that I’d like to turn into posts. 

It feels good to be back. 

Maybe I won’t post perfectly consistently. Maybe life will get busy again and there will be another gap at some point. For now, though, I’m excited to start sharing more of the journey. 

So, what have you been up to over the past six months, and is there anything you’d particularly like to read about next?