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Adrian Bagley

Adrian Bagley

Basic
Joined
Jul 17, 2023
Location
Surrey
Hi everyone,

Well, I've just about recovered from the nervous breakdown of being on yesterday's Pop-Up Submissions, so thought I should say hi! (Honestly, what a privilege, just an incredibly helpful process - albeit nerve-wracking!)

I'm 49 and live in Surrey with my partner. I've had quite severe ME/CFS since I was 14, though I generally try to not to dwell on it & focus on other things. Coffee helps, as does a strenuous program of blaspheming.

I love all things SFF, particular favourites being the late great Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Tolkien of course and (by way of someone more current, not to mention living) the intimidatingly good Pierce Brown.

I'm mildly obsessed with Kerbal Space Program and other indie computer games that look terrible and play great.

I think I mentioned coffee already...

I've been writing since my teens, but kicked it up a gear when my partner read a short story and fell in love with it (and me!) and wanted more. By that point, I'd spent a good eighteen months trying to come up with a plot and a world to expand my story into without any success at all, but love conquers all and story promptly followed. As a result, I was able to finish my first science fiction novel, The Electropop Appreciation Society, and I'm now happily working on a fantasy comedy.

Not sure what else to say, except that I'm happy to be here & looking forward to being part of the colony :)
 
Hello, Adrian.

Welcome to the forums. Nice to have you here with us and very well done yesterday. I really enjoyed your submission.

Hope you enjoy Litopia and please do get involved as soon as you’re ready to.

This is a good place to check out (How-to guide) to see a lot of what goes on in the colony.

If anything is unclear do please contact me and I’ll be happy to assist if I can.

@Adrian Bagley
 
Hi Adrian, so glad you're joining us.
I was your narrator on Pop-ups. I picked it to read based purely on the title, which I thought incredibly interesting (if a bit hard to say, lol).
I, too, have had CFS for about 30 years, so I get how hard it is to cope sometimes. Do you get dreadful brain fog too?
And the coffee thing! Oh god, I'm on an exclusion diet at the mo (looking for sensitivities) and I've had no coffee for over 3 weeks! I probably know what that is in minutes and seconds, it has felt so long.
Anyway, I marked your submission very highly (and I'm terrible for marking low). So welcome. xxx VH
 
Jonny said:
Hello, Adrian.

Welcome to the forums. Nice to have you here with us and very well done yesterday. I really enjoyed your submission.

Hope you enjoy Litopia and please do get involved as soon as you’re ready to.

This is a good place to check out (How-to guide) to see a lot of what goes on in the colony.

If anything is unclear do please contact me and I’ll be happy to assist if I can.

@Adrian Bagley
Click to expand...
Hi Jonny, thanks for the welcome, and for the kind feedback yesterday!
 
Vagabond Heart said:
Hi Adrian, so glad you're joining us.
I was your narrator on Pop-ups. I picked it to read based purely on the title, which I thought incredibly interesting (if a bit hard to say, lol).
I, too, have had CFS for about 30 years, so I get how hard it is to cope sometimes. Do you get dreadful brain fog too?
And the coffee thing! Oh god, I'm on an exclusion diet at the mo (looking for sensitivities) and I've had no coffee for over 3 weeks! I probably know what that is in minutes and seconds, it has felt so long.
Anyway, I marked your submission very highly (and I'm terrible for marking low). So welcome. xxx VH
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the beautiful reading! I meant to say that yesterday but was so nervous I could barely see the screen much less type lol

Oh gosh, small world. Brainfog is probably my worst symptom at the mo - half the time I struggle to have a five minute conversation, much less write. But at least with the latter I get to pick a good time, which makes all the difference. Do you find it affects your writing? Sympathies with the exclusion diet - I really need to give that a go. Let me know if it helps!

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks again for the read and the feedback :D
 
Adrian Bagley said:
Do you find it affects your writing?
Click to expand...
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. When doesn't it?
You know what it's like.
One thing I've found extremely useful is changing my background paper on screen to a medium blue. This has been proven to stimulate the creative side of the brain, so it kinda helps with focus and circumnavigating the brain fog.
I find I always start coming up with much more imaginative stuff about 20 mins in. Give it a go - see if it helps. x
 
Adrian Bagley said:
Hi everyone,

Well, I've just about recovered from the nervous breakdown of being on yesterday's Pop-Up Submissions, so thought I should say hi! (Honestly, what a privilege, just an incredibly helpful process - albeit nerve-wracking!)

I'm 49 and live in Surrey with my partner. I've had quite severe ME/CFS since I was 14, though I generally try to not to dwell on it & focus on other things. Coffee helps, as does a strenuous program of blaspheming.

I love all things SFF, particular favourites being the late great Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Tolkien of course and (by way of someone more current, not to mention living) the intimidatingly good Pierce Brown.

I'm mildly obsessed with Kerbal Space Program and other indie computer games that look terrible and play great.

I think I mentioned coffee already...

I've been writing since my teens, but kicked it up a gear when my partner read a short story and fell in love with it (and me!) and wanted more. By that point, I'd spent a good eighteen months trying to come up with a plot and a world to expand my story into without any success at all, but love conquers all and story promptly followed. As a result, I was able to finish my first science fiction novel, The Electropop Appreciation Society, and I'm now happily working on a fantasy comedy.

Not sure what else to say, except that I'm happy to be here & looking forward to being part of the colony :)
Click to expand...
Hi, Adrian,

Welcome! Your submission was great; I don't think I've ever scored so highly!

Enjoy the forum,

Claire x
 
Welcome Adrian! I sadly missed your popups. I'll go back to the recording and have a listen. Looking forward to reading more SFF stuff. That's my genre as well. :)
 
LJ Beck said:
Hey @Adrian Bagley , just watched your popups, LOVED your sub! Totally right up my street. Love the tone, and the world, great MC. Hey, if you need a beta reader, let me know. :) Also, such a wonderful read by @Vagabond Heart ! I could listen to you read all day!
Click to expand...
Couldn't have asked for a better read!

Ah thanks so much, really lovely to hear :D Can't tell you how much all the feedback has helped calm my nerves, as I'm in the query trenches right now and getting tumbleweed... Which I know is perfectly normal, but it really does make you second guess absolutely everything.

So it's a bit late for a beta read, but on the other hand, it's never too late till it hits the presses! Anything that makes it better before the next round of subs go out would be invaluable, so yes please :) Hit me up in private with your email? Also, is Google Docs okay for you? I've found it works really well for beta reads as comments& tracked changes are instantly visible to both parties.
 
Adrian Bagley said:
Hi everyone,

Well, I've just about recovered from the nervous breakdown of being on yesterday's Pop-Up Submissions, so thought I should say hi! (Honestly, what a privilege, just an incredibly helpful process - albeit nerve-wracking!)

I'm 49 and live in Surrey with my partner. I've had quite severe ME/CFS since I was 14, though I generally try to not to dwell on it & focus on other things. Coffee helps, as does a strenuous program of blaspheming.

I love all things SFF, particular favourites being the late great Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Tolkien of course and (by way of someone more current, not to mention living) the intimidatingly good Pierce Brown.

I'm mildly obsessed with Kerbal Space Program and other indie computer games that look terrible and play great.

I think I mentioned coffee already...

I've been writing since my teens, but kicked it up a gear when my partner read a short story and fell in love with it (and me!) and wanted more. By that point, I'd spent a good eighteen months trying to come up with a plot and a world to expand my story into without any success at all, but love conquers all and story promptly followed. As a result, I was able to finish my first science fiction novel, The Electropop Appreciation Society, and I'm now happily working on a fantasy comedy.

Not sure what else to say, except that I'm happy to be here & looking forward to being part of the colony :)
Click to expand...
Hi Adrian... I'm new too! Seems like you wrote something everyone liked - will have to check it out!
 
Hi Adrian

Welcome to the forum. Well done on putting yourself out there on Pop Ups. I found the experience priceless for my debut and ended up scrapping the opening chapter as a result!
 
LA Thomas said:
Hi Adrian

Welcome to the forum. Well done on putting yourself out there on Pop Ups. I found the experience priceless for my debut and ended up scrapping the opening chapter as a result!
Click to expand...
Thank you :) It really is unique, isn't it? Impossible to get this kind of feedback anywhere else.
 
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