Simplifying things
Hello everyone,
I write this with tired fingers. Lately, I’ve been offline for a bit as I had a chest infection, so I built Lego for a few weeks. I wasn’t feeling smart enough to get onto more book promos, and I had a lot to think about anyway. The chest infection has made me very sleepy for a few weeks, and my wrists constantly ache, so writing has felt like one of those ‘real jobs’ your careers guidance people tell you about.
I finished a poetry book recently. I quite like it, and I am now figuring out what cover I want, what adverts I want, and where I can do readings of it. When to publish it is a question I will deal with some other time.
I’ve also finished WHO KILLED THE HUMANS?, my next Sci-Fi Comedy collection. That will come out in 2026, and a new round of pre-orders will launch once it is 100% polished and uploaded to the printers.
I then got invited to write for DAPPER MEN, my friend Aaron Frale’s new book. But I didn’t like my story, so I am just the cover artist instead. Aaron was very nice about this, as he understands the perfectionism. So I know the book will be good.
My comedy career is going well, too. Whilst I am missing a gig tonight because I am still recovering from the aforementioned chest infection, I have been invited to several gigs around the UK, and I’ve even been looking into making my own hour-long show for 2026, and potentially trying the open mics in New York.
On top of that, my other career as a streamer is going well, and taking up a lot of my time. I am playing Minecraft with an audience almost every day now, and tidying up my castle (where I have over 300 chests filled with goodies) has made me realise something about my real life, outside the game:
I want things to be simpler, for me and for you.
So I am going back to posting the main FREE FICTION FRIDAY posts on Phillip Carter Substack, and sometimes reposting them here. That way, if you’re only interested in the freebie bookshelves, things won’t change very much at all. But if you’re on my main newsletter, you’ll now benefit from a new, built-in, Free Fiction Friday subletter, just like the good old days.
My main newsletter is going to have a few more subsections coming soon as well, such as a podcast, and a place for serious (non-fiction, non-comedy) posts, because I can write proper serious stuff sometimes, when it suits me.
News of future Halfplanet anthologies you might want to join, will be on both newsletters, so I don’t miss anyone.
