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Mightier Than the Sword
The Newsletter of Paul Carroll
Welcome to a new edition of Mightier Than the Sword, in which one writer starts a new year a little bit late. I'm your host, Paul Carroll, and I've been easing into January a bit too much.
This will be the only edition of the newsletter this month, because I'm late into it. It contains updates on a couple of writing projects, a completed crochet thing, a survey for illustrations (please fill it out) and some life updates. I'll be back in February with a follow-up!
Project Faustus
One thing I've been able to make any progress on is Project Faustus. I'm an eighth through the scripting, with an outline for the whole story.
The comic's artist is finishing up with a couple of other smaller gigs before he starts on layouts for Faustus. We're hoping that we'll have something fun to show off in a couple of months.
This one will be full steam ahead after this weekend's convention!
Project Daydream
I'm currently doing edits on Project Daydream, to get it ready to go to the artist. I've been excited about this one, and with the script side of things almost fully wrapped up, I'll finally get to see it come to life!
Bump in the Night
I'm attempting to lock down a start date for the campaign for Bump in the Night. You can follow it here on Zoop. The campaign needs a bunch of pre-signups to help it get off the ground.
Illustration
Last year, I only managed seven character illustrations - six for prints, and one after meeting one of the Yellow Power Ranger actors!
I have two OC designs to do, and three horror characters in mind, but other than that I'm not sure what direction to head in.
I've started... four crochet projects? Not this year, but since the last newsletter. Well, five if you include a hat I won't wear but wanted to make to see if I could. (I can never make hats fit...)
Three of them are still works in progress. But one of them is a lot of fun for something very simple. In the words of the pattern's creator, "I just crocheted this sweet throwing star--"
It can be thrown, and it flies fairly well. And then it has to be flattened out again to look like a throwing star, because it's just yarn and doesn't hold its shape after it hits anything.
Events
I have three events lined up for the year so far:
MegaCon Dublin - January 17-18 (this weekend!)
Dublin Comic Con - March 7-8
Octocon - October 3-4
Yes, I have to miss Cork Comic Con this year. But I'll still be in Cork at the same time, because Octocon has ventured outside of Leinster for...the first time? I think? Either way, I'm excited for it!
Also in the planner are:
DCAF, if their venue woes get sorted
Norncon, once I get some Real Life stuff figured out
Enniskillen Comic Fest, once they announce their dates
Thought Bubble, once they announce their dates
There will probably be more. There always are.
MegaCon
I thought I might prepare new stuff for this weekend, but that didn't happen. Not to worry!
Below is the floorplan for the convention. I'm in block CE, facing the comic guests. I'll be near Seamus Kavanagh, who has a guest appearance by John McGuinness on the Saturday. Fun!
Life Stuff
There are two things to discuss here. One: I'm in the final 6-ish weeks of my professional diploma in digital learning. This means I have a lot of work to do. Fun. (It is fun. I actually like it.)
The other thing is less simple to live through:
I'm currently in the process of the one of the most stressful things modern humans do to themselves: getting my first home. I'm still a bit away from the whole "getting keys" and "being a grown up" side of things, but at some point (hopefully sooner than later) in 2026, I'll have a brand new office space and will be living away from my parents for the first time ever.
Not to dwell too much on the past, but I've had a tough run in terms of jobs for most of my life, either getting underpaid or losing work (most often as a result of things outside of my control, like Brexit and Covid.) I've been lucky to have parents who didn't throw me out the minute I turned 18, and provided we helped out a bit financially and contributed to the housework, they haven't made too big of a deal of us living at home instead of paying the insane rental rates of Dublin.
I'm looking forward to having my own space, to setting up new routines, and to getting to visit my parents - and having them over!
I plan to get back to YouTube once I'm in the new place, having effectively shut down my channel from years ago because it was... bad. I've missed it as a form of creativity, and I'm way more comfortable on camera and editing myself now than I was when I was still vlogging.
Anyway, tangents and lore drops aside, this big ol' life change is why I haven't been super active on social media lately. I've been head space. Crochet and video games have been great for that. And binging TV shows while I work on the former...
Five Prompt Fridays
This is your little reminder that Five Prompt Fridays are a thing.
When I set this up, I also gave people a chance to sign up for this newsletter. If you signed up via the FPF form, you can find a bunch of free reads here.
The folder includes:
A dozen stories from Tales of the Fantastical
Wasted Time, published in Cupán Fae's Fierce New World
An exclusive novella set in the world of The Black Pages, The Case of Michael Lebbon - you don't need to have read any of the other books to read this one!
Until next time!
Paul
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