Martyn Cruise, Author

 I have been ill for the last couple of months with the dreaded Covid among other things and have found myself quite unable to concentrate on writing. Instead I have spent time watching some old 1950's sci-fi movies and reading a lot of books. I can still recommend 'This Island Earth'. It's an easy way to spend an hour or so when you are unable to concentrate on anything. I was pleasantly surprised by 'Not Of This Earth' which was much better than I expected it to be and 'Fiend Without A Face' was right up my alley with menacing tentacled brains rendered in glorious stop motion. All are available on Youtube. I am a big fan of M R James and his haunting tales and have been reading books by many of his contemporaries. They are all collections of short stories which I can consume at an alarming rate. In no particular order, I have been reading - A M Burrage W F Harvey E F Benson Algernon Blackwood H R Wakefield Margery Lawrence W W Jacobs Frederick Cowles S...

 I have just published my latest adventure gamebook Monstrous Mythology Available as a paperback from Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C6W5W3ZC/ Invited to a talk by the local historical society you fall asleep ... only to awaken in an ancient world full of mythological monsters. Can you defeat the dreaded Hydra or will you succumb to the many dangers you must face during your quest? Arm yourself with a pencil, eraser and optional D6 dice as you try to survive - Monstrous Mythology.

 Two more stages finished on my current gamebook. The Lake - An opportunity to earn some money and go for a little swim - if you dare. The Mountains - Two deadly adversaries. Will you prevail? Just two more to go!

 I have written the following stages so far - Village - You interact with some people, can play a little game and find out the secret of the village. Countryside - You are caught in a storm and have to decide where to shelter for the night. Either route has consequences! Woods - Explore and encounter the denizens therein! Plains - An strange meeting with a man who is not what he seems and other encounters. I still have just as many to write and they have a lot more entries!

  I bought the first ten books in the second Wizard / Icon series of Fighting Fantasy reissues. I've really enjoyed playing through them. Yes I cheat. I never really got into playing 'proper' D&D with dice and journals etc. I was always more interested in actually reading and imagining the world that the words created. Stopping to throw dice and write / erase stuff just ruined the whole illusion and flow for me personally. I've learned a lot though, there are some very interesting game mechanics that have given me lots of ideas to make my books better. So I bought some more ;) Unfortunately decent copies of some of the books are getting hard to find or are astronomical in price. Howl of the Werewolf, a book which seems almost universally liked goes for silly money and Curse of the Mummy is also pretty pricey (both were written by Jonathan Green). As you can see I've bought some of the first series books too, so I'll keep trying to complete the set as best I ...

  I spilled tea over all my work so please excuse the stain!

 Just a quick update. I'm nearly done working on the flowcharts for my next gamebook! A few more pieces to figure out then I can get on to writing (if I don't go insane first).