An incomplete list of personal projects

I love building things, and many of my skills and interests have come from personal projects. Some of my favourite projects include:

  • Contender Content (2011-2015). My first business. I worked as a freelance content writer, gradually building the business until I was hired by one of my customers.
  • Waterline Apparel (2012-2013). I spent my student bursary starting a t-shirt company. I designed, marketed, and sold small batches of t-shirts. I have no idea if I made any money, but I learned a ton about marketing.
  • Ash Tales (2015-present). My outlet for writing stories about the end of the world (and formerly a podcast, a literary journal, and a host of other experimental in-between-ideas). The Ash Tales podcast ran to 22 episodes with ~200k downloads, and was supported by blog content generating a high of ~30k visits per month. The site was featured in the Writer’s & Artists’ Yearbook and reviewed in The Guardian newspaper.
  • The Power Law (2019). Short-lived personal newsletter about writing and marketing.
  • The Schrödinger Effect (2019). My band! We released one EP before COVID curtailed our jamming and gigging ambitions.
  • The Green Priest (2019). Self-published novel about the end of the world. Available on the Books page.
  • The Death-Marked Pilgrim (2021). Sequel novel to The Green Priest. Available on the Books page.
  • Blog Roast (2022). Video teardowns of great content marketing. The YouTube channel that started because I was running content analysis workshops with the team, and wondered if they could work as YouTube videos too (1:many instead of 1:1).
  • How to Write Thought Leadership Content (2022). Self-paced video course teaching the timeless principles behind thought leadership content. Some 1,200 people have taken my courses.
  • How to Edit (2023). Second video course detailing the heuristics and mental models great editors use to improve written content.
  • Roast My Post (2023). 1-1 article editing and feedback service, launched and closed in the brief interim between full-time roles.

I’m always chipping away at a few personal projects. Currently in varying states of completion are:

  • Book #3. The third and final book in The Rainmaker Writings trilogy. Roughly halfway through an ugly first draft.
  • Short stories. I enjoy writing short flash-fiction about the end of the world. These vignettes often become scaffolding my full-length books.
  • Metal EP. Slowly recording a short record of metal and post-hardcore songs.