iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

All right last one, and then I'll go and do some work. Nine Manga:

Cat + Gamer, Way of the Househusband, Attack on Titan, Delicious in Dungeon, FullMetal Alchemist, A Man and His Cat, The Promised Neverland, Sakamoto Days, Record of Ragnarok.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

And nine games, though these were a lot easier to pick and do follow kind of a theme :)

The Bard's Tale, Dungeon Master, Civ III, Summoner, Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, NeverWinter Nights, Diablo III, NeverWinter, Baldur's Gate III.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Nine movie thing, which is harder than it looks. There are so MANY movies that make us, that mark nodal points in our lives, and/or that bring life to our art in their own ways, it's almost impossible to pick a shortlist.

Aliens, The Lost Boys, Beetlejuice, The Matrix, Blade Runner, Highlander, The Full Monty, Star Wars (the original and best), Dungeons & Dragons, Honor Among Thieves.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Manga for younger readers, now with its own section/display. Helps kids (and their parents) find appropriate titles (and keeps them out of the, ah, more adult stuff), and helps booksellers recommend the good things, and get those kids reading! #bookseller #booksellerlife #manga

Three bookshop bays of Manga titles, including Chi, Drag9nBall, One Piece and Witch Hat Atelier

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Three years on the streets, living by his wit and whiskers, and now look at him...

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Ecko swears like a motherfucker, won't do as he's told, and enjoys blowing shit up. Is he Chosen? Is he fuck. Does he have magic? No, he has an attitude and boosted reflexes. Is there a prophecy? You know exactly what you can do with that. He does have a very cool map, tho'...

My very old, hand-drawn map of the Varchinde, still on my noticeboard over my desk. Shows a classic fantasy continent, framed by seas, mountains and forests, veined with rivers and dotted with cities.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Also: the original Wandering Inn (The Wandering Bard, as it was named for the game, becoming The Wanderer in the book).

Pencil sketch-map of the inside of a tavern, made on squared paper, and very, very old!

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Cheeky royalties from ECKO, and lovely to know that people still buy a fourteen-year-old book. Was it for everyone? No. Was it clean, neat and polite, obeying traditional genre boundaries? Also no. Was it it #LitRPG fiction, in advance of the current trend? Well maybe, tho' not as you'd expect.

Ecko Rising, Burning and Endgame, by Danie Ware, covers by Martin Stiff at Amazing15.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Wishing you a particularly Rosy Sunday morning ##warhammercommunity

Bookshelf, showing an action figure of a Sister of the Bloody Rose, complete with red armour and Sabbat helm, two LEGO red roses, and a row of books.

Book of Martyrs (also by Phil Kelly and Alec Worley)
The Rose at War
The Rose in Darkness
Faith and Fire (by James Swallow)
The Triumph of Saint Katherine
Aestred Thurga, Pyre of Faith
The Rose in Anger

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Suit shopping on Jermyn Street, and this looks exactly my size 👍

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The blissful rest of a creature who woke me at a quarter past <five> (and after a late shift) because he was ABSOLUTELY GOING TO DIE OF HUNGER, and is now happily snoozing. Another late shift ahoy, and it may be quite the struggle 😴

Large black cat, his fur very shiny, sleeping happily on a red blanket.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Showing my age with this, a bit :)

My 9 Animes meme:

Attack on Titan
FullMetal Alchemist
Akira
Spirited Away
Castle in the Sky
Ghost in the Shell
Appleseed
Hellsing
Neon Genesis Evangelion

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The Bard's Tale, originally on the the Speccie. The <hours> we lost, listening to that tape deck screech...

The Bard's Tale, eighties pixilated screen.

You face South

There's a (just about comprehensible picture) of the corner of a street, the name of the location (Skara Brae), then a list of six characters with their opening stats.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Your reminder that Lugan Vision Quest* is available to buy and download. No cozy, no cutesy, no romantasy, just one old biker who was really expecting to start his adventure in the tavern... www.amazon.co.uk/Lugan-Vision... *No AI whatsoever was used in the crafting of this book.

Luagn Vision Quest by Danie ware, art by Thomas S Brown

Cover shows a tiered city, massively overgrown, with a last light remaining at the top, and a brilliant sunrise, reflecting metallic in a river

Text says

A hero who's too old for this shit
A fuckton of psychotropics
A crazed and derelict fantasy world
A priest of the Elemental Dark
A youth who thinks he's Chosen
An old friend who's not what he was

Go on, take the mushies and find the Quest. What could possibly go wrong?

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Fourteen years ago, launching Ecko Rising at FP, while Barrowman did his event upstairs!

Selfie, reading from Ecko Rising, with a promo poster on the table. Background is the books department (as was) downstairs at Forbidden Planet London.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

In a coffee shop in Reigate, doing the #author thing. Quake in fear, puny mortals, for I am become cliche!

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

A mouse took a stroll through a deep dark shop... today's special guest :) #gruffalo

The gruffalo, big friendly brown monster, at Waterstones Pic isn't

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Cat is broke. Must return for refund.

Back cat sprawled in a red chair, his legs art assorted angles.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

And done! Pics really don't do this justice (and it needs a light source of its own) but fantasy map of The Land of Thomas Covenant, art by @nerdymaps.bsky.social 😍

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Oh dear, don't think that went too well. Binx has been defeated.

Decepticon Scorponk, in scorpion mode with claws out, and a black cat, lying on his side.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

First up: birthday goodies. The Decepticon not the cat.

Giant Scorponok Decepticon, in upright mode, and a slightly baffled black cat

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

No, that's my phone. I have business to complete.

Black cat on a red carpet. His paw is on my son's phone

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Standing - I think - on the exact spot where my best friend and I drank Cinzano (yes, all right, but we were kids) by the Pier, before getting into Shenanigans. Happy birthday, Bren 💖

Brighton Pier, seen from the shoreline, under a grey clouded sky.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

This is just to say I have written the book that was in my head and which you were possibly hoping I'd write Forgive me For being so pleased It's sharp And quite different www.amazon.co.uk/Lugan-Vision...

Lugan Vision Quest by Danie Ware, art by Thomas S Brown

No cozy
No cutesy
No romantasy
Just one old biker
A fuckoad of psychotropics
And a derelict fantasy world,
Lost to madness

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Off to work in a minute, and today's read. Was honestly a bit non-plussed by the book (nothing the matter with it, particularly, was just very 'oh look it's another gaming gag, oh look it's another gaming gag' bland). My son informs me, tho, that it works much better as a GN, so giving it a go...

Dungeon Crawler Carl graphic novel, by Matt Dinniman, Laurel Pursuit, Teuagah, Aethon. Shows an Anime-style Carl, in his boxers, complete with kitty on his shoulder.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Arrived yesterday, from a #kickstarter backed almost two years ago: the #legacyofkain #soulreaver prequel GN. Love the game SO much, and really looking forward to reading this!

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Treasure awaits at Waterstones Piccadilly! Join our #OnePiece treasure hunt, on the second floor today, Thursday 13th Aug :) (Art absolutely not mine) 😆 #manga #anime

One Oiece style map of the second floor, art by Annie Martin

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Top of Rose Hill, waiting for the lightshow :)

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

...I recall it so vividly, the incredible colours in that picture. My Mother bought me the book, and I've still got it, more than fifty years later, plus a lot of the rest of the series. The girl was Sarah Farmer, the teacher Mrs. Archer, and I can even remember what colour the carpet was :)

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

On the subject of which - favourite childhood books (off the top of my head): Narnia Swallows and Amazons Thunderhead and Green Grass of Wyoming Watership Down Duncton Wood And these: little-chapel.co.uk/product/gods...

Gods Men & Monsters from the Greek Myths, by Michael Gibson and Giovanni Caselli. Bright orange cover shows Perseus fighting the Medusa.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Post you from a different era in your life:

Vike show, somewhere in the mid-Nineties. I have a black-and-white, centre-grip shield in one hand, a sword in the other, a Saxon-style lid (which has slid too far back) and a short, ring-mail byrnie. The background is flat, green grass (which might have been Burgh Castle in Yarmouth, I honestly can't remember).

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

In years of past gaming, our major characters had theme tunes, and we used to make stuff like this (tho' they were tapes, in those days). More recently, our D&D games have playlists, as do my books. Great for mood and vibe setting and remembering the good stuff! pixelframe.design/now-thats-wh...

NOW That's What I Call ECKO, 80s 'mix' CD cover mock-up

NOW That's What I Call LUGAN 80's 'mix' CD cover mock-up

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Very quick phone snap, but my first sight of the (now quite large) pelican chicks in St. James Park. Their bills are still growing!

Three teenage pelicans at the edge of the lake. Their feathers are charcoal grey. The one on the left has its wings spread and they're all watching the water

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Last one, promise :) This was the first proof I had printed, and it's definitely all askew, but still, it's been signed and left in new lodgings, this time in #Cheam. Perhaps it can find new readers, who knows?

Lugan Vision Quest by Danie Ware, cover art by Thomas S Brown. Sun is rising behind a derelict, overgrown city, surrounded by creeper. A man in a leather jacket stands looking at the semi-ruin, and the light, reflected in the river.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Another signed proof of Lugan Vision Quest, this one at #CarshaltonBeeches. They're not perfect, and do feature a few hiccups, but I can't sell them, and they're not doing anyone any good, sitting on my shelf. And who knows, someone might just pick them up and enjoy the read :)

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

On editors, as there's been a bit of discourse, recently, about these strange and magical creatures... danacea.ghost.io

Open notebook and several screwed up pieces of paper, image from Steve A Johnson on Pexels.

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Had missed this: Lugan Vision Quest gets an honourable mention on The Fantasy Hive, missing their semi-finals by a technicality (the first two chapters are CyberPunk). Still, VERY happy with 'one of the best written books in the entire competition so far!' fantasy-hive.co.uk/2026/02/spfb...

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Danie Were @danacea.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Signing my queer romance novel Children of Artifice, eight YEARS ago, at FP Bristol. Time has no meaning. None.

Sitting at a red-clothed table, signing an open book. The FP banner is behind to one side, the other is a lot of (suitably enough) Manga.

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