iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

I feel today, the finale of 3 years of work, is an ok time to toot my own trumpet. I say 'one of', but I haven't found a higher-rated one. I'll never be #1 on the Sunday Times pay to play list, but actual readers love my work, I'm so intensely proud of that achievement. It keeps me writing.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

⚔️🔥PUBLICATION DAY!🔥⚔️ Viking Conqueror - The story of Harald Hardrada's time as King of Norway and his invasion of England, The finale of my Last Viking series is out today. According to Goodreads reviews, it is one of the highest-rated historical fiction series of all time.🤗 t.co/UA4vTv0MhN

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Well, we'll see. If there isn't an 'official' event like a demonstration or re-enactment, there are a narrow range of times/places I can take a sharp (not fencing/sparring) sword without risking legal trouble. But I do want to let you get your hands on it.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Also, I could bring a show and tell item...

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

I'm very late to this, but I am attending world fantasycon, and I am interested in observing? maybe dipping my toes? I was quite impacted by you disarming me in Glasgow like I was a child, not twice your size.

230

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

I've had Viking dinners with a lot of my favorite histfic authors, been to Worldcon with a lot of my fantasy writer friends, had dozens of lovely emails from excited readers, and just really had a huge amount of joy from the craft. I wouldn't stop for anything. Let's go 2025.

media.tenor.com

a fireworks display with the words happy new year written on the bottom

ALT: a fireworks display with the words happy new year written on the bottom

020

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

So 2024? Mixed year personally, pretty superb as an author. No sane person becomes an author to get rich, and riches are the only thing authoring hasn't brought me in 2024. I've had the joy of writing what I love, made amazing friends, had wonderful reviews, and paid some bills

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

And early reviews are biased towards fans, so that rating will slip a bit with time. What it does do is help convince me to keep going, planning the next series. Imposter syndrome can be combated with such things. Maybe one day I'll even get to make a living out of this.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

On goodreads 'The Last Viking' series averages 4.56, which as far as I can tell, is just about the highest for any historical fiction series out there. Of them all. Ever. How do I deal with the cascade of wealth such critical success brings? HA! that Isn't how writing works.😂

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Either on Goodreads or Amazon, the reviews have been superb. I get so much joy out of reading the written ones, and just out of the overall reception. It's really a great platform to continue doing this stupid thing that I love.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

The old series trundles along nicely, and should get a boost early in 2025 now that I have actually managed to finish it (sorry everyone!). But the new series has massively increased my readership, as well as being very well received. From an artistic standpoint, I am thrilled.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

So how did 2024 compare to 2023? Ehhh, good and bad. Income wise, static. I brought in ~£25k last year and the same again this year. But, due to the much smaller royalties of trad, my sales were massively up. In 2024 around 30 thousand copies of my books were sold worldwide.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

My self-pub series got only a novella, Steel in the Morning, which had arguably the best name and definately the best cover of the series so far, both slightly wasted on a novella. Oh well! It's so pretty though. I was, however, finishing the final book, which is out Feb 15th.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

So, year in writing? in 2024 I published 2 books (target was 3). Raven Lord and Emperor's axe, both entires in my trad pub series 'The last Viking', about the life of Harald Hardrada. This series has been my focus for much of the last year, and I've been very happy with it.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

I am now the CEO of a startup tabletop gaming company that makes Modular hex terrain for RPG, wargaming etc. It's a topic for another time. Regardless, I was no longer trying to become a full time author. instagram.com/lorescapeter...

instagram.com

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Well, it was an interesting journey, but it didn't work out for two reasons. Firstly, the sales simply weren't there. They stopped going up and flatlined. Secondly, I founded a new company with some old colleagues and friends, and split my time with that. x.com/JCDuncanauth...

x.com

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Some of you may have come across my #oneyeartopro threads in late 2023 and early 2024. My big plan when I lost my job was that i was going to write full time. That thread is below. The deadline was today, the end of 2024. x.com/JCDuncanauth...

x.com

100

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

In the last 18 months I lost my job, my marriage, one of my pets, some of my health, and my financial security. Pretty much the only thing that went well was my writing career. So apologies, but I'm now going to produce my own trumpet and toot it merrily. 2024 in review. 1/x

230

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

The thing I most like about these couple of days is that you can legitimately look at even basic chores and think: 'Nah, fuck it, I'll do that next year.' Laundry? Next year. Hoovering? Next year. Empty the dishwasher? Next year. It's glorious.

020

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

I have zero excitement for yet another re-boot of Superman on the big screen. But the poster is pretty dope.

020

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Bonus moment was me, very confused and surprised to have been stopped by someone who recognised me, pointing at the rest of the group and saying 'Did you spot who I was with?' and Jon staring straight at Matthew Harffy and saying 'no, fraid I don't know them.' 😂

060

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Annual Vaguely Vikings authors dinner yesterday in london. Highlights were @matthewharffy.bsky.social's little face when he got biscuits with his book cover on, and me getting recognised and stopped in the street by The Failing Writers podcaster Jon Rand. First time anyone ever did that!

2112

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

I think that was definately true in the 19th century, lots of unifications there, and maybe true until somewhere in the last century too. But my impression is that countries are splitting up more than they are joining now, although that is biased by the post Cold-war soviet mess.

010

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Because genuinely, that is far more realistic than some pre-modern tech or even future tech planet with a unified government. We can't even make a solid case to Scotland to remain in our union (I sympathise) while we are neighbours, but this three eyed alien speaks for his entire planet?

media.tenor.com

a south park character says nuh uh in a cartoon

ALT: a south park character says nuh uh in a cartoon

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

I just want sci-fi fiction occasionally, where the visiting spacecraft tries to contact the ruling power, and there are 40 days of arguing on the surface about who that is, how to build the delegation, and then a war breaks out to gain position as the ones who can trade with the space people.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

And don't get me started with the 'every planet has a single biome' thing. The forest moon of Endor, really? So, its forest at the poles and the equator? Every planet shown is always just green, or just desert, or just Ice. Ice or desert are beleiveable, but all green? It ain't how climate works.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

I just came across something today, again, that has always bothered me with sci-fi fiction. Planets always have a unified government. Why? for frack's sake we have 200 countries here on earth. What makes anyone beleive a unified planetary government is anything other than a unicorn?

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

That is a typical result of vanity presses, unfortunately. They charge you for publishing and then cut you off. Zero effort into making the book a success, because why would they. They have already been paid. I hate it so much.

030

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Because the sagas recount lots of (faintly ridiculous) events from Harald's time in the empire, but all in the format of a drunk man telling stories in a pub, with no order or structure or dates of any kind. So, you need a secondary source to confirm and cross-reference it to make sense.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Everyone needs my book, Bjorn. Everyone. But if you are hoping for a chronological timeline of battles tough luck! None of the Norse chroniclers and writers seemed to care at all about when things happened. For Harald, I had to rely on Imperial sources for rough dates/order of events.

220

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

I got translations of the various sagas. Morkenskinna, Heimskringla, Prose and Poetic Edda. Those are all excellent for 'semi-mythological' tales of the kings. But then I looked at more academic sources too, which was just a lot of googling and looking at research pdfs and stuff.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

They 'can' all be read standalone as each is a mildly seperate part of his life, but I'd reccomend reading the ones before otherwise you won't know who half the characters are and a lot of the context.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

⚔️🔥 PUBLICATION DAY! 🔥⚔️ My latest book and book 3 of my 'Last viking' series; Emperor's Axe, is out today. It tells the story of Harald Hardrada's most extensive and impressive military campaign. This is a remarkable and nearly unknown story, and I think you'll love it. mybook.to/Emperors_axe

53610

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Oh wow, already? That's pretty good. Awesome.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Much like some people like to buy 'hand-made', 'craft', 'home-grown', 'farm-shop' stuff, many peopl will buy 'human-written' books. Cheap, mass-produced products? That will be AI-written books. The market for Human-written books will always exist, but sadly, it will shrink.

040

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Although, that is with steel. Steel doesn't smell of much. Molten bronzes and other metals do have more pungent smells, tangy copper and stuff that makes you squint because it irritates your nostrils, almost spicy.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

The primary sensation from being around very hot or molten metal is the heat in your nose, and the almost sweet chemical smell of *whatever* has got close enough to the metal to vapourise (and there is always something, typically some sort of oil). It's actually quite nice imo, not unpleasant.

J. C. Duncan @jcduncanauthor.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Hi! I worked at a factory with a foundry, and do smithing, and the truth is molten metal smells like molten metal, and it's impossible to really describe as a smell. But with the heat and the hot oil vapours and charring that comes with it you get a hot engine smell too.