Steve Trower
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Steve Trower
@sptroweresq.bsky.social
280 followers 350 following 470 posts
Author of GameLit and sci-fi that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
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I feel like I've shared this Easter Egg laden piece from The Knight Errors before, but it's a rare occurrence of the verb 'to build'.

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'What is this place?' Phil was at the entrance of a slimy maze that had, somewhat improbably, been built at the Dojo's back door. A PLACE OF DARKNESS IT IS. 'Well I can see that,' Phil said. DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE, IT IS. 'Yeah people keep telling me that,' Phil said. 'Just before they go off and do something less life-threatening instead.' I CAN ONLY RENDER AN AVATAR WITHIN THE DOJO. 'And there it is,' Phil said, although he had to admit Dexy's Yoda body was already a very transparent force ghost. 'So what's in there?' ONLY WHAT YOU TAKE WITH YOU.
November 13, 2025 at 1:07 PM
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I'm loving the Boo revival!
November 13, 2025 at 7:39 AM
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In honour of shirt day on #WIPSnips, Sam Cooper gets a long overdue change of clothing in The Dragon Download.

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'Doc,' Bryonetta said, 'why don't you go out and see if you can't smash us up some dry clothes?' 'Wait, what?' Sam said, eyes wide. 'I just mean the loot crates-' 'Loot? Crates?' 'Yeah,' Charlotte grinned, 'I kicked one in earlier and got us an infinite supply of shurikens, it was... why do you look angry?' 'Because,' Sam growled, indicating her tight shirt and short shorts, 'I've been practically wearing my underwear, going out of my way not to hit those things, and now you tell me if I'd just opened one I could have ended up in sodding River Island?' 'Sorry, we-' Charlotte started. 'Never mind.' Sam stomped out of the Ambivalence and over to her car, from which she liberated a heavy looking wheel brace. 'It's a bad day to be a wooden box,' Nectarine said quietly. From outside the Ambivalence there were primal screams, sounds of splintering wood, and a distant jingle. 'She really didn't like those shorts, Charlotte said.
November 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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I have a whole chapter of burger related chaos in The Dragon Download. Here's a bit from the Pound Saver Menu, with a side of explaining-how-the-multiverse-works.

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Phil swerved suddenly into a side road to avoid an oncoming cheeseburger, but not before a few razor sharp sesame seeds dug into the Ambivalence's fibreglass hightop. 'What we need,' Nectarine said, largely to himself, 'is a Fries Whisperer.' Phil spared a moment to give him a disappointed glare, then returned his attention to Bryonetta. 'And 'all of this' translates into Ground Attack Beef because...?' 'You've heard the saying that there are no new ideas?' Bryonetta said. 'Every time some genius reboots an 80s film franchise,' Phil said. 'That's because, somewhere in the multiverse, everything already exists.' 'Even strategic assault burgers?' 'Every movie in your world,' Bryonetta explained, 'every story, every comic book, every video game, is just another reality filtering through the imagination of someone in yours.' 'What kind of lunatic is giving Big Macs the power of flight?' Phil ducked instinctively as another wave of hamburgers swooped down in front of them, a huge blob of sauce landing pinkly on the windscreen and temporarily blinding him. 'And weaponising relish?'
November 11, 2025 at 12:33 PM
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#HopePit #HopePunk? #WIP

Survivor Song X Speed of Dark

As a deadly virus sweeps across the world, the few survivors begin to realise they are all neurodivergent. If these remaining Mis-Shapes make it through the Neurotypocalypse, can they build a new world, where they fit in, to benefit everyone?
Neurotypocalypse cover mock up. Title in black against a yellow background with a darker yellow biohazard symbol.
November 9, 2025 at 11:16 PM
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#HopePit #HopePunk? #WIP

After a new pandemic kills off most of the population, a group of geeks and weirdos band together, first to survive the apocalypse, and then to rebuild a better world.

☣️ viral apocalypse
🤓 geeks shall inherit the earth
🐬 save the dolphins
♾️ neurodivergent protags
Neurotypocalyse cover mock up. The title over a biohazard symbol in shades of yellow.
November 9, 2025 at 9:39 PM
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Another #NaNoWriMo #notnano #WIPSnips today: Georgia's work day is interrupted by her daughter having a meltdown at school.

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'Again?' Marc said. 'Does she do that a lot then?' 'All the time,' George said. 'The school are supposed to know this and make allowances for her.' 'Let me guess,' Marc said. 'They don't want to let her because they want her to 'fit in'?' 'Exactly,' George said. 'They want to make her another of their perfect little cookie cutter children.' 'Individuality scares them.' 'I wish it was just that.' 'Oh?' George nodded. 'If you ask me, it's a bit more sinister.' 'Intriguing.' 'Oh I don't know,' George sighed. 'Maybe I'm catastrophising. I just don't know what that woman's problem is with Kyla. Or me.'
November 8, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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Today's #WIPSnips is even less polished than usual because it comes from my November #notnano #NaNoWriMo story.

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Jake stepped out of the car and stretched. 'Well we can't go around it, anyway,' he said. One side of the road was thick with prickly hedges, and on the other a steep ditch would have claimed any car stupid enough to try and drive around the blockade. Cautiously, he approached the police car. 'Looks like the keys are in the- oh shit!' He jumped back at the sudden movement of a police officer in the back of the car lunging towards the window. 'Well thats one way of keeping people out. Block the roads with fucking dolphin flu.'
November 7, 2025 at 8:27 PM
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It looks like my accidental #NaNoWriMo #notnano #sidequest has become to try all the flavours of Monster. Slowly and in moderation obviously, anything else would be very unhealthy. Also I don't want to explode before Christmas.
Close up of four can of Monster in different flavours and colours of can.
November 7, 2025 at 8:05 PM
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First #WIPSnips entry from my #NaNoWriMo substitute today.
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'Hey,' Brad called to the gaggle of kids as they scarpered from the surf hut. 'Hey!' He grabbed a surfboard out of habit and ran out, sleeves of his wetsuit trailing behind him, to see what was going on to have made a dozen excitable tweens leave in such a hurry. Being more practiced at running on the sand than most of his students, he soon caught up and found what was so exciting. 'Ok, everybody, stay away please,' he said as the dolphin came into view. 'Come on, don't get too close, you don't know if it's safe.' 'I think it's still alive,' one little girl said, a quiver in her voice.
November 5, 2025 at 9:46 PM
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No steel in my #NaNoWriMo substitute, so back to The Knight Errors for today's #WIPSnips. I feel like I've shared this reunion scene before, but hey ho, let's go.
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'Hey!' Sir Philip of Grundy - minus aspidistras - got back to the stables and was surprised to see the T-Rex had been pulled out of its garage. 'Who's there?' 'I could ask you the same thing.' Sam Cooper looked him up and down as if she didn't recognise him. 'Oh, right!' Phil opened his visor. 'Sam? Is it really you?' 'Who were you expecting?' she said. 'Dave Vizard?' Phil thought for a moment before admitting he had no idea who that was. 'Doesn't matter.' She smiled, and Phil got lost in it for a moment. 'Are you ok?' 'It's just so good to see you again,' he said, taking in the overalls and no-nonsense pixie haircut. 'Not that I minded the Daisy Dukes and big hair,' he reflected, 'but this is the Sam Cooper I... well, it's more real. And right now I need all the real I can get.' 'Tell me about it. Speaking of which...' Sam tapped his steel breastplate with a spanner. 'Oh yes, I wear armour now, he flexed it to demonstrate some of the skills Dexy's training programme had almost taught him. 'Armour's cool.' 'And the handbag sets it off beautifully.'
November 4, 2025 at 11:11 PM
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To round out spooky week on #WIPSnips, a visit to a spooky house in The Dragon Download.

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'Follow my lead,' Bryonetta said. Without another thought, she straightened her Fedora, and with a twinkle in her eye and an inappropriate jauntiness to her step, made her way up the bramble-lined path towards the derelict building. 'Are you sure this is safe?' Charlotte checked her katana was secure on her back and within easy reach. 'What if we just let two of Wendig's finest lead us straight into a trap?' Phil shrugged. 'Then we'll find a way to escape it.' 'Mr Grell!' Bryonetta called. 'Join me at the front please, I don't want to explore the entire building if I don't need to.' Grell, his face pale, obeyed. The front door groaned open, revealing a cavernous darkness choked with cobwebs. Bryonetta stepped inside, her eyes scanning the gloom. A threadbare rug lay askew, a crudely written note pinned to it: "Definitely not a trap." 'Such subtlety,' Phil commented, as they all gave the awkward rug a wide berth. 'Subtle, but effective.' Bryonetta picked a large urn from a convenient sideboard, hefted it, and tossed it into the middle of the rug, where it promptly broke into three pieces with a crash that echoed through the empty hallway. 'Huh,' she mused. 'This place may be cleverer than I thought. Trust nothing.' A ghostly moan reverberated through the house.
November 2, 2025 at 9:55 AM
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It's this, if you wondered!
November 2, 2025 at 9:03 AM
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One more visit to The Chip Whisperer as today's #WIPSnips introduces Benito 'Benny' Stetson (and his ancestors).
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Benny squinted towards one of the darker corners of Phil's garage. 'If I'm right, and they are trying to find me, they may already have everything else they need.' 'And what's so special about you, cowboy?' He turned back to face Sam 'I didn't come over here for the weather, you know. I was recruited by the cartel because I have a very particular set of skills. Skills I have inherited from a very long family heritage.' 'You come from a long line of Z80 coders?' Phil said. 'I have Native American blood in these veins.' Sam rolled her eyes. 'Of course you do.'
November 1, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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We'll stay in The Chip Whisperer for today's #WIPSnips, which features a glimpse at an all too realistic version of #ZX81 killer app 3D Monster Maze...

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'Wait a minute, Phil said as he read the next message. 'These messages aren't as random as they seem.' 'You'll have to tell me later, Sam said, getting into the car quickly. 'Legoland is on the march again.' Phil turned to see those dull white walls building up along each side of the road behind them. Sam wasted no time in starting the engine, and roared off down the narrow road, g-force pushing Phil back into the ill-fitting passenger seat. Even at the break-neck pace Sam managed to achieve, the background weirdness quickly overtook them. 'Ok wisdom guy,' Sam shouted over the engine noise. 'What's going on? What are those messages, and do they have anything to do with the claustrophobia I'm suddenly developing?' 'Well, I can't speak for your claustrophobia, but-' Phil was interrupted by another text arriving. FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING 'The messages are straight out of 3D Monster Maze,' he finished. The mini screeched to a halt as a wall sprung up in front of it. 'As, I'm guessing, is the maze?' Sam said backing up quickly. 'Yes,' Phil said grimly. 'And the-' 'Don't say it,' Sam interrupted. 'Please.' 'Alright then. Just keep your eye out for an exit,' he said. 'And a Tyrannosaurus rex.'
October 31, 2025 at 4:34 PM
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Today on #WIPSnips, a throwback to The Chip Whisperer to discover the origins of the Entelechus Hex, and why an 8 Bit series of Ambivalence Chronicles was necessary.
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Benny got to his feet gratefully. 'Back in the late 70s,' he explained, 'when microprocessors were beginning to revolutionise the world, a small and secretive cartel discovered a way to exponentially - no, more than that, super-exponentially, hyperbolically even - increase the power of a small computer. Not in the way mainstream technology has done it's a well-documented fact that most people carry around in their pockets more computing power than sent men to the moon but in an entirely different, non-technological way.' 'What do you mean?' Phil asked. 'In layman's terms, the Entelechus is like a magical incantation; a spell transcribed into machine code. A very powerful spell - one that has been in existence since the very dawn of time - but until the computer age arrived, was unusable.' 'I don't believe in magic,' Phil said. 'Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. Many powerful individuals do believe in it.' 'What powerful individuals? Phil smirked. 'Clive Sinclair? He's nobody now, he just helps people cheat at cycling.' 'Many of the world's most powerful individuals are not recognised as such. In fact, many are not recognised at all.' 'OK, so there's a mysterious group of super powerful, but anonymous, computer nerds hiding out in a bunker somewhere, probably spying on my Facebook...'
October 30, 2025 at 8:19 AM
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Today on #WIPSnips: a sword falls over in a library; Phil Grundy gets his knighting costume; and I find some Easter eggs.

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'It is dangerous to go alone. With a heroically stylish flick of the toe, the knight kicked the sword up from the ground, and with a swish and a flash of sliver, was holding it out to Phil, handle first. 'Take this.' 'Err...' Phil took the sword, somewhat reluctantly. 'And this, the knight added, standing with his arms outstretched and legs apart. Phil was about to go in for a knightly man hug, when without warning the iron gauntlets flew from the knight's hands, and before he knew it, were on Phil's and holding him in place, arms outstretched, while the rest of the knight's armour detached itself and flew around the library trailing magical sparks, before wrapping itself around Phil like a medieval Tony Stark. Once the armour had stopped buzzing excitedly and secured itself around its new owner, Phil staggered under its weight and fell, with slow inevitability, on his arse. 'Oh, the former knight - now stood in red, white and blue striped pyjamas in a way that would have been amusing under almost any other circumstance - turned to the bookshelf behind him (Fiction: O) and selected a Penguin Classic. 'And this.' 'Are you kidding?' Phil exclaimed, then had to lift the visor and say it again so the night knight could hear. 'No kidding. Your time has come. There is no helichopper rescue this time, no hi-vis ninja to save your friends. The Sheriff of Romford can be defeated only if you master the Chuntey. You must take up your destiny, become a Magic Knight, and save your friends. You, Sir Phillip of Grundy, are their only hope.'
October 28, 2025 at 12:59 PM
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#WritingLifeMonthly Day 27

Today I've been reading about whaling and pandemics, so here's some more picturesque research for my recent #GameLit writing.

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The Magic Knight Trilogy boss set for the ZX Spectrum: Finders Keepers, Spellbound, Knight Tyme and Storm Bringer.
October 27, 2025 at 7:54 PM
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A bit surprised to find I actually have used this, way back in The Chip Whisperer.

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Before Benny had stopped the Ambivalence, Phil had slid open the front door and jumped out to accost Viktor Wendig. 'Alright Wendig, you win,' he said. 'What do you want? Wait... where the hell has he gone?' 'He stole my idea. Doc Nectarine's disguised voice came from a doorway at the side of the garage. 'And the lawnmower. They've all run for it, left that monster to run free.' Right on cue, a blood curdling roar ripped through the air again, and the monster poked its blocky head out of the entrance to the maze. Benny hit the button and the roller shutter door rolled shut behind them. 'Somehow, I don't think that will be enough,' Sam said solemnly. 'Where's Charlie?' Phil said. Sam wandered over to the window and looked out at the patiently advancing dinosaur. 'Wait a minute...' she said to herself. 'What are you doing?' Phil asked. 'You might want to look away,' she replied, reaching across the bench. There was a thump, and everything went black.
October 27, 2025 at 1:29 PM
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#WritingLifeMonthly Day 24

It turns out mine actually is a book.

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Cover art for The Fifth of March by Ann Rinaldi
October 24, 2025 at 12:56 PM
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It's looking like a total disaster in the #WIPSnips from The Knight Errors.

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'Are we safe in here?' Charlie shouted over the rattling. As if in response, the ZX81 buzzed angrily and disintegrated into a cloud of pixels. winking out of existence herself. 'Of course we are,' Bryonetta said, before Outside, the silhouette of the Romford Municipal Landmark seemed to glitch, Phil reached for Charlie's hand, and closed his eyes. 'Ohhhh boy!' distorted blocks of colour momentarily obscuring it like the colour clash on a too ambitious Spectrum platformer, before going out and leaving them in total darkness.
October 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
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Today on #WIPSnips: dragon hunters steal 80s bikes; gradients become hills; and I leave some Easter eggs.

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McCaffrey tightened his backpack and launched out of Romford Cycles and BMX on a Raleigh Super Burner liberated from the shop's main display, and with a whistle worthy of a One Man and His Dragon finalist, attempted to lure the dragon away to give Pearl, Grell and Fella a fighting chance of escaping untoasted. Grabbing the next three bikes from the showroom, the three of them left through a side door and pedalled. Pearl was away in no time, popping wheelies on a red and yellow BMX even brighter than her shirt, weaving around parked cars like a pro. Behind her, Fella was still getting to grips with the ape hanger handlebars and weirdly positioned gear shift, but once she had got moving was able to pick up quite some speed provided she didn't have to go up hills. Or down hills. Or around corners.
October 23, 2025 at 5:42 PM
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#WritingLifeMonthly Day 23

In terms of humour, writing style, and volume of tea consumed, my dream comparison is the ultimate trilogy: Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

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Five paperback volumes making up the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy by Douglas Adams.
October 23, 2025 at 11:54 AM
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Unsurprisingly given the prompt, today's #WIPSnips comes from the Joust scene of The Knight Errors - but maybe in a surprising way.

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'Hang on a minute dad,' Charlotte said. 'I've got a great idea. Er...' 'Come on Charlie!' 'Here we go,' she shouted triumphantly. 'Rice pudding!' 'What?' 'Struthio Icareus - the flying ostrich - has a weakness for rice pudding.' 'How do you know that?' 'I've been stuck in an attic on my own with no way to charge my gadgets,' Charlotte explained. 'I've done some reading.'
October 22, 2025 at 11:47 AM
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Today's #WIPSnips prompt is too good an opportunity not to go back to The Chip Whisperer, and the gang’s first encounter with the Ambivalence.
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To say that Benny had been underwhelmed when he first saw the British interpretation of a Dodge Ambulance would have required a major recalibration of the whelmedness scale - until he noticed it had once been equipped with a wheelchair lift, the wiring for which was soon repurposed to power a mobile vintage computing workshop. The only thing belying the van's previous life as a charity ambulance was the light box above the windscreen, into which Benny had written the word 'Ambivalence', but was still unsure whether that was a good thing or not. 'And wolla!' said Benny as Phil's ZX81 sprung to life on one of his screens. 'So we can carry on typing the hex in while we're on the move?' 'In theory,' Benny replied. 'But in practice the ride in the Ambivalence isn't great. You'd be better off waiting - or getting a head start now, of course.'
October 18, 2025 at 11:01 AM