Season's Greetings from the KIOSK.

Or, Merry KIOSKmas? I'm sorry.

Well, that’s more or less it for the year I think. Time for a quick wrap up, before I roll the shutters down.

I won’t keep you long, as I’m sure you have parties to attend and lastminute gift buying to do. I’ve not been up to a huge amount recently that I can share with you, but I’ve been enjoying getting into a few other things that aren’t book related, which has been a nice break post The Hard Switch. So here are a couple of recent bits.

Drawing Cities.

I did this editorial piece for A Profound Waste Of Time, the gorgeously produced publication about games and culture. The whole magazine is illustrated throughout and it was nice to be asked to illustrate a piece about Like A Dragon (the role playing video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio) and the enduring legacy of the Yakuza game series. It particularly goes into culture and environmental design, so it was really great to get to do my own take on the setting.

There were also a few fun spot illustrations peppered throughout the article too.

I also got to do a double page spread for GQ’s watch supplement, to accompany an article about the rise of watch theft. As I’m not a man of particularly expensive taste, I don’t think it’s of much concern to me, but it was still fun to draw a Mayfair style street scene.

I get asked a lot about process, so thought I’d give a glimpse behind the curtain on this one. For a job like this, I would normally do a few sketch options based on the brief, with the art director choosing one to work up to final. As you can see, my roughs are quite rough, but you get the idea.

And finally, here are both illustrations and how they appeared in print.

Gifts.

I realise now I should have been more slightly more proactive about directing you towards my wares in advance of the festive season, so I’ve probably missed the boat a little bit there. Still, if you’re doing some frantic lastminute shopping and you find yourself in a bookstore, I would suggest getting a copy of The Hard Switch (it’s been getting some really nice reviews, and it even featured in The Telegraph, of all places, where they demanded a sequel). If that’s not your bag, don’t worry, I’ve still got you covered.

British Ice - Arctic noir about colonial horror.

Victory Point - A coastal wander about the anxiety of life’s direction.

The Hard Switch - A sci-fi adventure about the state of things.

If you’ve run out of time, then consider these a suggestion as to where to spend your book tokens. Do they still have book tokens? I hope so.

Wrap Up.

Well, I think that about does it for 2023. Already looking forward to next year and I’ll hopefully have a lot more things to share and explore. Thanks for sticking with me on this newsletter thing, lots of you have said some incredibly nice things about it, which is particularly gratifying as I’ve really enjoyed writing them too. The general state of the various social medias is fairly uncertain at the moment, and it’s a struggle to know which melting ice block to jump towards next, but it’s nice having the kiosk, and even nicer that you all keep dropping by.

There’s a lot going on at the moment, so I do hope you are well, however you’re seeing out 2023, and wishing you all the best in the new year. In my part of the world, as of today, the days have started to to get longer, and it will be a while yet, but we’re moving in the right direction.

See you soon, and in the meantime, I’m in all the NORMAL PLACES.

Owen D. Pomery.