In the most recent half of my life, I have worked on quite a number of projects that brought me joy at the time, helped me develop new skills and kindled new interests. Some of them I have given up on, others have almost certainly stalled indefinitely, but there are a number which have either led to an interesting final product or I am still actively working on.
This page contains a list of all projects which could be of interest to others, in chronological order of when I began them.
Educational
- Alioplanetary ages app (programme which calculates your age on various planets)
- Maths Book for gifted primary school children
- Mathematics for the Curious (secondary school book)
Exact sciences
- Complex Product Series (paper on pattern I slowly uncovered as a child/teenager)
- Monogravity theory (qualitative reïnterpretation of Einsteinian gravity)
Games, computer
- Game of Trust (browser game about the prisoners’ dilemma
- Awesome Tanks Levels (challenges made in game’s editor)
Games, physical
- ComboChess (variant where certain allied pieces can form combos)
- Harry Potter Stratego variant (characters and powers assigned to pieces)
- Crazy Cards (chaotic, high-energy card game)
- Sudoku Conquest (post-game activity for Sudoku grid)
- Dungeons & Dragons (lore and adventures of my world)
Legendarium
- Urae (fantasy world in which my novels take place)
- Promise Broken (first novel in epic fantasy pentalogy)
- Trust Lost (sequel, in which series’ protagonist is born)
- Further Kingsloss Series (books 3-5 of the pentalogy)
- History of the Silver Realm (collection of mythopoeic stories)
- Future Trilogy (novella’s to tie together other writing)
Magna Frisia
- Spurious Realm script (for two feature films parodying LOTR in 16th CE Friesland)
- Spurious Realm film (product which the scripts are steps towards)
- NFF Short Film competition entry (project plan for low-budget short film)
Music
- English Pie (parody written for Grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary)
Personal
- Autobiography (the story of my life, up to the age of 18)
- Grampie’s biography (about the remarkable life of my mother’s father)
Writing, further
- Beyond Humanism (book setting out my political vision)
Warning!
The rest of the page is almost certain to contain many things which do not interest you in the slightest. I use this page to refer people to particular projects. Anyone is free to browse this archive, but you have been warned…
Combochess
G01
When I was still at primary school, I played a lot of chess, and wondered what would happen if certain rules were changed or ignored. What if pieces could fly over anything in their path? The result was uninteresting. What if pieces of the same colour could share a square? The result seemed annoying. What if there was a positive equivalent of hitting the other piece if it was allied? The result was an explosive number of possibilities…
Combochess is a variant of chess in which players can hit themselves to create combo-pieces with greater freedom of movement or even special powers. Some can attack at range, others are immune to attack from lower pieces – the Royal Couple makes pawns…
I would love to work with a 3D modeller who can design pieces to print. I already have a basic idea of how the various pieces must be designed to slot together into all the possible combo-pieces. If you are interested in play-testing, do let me know.
Harry Potter Stratego
G02
I have always drawn to making connections between isolated phenomena, and treating the construction of comparisons as an optimisation problem. When I was given Lord of the Rings Stratego in the mid 00’s, I decided to try to construct an equivalent for Harry Potter…
Essentially, Harry Potter stratego is a variant in which all the ranks of regular stratego have been replaced by characters from the book series: Dumbledore and Voldemort are Marshalls, Harry and Bellatrix are Generals, etc.
However, I have created two variants: one in which certain characters have particular powers, such as the ability to aparate to certain squares; the other in which a duel begins when a piece hits another of equal value.
I would love to work with a graphic artist to create a picture for each of the pieces, which could be made available for other to print and attach to pieces on an existing set to play the game. Do reach out if you are interested in taking this idea further, or are simply interested in play-testing.
Complex Product Series
S03
When I learnt the times tables, I noticed that the product of two numbers which differed one from the same number was always 1 less than the product of the central number and itself. I soon realised the pattern was more general, but it wasn’t until I learned about variables that I could write down my findings as an equation, and realised how trivial it was. Then I learned about complex numbers…
This paper, on multiplying numbers which lie evenly spaced on the circumference of a circle in the complex plane, traces a journey of personal discovery which lasted a decade. It is very much in progress.
Alioplanetary Ages
E09
For some reason, astronomy fascinates people. We think of our age as a fixed construct, but it’s purely a measure of what our planet has been up to since our birth. We can compare it to other planets too, and measure how long we’d have to enjoy our birthday on each to – in the case of bigger planets – broaden our horizons. It’s a masterclass in thinking outside the exosphere. Besides, you should have heared my cousins laugh when I told them our grandparents were over 300 years old on Mercury…
The Alioplanetary Ages app will allow the user to input their date of birth, and see how old they are on each of the planets, and when their next birthday will be. It treats Venus, where days are longer than years, as a special case.
I would love to work with an app developer to create a version which can export birthdays to calenders or has other extended functionality, such as the ability to calculate simultaneous birthdays, a basic tutorial showing the user the simple calculations behind the given values, or the ability to input other planets or moons – either from a list or personal research.
English Pie
M12
For the anniversary of my Gran & Grampie, we as grandchildren decided to create something personal. Each of us wrote down 5 memories which were particularly meaningful or typifying of how we saw the happy couple, and it was up to me to turn them all into a song.
English Pie is a parody of the full version of Don McClean’s America Pie. It was critically acclaimed at the party, and I have been playing with the idea of making a parody album ever since.
I would love to work with a musician or band who is/are interested in recording parody songs, and am open to being challenged to write lyrics for a new song, one which is not humorous but rather political in nature.
Spurious Realm Script
F13
In 2012, one of my best friends at the time decided he wanted to be a director, but did not want to have to go to film school. Ever the pragmatist, I decided I would write him a film to direct so he could make his mark that way. ..
I have written a parody of the Lord of the Rings which takes place in an alternative version of 16th century Friesland, my home province. I have condensed the trilogy into two films, The Fellowship of the Necklace and The Tall Tales.
The films centres around a necklace of such great value, that it destroys the local economy wherever it’s taken by causing hyperinflation. The Cammingha’s of Ameland are intent on retrieving it, and it has no power in a repressive state it cannot be used and must be destroyed.
See the project Spurious Realm Film for information on how to collaborate on this.
Maths Book
E14
I became bored by the sums I was given at primary school, and when I finally got material for the secondary school – to the extent that it was challenging at all – it simply postponed boredom until the moment of repetition at the next school. I should have been given something extra, but that didn’t seem to exist…
I have written several sections of a (Dutch) maths book for primary school pupils looking for a challenge. It particularly focuses on maths that students would not ordinarily get at secondary school, but isn’t ridiculously hard. It is intended to allow self-study, and so I have considered what it might look like as an app.
The finished sections have been tested and evaluated by several pupils from the ages of 9 to 11, and were very favourably received. Due to time constaints, this is not a project I am currently working on, but I would be willing to collaborate on it.
Crazy Cards
G16
In 2014, a group of 4 students travelled to Budapest, and lamented that their favourite simple card game never forced them to nip, sip, drink or chug their beer. They developed some alternative rules, and ended up with something that has so far been universally appreciated by people they’ve introduced it to.
Crazy Cards is a cards game in which the aim is to get rid of all the cards in your hand, but cards have an effect when placed, and most effects involve introducing more cards into play.
Some cards amplify the effects of others, or start a minigame. There is an extended rule set to make things particularly frenzied, and a few expansions exist as well.
Regular players have advised us to develop this properly. We are looking for a graphic designer who can design the various cards, each of which represents a profession.
Monogravity
S18
When I was 14, I discovered Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. I watched the whole series and loved how much sense it all made. The only part that seemed odd, because it was incomplete and slightly incoherent as a result, was Einsteinian gravity. I decided to look into what I felt was missing from the theory…
Monogravity is a qualatative reïnterpretation of gravity. It led me to formulate hypotheses for the origin of time, the matter-antimatter asymmetry, dark energy and the black hole information paradox. Every so often, I find out something new which fits with my view of the world (such as the gravitational properties of antimatter), but I do not have the mathematical knowledge to quantify my ideas.
Urae
L21
Unlike most fantasy worlds, there is no magic in mine. I strongly believe that our reality is spectacular enough without it. In fact, it is my fascination with reality that enduces me to explore and creature an alternative world.
Over the course of my childhood, several planetary and biological fantasies coalesced into a world of my own. Since 2013 I have been actively developing its history, geography and the cultures of its peoples. I have isolated several historical threads which could, with some creative license, be told as stories, and from 2014 onward I have focused on expanding my insight into the people & events that influenced their unfolding.
I would love to work with people who can bring my world to life through ways other than creative writing. Sketch artists, cartographers, 3D modellers or people who would like to expand the wiki which I am beginning to build on World Anvil based on extensive notes I have available would be welcome join me in making the world of Urae available for more people to discover and enjoy.
Promise Broken
L22
“The Old World had been since long before the First Finding of its people, who named themselves kυ. Now they have explored and settled the great continent, and still curiosity nudges and drives them to seek out the unknown, for this will only ever lead to new and greater delight. That is what they have found to be the unspoken promise of their world.”
Promise Broken takes place in an apparently perfect world that has kept its inhabitants both blissful and hopelessly naive. When something happens that disturbs the certainties of the kυ, they have no past experiences or understanding on which to base their response, and terrible things occur which they can neither distinguish nor comprehend, and simply label ‘badness’. As more and more of the society kυ have created is infected by badness, the question arises whether there is anything in the nature of the kυ that will allow them to confront and overcome this bizarre new aspect of their world.
I would be more than happy to provide the manuscript to concept artists to draw inspiration from. I’d love to publish an illustrated version of the novel.
Spurious Realm Film
F23
I have two film scripts on my hard drive, just waiting to be used, but no budget or team to make them into a reality. Understandably, Dutch production companies are squeamish about an English film by a person whose background has nothing to do with the arts, and their English counterparts don’t even have a connection to Friesland to motivate them.
I am attempting to realise my parody of the Fellowship of the Ring step by step. I have organised a recording of the full dialogue, which, when edited, can form the basis for a story board and <1 fps film. Hopefully, this will be a product worth viewing and a worthy end result for an overly ambitious project.
I would be more than happy to provide the scripts and character outlines to concept artists to use.
Autobiography
P27
Life has been, if not kind, then at least very interesting to me. Whether due to my Englishness, my intellect, my autism and inability to conform or succumb to peer pressure, I have always been an outsider. This gives me a perspective on matters which I have found people are often intrigued by.
My childhood and teenage years were broadly defined by a stuggle with my intelligence, the burden of my migraines and the impact of my autism & the quest to understand emotions. This would form the material for a first volume.
NFF Short Film
F28
By the summer of 2014, it was becoming clear that it would be hard to realise my film project without having some recognition of my ability in writing for the screen.
So, I entered the Noordelijk Film Festival short film competition with the plan for a short set in the same alternative version of Friesland, but which would stand alone as a comical sketch with substance.
Strangers in the Stellingwerven is a film about immigration, and the genuine concerns that can inform the various attitudes real people have towards it. It puts forward the Frisian term ‘mienskip’ (community) as a lense through which to look at the issue. Despite its serious message, it is above all a comedy in the same style as the film it forms a prologue to.
I would love collaborate basing an animation or even a cartoon on the script.
Trust Lost
L30
My fantasy series will be an alterbiography, the story of an alter ego in a different world. He (Terzon) is not born until the beginning of this book, and it will cover most of his childhood.
The sequel to my first book, Promise Broken, continues the story of the people of the Old World after they are confronted with badness and try to adjust to a world in which all sorts of things can go and be wrong.
The central character in the saga, Terzon, is born and takes his colour in Jirudjirkurae. Meanwhile, the leaders of the older kingdoms still continue to argue about who the newly discovered Isle of Promise should come to, bound by the rules for persuasion that Dahnin and Miruin drafted to maintain mutual trust.
I would be more than happy to provide concept artists material to draw inspiration from.
Grampie's Biography
P31
My mother’s father grew up on a farm in a rural and remote part of England, which was a target for German bombers due to the strategic importance of nearby docks, and remembers Americans setting up camp in anticipation of D-Day. Eight decades later, he has moved up into the middle class, and often finds himself in the company of the upper side of the stratum. He has travelled the world, seen his children go to university and witnessed technology take over our lives.
Cornish Lad Let Loose (working title) will be a biography about someone who symbolises a generation, whose stories always fascinated me and whose perspective on where his country and the world have ‘ended up’ I have often found illuminating. Moreover, it cannot help but turn out as a love story about two people who were lucky enough to suit each other far more than is necessary to make love last and a marriage work.
Further Kingsloss Series
L35
For a long time, I thought I had mapped out exactly how the story of my alter ego, Terzon, would develop throughout the later novels in the pentalogy. Then my own life took an unexpected turn. Terzon was supposed to suffer unrequited love in his youth, and permanently dismiss the phenomenon as a result. After all, that is what I had done. Now, our parallel lives demand he meet someone spectacularly wonderful to engage in reciprocal adoration. Who knows what that will mean for the story…
In the final three books of the series, Terzon travels to many places that will be new to readers, such as the Ottonae – the civilised part of the world – and Gonrearos Curos, the mountains where people have taken up Guardianship of nature. The world is still dealing with the ramifications of the advent of badness, and earlier problematic decisions that were taken in response, and Terzon is trying to take on responsibility to help others cope.
Mathematics f/t Curious
E38
Mathematics is the language of the universe. Every area of knowledge and field of study relies on the critical, logical and creative thinking students can acquire through learning mathematics. Yet, students can’t see the point of the subject, and that’s hardly surprising.
Our aim as maths teachers should not be to have an answer ready when students ask what the point of maths is, our aim should be to prevent them ever feeling the need to ask the question.
Based on material developed and ammended througout three years of teaching I am writing a mathematics book, which will cover every secondary school curriculum of the Netherlands and the IB MYP, but in a meaningful, possibly inspiring and hopefully enjoyable way.
The book will be divided into sections on numbers, algebra, analysis, calculus, sequences, geometry. trigonometry, probability and statistics. Students can move through these topics in various ways, based on their what peaks their interest.
I am looking to work together with a publishing house which specialises in educational material to turn this project into a product which is suitable for the market. This is mainly a matter of graphic design and insight into commercial viability of particular physical features I would like the book to have.
Beyond Humanism
W39
Humans are threatening almost every species on the planet with genocide – by hunting them to extinction or demolishing their habitat – or endless generations of apathetic torment and slaughter. Even the complete destruction of complex life on this planet is now no longer highly unlikely.
We bring up our young to be cogs in a machine, and use indicators to measure the success of our society that encourage us to poison our crops, medicate our problems away, and – as it has been astutely put – buy what we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like. Economic growth is everything.
And yet, somehow, a drastic level of complacency seems to have set in in the so-called developed world. Particularly among intellectuals, humanism is celebrated as the ultimate and final approach to the world. By writing this book, I want to put forward a more coherent view of the world and the politics that follow from it.
Beyond Humanism has become a 67 000 word book. Feedback from readers was generally positive, though some struggled to identify a single central message. I could not fault that criticism, and have therefore decided to keep the book as a personal archive and source text for future writing.
Nevertheless, if you think there is potential in a book that breaks the mould and see a commercial opportunity, please do feel free to contact me for more information.
History o/t Silver Realm
L40
So much has happened in my world that I find fascinating and want to share with others. Nevertheless, I understand it’s not realistic to walk up to people with a pile of notes and say, “Look at what happened in this place I made up”. That is why I am beginning by writing novels. However, if these succeed in captivating people, I look forward to moving on to telling history at a grander scale.
The History of the Silver Realm will be a collection of tales and accounts which span roughly 600 years of development of a fairly isolated continent in the same world as my pentalogy is set in.
Its form, in which seperate chapters which may stand alone form a greater narrative and general overview of a period and region, is based on Tolkien’s Silmarillion, though at an estimated 320 000 words, I expect this to be a significantly larger project.
Game of Trust
G41
Many problems in the world arise because mutual trust is naturally difficult to maintain, even between reliable individuals and institutions. The aim of the game is to maintain…
The Game of Trust will be a browser game in which players form part of a country on a cube-world, and where game rounds consist of neighbouring countries facing the prisoner’s dilemma, choosing to cooperate or compete to earn points. The longer peace is maintained between countries, the more surprising a sudden choice to compete would be, and larger the reward. To avoid this temptation, countries can draft treaties, declarations and open channels of communication to maintain trust. Meanwhile, they can invest in developmental factors in which a similar choice between cooperation and competition presents itself, and internal politics also presents players with a stream of variations on the prisoner’s dilemma.
I would be very glad to work with others on the development of this game. I have very little programming experience, and am a complete graphic autodidact. The project is potentially huge, but I have identified several sensible phases of development, the first of which could be easily achieved.
Motivation & overview from Creator's Manual
Awesome Tanks Levels
G43
When I discovered Awesome Tanks (2), an utterly simplistic browser game, I was instantly hooked. The game itself required some basic acuity, resource management and mouse control, but the level editor added a layer of creativity and catalysed a competition with myself, in which I would try to create and then achieve the impossible…
I have made a catalogue of levels of my own creation of the game Awesome Tanks 2. The levels have various difficulty ratings, and require different skills to complete. This is purely for fun.
Sudoku Conquest
G44
Between the ages of 11 and 14, I travelled to school by train and always did the sudoku in the various papers. Eventually, I was completing them so quickly that I had time to spare, so I came up with a game that uses the filled-in grid.
The aim of Sudoku Conquest is to conquer the entire grid, by choosing a limited number of starting positions. Numbers represent troop strength, and a square can be conquered if the sum of orthogonally adjacent troop strengths within your territory is greater or equal.
I would love to collaborate with someone who has more knowledge of mathematics to define a ruleset which is balanced and determine a measure of success in unsuccesful conquests.
Future Trilogy
L49
My Kingsloss Series and History of the Silver Realm are intimately connected by events which follow both stories. To tell of that connection is the ideal way to properly round off what will be my Magnum Opus if I ever finish it, as I intend.
Past, Back and Over will be three novella’s that form will bridge all my previous writing about Urae. They will follow a messenger who brings news that will change the world, as he gets to grip with how the world has already changed, and will thus allow me to express all the nostalgia I will undoubtedly feel when writing them.
Dungeons & Dragons
G53
I was introduced to D&D towards the end of 2019, and immediately recognised its creative potential. A friend instructed me to create a character to play with, which seemed to require a history for him to know, a pantheon for him to worship, and a society for him to have known. Before I knew it, I had built another world…
Aponto Amtir has a long history that seems to have exploded forth from the ether, with no pre-history to ground it in reality. Its beings are unsure about their place in the world; none of the flaura or fauna appear naturalised or settled; and the forceful arrow of time is about the only foundation on which individuals, peoples and empires attempt to form expectations of what is to come.
I am currently Dungeon Master (DM) for two groups, running seperate campaigns in the same world, and am developing a number of adventures which others could also use.
I would love to collaborate with someone who has more knowledge about Dungeons & Dragons, to formalise my adventures so they could perhaps even be sold. This world has the potential to be an interesting and novel addition to the D&D multiverse, so please do reach out if you have ideas for how to bring it to the attention of a larger audience. I am beginning to build a wiki for it on World Anvil, but that is not a priority at the moment.
Want to find out more?
You can email me at sewolswinkel@gmail.com, or contact me via social media to ask for more details on a project, or offer a form of collaboration.