Posted in Article, Blog, Non-fiction

My 6 favourite free tools

About 2 years ago I decided to be self-employed. With no knowledge about how to do that and no money, I was in for a steep learning curve. In a world where programs get pricier and pricier and shift to being subscription based, I’m all in for free and maybe even open source solutions.

So I’ve made a list of my favourite free programs. I’ve included some where there’s a paid version as well, but only in cases where I’m happy with the free version. Some of them are online tools and others are downloadable programs, I’ve added the details to each. Let’s go!

Clockify.me
https://clockify.me/
Online
Free version
If you need a time tracker, this is the one. I’ve even written an entire blog post about this (in Danish) on my business website. It’s one of the most user-friendly programs I’ve ever used. It got the basics, click and track, but if you need it, you can add projects, clients, payment, and extract reports and so on.

Most programs hide the basics in between all the extra settings, but not this one. I use the free version and I couldn’t do without it. I use it on the clients, where I charge per hour (as oppose to the ones, where there’s a pre-defined price).

If you need to track time on a project of your own, a project for a client or just want to know how much time you spend of different things, this is for you.

Subtitle Edit
https://nikse.dk/SubtitleEdit/
Downloadable
Open Source, entirely free
One of the things I do for my clients is making subtitles. I know many who do it in YouTube, and that’s fine as long as it’s your own videos and you intend to upload them to YouTube. But if you need a separate program, I highly recommend this one.

I’ve worked for a long time in a different one, but it had issues with longer videos, so I switched to this one and never looked back. All the settings and buttons can be intimidating, but there’re a couple of good tutorials on YouTube and you really don’t need to interact with that many settings. I love to work with the waveform, so make sure to add that if you want too as well. I use this program almost every week!

Canva
https://www.canva.com/
Online
Free version

Hands down, I’m a huge Canva fan. I know it’s not perfect, and I know that it lacks a lot compared to a professional editor, but if you need a design program and you’re not a designer, this is for you.

I used the free version the first 9 months in my business before upgrading (and I haven’t regretted it once!). I use it all the time in my business and in my spare time for social media content, flyers, posters, e-books, PowerPoint templates, illustrations, graphics – you name it. It’s so easy to use and I think the free version will get you really far (but since it’s more than a year since I changed to the paid version, they could have made changes to the free version, that I’m not aware of).

Online Video Cutter
https://online-video-cutter.com/
Online
Free Version

I’ve only used this a couple of times, but it’s good and get’s the job done. As the name suggests, it’s a tool to cut your video. Online. I’ve had some videos that I needed to trim down, and this does it so well. It also allows you to add a process bar that shows how much of the video has been shown – cool! It’s easy to work with and fast.

OBS Studio
https://obsproject.com
Downloadable
Open Source, entirely free

This program let’s you record your screen or stream online. I’ve used it to make videos of my developing process when I made The Small Christmas Game. Once I had it up and running, it was really good at recording my screen, computer sound and voiceover. I haven’t tried out the streaming function, but the person that recommended it to me, says it’s great for that too.

HitFilm Express
https://fxhome.com/product/hitfilm-express
Downloadable
Free version

You want a great and professional video editing program, but only need the basics? Then try this out! I’ve earlier used programs like Windows Movie Maker and Pinnacle, so I’m not entirely a rookie in these programs, and this one is definitely in the heavier area.

In the free version you can do many basic things, such as zoom in and show only a part of the screen, cut, add text, fade video and audio etc. If you need more options, you can buy addons for the specific things, that you need. The program has so many possibilities (that I have not tried out) and they make amazing How-To videos that shows how you make real movie special effects. I’ve edited a few short videos for online use and it’s good.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading along. Hopefully one of these programs will come in handy for you.

Posted in Blog, Non-fiction

Video game, collab fiction and Mike Williams

Hey y’all
small update and stuff.

I know I
haven’t posted anything in a loooong time. The very good reason for this is
that I’ve been focusing on writing in my native language, which is not English.
It’s really great to write in a language where I can express myself more freely
and am a 285% better writer.

My video
game The Cursed One Part I is soon closing beta testing, and I will implement
the reported bugs. Most of them have already been fixed, so that’s great. I
look forward to being able to publish it online, I’m still considering which
platform to use, but it will still be free to play though. If you’re interested
in the project you can read more at thecursedone.com and if you want to be a
beta tester, you can read more here.

At the moment
I’m running a small fun thing on the Fediverse, a choose your own adventure but
in collab mode. After each small bit I make a poll on what to do next, and everyone
can vote and decide. I have nothing planned, nothing scheduled, I impro it as
we go – it’s fun, it’s short, it’s flash fiction collab. I truly like these
small interactions with others – I find it to be very lonely to be a writer most
of the time.

I’m
planning to collect all 10 chapters of Mike Williams into a pretty tablet
friendly PDF – still need to get them proof read, but I’ve made a pretty cool
front page.

Wow, look at that front page!

Take care
out there!

Posted in Fiction

Chapter 10: Not a chance

Mike Williams series: A courtroom drama in space

Mike Williams saw his life flash before his eyes, quite literally. The big screen behind him showed a slideshow of pictures from his life. Right from his first moments as a red-faced baby, to his childhood and now it was showing awful teenage pictures. The entire United Galaxy Council stared at him in a diaper, him missing his first tooth, him skinny and pimpled with a goofy smile. Lay’tek broke the silence.

“We chose Mike Williams for a reason. This is his life. He hates Mondays, he likes to have a beer with his friend, to tend to his garden. He has a pretty forgettable face, he’s never won anything in his life, he’s not smart or powerful. In fact, Mike Williams is one of the most boring and average humans on Earth. This is why we chose him, this is the rules: We choose an average citizen to reflect a specie.”

Continue reading “Chapter 10: Not a chance”
Posted in Fiction

Crow offended

One cold and windy night the crow shouted at the trees.

“Why are you all dressed up in those pretty red and yellow colors? Who are you trying to impress with those small and revealing leaves?”

And the trees shivered and whispered back with suppressed expectations.

“Winter is coming.”

Posted in Fiction

Is there such a thing as too polite?

Is there such a thing as too polite?

When Sandra entered her room after taking a shower, she discovered two things. For one, she wasn’t alone in her room and secondly, she had left her dirty panties on the floor. On the tip of her bed, touching as little of it as possible, sad a man in a beige suit that was slightly too big. Sandra screamed and clutched the towel closer around her.

“Oh, I am terribly sorry to disturb you like that!” the man said as he sprung to his feet. “Auch. Please stop throwing belongs at me.”

“GET OUT OF MY HOME!” She screamed, throwing a scented candle at him.

“Again, terrible sorry, but – auch- that is simply not possible.”

“I’m gonna call the police, you psycho!”

“I’m afraid that won’t do you any good. See, I can’t leave the house without your soul.”

Sandra stopped with her phone in her hand and looked at the shy man.

“What?”

He drew the tip of his shoes around the carpet and kept his gaze low.

“I am, you could say, a ahem, a reaper of souls. So to speak. I’m sorry if this is an inconvenient time for you. I will turn around so you can get dressed.”

“You will do no such thing, you perverted intruder. Look at me when I’m talking to you!” The man made a small jump in his big suit and looked at her as if it took tremendous courage to do so.

“You are not taking my soul, do you hear me? It’s mine and I’m using it. So get out of here. Right now.”

He ran his fingers nervously through his dark blond hair before answering.

“Well, that’s not… That’s not how it works. Your… Your time is up. One might say. And it is erh my job to- to collect your soul.”

Sandra opened her drawer and picked some clean underwear.

“No.”

“Excuse me? No what?”

“Just no. I’m not going. Neither is my soul.” She dropped the towel and the soul collector in the beige suit stumbled into the bed and fell on his face.

Posted in Fiction

In the end

The world was ending, everything crumbling, demolishing. All wars had been fought, all cards had been played.

“Here at the end we meet again,” God said with a sigh. “At last.” She looked at her creation and mourned for everything that would soon be no more.

“I’ve missed you too, old friend” Satan replied with a sad smile. She looked at God and finally reached for her hand.
“Now, at the end, was there really anything besides you and me?” she whispered, stepping closer.

God took a last glance of the dying world and turned to Satan.
“I guess not. Just you and me. And everything in between.”

Posted in Fiction

A big tasty bite of hobbit

A fanfic about an adventurous hobbit and her elf rescuer.
First: A hobbit in trouble


“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

Mentha tried to get her hands free but the robes were tight and secure. Around her was the entire group of bandits gathered, together with their enormous drooling dog.

“I think it’s a hobbit, Gordon!”

The big balled bandit who clearly was some sort of leader smacked the other bandit in the face with the back of his huge hand.

“I know it’s a hobbit, you moron!”

Mentha was tired of stupid smelling humans who tied her up.

“Let me go!” she yelled and wriggled in the robes.

The chief bandit, Gordon, stepped forward and kneeled to get closer. With an eerie sound he drew his long wicked dagger, which had seen a lot of action according to the deep notches in the blade.

“I don’t think so, hobbit.” He made the last word sound like an insult. “You see, this ugly fello’, Bastard, is very hungry. And while I don’t think hobbit would taste good in a stew, I don’t think Bastard would mind.”

Continue reading “A big tasty bite of hobbit”
Posted in Fiction

Dirty and armed to the teeth

A fanfic about an adventurous hobbit and her elf rescuer.
First: A hobbit in trouble


It was far past noon and Mentha had been walking all morning. She didn’t even pause for a lunch break but kept walking while eating. Now her legs began to feel heavy and she wiped her forehead and took another sip of water.

Mentha was determined to see the elf again. The fact that she didn’t even knew his name was painful, a reminder that maybe she wasn’t so close to him as she wanted to be. He was ever present in her mind and thoughts. Everything reminded her of him, the sky was the colour of his eyes, a fern would look like one she had been staring at while afraid to look into his eyes. It was stupid and too sugar-sweet, and she couldn’t help it. She was exactly as awful as the silly girls back home, she used to roll her eyes when they talked about crushes and now she was just as bad. Maybe even worse.

Thinking about him all the time, made her feel connected to him, and it felt weird to consider, that maybe he had forgotten all about her. Or maybe he entertained the other beautiful elves with the story of how he had to save a plump and foolish hobbit from something as mundane as humans. And the tall blond elves would all laugh. And one of them, exceptionally stunning, would lean in and- No! There was no point driving herself crazy like that.

Continue reading “Dirty and armed to the teeth”
Posted in Fiction

Between the stars

The young girl looked at the depth between the stars and shivered in her mortality.
The robot across the table looked at the small human and tried to load her emotions.
“You are not alone,” it said.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
The robot turned its metallic head and looked at the shining stars.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find her,” the robot said.


This is a sort of sequel to At the end of the universe

Posted in Fiction

Tell me everything!

A fanfic about an adventurous hobbit and her elf rescuer.
First: A hobbit in trouble

“Mentha ‘Lost-foot’ Greenhill! Where have you been?”

Her mother’s voice cut through the house, as Mentha tried to silently close the front door, who betrayed her with a loud creak. Three of her nephews came running and flooded her with questions.

“Why are you coming home so late, aunt Mentha?”

“Have you got a boyfriend?

“Do you know it’s dark outside?”

Mentha managed to scoot her way between them, patting a curled head here, tickling a chin there.

“Your aunt Mentha knows exactly how late it is. And that means bedtime for all of you, nosy scoundrels! Off with ya.”

Continue reading “Tell me everything!”