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171 posts116 participants11 posts today
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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#PennedPossibilities 650 — What profession would you have if you lived within the world of your WIP?

Were I female, I'd probably still end up a programmer. Thaumaturgy is actually a science of semantics and coded imagination, and relies on arranging ideas grammatically. Not everyone with horns is good at logic as well as mathematics, so there's room for collaboration. I could definitely do the logic programming, though it's nothing like JavaScript. I could be college educated and I could find white collar jobs. I wouldn't look forward to having children since I've no brothers to raise them while I work. Fortunately, it's possible to find men who go into childcare whether they have sisters or not, but it's expensive. I doubt I'd be willing to abstain to prevent children, not in their society.

Were I male, I'd have much more limited prospects, programmer not being one of them. The era is a lot like the 1960s with defined gender roles. While there are plenty of things I could do in our world, they are not considered men's work in theirs. I'd face prejudice and likely be barred. Since I'm not good with math, even work as a computer (look up the origins of the word) would be unlikely. That means either manual labor—factories, construction, or waiting tables—or attending to women's "needs." Since I have no sisters, I wouldn't be able to look forward to raising her children, either. Writing is an option, but I'd likely need a patron for that as it wouldn't support me, and favors would be implied. No, RS is not suited for that world.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#ScribesAndMakers 2504.21 — Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?

"Creating for" and "generally writing in" are two different things. I have an aversion to heavily researching things (bore-ing), which means I can't write historical, detective, military, modern settings, or hard sf. Too many things I can get wrong, and will! A story for me always needs be set in a place and time where I, as was once said so eloquently, "…We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical…"

This generally means I'm writing soft or social SF or I am writing fantasy that had more in kin with Theodore Sturgeon than Tolkien. If you can say I write to a particular niche, my stories will appeal to readers who enjoy female protagonists and feminist messages where the effect of gender roles play an important role. I don't consider that to be a "broad" appeal, but I think my writing ought appeal to SF and Fantasy readers, though maybe not hard SF fans.

As for my photography, I go for eye contact, dramatic color, and/or stateliness. I have no idea whether any of it is appealing. What do you think of the attached picture?

As for my cooking creations, I appeal to an audience of one, though sometimes two. My spouse approves. Check out my media tab on my profile for photos.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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A photo of a leopard on the prowl making eye contact with you and not looking very impressed by what it sees. The image states copyright(c) 2025 by RS, so please don't repost or use.
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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

@neve

#Writephant #self-promo We’re at the end of the hour, which means it’s self-promotion time -- reply with links to your website, book, promotion, etc

The only thing I can "promo" today is the sample stories pinned to my profile. Yesterday, I deleted my web-novel Mars Needed Women (#RSMarsNeededWomen) as I am now heavily revising it and proofing it. The 23K story was essentially a first draft when posted it on Mastodon as I wrote it over 31 days, but now I've added plenty extra material (see my A2 answer, which greatly improves the chapter titled Shelter). I will be shipping out a beta to my beta readers probably next week. Of course, if anyone else is interested in becoming a beta reader, go ahead and PM me.

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

@neve

#writephant Q4 Does social media boost or drain your writing energy? How do you recharge creatively — by going inward or getting out and connecting?

This might be a little TMI.

Social media is a shy egoist's dream. I safely become a character in my own narrative, and it does recharge me creatively, whilst letting me practice my craft, and gives me a reason to be writing whilst avoiding actually doing the real work of writing stories. (Bad RS!) Trying to go inward is asking for angst and baiting depression (which I've kicked, so I doubly try not to go there).

Remember, shy people aren't antisocial, we want to communicate. I communicate through writing.

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

@neve

#writephant Q3 Do your MCs tend to be introverted or extroverted?

They run the gamut. I have one super shy MC who I can write from experience, but the previously most introverted is plenty capable of dealing with people and being assertive if she wants to (which she doesn't, but nobody gives her choices). The others it really is a nonissue. No social butterflies though; they're mostly moth-like and not flamboyant.

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

@neve
#writephant A2 Do you get your story problems solved by ruminating or by talking things out with people?

I ruminate some, but more often rely on my subconscious. It's really good at waking me at 3 a.m. with brilliant ideas, dang it. Often the right thing occurs in revision, like yesterday when I was doing a pass on a section where a mother is listening while her daughter is planning a raid to save abused women and children. The word "inhuman" popped out as I was adding some gloss, in reference to the males causing the need, and suddenly I was on fire. I think I very much hit it out of the park, with the mother correcting the daughter about the word, and how proud she is when her daughter gets it.

I'd love to talk it out with people, but I'm kind of shy and never do.

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

@neve

#writephant A1 Do you prefer writing alone in silence or in a busy place with people around?

Gah! In a busy place with people, like moving around and talking and stuff? Maybe with noise canceling earphones… wait, does being a passenger in a car with noise canceling airPods while the spouse drives and listens to podcasts count?

Silence is okay, but sometimes I do music.

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#ScribesAndMakers 2504.20 — Is there a movie that inspires your creative work?

Not in general, but I did write a very emotionally difficult story after watching The Edge of Tommorrow: Live, Die, Repeat, based on a manga, and if you are well read in SF you'll know its not an original plot devise either, but the movie is extremely well done Hollywood SF, possibly one of the best for sticking to the SF premise and not mucking it up to dumb it down or make it more artistic.

Anyway. I wrote a story about a teenage girl (maybe 13) who could literally cut off her past with scissors and relive it, and does so repeatedly to save lives, and shows evidence of PTSD when explaining it to her friend. It might have been titled, Cuts Deeply. The story was well received. I have an idea for a more epic version of the story, which I may write at a later date.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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Cole Haddon

The latest episode of the 5AM STORYTALK PODCAST has dropped early on Substack! Veronica Sullivan, Director of the Melbourne Writers Festival, discusses curation as an act of creation, uncomfortable cultural conversations, and how literary fests will have to evolve because of publishing platforms like Substack!

#writing #writingtips #writingcommunity #author #fiction #substack #literaryfiction
 
colehaddon.substack.com/p/podc

5AM StoryTalk · Q&A: Veronica Sullivan, Director of the Melbourne Writers Festival, Knows the Real Value of ArtBy Cole Haddon
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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2504.21 — In honor of @johnhowesauthor who doesn’t really like coffee: what “established” writerly traits don’t really apply to you?

Forgive me for inverting this question. I like positivity.

  1. Drinks whiskey and whisky and bourbon. Check. See photo.
  2. Has a pet cat. Not currently. Historically, tho.
  3. Drinks gallons of coffee. Decaf cappuccino please, and only a cup or two. Extra credit: I've only written in a coffee shop a few times; I prefer the tables outside because drinking with a N95 mask is difficult.
  4. Depressed and melancholy. I was depressed, then I realized I held the illusion that I was in control of events in my life. (Thank you Wayne Dyer.) When I gave up on the illusion, literally became disillusioned, I kicked the depression. Let's give that trait a half-point for historical reasons.
  5. Is eccentric. I feel rather symmetrical, even if I was always a square and never a rounder. If this means hyperbolic, count me in! Maybe I should ask my spouse? Um, maybe not.
  6. Has a god complex. That's kind of a sexist question. What about goddesses? Not answering.
  7. Is reclusive. Does shy count?
  8. Unkempt. Not describing my current state of clothing, current lack thereof, grooming, or smell status. Nope.
  9. Broke. I had a day job. Not stupid.
  10. Chain smokes. The only time you smell smoke around me is when I tend a barbecue. My mum was the chain smoker, which I think accounts for my asthma.
  11. Writes longhand. Are you flapping nuts? I was obviously destined to be a doctor if you believe that about bad pen craft. I learned on a mechanical typewriter, progressed to a Smith-Corona, then an Apple ][ and haven't looked back since. (11½. Writes with a fountain pen. My writing greatly improves with a nibbed pen; I studied calligraphy. Still, I think faster than I can talk, let alone type on a keyboard, so why would I do something so cripplingly ridiculous to my productivity?)
  12. Procrastinates. Um. Here I am replying to an Internet prompt. Again.
  13. In a state of continual angst. Maybe. Depends on the day, or whether what I am writing might contradict the conservative social climate fomenting in my country of origin. Okay, likely. Very likely. Oh noes!
  14. Eschews adverbs. I definitely use adverbs. Whether they survive revision is another matter.
  15. Is a literary snob. Whiskey snob, maybe. Okay. I confess it! I love Charles Dickens. The rest of them, never read 'em. I'm not well-read literally. [Is that the right word?] Even in my genre(s), I like what I like not what other readers hold up as the best. Another good reason to be shy. I can't even carry on small talk about literature!
  16. Writes under various noms de plume. Yes.
  17. Cuts a dashing figure. That kind of implies a gender, doesn't it? Nobody can accuse me of being pretty or rugged. Average. Which may explain why I write about average looking people. In any case, I do know a few things about clothing and fabrics; I can put together a nice ensemble, with accessories and shoes. I even own a turtleneck. Hats are good. I can package well. Maybe true.
  18. Swears and curses a lot. Ask my computer. The people in my life would say, "Incapable." I'm reputed to be "delicate." I use my computer when nobody is around, and self-censor when they are.
  19. Has a giant vocabulary. Word choice counts and I will use the exact word. See item 14.
  20. Is a grammarian par excellence. Me! Ha! I often write in grammar B and perpetrate grammaricide with glorious glee, enough so that any self-respecting high school English teacher would not only fail my purple prose ass, but send my sorry hind-part to the principal's office on principle for a paddling!

Enough fun. Forgive me. Please!

More in #altText.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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This is a photo of my whiskey cabinet. There are plenty of brands, most of them good. I've kept the empty Pappy Van Winkle because I'll never be able to afford that delight again. Uncle Nearst is a standout. Is RS an alcoholic? I drink a tsp in a Glen Carne glass. I don't like feeling inebriated. Some of this collection is decades old.
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MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History April, 21, 1913: Andre Soudy and Raymond Callemin, members of the anarchist Bonnot Gang, were executed. Callemin had started the individualist paper "L'anarchie" with author and revolutionary Victor Serge. The Bonnot Gang was a band of French anarchists who tried to fund their movement through robberies in 1911-1912. The Bonnot Gang was unique, not only for their politics, but for their innovative use of technology, too. They were among the first to use cars and automatic rifles to help them steal, technology that even the French police were not using. While many of the gang members were sentenced to death, Serge got five years and eventually went on to participate in (and survive) the Barcelona and Soviet uprisings. Later, while living in exile, Serge wrote The Birth of Our Power, Men in Prison, Conquered City, and Memoirs of a Revolutionary.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #illegalism #BonnotGang #Revolutionary #VictorSerge #Revolution #uprising #barcelona #soviet #writer #author #books #fiction #novel @bookstadon

Illustration of the robbery of Société Générale Bank in Chantilly on 25 March 1912. By Le Petit Journal - This file comes from Gallica Digital Library and is available under the digital ID bpt6k717003q/f4, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3922545
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MikeDunnAuthor

Today in Labor History April 21, 1910: Mark Twain died. “I have read carefully the treaty of Paris and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem… And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.” During the Boxer Rebellion, he said that "the Boxer is a patriot. He loves his country better than he does the countries of other people. I wish him success." From 1901, until his death in 1910, he was vice-president of the American Anti-Imperialist League, which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the U.S. He was also critical of European imperialists such as Cecil Rhodes and King Leopold II of Belgium, who attempted to establish colonies in African. He also supported the Russian revolutionaries fighting against the Tsar.

Many people have criticized him for his racism. Indeed, schools have banned “Huckleberry Finn.” However, Twain was an adamant supporter of abolition and said that the Emancipation Proclamation “not only set the black slaves free, but set the white man free also." He also fought for the rights of immigrants, particularly the Chinese. "I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible... but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him." And though his early writings were racist against indigenous peoples, he later wrote that “in colonized lands all over the world, "savages" have always been wronged by "whites" in the most merciless ways, such as "robbery, humiliation, and slow, slow murder, through poverty and the white man's whiskey."

Twain was also an early feminist, who campaigned for women's suffrage. He also wrote in support of unions and the labor movement, especially the Knights of Labor, one of the most important unions of the era. “Who are the oppressors? The few: the King, the capitalist, and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.”

#workingclass #LaborHistory #marktwain #imperialism #racism #feminism #union #literature #fiction #satire #books #writer #author #novels @bookstadon

Portrait of Mark Twain with thick gray moustache and unruly gray hair, with the quote: Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
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