I'm so excited about the amazing cover 'The Auroras & Blossoms PoArtMo Anthology: Volume 5'. The e-book with both haiku, other form poems and short fiction is planned for release early June. I'm counting down the days!
Anyone game to read and comment on a short #HistoricalFiction story (around 4,800 words) that I'm planning to submit early this month? It's about ladies-in-waiting in the late 18th-century Korean royal palace being lesbian spies. The premise is drawn from Joseon-era records of sapphic and espionage activities among this class of women. #amWriting@writers
Story is formatted in .docx available for Google Docs sharing or email, drop me a line via reply or DM if interested. Any response time within a week would be perfect, both detailed and overview comments welcome!
I'm a bit strapped to pay fair rates right now, but can do an equivalent labor exchange. And if you're familiar with this account you know I give thoughtful and constructive comments about things I read ^_^
Feel like I haven’t written anything in ages. Need to correct this urgently. Anyone any tips for finding time? I’ve no shortage of ideas 😂 #WritersOfMastodon#writeas@writers
@drinkswriter@writingcommunity@writers Asking questions - and raising points - that you reveal in the book is the traditional way to approach newsletters pre-release, though normally there's a fair bit of time, and you can build anticipation. If the date is drawing nearer, then a more direct, blunt approach might be called for.
The best research is actually reading a lot of these types of newsletters in preparation for this, then finding your own take on common formats.
I used to use the first one, but with "asked" ending the actual sentence, the question mark feels a bit overdone, and signalling the end of the sentence while it's actually not.
@paul@writers Hi, Paul. The link below to BBC is aimed at exam level English students, but is a good summary of (UK) English rules. Hope it is of some help!
@mbwood A week? Wow, but good to do, indeed. I have plenty of inspiration and lots to write, my head just feels "tired" at the moment. As if my 'normal' work weeks (45+ hours) are catching up. I'm allowing myself all the rest and quiet I need too. If we don't we just create the same crap AI does.
@paul@writers I can afford to take time off because I'm retired and don't depend on my writing for a living! And when I write, i write for days and weeks at a time....a lot. Thanks for your reply.
#writers Are there any recurring themes in your work?
I’m revising an old #wip between drafts of Trinity, and while it’s a complete different genre to Trinity, Badlands and Bleak Waters, it shares themes of families at war and outsiders trying to find their place in the world.
@garykruse@writers@bookstodon I need to read and review Ivy Pachoda's novel SING HER DOWN. Also, I'm reading TO DIE BEAUTIFUL, by Buzzy Jackson, an excellent portrayal of WWII Dutch resistance.
@katekicks808@bookstodon@writers not at the moment as the publisher distributes through Amazon, although when the paperback comes out in the summer it will be available direct from my website.
Learn about the whys and hows of inclusive language...on your own time, with loads of information and ideas to explore! I've made parts of the first two weeks available as samples at the course site, if you'd like to find out more :)
Isis (MC Trinity) has a restrained laugh, a polite, socially acceptable laugh that has no real feeling behind it.
Lily (MC Bleak Waters) has a good natured chuckle that makes her eyes sparkle.
Willow (MC Badlands) has a raucous laugh, loud and boisterous and sometimes just a bit too exaggerated, a laugh that attracts attention, but hides her true self.
Would you like to take a little time each week to learn more about inclusive language in lots of different areas? Check out my new course! (And please do boost or otherwise share with folks who might be interested.)
#writingcommunity@writers is it just me, or does anyone else also sometimes reread their old works and go "how did I write something this good?"? that's been me this entire day today
If you like spooky mystery’s set in rural villages where the wind whispers of secrets long buried, check out Bleak Waters, a supernatural mystery from darkstroke books.
#WritingWonders Day 22 - Do you prefer writing first or last chapters.
Writing last chapters always brings a sense of relief and fulfilment; relief that I managed to take the ideas I had and work them into something resembling a novel, and fulfilment that I’ve told those characters stories.
The hardest part about being between #wip drafts is giving space to let the story settle and resisting the urge to tinker. Good job I’ve got a couple of awesome beta reads to complete plus an old #wip to work on. #writerslife@writers
Gender affects all our lives, and all our stories—but what even is it? What’s it doing, for good and for ill, in fiction? This class dives deep into those questions and more, aiming to equip writers to work with gender in informed, inclusive, purposeful, and joyful ways. Join me to learn together in 3 weeks!
That's a coy way of saying I never write songs. Or never wrote them, maybe. But I have this one thing that won't leave me alone, so I'm giving it a stab.
I wrote poems when I was younger. I was decent enough. I had a good teacher in Michael Donaghy.
But this is not that.
It's for a chorus line of tap-dancing grim reapers in sequins and top hats. Skeletal jazz hands. The whole deal.
A long time ago in a now lost hamlet nestled amongst the rolling green hills of a long forgotten county, there lived an old woman named Matilda. She was known for her eccentricities, so no one was surprised at her continual wanderings and fascination with a certain hill. Although on common land she claimed it as her own, declaring it a sanctuary where she could find solace and respite from the chaos of the world.
On the crown of that hill, standing tall and proud, was a solitary cherry tree. It was a young sapling when Matilda first discovered it as a child, and she was instantly captivated by its delicate beauty. Over the years, underneath its branches, she would often find shade and tranquility, spending hours immersed in her thoughts or drifting off into peaceful slumber.
One day, while basking in the warmth of the sun, Matilda dozed off under the cherry tree's loving embrace and she dreamed of the tree's cycles throughout the seasons. In her dreams, she saw the cherry blossoms unfurling their delicate petals in the vibrant spring. She tasted the sweet, dark cherries that ripened under the summer sun, feeling their juice trickle down her chin. She savoured the long cooling afternoons of autumn, when the leaves painted the landscape in fiery hues. She saw the serenity of being wrapped in a pristine blanket of snow in the depths of winter.
So deep was her sleep that hours turned into days, days into weeks and weeks into years. The tree grew around Matilda, encircling her with its protective branches and sturdy trunk. She became intertwined with the tree's essence, blending her existence with its very soul. Eventually, she forgot she was a person, lost in the dreams and memories that flowed through her veins like sap.
It’s three weeks since the release of my supernatural mystery, Bleak Waters, published by Darkstroke Books 😱😱. Stoked with how it’s done so far. Have you read it yet?
"Dad, really, you should switch to an EV," said Derek, as his parents walked to their gas guzzler. "That thing drinks up half the profits." That was exaggerated, of course, but Derek was environmentally conscious to quite an extreme.
"As soon as this beast stops running, son," Rhett promised his son, and patted the hood of the car. "Which isn't going to happen soon, and we all know that. This is old fashioned quality. This thing will still run when the earth burns up in the sun."
Derek sighed. "And that thing is the very reason the earth will burn up before the sun stands a chance."
