dilmandila

dilmandila, 4 months ago to books

Oh my God! Oh fck! I wake up to this big news and all I can say is fck! I went to bed having read something about Philip K Dick Awards (I can't even remember what I read about it!) and I wake up to learn that my book, Where Rivers Go To Die, has been nominated for this and its a big deal to me and all I can day is f*ck! What a way to start the year!

https://www.norwescon.org/2024/01/09/2024-philip-k-dick-award-nominees-announced/

@bookstodon #books #sff #book #writing #writingcommunity

dilmandila, 8 months ago to random

There's a coup in #Gabon and I didn't know about it! Mastodon has to fix its news problem otherwise it's beginning to feel like a silo of sorts..... or perhaps its just that the African presence here is very limited?

dilmandila, 8 months ago to random

I'm obsessed with a world without central governments (see this story https://brittlepaper.com/2020/10/yat-madit-by-dilman-dila-afrofuturism-anthology/ ) decentralised governance powered by good algorithm, and modelled on a precolonial system of the Acholi people (nothern Uganda/southern South Sudan). When I discovered the fediverse, I re-built this world to get rid of algorithm, and every village becomes a kind of server/instance, a country of its own within the federation.

So with all this #fedidrama yo, I'm mining new material for my world😭😁

dilmandila, 29 days ago to tech

I'm in the process of migrating from Google Workspace to Proton Mail, but I've hit a snag that might make me stick to Google. I have several email addresses for business, and yet Proton puts all emails in one inbox, which doesn't make any sense. So I'll get emails related to my writing in the same inbox as those for film, as personal emails, and as those for other work? I expected separate logins for each email.

Anyone knows how I can work around it?

#proton #tech #email #web #webdev #google

dilmandila, 5 months ago to random

Its the end of the year so time for people who live alone to feel gloomy and depressed, thus I'm looking for comedy films to cheer me up. Any recommendations? 😊

dilmandila, 10 months ago to random

#WritingWonders 16. How comfortable are you with writing kissing and/or intimacy scenes?

Oh-oh. I once wrote a romance novella for a publisher launching an imprint like Mills and Boon. The biggest comment I got from the editor was "Dilman, this is a romance. You have to give your readers a hot-hot-hot scene! Saying 'they kissed' and 'they made love' is a big cheat and a big no-no!"

Uhm.... well, in films I do sex scenes without batting an eyelid. But in prose...... I don't know why I avoid it.

dilmandila, 1 year ago to random

I used to share my films under #DilmanShortFilms before moving servers, but now I can't see any of the posts! Says the list is emtpy.

That's a bit annoying! Nothing to do about it?

#fedihelp #FediQ #mastodonhelp @feditips

dilmandila, 8 months ago to scifi

Is there a hashtag where publishers here post open calls for shorts or novellas? Particularly in #sff #scifi #fantasy I'm looking at opencall hashtags but none seem to be on writing.

#writingcommunity #writers

dilmandila, 8 months ago to writing

Question. I'm writing a scifi novel about a 15yo boy with severe disability. He crawls rather than use a wheelchair as his family mistreats him, believing he is demon possessed, kept him in solitary confinement since birth. He, and the reader, is confused whether he is human or a creature, and he wonders: "Am I bipedal, or quadrapedal?" But.... would this be considered offensive to people-with-disability? (I'm one, for context)
#writingcommunity #writing #sff

dilmandila, 4 months ago to scifi

I just binged on Silo, the Apple TV series, and it's so hooking. Kind of a fresh take on dystopia. Now I want to read the books, they are by Hugh Howey, and I wonder if they are worth a read? Anyone got an insight?

@bookstodon #writingcommunity #amreading #bookreview #sff #scifi

dilmandila, 17 days ago to books

Author copies arrived of this bulky anthology of African ghost stories. Now I can say that my story was published in the same book as the legend, Amos Tutuola!

@bookstodon @blackmastodon #books #ghost #ghosts #africa #africanwriters #sff #fantasy #gothic #horror #writing #writingcommunity

dilmandila, 8 months ago to random

I started this year very well, promising to write a short story every month and submit every single week. In January I made seven or eight submissions. since then, well, nothing. This is my biggest problem as a writer. I don't submit enough! If a story gets 'one' rejection I give up on it. I don't know what to do to get into that submission spirit. I have no problem writing. I can chun out a 5k short story in one sitting. But submissions, yo!
#writingcommunity #writerslife #amwritign #sff

dilmandila, 4 months ago to random

I'm overwhelmed by all the engagement that my post about being nominated for Philip K Dick Awards generated. I haven't stopped smiling since yesterday, seeing all these strangers, over 1000 strangers, being happy for me and congratulating me. (1k? I thought such numbers are a rarity in Mastodon) I still don't know why people are being nice to me but it makes me happy 🤗❤

dilmandila, 11 months ago to linux

Trying to move away from Windows to Linux Mint but my biggest annoyance so far is installing software. Like the most effective way is you have to be online to install software and that consumes data. I have 3 to 4 machines I use regularly, so if I am to migrate all to Linux, I'll have to download software 3 or 4 times, not once as in windows. A pain and costly.

#linux #linuxmint @linuxmint

dilmandila, 4 months ago to random

Why do we fail to sleep when we are hungry?

dilmandila, 1 month ago to writing

The winners of the Philip K Dick Awards are announced tonight. My book, "Where Rivers Go To Die" was a finalist but didn't win.
Congrats to the winner Bethany Jacobs, "These Burning Stars", and the runner up, Rebekah Bergman, "The Museum of Human History"

Well, I've now been listed 13 times for 9 different awards, without winning any! I'm getting used to it, maybe setting some kind of record of most nominations without winning.

@bookstodon #writing #writingcommunity #books #amreading #sff

dilmandila, 17 days ago to email

Ever since I quit Google I've stopped receiving junk emails, used to come about 10 a day and would end up in promotions folder, or updates, or socials, which google created. Now, I get nothing. Only newsletters, some of which are industry related so I don't mind them.
#email #google #webdev

dilmandila, 6 months ago to random

Who wants to participate in the #mastodonmovieclub where we watch a #film and discuss it? Preferably some good indie film. We are starting with The Burial of Kojo a film from Ghana.

dilmandila, 5 months ago to writing

This year I published my second collection of short stories, and all are eligible for the Nebula Awards. Since nominations are open, please consider my stories! I've provided free reading samples to three of them. I like all the stories, but these three make for splendid holiday reading!

Fragments of Canvas
https://www.sfwa.org/forum/topic/18694-fragments-of-canvas-by-dilman-dila/

Where Rivers Go To Die
https://www.sfwa.org/forum/topic/18695-where-rivers-go-to-die-by-dilman-dila/

The Flying Man of Stone (Novella)
https://www.sfwa.org/forum/topic/18696-the-flying-man-of-stone-by-dilman-dila/

@bookstodon #writing #writingcommunity #sff #books

dilmandila, 6 months ago to random

Today, for the first time ever, I watched a sci-fi play, set in outer space. The storyline was a bit confusing.

dilmandila, 7 months ago to fediverse

Does anyone have any experience with the #activitypub plugin for #wordpress I have installed it and I can see my profile @dilman but when I hit 'follow' I only get a 'follow requested' and I can't see how to accept this request on the wordpress dashboard, or make it that people don't need to request a follow. Any ideas?

dilmandila, 3 months ago to movies

I've tried so hard to like For All Mankind. I loved that it is a character-driven story, with the sci-fi sort of in the background, but yo, it has very long boring scenes that revolve around these characters I just don't care about. Like who in their right mind would root for a guy like Gordo? And why is most of Season 2 dedicated to him? I gave up in S02 E05.

But it's a good series, otherwise. If you can stomach the long dreary scenes, you'll enjoy it.

#film #tv #tvseries #series

dilmandila, 1 month ago to random

Typical US. They won't condemn Israel for the unprovoked bombing of another country's embassy, killing its staff, but will be quick to warn the victim not to retaliate. Just wow.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/05/politics/us-israel-iran-retaliation-strike?cid=ios_app

dilmandila, 6 months ago to random

Is it only me or do people above 45 fart a lot?

dilmandila, 24 days ago to writing

I have finally finished a novel that I have been writing since 2017 (I think I am now done!?) so wondering what the way forward is. Agent? Big Five/Four? But I would really prefer a reputable small press publisher (maybe Big Small Press😁), so going to knock on doors again. If there is any you know that is open for submissions, I'll appreciate the tip.

It is a science fiction/fantasy story.

#writing #writingcommunity #sff #scifi #fantasy #books #PublishMe #publishing