@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe
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sfwrtr

@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe

RS, pronounced /är' əs/. Professional #SF #fiction writer coming back from burn-out. Writes character-driven #SFF (science fiction #fantasy) and some #fanfiction (#MLP). #ClarionWest 98 graduate. #SFWA life member. Studied non-western culture, #folklore, and #mythology. #Feminist #Writer and #Author in the #WritingCommunity amongst the #WritersOfMastodon.

Goals: Return to paid publication. Provide interesting content for followers. Make friends; attract colleagues. See intro post for more...

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sfwrtr, to escribiendo
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2405.16 — If your characters were in a museum, how would they act?

It would depend on how they ended up in the museum. If the devil-girl were put on display, it would end badly for whomever put her there. Were she a patron, she'd be indistinguishable from the crowd. Once she got herself into a sealed vault without breaking in or using the vault door; the interior turned out to be somewhat of a museum (it had family pictures), but she didn't steal anything. It did help her solve a kidnapping, however.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R..S.]

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sfwrtr, to escribiendo
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Ch 9 Nbr 15 — Have you ever attended a writer's fair / festival to promote your work? Would you?

I haven't.

I consider it if it were for the trade, that is for writers, publishers, and booksellers. If it were for the general public, considering that I feel knowing my gender could add a subtext to my stories I don't want, I'd have to think long and hard of the benefits of attending.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, to escribiendo
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2405.15 — Who are your most and least gullible characters?

Of the MC's in the two current WiPs, it's exactly the opposite of what you might think.

The devil-girl had been very successful in most all her endeavors, but she'd never gotten to where she was if she wasn't used by someone every... single... time. Mind you, it doesn't always end well for those who gulled her!

Wintereyes comes across as an ingénue and innocent enough that you'll fear she'll get used like a tissue and thrown away dirtied. Not the case. She mediated between a dragon and a farmer whose silo got burnt down. The dragon apologized! (So did the farmer.) She's observant, quiet. Around people she's shy, but says what she sees and sets misunderstandings straight. Kind and helpful, everyone—humans, dragons, wolves, even cats—ends up doing what she sees is best for them and they like it, despite plans they might have had for her. Because she understands what she doesn't know, her skepticism and guilelessness plays havoc on those trying to use her.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R..S.]

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sfwrtr, to escribiendo
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316 — Does your MC or SC have a hard time connecting with others?

Both MCs in the current two WiPs have a hard time connecting with others for different reasons. They could be summed up for one they're people and for the other they're not animals.

If you've followed my posts, you're welcome to guess which is which.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, (edited ) to escribiendo
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315 — What smells remind your MC of their childhood? CW: Food, gross.

Two stories, two MCs, two very different answers...

Devil-girl:

She was not ever particularly copasetic with her elevation from middle class to atmospheric. When she found herself having mistreated a servant, threatening their livelihood, her autistic construction of empathy as in /I'm living in her shoes and this is fear/ kicked in. She worked hard from that moment on to /be/ with anyone humbly, and the servants kept her secret of visiting in their quarters or at the homes safe. (Actually, not entirely as the servant-mistake was one of her guardian's "lessons," but let's ignore that.) What she came to adore was a peasant bread that represented in her head getting away from all her responsibilities. Buttery, cinnamony, yeasty, with lots of honey and chopped up pumpkin. Passing by an open bakery door will often remind her of simpler times.

Wintereyes:

She doesn't remember a lot before her gift manifested at age 7. The going theory is that it broke something in her head. Farm smells, flowers, even fields of corn, elicit nothing, though she visits her birth parents' land claim regularly when the Blue Feather's pack hunting grounds shift to that part of the Fell Woods. Her mother's cooking in her kitchen, usually fresh venison or rabbit Wintereyes caught, is simply human food. How she survived going off with a wolf pack at that young age is a tale I should pursue at some point. The fact is that she did. Survive. And well. The smells of a fresh kill, laced with steaming iron scent, does make her remember becoming wild and first running free. It also reminds her of the other smells associated with recent death, some quite noisome. There's a thrill there, even if in the beginning she was barely surviving on too rich organ meat her teeth could chew, or when the alpha wasn't kind, meat Mother Wolf chewed for her. That was a special smell she remembers fondly. Her brother—a hunter that the wolves soon tolerated so long as he didn't visit often—taught her to make fire and to cook meat. The half-burned smell of meat dropped into a wood fire still makes her mouth water, even as it dredges up memories of reaching into a fire and burns, and of ashes and charcoaled fat, which ground in her teeth like soft sand. She became a much more skillful campfire cook out of necessity.

Oh, one other smell: Wet wolf (which is identical to wet dog), because while a wolf could keep themself "clean" with their tongue, the result of a human attending a kill, skin caked with ground-in dirt, sweat, and later ash, was more than the sensitive noses of her pack could stand. They often chased her into streams. She splashed them back, of course!

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, to random
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Minimus Thought you might find this funny. Stultus tam stultus facit.

A: Some days I feel like a zombie, but my Latin isn't so good.

sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

314 — Has your MC ever felt as though they were reborn in the mental / emotional sense?

In the current story, she experiences a mental breakdown when events crush her worldview completely. [Spoilers, so you'll have to take my word on this.] Her understanding of what was evil, wrong. Her understanding of the trustworthiness of people, wrong. The goals she set to fix the magic that she saw as ruining others' lives... evil.

She's doesn't quite accept the latter. However, she finds it very weird to face the people around her without a deep down feeling that they will someday betray her.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, (edited ) to ai
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Ch 9 Nbr 12 — When does AI cross the line between helpful tool and problematic tech for writing and publishing? CW: Some sarcasm and cynicism.

When? That happened a few years ago. All over the web. Whether you realize it or not, writers are being supplanted in most all minor writing jobs on lots of lesser and not so minor websites. Have you noticed that some stories are circular, seem to be written by authors of questionable fluency, miss a glaring argument or get a fact wrong, and in the end really make no good points or teach you anything? They seem to regurgitate what you've seen elsewhere?

Yep. AI written.

AI's a free tool! Managers love free. Let those freelancers go; just write some good prompts. So many good articles (likely AI written) to teach you how! All we need is good clickbait headlines, anyway. Feed the search engines! Serve up those display ads nobody clicks. Get us those micro-cents per page view.

Riiiight.

Sheesh. This Rubicon... Has... Been crossed. Mostly. Some have tripped. Many have drowned.

What I'd really like is for AI enhanced software to notice little things like misusing led and lead, finding missing words, pointing out when I leave out the 'nt in wouldn't changing the meaning of everything I wrote, even capitalizing based on context when dictating... thus and such. Yeah. Too difficult.

I won't repeat what everyone else is saying. Yep. True all that. It's all wrong headed at the moment and if you don't know how to write OR you could do it yourself if you weren't soooo lazy, 's just going to make you into a fool.

You get to make yourself into a fool in front of a publisher only once.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
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2405.12 — Who is the best friend in your story?

The MC is incapable of seeing that it is her.

For most of her story arc, she's suspicious of making friends having been a prizefighter and then working in the mob. She's also somewhat autistic, but trained to deal with people. The problem is that when she's amongst people, working with them, even the baddies, she's the type that gets the job done, teaches those that need teaching how to get the job done, and will always protect her teammates and subordinates, taking responsibility. You don't get in her face, however; certainly only once, anyway. Strangely or not so strangely, those in her orbit see her as a leader and personable. (All she wants is to go home to be alone with her books, but she'd never complain.) She goes along with it when others are friendly with her, not really knowing how to say no and understanding this was what she was trained to do.

To say she's well liked is an understatement. Not many people support you as she does, or will straighten you out and make you fly right when things are bad for you. She saves one marriage by punching the husband in the nose. She's there for others. She'll enjoy a meal with you if that's what you need and listen to you vent. At least one guy has a crush on her. Others fight for her. Some will risk their life for her...

She doesn't understand it though.

Ask her if she had friends and she'll say. "No."

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R..S.]

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sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
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313 — Is your MC or SC one to confess romantic feelings early on, or to conceal them for long periods of time?

It's hard to know for sure. She has worked in a world were such attactions are a tool to control others, and she's controlled others with them. Having transitioned from being a criminal to operating in a similar capacity on the other side of the law, she ended up tailing a snobbish dandy... who went on, after various provocations, to being someone quite different than his affectations indicated. She thought to pin him in a wrestling hold to get information out of him, but he threw her off and she fought him only to a draw (not easy for anyone to do since she's a former prizefighter). When later that day she got him to drop his façade, she found him actually adorably vulnerable. Not really knowing her own reactions, she obsessively took him from dinner, to dancing, to... um... dessert in one evening.

Okay, she's very transparent in her feelings.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, (edited ) to writing
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Well, that's done. First draft of the hard chapter, the one I kept on sticking on for these last few months. Complete! 5,500 words. Wintereyes even surprise kissed him! It is a romance after all... The rest of the novella ought be much easier.

andrewplord, to random
@andrewplord@mas.to avatar

When did AI cross the line?

With this guy

"Hi there! It seems like you're trying to write something slightly more difficult than what you're really capable of. I'll sit here and make passive aggressive comments about your non-American spelling and the passive voice until you realise that you're probably not as good a writer as you seem to think you are."

It was like writing with your Mother making helpful suggestions.

Clippy the Windows office assistant saying "Hi there""

sfwrtr,
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@andrewplord
Clippy!!! Eeeeeee!

not but really bad news.

sfwrtr, to random
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Q: How do you market your work A: Meh.

This response makes me want to LMAO, yet it also makes me want to cry...

Gravewyck, to random
@Gravewyck@eldritch.cafe avatar

12MAY2024: It is Luna, ever the vigilant guardian, unwaveringly shadows Lyria, who, in turn, chafes under such devoted scrutiny. Yet, it is in Luna’s presence that Lyria’s spirit soars into realms of untamed adventure.

Alas, a grim future looms for this entwined pair, a shadow that darkens their doorsteps, and I am left to ponder the cruel hand of fate. Shall Luna’s demise come prematurely, a harrowing harbinger of the misfortunes that awaits these souls? Or shall it tarry, allowing the anguish to ferment, deepening the sting of the ultimate demise? A dreadful decision lies before me, one that shall shape the contours of their tale in the most poignant of ways.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Gravewyck
I just want to point out that you are waxing poetic today, and really like it. Not just this post, and that's why I boosted them.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Gravewyck
Deserved. I wax Dickensian, which is a whole different thing. 😋

sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
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311 — What is a memory that makes your SC swell with pride?

That armor. The black dragon armor, light as an autumn breeze. The last who owned it, legends say, a million died to take it away from her, but failed in the end.

She gave it to me: The ruler of the world, the most powerful thaumaturge alive. I was the one who nearly killed her, when we fought for our lives incidentally breaking the Curse of Harmony upon her.

I didn't break the curse but was the one who nearly killed her. Yet...

My friend—whose life I saved by pushing her out of the way of a plasma bolt and getting my flank burnt as a result—reminded me of the legend. Made me test the magic, which let me fly like an arrow and loop and dodge more agilely than a sparrow. She added, "She told me it's the first time anyone's got that close in a century. It's a bribe, you know, A loan. She wants you to work for her. You impressed her. "

/Me./

I impressed /Her./

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

and




sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
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312 — Is your MC or SC a leader, a follower, or something in between?

Wintereyes is not a leader, nor is she a follower. She knows her mind and will state it when needed to help someone, or protect to herself. She's human, but also a member of the Blue Feathers wolf pack—and she's bitten its leader when he's abused pack mates. She's not omega, not low status; wolves respect her knives in the hunt. She knows when to help, and when to stay back. She's a mediator, as she's demonstrated between a dragon and people. It's that she truly cares to do her best for others. Those that know her know this; they listen; they protect her.

[Author retains copyright (c)2024 R.S.]

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sfwrtr, (edited ) to random
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Watermelon radishes grew this time. Adding sand to the soil worked! It's the size of a softball. 1/2

#photography #photos #gardens #food

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

Homegrown watermelon radishes are great and look like watermelon, and smell so radish-y! 2/2

#photography #photos #gardens #food

sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

In praise of broken heroes and Davids and their Goliaths. Yes, coached as comics, but short and worth reading.

Thank you @taur10

https://www.tumblr.com/paragonrobits/658036435458359296/hulk-has-a-similar-problem-to-superman-in-that-as

sfwrtr, to Writers
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

#psa Okay, learned a lesson today. I either missed this or the setting changed in an update. Both #OneDrive and #Dropbox have a setting for keeping all the files in the cloud rather than on your Mac, downloading them as you need them. This means that if you need them and the service is responding poorly, or you have no connectivity, you can't get to your files. If you use #scrivener, for example, which syncs through dropbox, this can cause sync errors between devices!

Both services appear to set all files online only. Both services have a way to change this to ensure all files are downloaded for offline use.

#Writers, #authors, as well as #artists, I strongly suggest you keep your files on disk as well as in the cloud. Change these settings now!

#writersOfMastodon #writingCommunity

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@xris Time Machine is working in the background.

18+ nautilebleu, to random
@nautilebleu@mamot.fr avatar

01/05/2024 OMG! What happened to your MC's parents?

  1. Esther’s father was one of the richest golden boys of his time. For most, he was a successful business angel...
  2. For his family, he was a demon: Obsessed with social recognition, we must be tools to help him rise higher and higher.
  3. Remove a small brick from the building, and the whole building is ready to collapse

[Illustration: 3 excerpts from Inktober 2023]

Excerpt from Inktober 2023 day 17 Esther’s father beating his son, in front of the rest of his family
Excerpt from Inktober 2023 day 26 After doing too risky investments, Esther’s father is forced to bankrupt. All newspapers have a field day with the news

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@nautilebleu
This is monumental. It's also in French... 😢 😋

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@nautilebleu
Just teasing.😉 Still, I can see how a graphic novel needs more planning than a regular one. Artwork is difficult to revise.

clexy, to random French
@clexy@eldritch.cafe avatar

Was reading some things about chemicals storage. And I saw this shit.
That can't be an error, right ?
Like the person doing it was like "uwu don't stowe with your flammable gas. Ow else ! Kaboom ! OwO"

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@clexy
Compartment is a key. In this case it is likely referring to a place on a ship and stow is the proper word, not a lisp. It also applies to "storage" in fixed locations, but shipping is historically applicable.

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