PaxAsteriae

PaxAsteriae, 8 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 8: When writing technical or scientific detail, how much is plausible versus imagined?

Radial involves a bio-metal that makes flesh and bone change forms. I booted 'plausible' out the window years ago.

In a wider scope though... I just tend not to explain things. It's really jarring to me when you're reading a book and it launches into an explanation of how Cool Shit™ works, especially when the character wouldn't really know it. Real people don't do that.

PaxAsteriae, 8 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 7: Do you add a copyright statement to your work? How comprehensive it is?

I usually add the long, generic one that lists my name and the book's publication year, the All Rights Reserved bit, and the No Resemblance bit (which I usually fiddle around with just in case the undead or alternate universes lodge a complaint), and in the future I'll be adding the 'No AI used' and 'no training AIs on this, you nasty little thief' bits.

PaxAsteriae, 8 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 6: Have you ever copied a piece from another book or a movie as a homage to that work?

I started a Radial side-novel with a short line from MCR's Danger Days album, but that was mostly because I couldn't think how to start and I was listening to it at the time. I also named every business in a sci-fi after whatever song I was listening to at the time.

Simon's Radial story has elements of Hamlet, although he manages to avoid the madness. Just about.

PaxAsteriae, 11 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 5: Is there a certain kind of story or arc that is easier for you to write as a short story than others?

Slice-of-life romance. I can't imagine writing a whole long romance that doesn't have something else going on (genetic experimentation, mistaking someone for a seal, that kinda thing). I struggle to read them as well; turns out I'm not really interested in people's mundane careers for huge amounts of time.

Short mundane romances, yes; long ones, no.

PaxAsteriae, 12 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 4: What's the worst thing about being a writer?

Brainweasels.

PaxAsteriae, 13 days ago to random

It endlessly fascinates me that Disney wanted some of those nice kdrama streaming views for their platform that Netflix was doing so well at, so they commissioned a few, bought a few...

And you can't find them. You can't search for 'korea' 'korean' or 'kdrama' because out of the three, only one brings up one drama (hello Ji Sung getting his shirt off again in Adamas).

So what was the point? 🤦

PaxAsteriae, 13 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 3: MC POV: What do you dislike about yourself?

Milos holds up his hands, backs toward you. His fingers blur from the first knuckle, become formless, then coalesce into long grey blades.

Milos: I know they're the reason I have a job—why I have everything—but at the same time... I have to be so careful. If I get hurt, sometimes if I even get startled... I could really hurt someone. I—I have before. And I know they're not my fault, but... sighs and shifts them back into fingers

PaxAsteriae, 14 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 2: What are your MC's living conditions like? Are they better or worse than average?

Milos is not the best judge of this. He thought his small room in Robin's boarding house, with its shared living, kitchen and bathrooms, was pretty good. Then he got a tiny bedsit with no heating that was all his and, aside from the heating, he was thrilled. Now a couple of years later he has an actual terraced house and he still can't quite believe it.

So it's very average, but he's delighted.

PaxAsteriae, 14 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 2: Have you had an idea halfway or more through a project that requires extensive rewriting of what you've already done?

Luckily, most of my stuff isn't that long. But I have, so far had to add in the smut into a smut book (previously it was just sex), rewrite a chunk of a chapter to make it less icky (technical term), and got halfway through a story about Milos's new home before I realised that while the first section needed to be from Milos's POV, the second had to be Alex.

PaxAsteriae, 15 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 1: Introduce your setting as if it's a character in your story.

(I don't tend to describe characters all in one go, so this is awkward...)

The courtyard was more akin to an older woman past her prime dressing in clothes too tight and too bright for attention. Sure, people tried to make it look a little better: a scatter of outdoor chairs at one of the cramped restaurants, zigzag strings of fairy lights, but the paving slabs were chipped and the bricks had gaps in the pointing.

PaxAsteriae, 17 days ago to random

Looked at the dramas I've got going on... and started a new one instead. Chose Ghost Doctor because it has Kim Beom in it, and the man is a damn puppy... and thought about the other character, huh, he looks familiar, is it the guy with the ears from My Demon?

...It's Rain. 😱😱 I forgot he's an actor as well as a singer, and he looks so different...

So, two reasons to watch. 😁

PaxAsteriae, 17 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 29: Do you share your name with other writers?

There are a couple of other Paxes out there, unsurprisingly, but as most people get to my surname and go "uhh... I won't try to pronounce that," it's safe to say there's only me with it.

I think there's an author with my birth name out there, but I won't be offering up any competition.

PaxAsteriae, 18 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 28: Do you have an irrepressibly good-humoured character? How do others react to them?

In Radial there's Crow, who is usually either cheerful or pouty and is, in his own way, as much of a sex pest as Alex. Alex doesn't mind him, sometimes even finds him amusing; Milos is not a fan.

For Caeso, there's Lee, who he meets during Dirty Work and who becomes a friend (because he insisted on it, much to Caeso's bemusement). Although Caeso doesn't often make friends, he likes Lee a lot.

PaxAsteriae, 19 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 27: Who's blaming who in your story?

Currently, Alex is blaming the honey tongue for being a horrible little shit who picked the wrong day to be an arse, Crow for refusing to deal with Sarah and insisting on him and Milos, Sarah for being happy to hand everything over to Alex because she has a date, and all the Valentiners having nice meals that he isn't getting to enjoy.

The honey tongue is also blaming the Valentiners for being happy, so he's out to ruin their evenings.

PaxAsteriae, 20 days ago to random

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PaxAsteriae, 20 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 26: Do you write stand-alone stories, series or both? Which do you prefer?

I write both. Sometimes the characters turn up for one and that's it, and sometimes they just turn up in my head, won't leave again, and I end up with a series. Or separate stories with one character that doesn't quite match the definition of a series. kicks Caeso in the shin

I don't have a preference, I'd just be happy to actually finish some things now and again. 😅

PaxAsteriae, 20 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 26: In your story who's hiding (literally or metaphorically)?

Currently there's a pain-in-the-arse honey tongue hiding in plain sight and and making Alex's mood worse. There's also a Skilled who just wants to live a normal life. And then there's also Alex, who is continuing to do a fairly decent job of hiding certain feelings from himself.

PaxAsteriae, 22 days ago to random

#WordWeavers 24: Do you include characters from all socio-economic classes in your story?

Usually depends on the story, but generally yes.

In Radial, Milos started out poor, became homeless, then ended up in a boarding house he could've been kicked out of at any time. Alex is well-educated and well-off, because he was compensated for the childhood as a test subject, and his job pays well as he could easily die doing it. They meet all kinds of people through work too.

No billionaires though.

PaxAsteriae, 22 days ago to random

I was just at the top of the hill with smol dog, and I could hear a fairly rhythmic barking, around 1bps (barks per second). I couldn't seem to pinpoint where it was coming from, but it seemed to be getting nearer...

And then I saw a car go by at the junction, with a spaniel's golden head stuck out the back window, barking joyously once per second as the wind whipped through its ears, and I just started laughing. It looked so happy! And so shouty!

PaxAsteriae, 22 days ago to random

#WritersCoffeeClub 24: When older novels use outdated or racist language, should they be edited for the modern world or left alone and viewed in context?

They should be left, with a warning added at the front so readers can be aware.

Before we start trying to sanitise the past to make it fit our modern sensibilities, maybe we should be doing something about the people who use racial, antisemitic and homophobic slurs now, most of whom will never have read the books people keep trying to edit.