#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 21: Do you ever regret killing a character, or the manner of their death?
I haven't killed any characters. Yet.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Are there any books which should be banned, or is book banning always wrong?
Even things like _Mein Kampf_ can be (and I understand *are*) useful for historians to get a better idea of how fascism grows (and therefore how we can better stop it). I think things like that should be given proper context and framing, but outright banning doesn't fix the underlying problems.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 22: Are there any books which should be banned, or is book banning always wrong?
Even things like _Mein Kampf_ can be (and I understand *are*) useful for historians to get a better idea of how fascism grows (and therefore how we can better stop it). I think things like that should be given proper context and framing, but outright banning doesn't fix the underlying problems.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: How important is humour in your work? How do you work it in?
It's important to me to have moments of humor (also light-heartedness and joy) but it's not primarily a humorous work. Folks will crack jokes when appropriate, and observe the humor in situations when it's there; they'll also deliberately seek out and create moments of joy in life, because people do that. Things like parties, lunch w/friends, etc. are part of life, and my folks will enjoy them.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 23: How important is humour in your work? How do you work it in?
It's important to me to have moments of humor (also light-heartedness and joy) but it's not primarily a humorous work. Folks will crack jokes when appropriate, and observe the humor in situations when it's there; they'll also deliberately seek out and create moments of joy in life, because people do that. Things like parties, lunch w/friends, etc. are part of life, and my folks will enjoy them.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What websites do you rely on most to help you with your writing?
I couldn't possibly narrow it down. Everything from name sites to Google Maps to places where you can ask questions of (Latines/Chinese people/police officers/etc.) to Wikipedia to websites of innumerable colleges, universities, corporations, restaurants, residential buildings, and whatever else.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 24: What websites do you rely on most to help you with your writing?
I couldn't possibly narrow it down. Everything from name sites to Google Maps to places where you can ask questions of (Latines/Chinese people/police officers/etc.) to Wikipedia to websites of innumerable colleges, universities, corporations, restaurants, residential buildings, and whatever else.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Question for unpublished authors. Do you intend to publish? What's your timeline? What holds you back?
I absolutely do! My timeline will make it clear what holds me back:
1) Finish the necessary background material
2) Write the first draft
3) Revise, revise, revise! (I estimate 3 drafts should do; I hope so)
4) Send it off to publishersI'll be really lucky if I can have 3 done by January 2025, but I intend to try as hard as I can.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 25: Question for unpublished authors. Do you intend to publish? What's your timeline? What holds you back?
I absolutely do! My timeline will make it clear what holds me back:
1) Finish the necessary background material
2) Write the first draft
3) Revise, revise, revise! (I estimate 3 drafts should do; I hope so)
4) Send it off to publishersI'll be really lucky if I can have 3 done by January 2025, but I intend to try as hard as I can.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: In your opinion, name a book, movie or TV show where the ending spoils the story.
The ending of _Quantum Leap_ was famous for how it infuriated fans. I was only a very casual fan — hell, more of a casual *watcher*, not even really a fan — and it started off by confusing and annoying me, until the closing text card made my blood boil.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 26: In your opinion, name a book, movie or TV show where the ending spoils the story.
The ending of _Quantum Leap_ was famous for how it infuriated fans. I was only a very casual fan — hell, more of a casual *watcher*, not even really a fan — and it started off by confusing and annoying me, until the closing text card made my blood boil.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: How does it feel knowing that strangers will read your work?
Kind of wild, actually. Like a big undertaking, and also a really cool one.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 27: How does it feel knowing that strangers will read your work?
Kind of wild, actually. Like a big undertaking, and also a really cool one.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Do you prefer to write protagonist-driven stories or ensembles? Why?
Definitely ensembles. I like multiple people working together, bouncing off each other, and different people having different styles and viewpoints. I'm not so much a fan of "this one person is the only one who matters, and everyone else is just a side character in their story." That, to me, feels so narrow and almost confining.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 28: Do you prefer to write protagonist-driven stories or ensembles? Why?
Definitely ensembles. I like multiple people working together, bouncing off each other, and different people having different styles and viewpoints. I'm not so much a fan of "this one person is the only one who matters, and everyone else is just a side character in their story." That, to me, feels so narrow and almost confining.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: What are your grammar rules to live by and grammar rules to break?
I want faux "rules" imported from other languages to immediately go back where they came from.
And I'm fine with beginning sentences with conjunctions.
Comma splices, however, drive me nuts; I can't abide when people use them instead of semicolons!
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 29: What are your grammar rules to live by and grammar rules to break?
I want faux "rules" imported from other languages to immediately go back where they came from.
And I'm fine with beginning sentences with conjunctions.
Comma splices, however, drive me nuts; I can't abide when people use them instead of semicolons!
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: How do you keep track of your work? Do you have a system?
Right now it's all background material, so there's a folder for each character, which at minimum contains a .txt file named for them, and may also contain extra files like family-history, schooling (i.e., HS and college, often formative years and experiences), music-stuff (for musicians; this'd be the history of bands they've been in, etc.), social-scene, and so on. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 30: How do you keep track of your work? Do you have a system?
Right now it's all background material, so there's a folder for each character, which at minimum contains a .txt file named for them, and may also contain extra files like family-history, schooling (i.e., HS and college, often formative years and experiences), music-stuff (for musicians; this'd be the history of bands they've been in, etc.), social-scene, and so on. 1/2
There are also top-level .txt files like plot, characters (notes on ones who aren't developed enough yet to get their own folders), magic-system, magic-spells-list, divination-system, and the all-important !unresolved-issues file. (The ! makes it sort at the top of the folder, too.)
Soon there will be folders like "Ch. 01", "Ch. 02", and so on, with scene1.txt, scene2.txt, etc. files. 2/2
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There are also top-level .txt files like plot, characters (notes on ones who aren't developed enough yet to get their own folders), magic-system, magic-spells-list, divination-system, and the all-important !unresolved-issues file. (The ! makes it sort at the top of the folder, too.)
Soon there will be folders like "Ch. 01", "Ch. 02", and so on, with scene1.txt, scene2.txt, etc. files. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: Do you work from premise to world or world to premise?
I think in this work, the world *is* the premise.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 31: Do you work from premise to world or world to premise?
I think in this work, the world *is* the premise.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: What's your favourite Easter egg in your own work and/or another work of fiction?
I'll go with the bit in the _Expanse_ book series where there's a Martian ship named the _Mark Watney_.
My own work will be chock full of Easter eggs and shout-outs, but I'm not giving them away before publication; that would ruin readers' opportunities to find them on their own!
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 1: What's your favourite Easter egg in your own work and/or another work of fiction?
I'll go with the bit in the _Expanse_ book series where there's a Martian ship named the _Mark Watney_.
My own work will be chock full of Easter eggs and shout-outs, but I'm not giving them away before publication; that would ruin readers' opportunities to find them on their own!
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Do you keep a journal? Would you?
I used to keep a Livejournal, then moved it to Dreamwidth. Sadly, I've gotten out of the journaling habit; that pretty much happened with the rise of microblogging. My "accounting of life as it happens" energies started going to Twitter, and now Mastodon, instead.
I miss journaling. I keep trying to revive the habit, and failing.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: Do you keep a journal? Would you?
I used to keep a Livejournal, then moved it to Dreamwidth. Sadly, I've gotten out of the journaling habit; that pretty much happened with the rise of microblogging. My "accounting of life as it happens" energies started going to Twitter, and now Mastodon, instead.
I miss journaling. I keep trying to revive the habit, and failing.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: Do you use semicolons? Correctly?
I do! Indeed, I did in both yesterday's entry and the one before it.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 3: Do you use semicolons? Correctly?
I do! Indeed, I did in both yesterday's entry and the one before it.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: Do you feature real-world political and social issues in your work?
Oh, hells yes. They underpin a lot of the conflict in my WIP, in various ways.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 4: Do you feature real-world political and social issues in your work?
Oh, hells yes. They underpin a lot of the conflict in my WIP, in various ways.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: What's the best thing about being a writer?
You get to create whatever you want — worlds, people, events, aliens, magic spells, dragons, mysteries, love, *anything* you can think of or imagine. All you have to do is string some words together.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 5: What's the best thing about being a writer?
You get to create whatever you want — worlds, people, events, aliens, magic spells, dragons, mysteries, love, *anything* you can think of or imagine. All you have to do is string some words together.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: What have you learned from past projects that you're using in your WIP?
I don't have any past projects; this is my first writing project (not counting some juvenilia that I can hardly even remember).
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 6: What have you learned from past projects that you're using in your WIP?
I don't have any past projects; this is my first writing project (not counting some juvenilia that I can hardly even remember).
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: Write a poem in no more than 500 characters which describes you as a writer.
An aspiring writer named Kagan
is obsessed with cities, though Pagan.
He writes night and day,
though he doubts it'll pay,
but the story, his brain it is plaguein'.(alternatively...)
Kagan, an aspiring writer,
hoped his tales could make spirits lighter.
Though it seems urban mages
are what fill up his pages,
his true aim's to make the world brighter. -
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 7: Write a poem in no more than 500 characters which describes you as a writer.
An aspiring writer named Kagan
is obsessed with cities, though Pagan.
He writes night and day,
though he doubts it'll pay,
but the story, his brain it is plaguein'.(alternatively...)
Kagan, an aspiring writer,
hoped his tales could make spirits lighter.
Though it seems urban mages
are what fill up his pages,
his true aim's to make the world brighter.#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you think of your books as having a particular length?
I'm shooting for roughly 100,000 words for the current book, which will be a first-time novel in the urban fantasy genre. So, basically, "roughly mid- or average-length for my genre and fame level".
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Do you think of your books as having a particular length?
I'm shooting for roughly 100,000 words for the current book, which will be a first-time novel in the urban fantasy genre. So, basically, "roughly mid- or average-length for my genre and fame level".
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Do you use a dedicated proofreader, or is one provided by your publisher?
I'll find that out when I find a publisher.
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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I'm feeling FOMO for SFSCON this week and TPAC next week.
One thing about being part of the Fediverse movement is that I have a lot of confidence in friends and colleagues who will be on the ground doing good work.
Thanks for everything you do, ActivityPub allies.
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you, smug: "oh you like $thing? how cute! if you're lucky you'll realize $other_thing is better"
no one: "oh you sound like a pleasant person to be around! please tell me about $other_thing"
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wish more people realized that smugness makes for poor tech evangelism
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@alice thanks for making the Fediverse a better place.
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Current* conditions near Isle Royale NP, MI:
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I have an apology to issue. Yesterday, I called out a few large, open-registration instances (mastodon.social, vivaldi.net, and mas.to).
I was ticked off because (once again) a blatant Nazi troll account sent me (and several other folx) swastika photos and hate-speech.
I'm not apologizing for calling out large, open-signup instances. I stand by every word I said. But there's something I *didn't* say, and that's what I believe I owe an apology for.
When you have as many followers as I do, it's easy to start a dogpile—even unintentionally—and because of this, I always try to include a "be kind, don't attack folx" message when I rant about something. Yesterday I forgot to do that, and some mods and admins caught shit for it. It was my responsibility to anticipate my (sometimes overly) enthusiastic followers' reactions and head that off, and I failed to.
If you were one of the people yesterday who sent reports or messages that attacked *any* of the moderation team members of those servers, I would love it if you'd apologize to them. They're all volunteers, just like me, doing their best with what they've got. It's on all of us to make Fedi a safe space for each other.
To any of the wonderful volunteer moderators of Fedi who got nasty messages yesterday—or don't wake up every day feeling appreciated for their work—I'm sorry 🫂 you deserve better. I appreciate you 💞
Update: two of the three above instances' admin teams have personally reached out to me about my original post—and that's amazing! I hope we can work together to make Fedi a safer, more inclusive space for everyone (except Nazis).
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Avoid 2:00 and 3:00 am cron jobs! | End Point Dev (hint: they will clash twice a year with #daylight_savings_time )
https://www.endpointdev.com/blog/2013/04/avoid-200-and-300-am-cron-jobs/?utm_source=tldrwebdev
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Text editors for writers, and news products like..
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Please help spread the word. 😀
