#WritersCoffeeClub (Sep) 1: Intro: Shameless Self Promotion.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 8: Are you inspired by the state of current world politics, or is your writing an escape from dark reality? A bit of both?
Definitely a bit of both.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Is it like slay to use sick street talk like in your lit literature, or is that just gonna give you salty vibes?
Ye Gods. If you're gonna do that, get it right, already!
Obvi, it can make sense, or even be indispensable, in dialogue, especially if said dialogue is set in the here-and-now. (Which my WIP is.) But it's easy to overdo, so be careful. 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 9: Is it like slay to use sick street talk like in your lit literature, or is that just gonna give you salty vibes?
Ye Gods. If you're gonna do that, get it right, already!
Obvi, it can make sense, or even be indispensable, in dialogue, especially if said dialogue is set in the here-and-now. (Which my WIP is.) But it's easy to overdo, so be careful. 1/2
In other settings? If you can accurately depict the slang of the time, it can be a powerful addition to your work's feel and verisimilitude. (Georgette Heyer was such a master at this!) This can also work in future or fictional times; John Brunner did this well in _The Shockwave Rider_. But again, don't overuse it, and also in these cases, it needs to be understandable by the reader. 2/2
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In other settings? If you can accurately depict the slang of the time, it can be a powerful addition to your work's feel and verisimilitude. (Georgette Heyer was such a master at this!) This can also work in future or fictional times; John Brunner did this well in _The Shockwave Rider_. But again, don't overuse it, and also in these cases, it needs to be understandable by the reader. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you set out to write a series of a certain number of books, or does it evolve into a series?
It's too early in my writing career for me to tell yet.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 10: Do you set out to write a series of a certain number of books, or does it evolve into a series?
It's too early in my writing career for me to tell yet.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: When did you first start reading? How enthusiastically (or not!) did you take to it?
I don't recall how young I was. Something like 3 or 4? Anyway, I was definitely a voracious, enthusiastic reader through my school years; I can recall sneaking my books under my desk and reading in class as early as 3rd grade, and might have been doing so earlier.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 11: When did you first start reading? How enthusiastically (or not!) did you take to it?
I don't recall how young I was. Something like 3 or 4? Anyway, I was definitely a voracious, enthusiastic reader through my school years; I can recall sneaking my books under my desk and reading in class as early as 3rd grade, and might have been doing so earlier.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do you have a favourite author? Is your style influenced by them?
As per day 2 (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/113583965132146765), I don't really do single favorites of anything. I have various things that I like a lot for different reasons and in different ways.
I will note that... 1/2
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 12: Do you have a favourite author? Is your style influenced by them?
As per day 2 (https://wandering.shop/@kagan/113583965132146765), I don't really do single favorites of anything. I have various things that I like a lot for different reasons and in different ways.
I will note that... 1/2
...I found some of my early vignettes were influenced a bit by one of my favorite authors, Dashiell Hammett: I was too reticent to dive into characters' minds, being unconsciously influenced by _The Maltese Falcon_'s absolute refusal to explore the thoughts of any character, even Sam Spade. But I shook that off after a bit. 2/2
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...I found some of my early vignettes were influenced a bit by one of my favorite authors, Dashiell Hammett: I was too reticent to dive into characters' minds, being unconsciously influenced by _The Maltese Falcon_'s absolute refusal to explore the thoughts of any character, even Sam Spade. But I shook that off after a bit. 2/2
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Which novel to TV or movie adaptation was the most disappointing and why?
The movie that I could best describe as "loosely inspired by Susan Cooper's _The Dark is Rising_". It was absolutely awful. Why? The movie-makers failed to understand nearly anything that had made Cooper's book a beloved classic.
Thread/rant incoming... I'll talk a lot about the setting, tone, and themes of the book, but will try not to spoil the plot. The movie, I will rip to shreds. 🧵 1/7
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 13: Which novel to TV or movie adaptation was the most disappointing and why?
The movie that I could best describe as "loosely inspired by Susan Cooper's _The Dark is Rising_". It was absolutely awful. Why? The movie-makers failed to understand nearly anything that had made Cooper's book a beloved classic.
Thread/rant incoming... I'll talk a lot about the setting, tone, and themes of the book, but will try not to spoil the plot. The movie, I will rip to shreds. 🧵 1/7
In the book, Will Stanton is a British boy who comes from a loving family. He discovers, on his 11th birthday, that he is one of the Old Ones, servants of the Light, sworn to protect humanity from the Dark. He's inducted into a secret world of magic, steeped in ancient British lore.
As he's drawn deeper into the conflict between the Light and the Dark, his family life starts to form a sort of counterpoint to the magical world, and occasionally almost an anchor. 2/7
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In the book, Will Stanton is a British boy who comes from a loving family. He discovers, on his 11th birthday, that he is one of the Old Ones, servants of the Light, sworn to protect humanity from the Dark. He's inducted into a secret world of magic, steeped in ancient British lore.
As he's drawn deeper into the conflict between the Light and the Dark, his family life starts to form a sort of counterpoint to the magical world, and occasionally almost an anchor. 2/7
There's one (non-spoilery) scene in particular that's always stuck with me, and that I'm sure was entirely intentional on Cooper's part. Will's learned that a magical artifact he has with him reacts to evil influences in the vicinity by growing cold, and if it feels warm, that's a good sign. One evening in his family's living room, as people prep for Christmas and enjoy each other's company, it winds up feeling actually _hot_. 3/7
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There's one (non-spoilery) scene in particular that's always stuck with me, and that I'm sure was entirely intentional on Cooper's part. Will's learned that a magical artifact he has with him reacts to evil influences in the vicinity by growing cold, and if it feels warm, that's a good sign. One evening in his family's living room, as people prep for Christmas and enjoy each other's company, it winds up feeling actually _hot_. 3/7
His parents explain that away as being from him having been near the fireplace, but the import is clear: the loving environment of his family is a *good* one.
The movie throws that all away.
I understand the movie makers said they wanted to give Will more of an "outsider" feel. They say that's why they made him and his family Americans living in England for some reason. (Dad's job? I forget.) Anyway... suuuuure, we all believe that load of shit. 🙄 4/7
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His parents explain that away as being from him having been near the fireplace, but the import is clear: the loving environment of his family is a *good* one.
The movie throws that all away.
I understand the movie makers said they wanted to give Will more of an "outsider" feel. They say that's why they made him and his family Americans living in England for some reason. (Dad's job? I forget.) Anyway... suuuuure, we all believe that load of shit. 🙄 4/7
But that's nothing compared to what they did to his family life. There's no warmth. His older brothers range from dismissing and ostracizing him to outright bullying him. It's a stark and disgusting contrast to the way his brother Paul treats him kindly in the book when he's terrified by a Dark attack.
Aside from that, the magic in the book feels mystical, special, and numinous. In the movie? It's just random comic-book superpowers. The sense of connection to English mythos is totally lost. 5/7
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But that's nothing compared to what they did to his family life. There's no warmth. His older brothers range from dismissing and ostracizing him to outright bullying him. It's a stark and disgusting contrast to the way his brother Paul treats him kindly in the book when he's terrified by a Dark attack.
Aside from that, the magic in the book feels mystical, special, and numinous. In the movie? It's just random comic-book superpowers. The sense of connection to English mythos is totally lost. 5/7
The movie had not the ghost of an idea of what made the book so special and beloved. It trampled on many things that were at the heart of the story.
It was awful in every way, and not even "so bad it's good"; it was just bad. Honestly, even if you don't know the book, I think it would just feel like a lackluster, formulaic modern fantasy movie with nothing special about it.
But if you *do* know the book, you can see just how awful a travesty it is. 6/7
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The movie had not the ghost of an idea of what made the book so special and beloved. It trampled on many things that were at the heart of the story.
It was awful in every way, and not even "so bad it's good"; it was just bad. Honestly, even if you don't know the book, I think it would just feel like a lackluster, formulaic modern fantasy movie with nothing special about it.
But if you *do* know the book, you can see just how awful a travesty it is. 6/7
I whole-heartedly recommend the book¹. The movie deserves to be consigned to the pits of anonymity and utterly forgotten.
1. And the series it's part of. _The Dark is Rising_, the book I've been talking about, is actually #2 in a 5-book series. You can start with it, then go back and pick up the 1st, called _Over Sea, Under Stone_, or just read straight through from the beginning. Just get #1 and #2 under your belt before you go for #3. 7/7
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I whole-heartedly recommend the book¹. The movie deserves to be consigned to the pits of anonymity and utterly forgotten.
1. And the series it's part of. _The Dark is Rising_, the book I've been talking about, is actually #2 in a 5-book series. You can start with it, then go back and pick up the 1st, called _Over Sea, Under Stone_, or just read straight through from the beginning. Just get #1 and #2 under your belt before you go for #3. 7/7
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Is it OK for a book to be purely entertainment, or must it have meaning or a lesson?
I personally like my own works to have some kind of meaning, but I adamantly defend the rights of stories to exist purely for entertainment. Hell, I'll even enjoy reading them! Just because I want to write Thing X doesn't mean I want *everything* to be like that, and I enjoy reading Things Y and Z.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 14: Is it OK for a book to be purely entertainment, or must it have meaning or a lesson?
I personally like my own works to have some kind of meaning, but I adamantly defend the rights of stories to exist purely for entertainment. Hell, I'll even enjoy reading them! Just because I want to write Thing X doesn't mean I want *everything* to be like that, and I enjoy reading Things Y and Z.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Do some readers over-interpret your work? Do they get messages you weren't sending?
Nobody's had the chance to yet! 🤣
(Okay, my alpha reader conceivably could've with the few vignettes and the one scene they've read. But if they were inclined to do that kind of thing, I wouldn't trust them as my alpha reader.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 15: Do some readers over-interpret your work? Do they get messages you weren't sending?
Nobody's had the chance to yet! 🤣
(Okay, my alpha reader conceivably could've with the few vignettes and the one scene they've read. But if they were inclined to do that kind of thing, I wouldn't trust them as my alpha reader.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: What would be the best writing-related Solstice present someone could give you?
I haven't the faintest clue.
I don't use things like Scrivener or Grammarly, so a subscription to them wouldn't help me any. Ditto for pens or notebooks; I'm digital-only, as writing by hand makes my hand cramp very quickly and my handwriting is atrocious.
I suppose maybe a good book on writing? But I never seem to finish reading those; I always wind up writing instead…
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 16: What would be the best writing-related Solstice present someone could give you?
I haven't the faintest clue.
I don't use things like Scrivener or Grammarly, so a subscription to them wouldn't help me any. Ditto for pens or notebooks; I'm digital-only, as writing by hand makes my hand cramp very quickly and my handwriting is atrocious.
I suppose maybe a good book on writing? But I never seem to finish reading those; I always wind up writing instead…
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Which writing conventions do you ignore, if any?
I've written before in this hashtag (and WordWeavers) about my utter contempt for prescriptive "grammar rules" based on Latin, but I don't think most other writers follow those, either, so I wouldn't grant them the status of "writing conventions" at all.
In that case, I think I'm mostly following conventions. No real boundary-breaking, convention-defying stuff going on in my work. And that's okay.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 17: Which writing conventions do you ignore, if any?
I've written before in this hashtag (and WordWeavers) about my utter contempt for prescriptive "grammar rules" based on Latin, but I don't think most other writers follow those, either, so I wouldn't grant them the status of "writing conventions" at all.
In that case, I think I'm mostly following conventions. No real boundary-breaking, convention-defying stuff going on in my work. And that's okay.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: What are your biggest turnoffs or turn-ons when reading?
One huge turn-off for me is exclamatory comments in the narrative voice. (Of the myriad things that were horrible about Piers Anthony's writing, those were the first one I picked up on.)
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 18: What are your biggest turnoffs or turn-ons when reading?
One huge turn-off for me is exclamatory comments in the narrative voice. (Of the myriad things that were horrible about Piers Anthony's writing, those were the first one I picked up on.)
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do any of your stories occur in Winter? What do you take from the season?
My WIP is my first work, and it runs from early spring to mid-autumn. Just to contrast with that, I plan to make sure to have the next one cover winter for at least part of its duration, but I have no idea when it'll start or end, or what will happen.
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#WritersCoffeeClub Day 19: Do any of your stories occur in Winter? What do you take from the season?
My WIP is my first work, and it runs from early spring to mid-autumn. Just to contrast with that, I plan to make sure to have the next one cover winter for at least part of its duration, but I have no idea when it'll start or end, or what will happen.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 20: Is anyone getting a copy of your latest book for Solstice?
No, there's nothing ready to give as a gift.
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@dexter @lw depends how one defines "desktop systems".
I have a Talos II dual socket which hangs out around head height a few feet from my desk in one of the racks, which idles quieter than most gaming boxes. I only bring that up for comparison purposes because 144 cores of power9 doesn't limit its use to the datacenter — it requires a good understanding of airflow requirements and case design.
So, on that I will stand behind the statement that at least the scale-out series of IBM LC922 2U servers could be repurposed into a quiet enough 4U chassis with multiple 120-140mm 1.6-2K RPM PWM fans — ideally a supermicro case since IBM already contracted them to make the LC922, so the SMBus and PMbus connections would not need conversion — substantially simplifying the effort for desk use.
There are occasions when one finds them on eBay, sometimes even a few. Otherwise, I've only seen Raptor.
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@memeorandum wtf
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Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/us/politics/tom-homan-fbi-trump.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/250920/p71#a250920p71
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Even if the two of us are torn apart
I swear that I will change the world
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E ricomincia l'attesa...
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@kkarhan taste Is 9/10
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@pertho It depends. In my years in the UK, I've eaten some good pizzas. Yes, they're different, but I've still had some good ones.
