#QuestionOfTheDay what's a cynical corporately produced trend-chasing work that you actually like?

A short story sale! "MindsEye Lets You Love Again" just sold to Factor Four Magazine. A medical science fiction story that ropes in immigrant struggles and family drama, all in 996 words.

It will be a free click, so I will definitely circulate the link once it comes out.

#AmWriting
#ShortStory
#ShortStories
#FlashFiction
#AmWritingScienceFiction
#AmWritingSciFi
#WritersOfMastodon
#AuthorsOfMastodon
#WritingCommunity
#WritersLife
#ScienceFiction
#Fiction

Revision on Chapter 3 is going well. This section of the story is action-packed and features a setup that has been in my mind since book 1. Hopefully, I can bring it to life the way I've envisioned it.

A #ShortStory about healthcare, desperation, and the cruelty of the US, currently on display like never before. It's #fiction, but also more and more likely to happen.
"Radicalized" by @pluralistic. https://prospect.org/culture/books/2024-12-09-radicalized-cory-doctorow-story-health-care/

#CoryDoctorow #ShortStories #CurrentEvents #authoritarianism

Delve Post 32

Have you heard of Delve? Probably not! It's the no-awards, recognition-free sensation sweeping nowhere! Yet here it stands, post after post, ready to entertain. Like it. Share it. Be part of the legend no one asked for!

https://mastodon.social/@skipscherer/114383338245056946

Going to get back to production for season 4 in a month @ FallenCycle.com

Trolls, boogeymen and witches, oh my!
Just another day for a young wizard.

It all starts here: https://books2read.com/b/TrollSong

Meet Alex …

https://johnhartleywriter.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-book-of-apologies-notes-from.html

Day two in my series the Greenland Diaries. Highly easy to sink into right now as I'm releasing the first part on my blog. The monsters are incredible. I dare you to figure them and tell me what is happening.

#horror #fiction #apocalyptic #greenlanddiaries #books #journal #monsters

https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/day-two/

#TheQReview - The Grand Scheme of Things by Warona Jay:

https://www.amandaquraishi.com/the-q-review-the-grand-scheme-of-things-warona-jay/

Our second mystery author for Spring 2025 has taken up residence on the kitchen table.

Pen — check. Notebooks — check. Toast rack — OK. But what's with the fish?

#books #reading #writing #fiction #translation #comics #blog #bookstodon @bookstodon

To coincide with #EarthDay, delighted to announce the release of my new #novel #Telegonos. Blending past and present, discover the #story that captivated the #ancient #classical world.

A couple more longlisters from the Island Prize, while we wait (with bated breath!) for the shortlist in May.....

The #MastoPrompt for Tuesday 22 April 2025 is:

#hollowed

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

#PennedPossibilities 650 — What profession would you have if you lived within the world of your WIP?

Were I female, I'd probably still end up a programmer. Thaumaturgy is actually a science of semantics and coded imagination, and relies on arranging ideas grammatically. Not everyone with horns is good at logic as well as mathematics, so there's room for collaboration. I could definitely do the logic programming, though it's nothing like JavaScript. I could be college educated and I could find white collar jobs. I wouldn't look forward to having children since I've no brothers to raise them while I work. Fortunately, it's possible to find men who go into childcare whether they have sisters or not, but it's expensive. I doubt I'd be willing to abstain to prevent children, not in their society.

Were I male, I'd have much more limited prospects, programmer not being one of them. The era is a lot like the 1960s with defined gender roles. While there are plenty of things I could do in our world, they are not considered men's work in theirs. I'd face prejudice and likely be barred. Since I'm not good with math, even work as a computer (look up the origins of the word) would be unlikely. That means either manual labor—factories, construction, or waiting tables—or attending to women's "needs." Since I have no sisters, I wouldn't be able to look forward to raising her children, either. Writing is an option, but I'd likely need a patron for that as it wouldn't support me, and favors would be implied. No, RS is not suited for that world.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#mystery #thriller #romance #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory #RSReluctanceStory

LESETIPP: Wumpusjagd – die erste Game Map der Videospielgeschichte

https://www.videospielgeschichten.de/wumpusjagd-die-erste-game-map-der-videospielgeschichte/

Now reading Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. I loved Legends & Lattes so hopefully an enjoyable holiday read. #bookshopsandbonedust #fiction #bookstodon

#ScribesAndMakers 2504.21 — Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?

"Creating for" and "generally writing in" are two different things. I have an aversion to heavily researching things (bore-ing), which means I can't write historical, detective, military, modern settings, or hard sf. Too many things I can get wrong, and will! A story for me always needs be set in a place and time where I, as was once said so eloquently, "…We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical…"

This generally means I'm writing soft or social SF or I am writing fantasy that had more in kin with Theodore Sturgeon than Tolkien. If you can say I write to a particular niche, my stories will appeal to readers who enjoy female protagonists and feminist messages where the effect of gender roles play an important role. I don't consider that to be a "broad" appeal, but I think my writing ought appeal to SF and Fantasy readers, though maybe not hard SF fans.

As for my photography, I go for eye contact, dramatic color, and/or stateliness. I have no idea whether any of it is appealing. What do you think of the attached picture?

As for my cooking creations, I appeal to an audience of one, though sometimes two. My spouse approves. Check out my media tab on my profile for photos.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool

#gender #fiction #writer #author #photographer #chef #cooking
#mystery #thriller #romance #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

#ScribesAndMakers 2504.20 — Is there a movie that inspires your creative work?

Not in general, but I did write a very emotionally difficult story after watching The Edge of Tommorrow: Live, Die, Repeat, based on a manga, and if you are well read in SF you'll know its not an original plot devise either, but the movie is extremely well done Hollywood SF, possibly one of the best for sticking to the SF premise and not mucking it up to dumb it down or make it more artistic.

Anyway. I wrote a story about a teenage girl (maybe 13) who could literally cut off her past with scissors and relive it, and does so repeatedly to save lives, and shows evidence of PTSD when explaining it to her friend. It might have been titled, Cuts Deeply. The story was well received. I have an idea for a more epic version of the story, which I may write at a later date.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing and #CommentingIsCool

#gender #fiction #writer #author #photographer #chef #cooking
#thriller #fantasy
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory

#WordWeavers 2504.21 — Is there anything that bores you about any of your characters?

Wait? Isn't that the stuff you're supposed to leave out?

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion