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#rsdiscussion

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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScribesAndMakers</span></a> 2504.21 — Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?</p></blockquote><p>"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…" </p><p>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.</p><p>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?</p><p>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.</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommentingIsCool</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/chef" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chef</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/cooking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cooking</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WordWeavers</span></a> 2504.21 — Is there anything that bores you about any of your characters?</p></blockquote><p>Wait? Isn't that the stuff you're supposed to leave out?</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WritersCoffeeClub</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WCC</span></a> 2504.21 — In honor of <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/@johnhowesauthor" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>johnhowesauthor</span></a></span> who doesn’t really like coffee: what “established” writerly traits don’t really apply to you?</p></blockquote><p>Forgive me for inverting this question. I like positivity.</p><ol><li><strong>Drinks whiskey and whisky and bourbon.</strong> Check. See photo.</li><li><strong>Has a pet cat.</strong> Not currently. Historically, tho.</li><li><strong>Drinks gallons of coffee.</strong> Decaf cappuccino please, and only a cup or two. Extra credit: I've only written in a coffee shop a few times; I prefer the tables outside because drinking with a N95 mask is difficult.</li><li><strong>Depressed and melancholy.</strong> I was depressed, then I realized I held the illusion that I was in control of events in my life. (Thank you Wayne Dyer.) When I gave up on the illusion, literally became disillusioned, I kicked the depression. Let's give that trait a half-point for historical reasons.</li><li><strong>Is eccentric.</strong> I feel rather symmetrical, even if I was always a square and never a rounder. If this means hyperbolic, count me in! Maybe I should ask my spouse? Um, maybe not.</li><li><strong>Has a god complex.</strong> That's kind of a sexist question. What about goddesses? Not answering.</li><li><strong>Is reclusive.</strong> Does shy count?</li><li><strong>Unkempt.</strong> Not describing my current state of clothing, current lack thereof, grooming, or smell status. Nope.</li><li><strong>Broke.</strong> I had a day job. Not stupid.</li><li><strong>Chain smokes.</strong> The only time you smell smoke around me is when I tend a barbecue. My mum was the chain smoker, which I think accounts for my asthma.</li><li><strong>Writes longhand.</strong> Are you flapping nuts? I was obviously destined to be a doctor if you believe that about bad pen craft. I learned on a mechanical typewriter, progressed to a Smith-Corona, then an Apple ][ and haven't looked back since. (11½. <strong>Writes with a fountain pen.</strong> My writing greatly improves with a nibbed pen; I studied calligraphy. Still, I <em>think</em> faster than I can talk, let alone type on a keyboard, so why would I do something so cripplingly ridiculous to my productivity?)</li><li><strong>Procrastinates.</strong> Um. Here I am replying to an Internet prompt. Again.</li><li><strong>In a state of continual angst.</strong> Maybe. Depends on the day, or whether what I am writing might contradict the conservative social climate fomenting in my country of origin. Okay, likely. Very likely. <em>Oh noes!</em></li><li><strong>Eschews adverbs.</strong> I definitely use adverbs. Whether they survive revision is another matter.</li><li><strong>Is a literary snob.</strong> Whiskey snob, maybe. Okay. <em>I confess it!</em> I <em>love</em> Charles Dickens. The rest of them, never read 'em. I'm not well-read literally. [Is that the right word?] Even in my genre(s), I like what I like not what other readers hold up as the best. Another good reason to be shy. I can't even carry on small talk about literature!</li><li><strong>Writes under various noms de plume.</strong> Yes.</li><li><strong>Cuts a dashing figure.</strong> That kind of implies a gender, doesn't it? Nobody can accuse me of being pretty or rugged. Average. Which may explain why I write about average looking people. In any case, I do know a few things about clothing and fabrics; I can put together a nice ensemble, with accessories and shoes. I even own a turtleneck. Hats are good. I can package well. Maybe true.</li><li><strong>Swears and curses a lot.</strong> Ask my computer. The people in my life would say, "Incapable." I'm reputed to be "delicate." I use my computer when nobody is around, and self-censor when they are.</li><li><strong>Has a giant vocabulary.</strong> Word choice counts and I will use the exact word. See item 14.</li><li><strong>Is a grammarian par excellence.</strong> Me! <em>Ha!</em> I often write in grammar B and perpetrate grammaricide with glorious glee, enough so that any self-respecting high school English teacher would not only fail my purple prose ass, but send my sorry hind-part to the principal's office on principle for a paddling!</li></ol><p>Enough fun. Forgive me. Please!</p><p>More in <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/altText" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>altText</span></a>. </p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>grammar</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> 649 2/2 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?</p></blockquote><p>This answer, however, should interest any authors wanting to learn something from another authors' search behavior. I finally got completely feed up with the substandard results from DuckDuckGo and the on again off again AI search creeping into Google results, even with &amp;udm=14. </p><p>A few days ago I decided to research paid search. All FREE search, it goes without saying, monetizes your behavior, time, or attention, so I understand it isn't free. How much do you make per hour? When I search for anything that could be construed as a product or service someone could SELL, it's impossible to find answers. Look for words for describing how to rock a baby, for example. I'm sure you've a slew of searches you've given up on. </p><p>I am trialing kagi.com. I am NOT advertising it; I'm not endorsing it. I've only tried two searches of the 100 allocated me so far. However, those two have been so full of useful results that I'm still mining them the next day. </p><p>I'll report back after I use it more. </p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/seach" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>seach</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/kagi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>kagi</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/google" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>google</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/duckDuckGo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>duckDuckGo</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ai" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ai</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/aisearch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>aisearch</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> 649 — What research did you conduct for your WIP, and did you uncover anything surprising or fascinating?</p></blockquote><p>When you are writing 31 chapters in 31 days and posting a chapter a day, having only come up with the idea and character the day before starting, research is a concept dealt with by quick and dirty searches. I did have one interesting factino in my pocket, though. I'd found an article about growing fungus to make building blocks for construction on Mars, and knew the blocks might help repel radiation. Another recent article spoke about inflating a balloon for a habitat. I combined both ideas in the 4th chapter titled Glue. Beyond that, I spent quite a bit of time Googling things about 16 Psyche (an asteroid) and learned that Martian dust is poisonous, and like moon dust, pernicious. Recent NASA tests lofted by a private company to the moon proves that electostatic grids can capture or repel dust. I used that. Much of the rest of the technology I punted on. I realized green minerals on Mars might be rare, so I backtracked on some red-green-black ferric metaphors. Yesterday, I read up on planetary transfer orbits and made changes to the revised novel. I also learned about the Lunar Gateway space station concept, and will revise that concept when I get to revising the relevant chapter.</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WordWeavers</span></a> 2504.20 — If someone gave you a million dollars (or equivalent) to never write again, would you take it?</p></blockquote><p>I spent a lifetime scrimping, saving, investing, and being frugal to get to this point. Retirement. Now they offer me a million dollars? Sheesh. Gonna have to make me a better offer to stop me from doing what I like to do. [Sticks out tongue, makes raspberry.]</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WritersCoffeeClub</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WCC</span></a> 2504.20 — What rôle does religion play in your writing?</p></blockquote><p>Religiosity is important in many of my stories, even when it is as prominent as vacuum by its absence. Usually, I don't write in the point of view of the religious, but I did write an SF novel in the point of view of a shaman. I'd lived in Bali for awhile, and having studied the culture and theatre of the island during college, felt I had a feel for animism. At university, I studied religions and non-western cultures as part of my degree, as well as folklore and mythology. I find it fascinating. At least as far as my writing goes my degree has proved useful.</p><p>More often I write about how people wield religion to abuse society. My latest novel (now in revision) pits a fictional religion and a theocratic plutocracy (where our world is headed) against one woman's quest for freedom. It is the background main antagonist. For the people in the other WIP, the concept of a supernatural or the divine is absurd; they don't even have words for it in their vocabulary. Nevertheless, the MCs are destined to face people who bear unusual ideas about how reality actually functions, who might react <em>badly</em> when upon meeting a woman with bull horns and a man with ruby-edged white feathered wings.</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSReluctanceStory</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WordWeavers</span></a> 2504.13 — How dangerous is your MC? CW: Definite Background Spoilers.</p></blockquote><p>The Reluctance Series stories MCs by danger score least to most:</p><ul><li>0: Devil-girl — Give her a book and leave her alone.</li><li>1: Streak — He's a sweetie. He'll have your back if you are mobbed by bullies. His danger score is multiplied by Thorn's as he's protective of her. He did charm the pants off of Rainy Days, so there's that wild card.</li><li>2: Thorn Rose — She's capable, just not very antagonistic. Pushed into a corner, watch out. Her danger score is divided by Streak's because she realizes he has more common sense than she does and <em>listens</em> to him when he's around to advise her. She loves him.</li><li>3: Rainy Days — She's a lot less capable then most people think, but she has experience. Her inclination is to fight for others. First it was family, then it was for women. After millennia of bearing children, all of humanity is related to her—except the dragons. She's very sweet, caring, supportive, and she'll teach you lessons if she thinks you'll benefit from it. You don't want to cross her, however. She's lived through the fall of two civilizations, and ended up being rebuilt from parts at the end of the last fall. She's technologically immortal and always 24 years old.</li><li>4: Devil-girl — Told you to give her a book and leave her alone, didn't I? Nobody listens! She's very capable (unlike Rainy Days) and self-taught. People keep using her as their sharp tool. She'll try the dangerous, impossible, and taboo things anyway because, <em>Well, that's Interesting!</em> The character was conceived as a study in how evil isn't born but is created through interaction with others and their environment. Each story is, <em>Which side of the knife edge will she tumble? Will she end up saving people or suddenly be so frustrated she ceases to give a damn?</em> Recently she discovered love, and got that used against her—not by her lovers, thank goodness! Well, we'll see.</li></ul><p>BTW: Streak and Thorn live 200 years before the Devil-girl. Roughly 1960 vs 2160.</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSReluctanceStory</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> side prompt: Elevator quick pitch of your WIP, only the worst pitch ever.</p></blockquote><p>A daemon and a day angel fly to the moon. The lunatics there believe they're really a demon and an angel. They're as right as they are wrong. </p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSReluctanceStory</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScribesAndMakers</span></a> 2504.12 — Shameless self-promotion day. Show us what you're proud of. Let's boost away.</p></blockquote><p><em>Mars Need Women</em> is a hopeful yet deeply dystopian feminist SF web-novel that leans heavily into Women's right's issues thanks to a set of writing prompts on the subject. It is a woman-centric adventure story of overcoming adversity while being female, with all the warts and frustrations, not as a man in disguise. </p><p>Our wannabe engineer heroine May Ri escapes a disheartening life, faced with becoming little more than a housewife because she lacks "blessings," to help colonize Mars—if you can call being shanghaied <em>escaping</em> and being contracted to have children a <em>benefit.</em> (She does get to choose the gorgeous supportive guy, though, so that's a positive.) As she learns to make martian machines, she keeps putting herself at the center of a global martian dust storm with her children as power shifts from being male-dominated. As the daughters of the Martian immigrants increasingly control Mars' future (how is spoilers), May Ri together with her five daughters shape a world (Mars) the way unfettered women might imagine it. </p><p>When the men of Earth take affront—of course they do—they learn that women don't fight like men, especially when their children's lives are threatened, and their wellbeing is at stake. <strong><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a></strong> </p><p>It remains free-to-read on Mastodon for a few more days:</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/114088945266387178" translate="no" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/11408894</span><span class="invisible">5266387178</span></a>. </p><p>If you start reading it now, a comment or a private mention will tell me not to delete the posts until the end of next week. I consider it a beta read. I'm already revising an augmenting the original story, tying up loose ends, and might add more chapters along the path to publishing it as a book. Meanwhile, I'm going to start boosting chapters for a last hurrah.</p><p>See <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/alttext" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>alttext</span></a> for book cover description.</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommentingIsCool</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/chef" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chef</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/cooking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cooking</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScribesAndMakers</span></a> 2504.09 — Are or were you taking courses for your creative activities?</p></blockquote><p><strong>Are?</strong> No.</p><p><strong>Were?</strong> </p><ol><li>I took a writing seminar a very long time ago run by Theodore Sturgeon. I really <em>really</em> REALLY wish I remembered ANYTHING about that other than it was him, he was nice, and it was at Antioch.</li><li>After writing a couple of novels and short stories, when I was attending UCLA, I decided to sign up for a creative writing course. Seemed like a slam-dunk. I remember it was in Royce Hall. After I turned in an SF short-story, the instructor informed me that it wasn't a "Christian" story, and that's all we were allowed to write. I dropped the course.</li><li>I attended Clarion West, a six-week live-in intensive writing and critiquing course. You have to already be a writer, and you must provide samples. It's hosted by six professional writers or editors, each for a week. I learned that under pressure I could write freely and copiously. It's infamous for getting you out of your mundane world and isolating you in a community of writers in a very art-centric district of Seattle. I would 100% recommend that any SF, SFF, or Fantasy (possibly horror) writer who could take the course consider doing so. I admit the date I attended in my profile.</li></ol><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommentingIsCool</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/chef" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chef</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/cooking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cooking</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> 639 — Does your MC have any pets?</p></blockquote><p>None of the recent stories have pets. However, dogs and horses are mentioned, the latter for a needed referent. Think satyr. I will resist describing actual horses in a story until I need to shock the reader from their assumptions about what the reluctance world really looks like…</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSReluctanceStory</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> 637 — Does your MC have a past that haunts them?</p></blockquote><p>May Ri watched from Mars orbit as Herschel Crater got nuked, having failed to knock out all the missiles with her railgun. Her eldest daughter worked in the capitol, in the domed city situated in that crater. <em>Had.</em> She has nightmares of the flash and a mushroom cloud rising. Sort of like in the attached vid.</p><p><a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/38985/sarychev-peak-eruption-kuril-islands" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">earthobservatory.nasa.gov/imag</span><span class="invisible">es/38985/sarychev-peak-eruption-kuril-islands</span></a></p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a><br>Credit: NASA Johnson</p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScribesAndMakers</span></a> 2504.06 — Talk To Me Day. Featured creator: Lydia VVinters ( <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.nl/@HeliaXyana" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>HeliaXyana</span></a></span> ) <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/TTMD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TTMD</span></a></p></blockquote><p>It's now April 6th in London, so here's my question:</p><p>I see a lot of imagery on your website (<a href="https://lydiavvinters.com" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">lydiavvinters.com</span><span class="invisible"></span></a>). How to you characterize yourself as a creator? A poet? An Artist? What do you focus on?</p><p>Also, is your last name of your pen name intentionally a double-V so it looks like a W (double-U)?</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommentingIsCool</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/chef" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chef</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/cooking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cooking</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WritersCoffeeClub</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WCC</span></a> 2504.04 — What are some tips and tricks you use to convey strong emotions?</p></blockquote><p>I think this is where my use of Grammar B helps me. Strong emotions, even things like anger, I think are associated with confusion and levels of self-doubt, which leads to cycles of justification or re-evaluation on the fly, quickly, immediately, erratically. or it just might conceivably—or very possibly since MURPHY in all things, right?—get worse, far worse; that type of thing.</p><p>The last sentence is a short example of a Grammar B run-on. It is non-grammatical; your high school English teacher would grade it a Fail. What it does is <em>breathlessly</em> fire off thought after thought in a continuing sequence, no sequence dependent on the sequence before. It flows. Like a speech. The reader never needs to backtrack to deduce meaning. Such a construct could be cut into individual sentences, standardized. But. <em>Why?</em> Rhythm of any sort drives the reader forward. It creates tension. All useful when writing emotion. A flood of description to overwhelm the senses, like the emotion itself.</p><p>Another construction I think works, usually mixed carefully with the run-on to break repeating rhythms, is telegraphy. I used that in the previous paragraph. Did you. Notice? Short, non-grammatical sentences. Missing a verb, a noun, or what not. It works like a drumbeat, focusing the reader on individual word or unsupported phrase meanings—and you get extra credit if you use a word with multiple meanings that could conceivably apply in context; emotion is confusion, innit?</p><p>In a sense, Grammar B is like finding poetry in prose. Used right, it uniquely depicts emotion. This is why I call myself a "prosaist."</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <br>#<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/grammar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>grammar</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/grammarb" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>grammarb</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScribesAndMakers</span></a> 2504.04 — Can you handle praise well, or do you get embarrassed and play your achievement down? CW: self-analysis</p></blockquote><p>Oddly enough, this devolves to gender roles and the confusion an autistic can discover in any social illogic. As a child, I quickly evolved into a listener, observer, and a pleaser with my shyness providing me an escape route from any confrontative situation—things I worked on (had to!) as I became an adult. Wanting to be an author is not entirely compatible with these personality traits regardless of gender—there is a definite forwardness and egoist nuance to insisting on communicating one's ideas—and I couldn't rely on others to meditate for me. </p><p>I got praise growing up, especially when doing well in school. Then again, my mother had me convinced I'd die if I didn't bring home top marks. I mostly got to hide from praise. It's not that I don't, didn't, like it, but I could better process it unobserved and generally make it appropriately and comfortably undeserved. <em>A pleaser can't accept being pleased well!</em></p><p>Yeah, I got help. If you've heard of EST, I did that.</p><p>Now my reaction to praise is a Venn diagram of who, what, and where. If it is online, where nobody has to see me physically react, I'm a lot more copacetic with it. In person, it can be uncomfortable. I can still find ways to minimize the input but as I get older I'm better at fairly assessing my abilities. I do remember having this one fan at conventions that would greet me. She really wanted a sequel. Maybe she sensed I was shy, I don't know. But I grew to like her reminder.</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommentingIsCool</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/chef" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chef</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/cooking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cooking</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/pennedpossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pennedpossibilities</span></a> 633 — How did you choose the title for your story, and what significance does it hold for you?</p><p><em>Mars Needs Women</em> was a 1968 schlock female-exploitation film. The title has had staying power (pun intended) even if the film didn't. My feminist SF short novel (now in revision) is about a woman from an endpoint technological religio-fascist society (2024 thru the 2100s) that takes biblical patriarchy seriously and leaves women few options but to be exploited. I wanted to show how women might run a society differently if they could get their chance. </p><p>The title came to me quickly, with the verb set instead to the past tense: <em>Mars Needed Women.</em> This is because women were contracted for colonization purposes, to have children. It's from a recruitment poster early in the story. When the colonization effort goes bankrupt and men die disproportionately compared to the imported women, the dynamics of power change. Over the 25 year span of the story, women and their predominately female native Martian children take over the jobs and then governing. When the women declare themselves an independent matriarchal nation, Earth's patriarchy slanders (ring a bell about modern time?) Mars' women so as to have an excuse to put down the "rebellion." </p><p>However, women don't fight like men. War isn't a game when you are keeping your children alive… This is why Mars needed women to survive. </p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossiblities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossiblities</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSMarsNeededWomen</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PennedPossibilities</span></a> 632 — What originally inspired your WIP’s plot?</p></blockquote><p>I just finished the WIP less than 20 hours ago, so I'm going with it.</p><ol><li>The <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writever" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writever</span></a> prompts for March. Thirty-one one word prompts with the theme <strong>Women's Rights.</strong> Remember, I'm a feminist writer. One of the prompts was "abortion." Challenging, as were others. I learned a lot by researching why the prompts were chosen.</li><li>The prompts originally come out in Français. The word in Français for March is "Mars." As a SF writer at heart, do you think I originally misread that? Ya Betcha!</li><li>Who is associated with Mars who is also the most misogynistic creep ever, who seems to be destroying a century of civil, women's, and LGBTQIA rights single handedly? Oh, noes! Did RS have ideas about writing thinly veiled satire? Ya Betcha!</li></ol><p>Wanna read it? <em>Mars Needed Women:</em> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/114261812977623863" translate="no" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/11426181</span><span class="invisible">2977623863</span></a></p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSstory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSInklingsStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSInklingsStory</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSReluctanceStory</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/microfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>microfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/flashfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>flashfiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/tootfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tootfic</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/smallstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>smallstory</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WritersCoffeeClub</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WCC</span></a> 2503.27 — What’s the strangest situation or place where you’ve written?</p></blockquote><p>I've written on the deck of a ship. Also the empty galley way past midnight. I write regularly in the car (as a passenger) all the time, so that's not particularly strange anymore. With noise canceling airPods, the spouse can listen to podcasts while I listen to electronica. </p><p>One time I wrote on the moon, but that was a dream…</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>
RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<p><strong><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ScribesAndMakers</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/TTMD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TTMD</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>sfwrtr</span></a></span></strong></p><p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.art/@RMiddleton" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>RMiddleton</span></a></span> </p><blockquote><p>I would like to ask (&amp; apologies if it's been asked) how you enjoyed today? </p></blockquote><p>I thought it was fabulous. I'd do it again. It makes me a lot less afraid of getting interviewed on a podcast one day, as I'm told will be important to advancing my career. The unexpected questions by people who did know something about me really allowed me to pull together a lot of ideas and discuss them. I got to write a lot, which I love, and avoid writing a chapter I really ought to have written and wanted an excuse not to, so that worked, too. ☺️</p><p>Okay, I also like the attention! 😇</p><p>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]</p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BoostingIsSharing</span></a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommentingIsCool</span></a></p><p><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gender</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mystery</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>thriller</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>romance</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sf</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sff</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>sciencefiction</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>author</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/photographer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>photographer</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/chef" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>chef</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/cooking" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cooking</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writingcommunity</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>writers</span></a><br><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RSdiscussion</span></a></p>