#WordWeavers 2406.04 — Antagonist POV: Is it easy for you to apologize? Can you apologize to someone right now?
If I made a mistake or bumped into somebody? Of course. Many people recognize me, or take a look at me, and something between awe and stupidity sets in. I account for that. I've survived the fall of civilizations; I can be charming. What I won't apologize is for doing things I must do, whether it simply upsets you or ends up killing people you knew, and all the permutations in between. My role in this miserable life that never ends is ensuring humanity survives. Nobody apologizes to me for saddling me with that responsibility. You know what really ticks me off? Questions like this one. Sorry!
@sfwrtr sandy soil is something I absolutely do not have. I could try fern mix in pots maybe? The garden is a clay bog with a thin layer of soil that I have painstakingly created.
@CaraBruar Adding sand to our clay soil did the trick, but you don't want to mess with your biome or buy a truckload. I have a wooden cart, and I grew a dozen of them.
#WordWeavers 2406.03 — Who is your most creative character?
In the sense of one of my creations being uniquely different? I have one who character who interacts with the spirits of a few people and aliens who have died over the course of the two SF novels, but in the end it's difficult to decide whether the spirits were "real" or if the shaman is simply insane. In another set of novels, the main POV is able to rewrite reality (but not history) by application of will, but doesn't really understand the process or the implications. It takes a couple of books for her to fully understand she's being used, then she has to fix what she's been tricked into doing.
In the sense of the character being a creative? Being creative isn't often important in my stories, but my characters have things they do beyond what is necessary for the stories. Almost all my characters cook, and at least one of them cooks for a party that proves pivotal to the story (the shaman above). Caramelo in Inklings is a "spirit" photographer. It's important for the story as the MC wants to get him a job because she finds his work amazing. His artistry allows me to add a visual component to how the magic flows in the story.
I include CWs if the publisher or host requires them (Mastodon does) keeping to the spirit of the requirement. Beyond that, I refuse to impose my opinions on the matter upon any author, other than to point out that you dismiss this topic, and its implications for finding and retaining an audience for you work, at your own personal risk.
#PennedPossibilities 335 — Do you use metaphors in your writing? What are some examples?
Yes. But it took a question like this to think to quantify it: A lot less than I thought. Going through three different stories (recent works), I found that I rely on simple description and simile most of the time. After 10 minutes, I couldn't find anything suitably florid or particularly interesting to relate.
The devil-girl is at heart a control freak; she's just not mean or unpleasant about it. Depression results when she's stymied in finding how to control problematic situations from which she cannot escape, which usually ends up with her trying crazy and dangerous things to bully her way through.
But...
If it the situation puts people at risk and she can't do anything about it...
She did have a mental break one time, where she failed to harm herself.
Another time... well, her employer died, though it was because her employer became too stupid to live. She has enduring PTSD, and it's not because of her too young age. It's that she's was raised to be responsible and doesn't know how to let go.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 10 June Messiah Nbr 01 — Intro and update: Introduce yourself and/or update us on your writing journey since your last intro.
[With a slight context change, this retread says it all, so why the flap not...? —R.S.]
Hi. I'm R.S. I'm addicted to sugar... Wait. Cough. What I meant to say is that I write #gender fiction, thus the initials. I don't reveal who I am so as not to add subtext to my writing.
My objective is to write female characters who overcome and deal with the strictures of their society, whatever that may be. You know, those stories that make you think of why needing to write such stories should even be necessary. (#Feminist author writing #SF, #fantasy, and increasingly #romance.) I neither avoid nor actively seek to write otherwise diverse characters—racially, sexually, ethnically, or monstrous—and males pay a price to attend, but I have written them all anyway. Characters have a way of presenting themselves at the stage door and refusing to leave. I've written a gay male romance side story. A trans man showed in a high fantasy. That my current MC's roommate is also apparently bi just is, and how it plays out is just what it is, too. No drama.
Having been brought up with diversity (and my bipolar stepfather brought home strays) makes me want to depict diversity as normal and everyday. Do I try to make political points with such characters? Not so much as I might with female characters. In the end, I write allegory. Societies ills are legion. The solutions are diverse. No need to be in your face; you should enjoy the ride. My stories sneak up on you and then, oh, is it really that simple?
I've posted numerous samples of my writing in the 750 word range. Many are excerpts from my two return to commercial writing projects, Reluctance and Inklings. I've pinned some to my profile, but you can search with the tag #RSReluctanceStory and #RSInklingsStory, too. I also write some fan fiction under another alias. If you ask, I may reveal that via private mention.
#PennedPossibilities 333 — Pride Month Edition: Do you write any characters who are a part of the #LGBTQIA+ community?
My objective is to write female characters who overcome and deal with the strictures of their society, whatever they may be—stories that make you think of why needing to write such stories should even be necessary. (#Feminist author.) I neither avoid nor actively seek to write otherwise diverse characters, but I have written them anyway. Characters have a way of presenting themselves. I've written a gay romance side story for my current main WiP arc. I wrote a short story accepted for a trans fantasy anthology that sadly never got published because the publisher went under. That my MC's roommate is also apparently bi just is, and how it plays out is just what it is, too. No drama. Having been brought up with diversity makes me want to depict diversity as normal and everyday. Do I try to make political points with such characters? Not so much as I might with female characters.
When to a magic store, but there was no real magic, just slight of hand. Now I got a Mai Tai at a party. Mostly, two types of rum with a little juice. Now I'm feeling something... Magic? Hehehe.
#WordWeavers 2405.31 — Do your MCs enjoy games that are more physical or intellectual?
Wintereyes has never heard of... What did you call that? Games? She'd be interested in learning more about Township people if you would be willing to teach her.
The devil-girl is familiar with the concept of games, and she's done role playing games—as in trying to act the part of various people she might deal with in social situations (estate parties) or in real life (tenant farmers, officials, miners, petty rulers, etc.) Doing well meant she'd face less anxiety when hosting or negotiating with real people. Social anxiety was one of the many reasons she would later run away.
Things like board games or sports games? She wouldn't see the point. She was a prizefighter. Though people considered it a sport, that was never a game for her. It was how she would earn tuition and hone her fighting skills, and get sucked into the mob.
So physical or intellectual? She'd definitely enjoy physical games better.
#PennedPossibilities 331 — Has your MC ever desired the feeling of a fresh start, or a better understanding of themselves and / or the world around them?
Yes. Disappearing and starting fresh is a recurring theme with her. She's done it a few times.
My devil-girl values her freedom to pursue her interests (thaumaturgy) over practically anything. But for a single book, she has no attachments to anything material. She lives as an ascetic. Threaten her people and it won't end well. She will do most anything, if she feels she is learning or stretching herself. And, when she's pressured to do what annoys or bores her, or you have the temerity to threaten her, she will state clearly that she will disappear on your ass if you don't stop. No idle threat, that. She ended up running the syndicate when the Doña died (and no comment about who was responsible for the Doña's death), then ghosted the organization two weeks later taking nothing with her. She'd gotten rid of the undesirables first and was just sooo done with it all the flapping headaches.
#PennedPossibilities 330 — How does your MC go about expressing or not expressing their sexuality? CW: Sexuality?
Intellectually? Tactically?
She was reputed to have the kiss of death, but that gets ahead of that she used it to control the Doña's underlings in the mob. She even arranged for her own teacher, a mob lieutenant, after she'd throughly studied for the test and felt she was ready. She didn't kill him, don't worry! She found she enjoyed kissing, and used it aggressively on men (and women) as a tool until she discovered the whole thing could be fun—then incidentally found herself "expressive" with two boyfriends in two days.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 9 Nbr 30 — How do you achieve a sense of wonder in your stories? CW: Intimacy
I don't have a formula, and it isn't something I try to create arbitrarily. It's usually written by accident (or incidentally), and almost always requires tuning of the found passage to make it truly wondrous. It's the right words in the right order. [Not helpful, R.S.!] If anything, wonder is usually tied up with emotion, a sense of achievement, or something well deserved, maybe even something so perfectly crafted by people or nature that it would make a person stare or feel goosebumps. However, I find simply being human can evoke the best sense of wonder—for example:
I woke to dawn rays filtering through lace draperies. A cool jasmine-scented breeze tussled the soft fuzz on my arms and brought the sounds of twittering robins and sparrows. My bombastic bedmate had not molested me. Perhaps she had heard me when I said I preferred men. That, however, did not prevent her from snugging up to me in her sleep.
I grew aware of warmth against my back. I commended myself for not flinging myself from the bed like a crazy person this time, but instead lifted my head and looked back. She lay there, sheets kicked off by one of us, her golden back against my paler one, making us a pair of Cs. Her usually poofy hair matted against her face and spread out in night-sweat glued-together curly tresses across her pillow. She snored imperceptibly, and somewhat daintily for such a large-boned woman.
When I shimmied to break contact, she began to shiver. Even after I gently replaced the sheets over us, she continued. She twitched. After a few moments, I heard the faintest whimper.
I lay my head on the pillow and felt bad. I shimmied back, until our skin made contact. In a minute she quieted and fell deeply asleep. I didn't move. Didn't want to. Because, I knew. She had felt terribly alone—worse, I realized, so had I.