@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

sfwrtr

@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe

RS, pronounced /är' əs/. Professional #SF #fiction writer coming back from burn-out. Writes character-driven #SFF (science fiction #fantasy) and some #fanfiction (#MLP). #ClarionWest 98 graduate. #SFWA life member. Studied non-western culture, #folklore, and #mythology. #Feminist #Writer and #Author in the #WritingCommunity amongst the #WritersOfMastodon.

Goals: Return to paid publication. Provide interesting content for followers. Make friends; attract colleagues. See intro post for more...

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

emerybrooks, to random

Happy to say as of today I've found new employment with an excellent small company that I felt good vibes from the moment I first walked in there. 🎉

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@emerybrooks Ah. But did you tell them you're an author? You'll know if it's truly a great place if they support word-addicts like us.

Congrats, btw!

Ruth_Mottram, to random
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org avatar

How to use Mastodon

Lots of people have asked me about mastodon, and lots of people have said they've found it difficult. SO I wrote a post, because I believe we should think carefully about where and how we engage, and who benefits.

With big thanks to @feditips
@micron

and many others for the suggestions

http://sternaparadisaea.net/2023/10/04/how-to-use-mastodon/

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Ruth_Mottram @feditips @micron Bookmarked for sharing. Thanks.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@Ruth_Mottram @feditips @micron Yeah, as a way to point out it isn't so hard to use. However, I have fielded some complaints and had a hard time myself in the beginning, but for a good buddy that pretty much held my hand. It's funny, though, having used it for almost a year now, it's actually really easy! Thanks for the article.

hakirsch, to random
@hakirsch@furries.club avatar

I feel like some people don’t like the idea of a national alert system like the USA just tested and I’d like to hear why because it seems smart?

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@hakirsch When I heard that sound today I thought, "How many unfortunate people are about to get the hell beat out of them."

The biggest issue I've read centers around it alerting abusers that the abused has a secret cellphone they use for their own safety. I know my iPhone has setting to turn off Amber alerts, as well as emergency alerts or turn off the sound on the same. Not sure if that disables the national alert. Don't know if the setting is available on the cheapest phone.

#emergencyalert #nationalalert

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@hakirsch Well said. Every innovation has a dark side. I've been seeing the warnings to the abused a lot recently, even in the hashtags we both participate in. I'd certainly like to know if I'd turned off the setting I cited it would have mute this "boss monster" of alerts. If the FTC made a requirement that muting was possible and easy (I don't know, maybe it did), I'm sure manufacturers would lobby against it and conspiracy theorists would mute it and miss the very emergencies they are hoping to take advantage of...

amberage, to random
@amberage@eldritch.cafe avatar

what the FUCK is the new Thunderbird UI. burn it with fire.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@amberage Uh, oh. I haven't being updating TB for a while. Maybe I shouldn't?

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@amberage Sadly, it seems I picked the new UI up at some point. Fortunately you can hide things like the side bar on the left. I now remember doing so. Ridiculous, agreed. I'd love it if'n they'd just fix things like a modal dialog box that pops up when you press Get Message to tell you it is already getting messages. That's what the twirly (which isn't running always during get messages) and the status bar are for. Every so often I try to report these things, but the information requirements for registering for bug reporting for TB always dissuade me from signing up to do it. You can customize some of the excess away, and I've done so.

evacide, to random
@evacide@hachyderm.io avatar

If you live in the US, today is a good day to contact your congressional representative about opposing KOSA.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/get-real-congress-censoring-search-results-or-recommendations-still-censorship

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@evacide Thank you. I did. I wrote:

"As a voter in your electoral district, please reject and publicly oppose the Kids Online Safety Act. (KOSA). It damages children's right to know and learn by forcing search providers to restrict everything they think anyone might object to avoid litigation. The resulting censorship will be extreme. The unintended consequences of this legislation far outweigh its laudable goals."

charliejane, to random
@charliejane@wandering.shop avatar

As someone who strongly supported Elizabeth Warren's run for president, I'm utterly devastated that she's signed on to co-sponsor the Kids Online Safety Act.

I cannot believe that she would throw LGBTQIA+ people under the bus like this. If this bill passes, we'll be cleansed from the internet entirely, at a time when our voices and our communities are more important than ever.

They're claiming KOSA has been fixed — it hasn't been.

sfwrtr,
@sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

@charliejane I did something about it. I wrote to my representatives the following:

"As a voter in your electoral district, please reject and publicly oppose the Kids Online Safety Act. (KOSA). It damages children's right to know and learn by forcing search providers to restrict everything they think anyone might object to avoid litigation. The resulting censorship will be extreme. The unintended consequences of this legislation far outweigh its laudable goals."

walfischbucht, to ilaughed German
@walfischbucht@norden.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @walfischbucht Twenty centuries of ship design in one picture. Very nice.

    sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    #WordWeavers 10.4 — Character development, world-building, plot - how much attention do you pay to each?

    A lot. They're all important, however I typically start with a treatment that includes the beginning, the ending, the idea, and what motivates the character(s) to do what they are initiating. I'm a pantser. Unless the worldbuilding or characters come pre-defined from a presequel or a series, the rest is strictly build-as-I-go. I iterate back through story, backfilling all my discoveries.

    #BoostingIsSharing
    #CommentingIsCool

    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

    sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    Ch 2 #4 — How do you write the time? In text or numbers? Both? Why?

    Numbers, rarely text. I probably should use "five" instead of "5" when characters are talking about approximate time, but thinking about it makes me pretty sure I just like to be consistent in representation.


    sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    #PennedPossibilities 91 — How do your characters want to be seen by others? What image do they wish to portray?

    [The MC] Her first choice is invisible, not seen, not noticed by others. Mostly, she wants to be left alone to study her books and perform the ever better miracles she seeks out and learns about.

    Since she isn't left alone, she tries to portray herself as competent (and typically is), but as someone you don't what to f— with (and you don't), the paradigm of a pejorative devil-girl.

    How she really wants in her heart to be seen by others is as /exceptional./ Praiseworthy. Praise her for something she's earned and her smile may blind you.

    #BoostingIsSharing
    #CommentingIsCool

    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

    sfwrtr, (edited ) to 13thFloor
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    10.3 — Vengeance

    I drummed my fingers on the table beside her open grimoires. Not facing the bully, I turned my eyes toward the blonde, taking in her arrogant smile. She'd gotten me to do what she wanted. She held her wand steady, and the tip glowed like hot iron. "And that's all I need to do? I can't believe you're helping me like this after all we've been through..."

    The bucket-full of water and me being hit by said bucket falling off the shelf above the door. The vanishing ink pen I used on a test. The worms in my box lunch. Other things. But I was also a T.A. Some responsibilities where inescapable.

    I did volunteer to help Jill.

    I wanted to laugh at the "we" in that last sentence, but sighed instead. She was predictable. Very predictable. "The mnemonic, the equations, the visualization. Spot on. It balances and your wand indicates that."

    "So all I have to do is say what I want to conjure?"

    Predictable. I didn't grin. Instead I switched to French, hopeful. "/Tu m'emmerdes avec tes questions!/"†

    She blinked. "Merde? Isn't that French for—"

    With magic you really need to be specific about where to target a spell affect and what you're asking for. She'd been specific about neither.

    Where your wand is pointing is the default. Her's pointed above her head.

    The spell understood what she wanted enough that the closest source proved to be the horse stables. I could see it out the dorm room window. The spell mucked every stall.

    A load of small round spheres crashed down around her, bouncing off her head and bounding around the room. I squealed reflexively and jumped away.

    I doubled over leaning against the door, laughing despite the smell. For her part, the bully sat stunned. Her expression wanted to be a smile. She had succeeded, after all. She also knew she'd been made the fool.

    Exiting out the door was the better part of valor. I grabbed the nob.

    "/Amélie/," came a growl.

    =-=-=-=-=
    † "You're so annoying with your questions!" Literally: "You're shitting on me with your questions."



    sfwrtr, (edited )
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    #Writever 10,4 — Crime

    I stood under the cover of the glass bus kiosk roof, watching on a cloudy, drizzly day. Traffic splashed through puddles in the street. My breath condensed and warmed my cheek. Yes! I saw a man in a black macintosh without a hat rushing toward the newsstand. I walked out behind him, my footsteps slapping wetly. He caught the attention of the grizzled guy running the place.

    "The short one's sell the best. You can drop it in a pocket..."

    Keeping my back to the pair, I passed by the long stand on my left, lifted a copy of /The Inquisitor/ off the top of the stack, and stuffed it under my right arm. I raised my left hand in a lackadaisical wave that wouldn't be seen by the proprietor, but would make me seem a regular with a tab to anybody watching.

    I hummed a tune, wondering if someone might leave a to-go cup of coffee or tea unattended. Three cafés in this block alone...

    A large form stepped in front of me from the doorway of a tailor. I dodged left to go around him, but the living wall sidled in front. Blinking, trying to look like any businessman rushing to the office, I looked up into the constable's face. He wore a blue cap. I could not miss the brass buttons or the copper badge. Only the dampness of the day hid that I suddenly sweat. My hands, especially. My heart raced.

    I asked, "Um. Yes, officer?" Innocently. At least my voice didn't betray me.

    He held out a beefy hand. His eyes were dark, maybe brown? They were shadowed. His breath looked like smoke as it curled from his open mouth.

    I handed over the paper.

    "Thank you," he said, grinning. His 6 o'clock shadow blackened his jaw even though it wasn't 9 AM, yet. He stepped around me and I turned to follow his path.

    I saw him immediately pull out the sports section. He tossed the remainder into the wire-mesh rubbish bin he passed. He asked the newsstand proprietor, "Business good today?"

    The man behind the 'zines nodded grimly.

    #BoostingIsSharing
    #CommentingIsCool

    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #microfiction #RSstory

    sfwrtr, (edited )
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    #Writever 10.1 — Justice

    I. Could not. /Believe./ What I was seeing! As I pulled the wheels of my chair furiously to get to my van, risking the cracked and warped pavement of the sidewalk, I started shouting. "What are you doing!? What are you doing!?"

    The woman in a white uniform and a cap pressed a button. A white sheet like the tape on a adding machine ticked and jerked as it rolled out of her handheld ticket machine. Her eyebrow went up as she looked at me. She ripped it off and looked for a windshield wiper to tuck it into. I'd lost mine last winter. As I rolled up, she pealed off the backing and pasted it onto my windshield.

    In the middle. Where it would interfere with me driving. At least she didn't start to write me up for an equipment violation.

    "My handicapped sticker is up! What the f—"

    She shook her head, unintimidated, knowing I couldn't reach her stuck in my chair. She retreated to her shiny enclosed tricycle that stood there idling, white like her uniform, plastic like her smile. "You can't park in a red zone."

    "My van's broken down! It's not like I wanted—"

    "Ignorance of the law is no excuse," she said. The motorcycle engine sounded derisive as she rumbled off.

    #BoostingIsSharing
    #CommentingIsCool

    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #microfiction #shorts #ShortStory #shortstories #flashfiction #tootfic #smallstory #RSstory

    elysegrasso, to random
    @elysegrasso@historians.social avatar

    #WritersCoffeeClub 4. How do you write the time? In text or numbers? Both? Why?

    The primary cultures I'm writing about have both clock towers and church bells. Figuring out how many times a day they ring is still on my to-do list.
    Might do named liturgical hours for the church bells and something derived from them but less tied to astronomy for the Guilds' Hall...
    They definitely both ring very early in the morning, possibly at dawn. I'm not sure whether they diverge later in the day.

    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @elysegrasso I've had that type of thing happen and it is scary when the whole house of cards threatens to collapse. Here's to hoping the story doesn't hinge on something like somebody having a heat stroke but the actual day is during the dead of winter!

    VacantInside, to random

    For cybersecurity awareness month I’m offering to review your passwords. Just take a picture of the Post It Notes on your screen and send them to me

    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @VacantInside This sounds phishy.

    NaraMoore, (edited ) to Yuri
    @NaraMoore@sakurajima.moe avatar

    Anime Review: Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou (I'm in Love With the Villainess)

    This is something I have been looking forward to for months. The ILTV books are so funny and yet so serious. But could the anime even come close to matching them? I’ve had this experience before waiting for a beloved story turned anime and being disappointed.

    Not this time. Eight minutes into the show, I was in danger of dying of food inhalation. I literally had to stop eating.

    WataOshi is funny, the art is wonderful, and the voice acting superb. This is a 10/10 on all counts.

    Since I am duty bound (Rae would never forgive me if I failed in my duty) to find a fault with it.

    Here we go: since it absolutely can’t be accused of being yuri bait (Rae has declared her love within seconds of the show’s start) I will have to listen to bloggers spouting about how Rae should have been male or some other claptrap.

    Sorry Rae, I can’t do it 10/10. Claire-sama you can step on me next.

    #WatashiNoOshiWaAkuyakuReijou #ILTV #WataOshi #IAmInLoveWithTheVillainess
    #Review #AnimaReview #yuri

    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @NaraMoore Taking your recommendation. I'm in Love with the Villainess seems like a different take on the concept in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom, but it is indeed fun. I hope the F/F match-up is real, not frivolous. Thanks! The only problem is that it just started on Crunchyroll, which means I have to wait a week between episodes. 😢​

    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @NaraMoore Yay! It's definitely in the watchlist now.

    I recently finished watching /Ayakashi Triangle/, which also had interesting gender themes and innuendo satire (you'll see if you watch it). In the end what could have been delightful F/F acceptance, where the love of person inside mattered far more than the out, it copped out. The story was so compelling and humorous and so strongly spoke about friendship despite what's outside, that I still recommend it.

    sfwrtr, to 13thFloor
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    #WritersCoffeeClub Ch 2 #3 — Should a writer have a face shot on their book cover or within their book

    As a reader, I appreciate such things, even when they are decades out of date. Mine would be only a decade out of date.

    As an author, I won't include mine, sorry. I write gender fiction and my gender identity potentially and irrevocably adds a subtext to everything I write. In the months of email exchanged between all the authors attending Clarion in my year, I adopted this pen name and carefully used gender-neutral pronouns. Most had guessed wrong, despite my neutrality. If a reader is determined to find out this information, they can, but I want it to be their choice. Should you decide to find out, I ask only that you please take a moment to see how your context changes. And, /please/, don't share.

    #BoostingIsSharing
    #CommentingIsCool

    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

    sfwrtr, (edited )
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @KorayKaratay

    "No[, a writer should not have a face shot on their book]. Because [the] book isn’t about author and cover should represent what the [b]ook contains." [#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 2 #3 ]

    Interesting. Your reply made me think, so thank you for that. I support you going with what you think is right for your books.

    I won't put my image in the book for the subtextual reasons I stated. Furthermore, I would ask a publisher not to require a portrait, even though they consider the cover advertising that is solely theirs to allocate in order to sell more copies. An author-portrait is an attempt by them to make me as an author into a publishing asset; it isn't wrong, either.

    However...

    I disagree that a book isn't about an author, and especially disagree if the book is fiction. At its root, a book is a fragment chipped painfully off of the author's soul. An author stuffs their a book full with their feelings, emotions, and all the messages they wish to communicate to the world. A story is brought to life by avatars of the author's personality, the good, the evil, the ugly, and the godly—all children of the author's mind: /their characters./ The choice of words, the abuse of grammar, the slang and the elocution, and all the rest map the way the author thinks, or reveal the masks the author wears to hide what they wish to censor but nonetheless let free subconsciously. A book is a snapshot of the author's deepest thoughts, fears, and hopes at a moment in time, frozen on the page as surely as an image is captured on film or an digital imager. Thus a book "represents" the author because is a distillation of an author's desire to communicate something to others, and it does.

    A picture is appropriate to include, if that is part of what the author wishes to communicate.

    #BoostingIsSharing
    #CommentingIsCool

    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

    skipscherer, to random

    Hello Mastodon! I'm a part time author who writes sci-fi. I run a martial arts school in my normal life. I have a beautiful wife, a fantastic daughter and two trouble maker dogs. 😁😊😂

    Looking forward to the interactions here.

    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @SusanHR @skipscherer
    I'd would recommend a few more hashtags of interest, to wit...

    Continuing content:
    #pennedpossibilities #writerscoffeeclub #writever

    Other writer's gather here:
    #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

    To be heard generically by authors:
    #fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author

    beatnikprof, to random
    @beatnikprof@mas.to avatar

    Is it possible to be surprised and not surprised at the same time?

    sfwrtr,
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

    @beatnikprof I have yet to write an program that a beta tester didn't break. Considering the demographics of programmers, I'm surprised the thing recognizes women.

    sfwrtr, to random
    @sfwrtr@eldritch.cafe avatar

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