@hawksquill@writing.exchange
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

hawksquill

@hawksquill@writing.exchange

You can usually find me writing, reading, watching tv, eating delicious food, playing board games and ttrpgs, pondering the past, serving as squire to my two cats, and finding joy in creating - everything from novels to soap to zines to fan fiction.

Leftist bisexual trans-inclusive feminist living with anxiety.

Avatar: A cartoon purple owl with some white feathers.

Header: Space photography shot of a galaxy. The primary color is purple, with some pink, white, blue, and black.

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

hawksquill, to random
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

My favorite genre of media really is just "cozy amongst the ruins."

Not exactly dystopian, more like post-post-apocalyptic. Like everything's just collapsed. And that's okay.

hawksquill, to 3goodthings
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

#3GoodThings

  1. Finished my #StationEleven rewatch, which firmly solidified its place in my top three shows of all time.

  2. Cuddles with my cat.

  3. Even though I really didn't want to, I managed to drag myself out of my depression pit to walk in the lovely spring weather while listening to my gay little pop music. It did, in fact, help.

Life isn't always easy, but I'm lucky that it's not usually that hard to think of three good things.

@3goodthings

hawksquill, to animals
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

I love when he stands like a little man.

A black cat with a rounded fuzzy little tummy stands on his hind legs on the back of a sofa. He has stuck half his body under a window blind so he can look out the window. He is turned to look at the camera with one green eye visible.

hawksquill, to 3goodthings
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

#3GoodThings

The cherry blossoms are blooming ๐ŸŒธ

A quick, cozy visit with my cousin โ˜•

A visit to a witchy thrift store โœจ

@3goodthings

hawksquill, to animals
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

We must have at least three points of physical contact at all times. Every time I move, he forcefully presses his chin back into my hand as if correcting my poor form ๐Ÿ˜‚

hawksquill, to random
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Today I wrote 1,800 words, more than I've written in weeks. There's something about an achievable deadline, a word limit, and a loose prompt that gets my brain achurning and my fingers atyping.

Maybe I should break my novel projects up into mini themed challenges with deadlines, to try to hack my brain?

#AmWriting #WritingCommunity

hawksquill, to 3goodthings
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

#3GoodThings

The weather was warm enough that I could take a walk on my break.

Spontaneous dinner at a new restaurant in town.

Stopped at a board game cafe and rented a game I've been meaning to try for a while. If I'm honest, I'll probably just end up buying it, but I'm looking forward to a few playthroughs this weekend!

@3goodthings

hawksquill, to boardgames
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

One of our favorite casual #BoardGames is Castles of Mad King Ludwig. You play as the builders of a castle whose king has eccentric and ever-changing priorities.

The asymmetrical mixture of public and secret win conditions makes for a different dynamic each game. Players also take turns setting the prices for rooms, which adds a fun element of social deduction.

Usually the castles end up looking completely wonky, but I think today's were only mildly illogical ๐Ÿ˜‚

@boardgames

hawksquill, to bookstodon
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

My 2024 reading thread is below!

Book 1: On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

5 stars

Stunning art, lovely found family, and a fun sci fi setting, all while managing to strike the perfect balance between cozy and yearning.

@bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 2: Going Postal by Pratchett

4.25 stars

I enjoyed this! It features a loveable rogue who's quite different from the usual Pratchett protagonist, top tier satire of corporate greed and bureaucracy, plus a compelling romance. And my beloved golems make an appearance! I enjoyed the depiction of radical activism that doesn't rely on laws or government entities, a nice departure for the setting. Marked down for a pretty fatphobic joke, unfortunately.

#bookstodon #AmReading @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 3: The Girl in the Tower by Arden

4.5 stars

A strong sequel! I loved that this one focused more on the real world history and politics, but there was still plenty of folklore. I'm not really reading for the romance, but it was suitably in the background and compelling. I love a good cross-dressing narrative, and there were some twists that genuinely made me gasp! This trilogy is really tempting me to try learning Russian against my better judgment.

#Bookstodon #AmReading @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 4: Winter of the Witch by Arden

3.5 stars

Unfortunately, there was a noticeable dip in the quality of the prose. The plot wasn't engaging and was weirdly nationalist. But I enjoyed seeing the characters' stories resolve.

Sometimes I suspect that an author has been forced to change their book to make it sellable - a forced trilogy, a certain kind of romance, a jawdropping revelation about the MC's parentage, etc. It makes me wish I could see their true vision for the story.

@bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 6: North Woods by Mason

4.5 stars

My first ebook of 2024. I really loved both the concept and execution of this. Mason's prose is strong and chameleonic across the different chapters. I found several of the characters extremely compelling, though the ending was too neatly symmetrical. It's my one major gripe with the entire "interlocking stories" lit fic subgenre. Still a compelling experiment in combining historical fiction and ecofiction.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 7: Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

5 stars

The most impactful nonfiction I have read in a long time. An informative deep dive into some unsavory corners of the internet combined with an examination of the cultural significance of doppelgangers. It has led me to reframe some of my assumptions about conspiratorial thinking and the intertwined nature of various historical and modern oppressions. Feels like a political therapy session: raw but productive.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 8 of 2024: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris

5 stars

I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. Gorgeous art, a compelling mystery, two fascinating historical settings, queer themes, nuanced characters, and a loveable child protagonist who feels painfully real. It ends on a cliffhanger, but luckily I only have to wait a few months for the sequel!

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 9 of 2024: Silence by Endล

4 stars

As an agnostic, this meditation on faith and suffering was interesting and sometimes frustrating. The prose was sparse but quite lovely, and I enjoyed the epistolary passages. I found the protagonist self-absorbed and unlikeable, though that was probably intentional. I would have enjoyed a deeper dive into the colonialist implications, as well as the hybridized form of Japanese Christianity which is only hinted at.

#Bookstodon @bookstodon #AmReading

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 10 of 2024: Ammonite by Nicola Griffith

5 stars

This book truly has it all: feminist sci fi, compelling characters, a mysterious virus, a spy plot, a sweet queer romance, and anti-capitalist, anti-colonialist politics. I've also read Griffith's medieval historical fiction and it was so fun to see her tinkering with similar themes in a completely different setting. A sequel seems unlikely at this point, but I live in hope.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 11 of 2024: The Art Thief by Finkel

4 stars

I enjoy nonfiction about cultural heritage crimes because it's basically low stakes, less violent and gendered true crime. The bare bones of the story are compelling: a working class amateur art connoisseur who steals art at an astonishing pace for several years. I was intrigued by the short passages on the psychology of art theft and personal art collections, so am looking forward to mining the bibliography.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 12: The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life

5 stars

One of the best biographies I've ever read. Carlisle is a philosopher, which provides a rich lens for analyzing Eliot's life and work. She articulates things about Eliot's style and influences that I've sensed but been unable to verbalize. I identified with the way Eliot's creative life was shaped by her simultaneous awareness of her own talent, self-doubt, and shame about her ambition.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 13 of 2024: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

4 stars

This was a lovely cozy fantasy with some truly funny moments and creative trope subversion. The characters were deeper, the themes more complex, and the world building more interesting than I was expecting from the fluffy marketing. At the outset I wasn't sure whether I'd bother reading the sequel, but I certainly want to now!

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 14 of 2024: The Other Wind

5 stars

Only a true genius could dedicate an entire book to addressing the plot holes of her own setting. Le Guin confronted these contradictions, saw the pain and oppression at the root of them, and used them to craft a beautiful narrative of reconciliation.

I'm dealing with several losses, so the book's focus on the naturalness and necessity of true death, without resurrection or afterlife, has been very cathartic.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 15 of 2024: Making Money by Pratchett

4.25 stars

Another strong installment with several of my favorite characters from the series. Some withering satire about banks along with my beloved golems, a compelling villain, a fun romance, and some good old clownery. Unfortunately I thought there was one subplot too many, but it's forgivable when Pratchett is just so good.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 16 of 2024: Prophet Song by Lynch

4.5 stars

Not for the faint of heart, but I'm glad I read this. A brutal stream-of-consciousness portrayal of the rise of a far right regime and refugee crisis from the POV of an average mother. It's shameful that it only received so much attention because it's set in a western, white country, although I know this was Lynch's intention. The prose is an acquired taste; it mostly worked for me but was sometimes a little belabored.

#Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 17 of 2024: Unseen Academicals by Pratchett

3.75 stars

This one was a mixed bag for me. I really loved some of the characters and thought a few of the arcs were perfectly executed, but there was simply too much going on. It's the longest Discworld novel and felt much too long, particularly at the end. I loved the working class characters but found the racial politics surprisingly regressive for Pratchett. I did learn a lot about football, though.

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 18 of 2024: Illuminae Files_01 by Kaufman & Kristoff

4 stars

I expected garden variety sci fi romance and this surpassed those expectations. Lots of well-paced twists and turns with interesting characters and themes. The romance was a little flat for me, but the innovative art design is what truly shines. The most stylistically interesting book I've read in a long time. I never thought I'd read an ergodic YA novel, but I'm very glad to be proven wrong!

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

hawksquill,
@hawksquill@writing.exchange avatar

Book 19 of 2024: Gemina by Kaufman and Kristoff

4.5 stars

A rare case where the sequel is better than the first book! I found the romance in this one more compelling, and the characters a little better-drawn and realistic. The ergodic elements continued to be interesting and well-integrated with the visual design. Several plot twists made me gasp aloud. I'm now impatiently waiting on my library hold for the final book in the trilogy to come through!

#AmReading #Bookstodon @bookstodon

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • โ€ข
  • megavids
  • rosin
  • InstantRegret
  • ethstaker
  • DreamBathrooms
  • mdbf
  • magazineikmin
  • thenastyranch
  • Youngstown
  • everett
  • slotface
  • osvaldo12
  • khanakhh
  • kavyap
  • anitta
  • Durango
  • vwfavf
  • GTA5RPClips
  • cubers
  • tacticalgear
  • tester
  • cisconetworking
  • ngwrru68w68
  • Leos
  • normalnudes
  • provamag3
  • modclub
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •