Bern

Mechanical engineer. Wannabe novellist. Does noise control for a living. All round nerdy type.
Currently living on Turrbal/Jagera land on the southern side of Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia.

Public Key

npub1crzgkgpwh86clff30uuts2n9k579g6x6h64h3749ca9qa8k9p66s4fyd4t

NIP-05 Address

Bern@aus-social.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsvp3ytyqhtnav055ch7w9c9fjm20z5drdta2mcl2juwjswnmzsadgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dskmxxx9

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1crzgkgpwh86clff30uuts2n9k579g6x6h64h3749ca9qa8k9p66s4fyd4t

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Last Notes

2026-10-16 08:14:41 UTC

#WordWeavers for 16th October, 2026
16. What is one choice your MC made for the right reasons that ended up having terrible consequences?
I can’t say too much without spoilers, but Illara makes a choice at one point that directly leads to the deaths of some of the soldiers she meets. She pays a heavy emotional price for that mistake.

2026-09-03 22:48:33 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub for 4th September 2026
4. If you work digitally, what application do you use? If analog, what do you write on?
I use LibreOffice Writer and Scrivener. I like both. Scrivener is amazingly cheap software for what you get (and I’ve only scratched the surface in the six months I’ve owned it), and LibreOffice Writer is amazing considering it’s free! (I should really donate to that dev team, they do a great job).
I used to use Microsoft Word, but I dropped that like a hot potato the moment they embedded Copilot. I do not want any AI features in any software I use for writing.

2026-09-02 02:30:17 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 1116: What does your antagonist fear?
Fear is a thing prey do. We are not prey. You are prey. You will fear us.

2026-08-28 02:33:46 UTC

#WordWeavers for 28th August, 2026
28. What's one question you're still trying to answer about your story?
Will people buy it?
(I should probably actually publish it, then I might find out, eh? 😏)

2026-08-22 02:10:07 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub for 21st August 2026
21. What’s a mistake you see a lot of writers make when writing about people with your lived experience?
I tend to read mostly fantasy and sci-fi, so this question is not really relevant in many ways.
I am Australian, though, and I’m sure we’ve all seen some of the absolutely *atrocious* representations of Australians in various media.
I mean, we don’t spend *all* our time wrestling crocodiles and running from dropbears and murderbirds… sometimes we’re busy looking after our pet spiders!

2026-08-19 23:20:07 UTC

#WordWeavers for 20th August, 2026
20. If your story had a tagline, what would it be?
I honestly have no idea. Can I come up with something on the spot? Maybe something like this:
“When a demon is after your soul, staying safely at home isn’t an option.”

2026-08-11 01:17:27 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 1096: MC POV: When was the last time you got lost?
Illara: <shudders> That would have been when I was ten, and the horse pulling the wagon I was in bolted during a storm. I ended up in the ruins of Aenor Fel, running from goblins, giant spiders, and what I thought was a terrifying beast trying to eat me.
<Looks up at the dragon looming above her and smiles>
The 'beast' turned out to be the least of my problems that day.

2026-08-09 00:30:33 UTC

#WordWeavers for 9th August, 2026
9. What's the smallest detail you've researched for a story?
A difficult question to answer! I’ve researched so many things, many of which play such a minor part. Is it the types of shop signs in medieval cities? The climates in which tea grows? What sort of plants can be used to make paper? The optical properties of amorphous silica?
Those are just the ones that come immediately to mind. So many things! So many rabbit-holes to go down, instead of writing!

2026-08-08 04:49:14 UTC

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@nprofile…qjvn oh my, I forgot that complication! Having health insurance bound to employment is so... uncivilized! That was certainly a nice thing you did for your colleague!

2026-08-07 22:44:00 UTC

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@nprofile…qjvn I'll bet they were surprised! Many of them can't conceive of doing something that favours somebody else over yourself.

2026-08-07 14:30:55 UTC

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@nprofile…qjvn Not this time - I get to play in round six! (We haven't heard exactly who is going and who is staying yet, some of us are 'safe', the rest are just starting the game of musical chairs to decide who has a job at Christmas...)

2026-08-07 14:25:42 UTC

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@nprofile…qjvn It's the kind of psychopathy that leads the C-levels of my company to boast about the record profits for the quarter, while we're in the midst of yet another round of layoffs...

2026-08-05 12:09:05 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub for 5th August 2026
5. Share a small selection of something you wrote recently that you’re proud of.
I had an idea this morning, and jotted down some notes, including this scene, for my next planned work:
Cyrina’s eyes narrowed, and she turned her head slightly to speak over her shoulder, keeping her eyes fixed on the prelate.
“Captain Johrel, Prelate Samel appears to be having difficulty controlling his tongue. If it happens again, kindly relieve him of the problem by removing it.”
Samel’s eyes went as wide as saucers, and he shifted his gaze to Johrel just in time to see him draw a long dagger from the sheath at his belt.
“It will be my pleasure to assist the Prelate in this matter, my Lady,” Johrel said, his face grim as he took a step forward. Samel took an involuntary step back to match, and when he turned back to Cyrina, his face was white, and she was pleased to see his hands shake.
“You see how little power your gang of thugs has here, now,” Cyrina said. “You are fortunate that I have decided to let you leave alive, given the crimes your brotherhood has committed.” She stood, and stared down at him. “This audience is ended. If you are to be found within my fief at sundown, your life is forfeit.”
The corner of her mouth twitched upward. “It is seven miles to the Osker River, and it is already well past noon. I suggest you walk briskly.”

2026-08-02 05:09:59 UTC

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@nprofile…qjvn I'm certainly not complaining! It's the weekend, who cares if they come out on the 2nd? 😄
Some good Qs this month, thank you!

2026-07-11 14:22:36 UTC

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@nprofile…p9kg @nprofile…zjr5 I'd agree with this approach - and it's not too far off what I do. Write the ideas down, and see which ones inspire you to expand upon them further, whether that be more notes or the beginnings of drafting scenes. That might help you decide which way to go next (and give you a nice pool of ideas to either massage into the WIP, or keep aside for future projects).

2026-07-10 03:57:52 UTC

#WordWeavers for 10th July, 2026
10. Do you prefer writing characters more like you or vastly different?
Both. I’m sure a lot more of me than I realise bleeds into my characters, but I definitely write some who are not at all like me. All of them go into making the stories what they are.

2026-07-08 22:50:31 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub for 9th July 2026
9. How closely does your writing resemble that of the writers who inspire you?
Probably not very much at all, I’m afraid. My favourite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, Usula Le Guin, Iain M. Banks, and Terry Pratchett. I’d ultimately love for my work to be compared favourably to some of theirs, but I know it’s but a pale shadow of a reflection as of yet...

2026-07-06 22:50:35 UTC

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@nprofile…n93w QR codes for people to scan, *and* a lollipop bowl, nice! 👍

2026-06-28 22:40:07 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 29th June 2026
29. Is writing a lonely endeavor for you?
Not really, no. It’s a solo endeavour, but not a lonely one. I don't mind spending time writing by myself, and having discussions with friends and other writers about the process, about the craft, about the specific stories (or even individual characters or scenes) is quite enjoyable, for me.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2026-06-28 04:48:55 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 28th June 2026
28. Can a reader ever truly feel what a writer felt while writing?
Of course they can! However, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, emotional impact is in the mind of the reader. Some readers will interpret it just how the author intended, but many will not.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2026-06-27 23:52:03 UTC

Bought a new mug yesterday, so I can have a decent cuppa at last... 😁
#tea
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/116/824/738/953/352/335/original/d384c108c1d3e927.png

2026-06-24 07:18:57 UTC

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@nprofile…wjes absolutely! I'm finishing up book 6, based on an idea for a single encounter between what would become the MC and some people she stumbles across in a high mountain valley.
Multiple books still planned... (Possibly as many as eight more, but a minimum of four.)

2026-06-24 05:08:50 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 24th June 2026
24. Must you know the ending before you write the first line?
No.
As I pointed out yesterday, with some stories my starting point is just a single scene, detached from anything else – including endings!
Even where I think I have an ending, sometimes it ends up not being the ending, but coming partway through the story.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2026-06-24 05:08:22 UTC

WordWeavers for 24th June, 2026
24. Do you use or make maps in your writing process?
Mental maps, yes. I’ve sketched out some *very* rough maps to help keep things in place, but it’s mostly in my head – in quite some detail, in areas that are important to the story.
#WordWeavers

2026-06-04 11:12:56 UTC

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@nprofile…mn64 @nprofile…qjvn I thought it probably should be, but also thought I'd check. No big problem. Answers to either variant will be interesting.😄

2026-06-04 08:39:30 UTC

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@nprofile…mn64 @nprofile…qjvn Thank you so much for your efforts with these prompts. Coming up with my own answers, and reading others' responses, has really helped my writing over the last few years. And, of course, it's been a lot of fun! 😀

2026-06-04 07:56:12 UTC

Hey @nprofile…qjvn @nprofile…mn64 , for the question for the 8th, is that MS as in 'manuscript', or should it be 'MC'?
#Wordweavers

2026-05-26 03:31:24 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 26th May 2026
26. In what ways does your work defy expectation?
I never expected to actually be able to finish a novel, let alone be putting the final touches to my sixth!
#WritersCoffeeClub

2026-05-09 10:37:23 UTC

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@nprofile…n93w It definitely interests me enough that I'd be reading the rest of the first page to understand the context and meaning of that sentence.

2026-05-07 10:01:42 UTC

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@nprofile…mn64 I have to confess I rarely ever cut anything. If I think something isn't working, I re-write it so that it is.
Maybe that results in my prose being verbose or less 'punchy', but my test readers seem to like it, and I like it. When I eventually release something (the last few steps in that process is another problem I keep pushing forward onto future self!), I guess I'll see what a wider audience thinks of my approach.

2026-05-06 21:04:49 UTC

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@nprofile…mn64 I know at least part of the problem was that the way I drafted this story, I left myself with the knotty problem of sorting out the timeline - getting the various plot arcs properly temporally aligned. It was a tedious bit of work that I didn't want to tackle, but that's mostly done, and I'm feeling much better about it now.
I'm at the stage of running through the chapters and giving each one a polish (and filling in some placeholder names!) and then sending them out to a test reader for feedback, so I've definitely made some progress recently!
Of course, after filling in some names, I now have more ideas for some of the character arcs I didn't really explore previously, so last night's polishing effort added another 700 words... 😏

2026-05-06 10:20:48 UTC

WordWeavers for 6th May, 2026
6. What writing-related challenges have you encountered recently?
Lack of motivation. I’ve wanted to write, but when I get a chance to sit down at the PC, I’ve just not had the energy. I’ve enjoyed it when I’ve worked on it, and I’ve had some good ideas, but it’s the actual getting started that’s been difficult.
#WordWeavers

2026-05-03 09:49:01 UTC

WordWeavers for 3rd May, 2026
3. Tell us one thing you love about your story.
There are so many things I love about these stories I’m writing that it’s very difficult for me to pick just one.
So I’ll go with “I love the fact that I wrote a story that I love to read...”
(I looked back at the previous WIP this afternoon to check what I'd called a particular mountain range, and ended up reading half a dozen chapters!)
#WordWeavers

2026-04-19 23:10:34 UTC

WordWeavers for 20th April, 2026
20. What is your MC’s relationship to obtaining and preparing food?
Illara *loves* good food. She has an adventurous palate, and loves exploring new flavours. She also loves cooking them, and is a better-than-average cook, with a wide repertoire.
Not something she gets much opportunity for, lately, but hopefully that will change.
#WordWeavers

2026-03-29 09:52:54 UTC

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@nprofile…n93w That is *awesome*!

2026-03-28 21:34:46 UTC

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@nprofile…n93w @nprofile…t9xa they're all good, but I think the comma one wins for me. 😏

2026-03-26 21:13:06 UTC

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@nprofile…n93w Congrats on completing the plot arc!
Are you going to do something completely different, or are there... ideas... bubbling up in your mind for the same setting? 🤔
(I'm definitely in the latter category, currently working on book six of a standalone fantasy novel... 😏 )

2026-03-05 20:18:16 UTC

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@nprofile…p9kg "Those aren't plot holes, they're just sparkling credibility gaps. Plot holes only come from the Narrative region of France..."

2026-03-01 05:41:44 UTC

WordWeavers for 1st March, 2026
1. What is your greatest fear about your characters?
Ah, I jumped the gun and posted this yesterday, as it was on the Feb list. 🤦
Have my answer again:
That I don’t have the skill to do justice to their stories. These stories deserve to be told, hopefully I don’t screw it up too badly!
#WordWeavers

2026-02-22 05:28:36 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 22nd February 2026
22. Are there types of settings you avoid writing? Why?
Grimdark. I don’t find it entertaining to write about the worst of humanity.
You’ll not find any glittery vampires in my settings, either. Creatures who live by draining the life from other sentient beings are *not* nice people…
I’m not going to write historical fiction, either – primary due to lack of motivation for doing enough research to get it right!
#WritersCoffeeClub

2026-02-09 11:33:38 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 9th February 2026
9. Do you subscribe to ‘show, don’t tell’? Why, or why not?
No. Use whatever tools you have in your writing toolbox. The skill is in knowing when and how to use those tools, not whether to use them at all.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2026-02-04 02:45:04 UTC

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@nprofile…xrfx 🫂 Big virtual hugs sent your way.

2026-02-03 00:15:35 UTC

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@nprofile…xrfx It's always hard to say goodbye to them. 🫂

2026-02-03 00:03:18 UTC

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@nprofile…mn64 @nprofile…qjvn @nprofile…s9qc Bonus questions for the best month of the year, right? 😉

2026-02-02 11:38:44 UTC

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@nprofile…qjvn I like the questions this month - good work, as usual! But when do we answer the bonus questions?

2026-01-25 23:53:48 UTC

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@nprofile…xrfx I have had several of these prompts result in additional scenes or plot threads. That's why I like doing them, they help me think about my stories in different ways.

2026-01-18 02:32:28 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 905 — Is your MC responsible for anyone other than themselves? How do they feel about this?
Ah, @nprofile…xrfx says they can't answer this truthfully without spoilers, and I'm definitely in the same boat!
Let's just say Illara is responsible for many things that she didn't even dream of only a few years before.
Mostly, she's okay with this. It's hard at times, but she has help, and she feels like it's a way she can make a real difference to the world.

2026-01-04 11:58:05 UTC

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@nprofile…n93w Learning the Australian national anthem at primary school, they didn't put the words up for us, just had a selected group of kids sing it to us, and we had to copy them.
For quite a while, I thought the opening line was something like "Australians all eat ostriches" instead of "Australians all let us rejoice".
I found it very confusing!

2025-12-31 06:13:13 UTC

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@nprofile…heqq I have no real😉 idea what hopepunk is, so I'm in for a learning experience either way!

2025-12-31 05:32:36 UTC

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@nprofile…heqq I'm not sure it's the type of book I'd normally like, but the snippets I've seen you post are interesting so I'm going to give it a go, and even if it's not entirely my cup of tea, it's good to stretch the mental envelope!
So much of my headspace around fiction is shaped by the books I read in my teens, and the local library was heavily into 'the greats' of 60s, 70s, and 80s SFF. Sometimes I worry my writing reflects that background too much. The only cure is to branch out more in my reading!

2025-12-31 04:16:21 UTC

WordWeavers for 31st December, 2025
31. Give another writer a New Year gift! Either buy their book or say something you like about them/their story/writing etc.
Well, there have been a few authors who post on here whose books look interesting to me, so I picked @nprofile…heqq and just picked up a copy of The Calling from the Kobo store to add to my TBR pile.
I should really spend a bit more time reading. I have eight or nine physical books on my bedside table (2 fic, the rest non-fic), and about a dozen ebooks on my Kobo Libra that I should get to.
(Don't ask me about the unread books that have made it to the bookshelves during a tidying frenzy... 😆)
#WordWeavers

2025-12-30 08:24:53 UTC

WordWeavers for 30th December, 2025
30. How has your writing been this year? Any achievements/wins/lessons you want to celebrate?
It has been much worse than last year. I finished two novels (~250k words) and a bunch of short stories last year, but this year I’ve had lengthy periods where life has gotten in the way and I’ve had little to no progress, and my tally is about 130k so far, give or take. But I’m still making progress, and I feel like this is going to be a good story when it’s done.
Just recently I've been trying to wrap my head around how to use Scrivener - I'm trying it out to see if it works well for my writing style. The jury is still out on that, but it's early days yet.
#WordWeavers

2025-12-22 23:27:35 UTC

WordWeavers for 23rd December, 2025
23. What’s the first and last line of dialogue for your MC?
In the current WIP, as it stands at present (the ending will likely be tweaked a little, the beginning is more ‘finished’):
“Thank you,” Illara said. She touched the frayed threads again and sighed once more. “It’s such a beautiful shirt. I know it will wear out eventually, but I don’t want that day to come!”
…
“Oh, so I could maybe have enough time to remove a glyph, if I cast one on it by mistake?”
(Yes, this does mean that another character gets the ‘Last Word’…)
#WordWeavers

2025-12-17 22:35:31 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 18th December 2025
18. Are there writing ‘traditions’ which ought to be preserved?
Probably.
“Writing should be done by actual writers, not automatic plagiarism machines” is a good place to start, IMHO.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2025-12-17 09:11:04 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 17th December 2025
17. Give a shout-out to a resource or site you think more writers should know.
Oh, there are many!
You all know Wikipedia, of course.
https://donjon.bin.sh/ can be useful for various things. It’s oriented toward TTRPGs, but as they’re just interactive fiction, many of the tools have writing-related uses.
Maps! This collection is amazing, if you want to look at old maps for inspiration: https://www.davidrumsey.com/
Doing some Conlanging? https://draquet.github.io/PolyGlot/ and https://www.zompist.com/kitlong.html
Writing some future sci-fi? This is a useful reference!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future
Doing some worldbuilding? Oh, so many resources to draw from, but here are a couple of interesting ones I’ve found over the years:
https://worldbuildingpasta.blogspot.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@Artifexian
#WritersCoffeeClub

2025-12-13 02:09:43 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 13th December 2025
13. What have you written for another writer?
Well, there are some of the snippets I’ve shared for WordWeavers, WritersCoffeeClub, and Penned Possibilities hashtags – some of those are extracts from the WIP, others were written in response to the prompts. There are the shorts I’ve written in response to the Wandering Shop Stories prompts. And a couple of other random Tootfics. My primary audience here is other writers, I think, so there you go, I’ve written them for other writers.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2025-12-08 23:39:22 UTC

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@nprofile…hve9 "And exposed in the light..."

2025-12-08 21:28:40 UTC

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@nprofile…zshf the last steps in the before and after categories seem the most critical... 😏

2025-12-06 14:05:56 UTC

WordWeavers for 6th December, 2025
6. What kind of food does your antagonist prefer?
Meat. Raw.
If its underlings don’t bring it prey, then one of them will do in a pinch.
#WordWeavers

2025-12-04 23:10:58 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 5th December 2025
5. What’s a no-longer popular trend in writing you’d like to see make a comeback?
- Paying authors well?
- The midlist?
- Retailers *cough*Amazon*cough* who care enough about copyright and moral rights to not sell blatant rip-offs and AI slop?
In terms of the actual prose – everything has its day. That’s not such a bad thing. And there’s usually a niche those older trends can still occupy, which is great for those who enjoy writing and reading them.
#WritersCoffeeClub

2025-12-03 23:08:48 UTC

WordWeavers for 4th December, 2025
4. What’s the worst thing about the world of your story?
That someone, somewhere, once figured out how to summon demons.
Very bad things have happened as a consequence of that one act. The reverberations are still echoing off the mountains thousands of years later, and this story will not signify their end (though as I’ve currently planned it, my current MC helps ensure that they die out permanently).
#WordWeavers

2025-11-30 13:42:18 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd ...I fail to see the problem here? 😆

2025-11-29 22:21:01 UTC

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@nprofile…t8tt @nprofile…3tmd I thought it looked familiar, but couldn't remember whether the duplicate was this prompt or one of the others I post (there have been duplicates - or very similar prompts - between them several times).
I don't mind at all, though. Sometimes my answers are different, due to having developed my world-building further.

2025-11-20 06:51:07 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd marketing is the primary reason I have hesitated for so long in self-publishing, and why I have submitted some of my work to traditional publishers (with no success so far).
It's also the part of my day job that I absolutely loathe. 😑

2025-11-17 09:16:54 UTC

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@nprofile…zshf my wife took our older kids to see it last year, and they really loved it. I didn't go, as I'm not a big fan of musicals, and our youngest wasn't at all interested at the time.
I'd say my favourite play I attended would have been a performance of one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld plays. One is the local theatre groups used to perform one every year, and they were very good for amateur players.

2025-11-11 01:21:41 UTC

Look, I know the 'sf' consonant cluster can be a bit tricky to pronounce, but 'sphere' is *not* meant to be pronounced 'sah-feer', mmkay?
#MyPetPeeve #CorporateLife

2025-11-06 04:52:02 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd I have used several of my responses to the various prompts as a starting point for scenes. They usually need some massaging to make them fit within the story proper, though, but why let the ideas go to waste?

2025-11-02 21:13:20 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd what is it about the coffins that makes them comfortable? Do they like being in a tightly enclosed space?

2025-11-01 10:00:05 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd a long night! Hopefully everything works out well.

2025-11-01 05:46:39 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd Oh dear! Hope everything turns out well.

2025-10-28 23:55:12 UTC

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@nprofile…zshf Woohoo! You made it!
Enjoy your trip, and come back to the writing refreshed!

2025-10-28 21:51:30 UTC

WordWeavers for 29th October, 2025
29. Pick your preference: drafting, editing, formatting, or marketing.
Drafting and editing are almost synonymous for me, but I’d put drafting first by a whisker. Formatting isn't that hard, really (I prepare so many documents for work it's no big deal for me), but it's definitely not my favourite. Marketing is so far down the list, I’ve not even gotten to the point of publishing anything yet!
#WordWeavers

2025-10-27 23:19:21 UTC

WordWeavers for 28th October, 2025
28. MC POV: How would you react if your best friend won the day instead of you?
Illara would be genuinely delighted and proud! She loves Hedy like a sister, and would be sure to correct anyone who mistakenly attributed their victory to her instead of Hedy.
#WordWeavers

2025-10-24 10:47:10 UTC

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@nprofile…zshf I definitely assumed it was for arcs in general. My stories generally only have one key plot arc, with a few sidings here and there.

2025-10-23 08:58:21 UTC

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@nprofile…as30 @nprofile…su4n Nothing wrong with bemoaning a shortage of time due to life pressures - we all get that! I got the sense it was more about people who essentially always find an excuse to not have written anything, yet claim to be a writer. If you're a writer, you'll squeeze in some time here and there - or you'll churn over story ideas in your head, ready for when you *get* some time to smash out the words (those can be *very* productive sessions!).

2025-10-20 03:46:07 UTC

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@nprofile…3tmd An intriguing thought. How do the vampires feel pain differently? I presume there is some lore that goes along with this?

2025-09-30 00:38:43 UTC

WordWeavers for 30th September, 2025
30. What author, from any time, would you want as a mentor?
This is a tough one to answer – or at least to narrow down to just one.
Based purely on the books I have thoroughly enjoyed reading, Terry Pratchett would be on the shortlist, and Ursula Le Guin. Then we’d start rattling off a laundry list of great writers of fiction, contemporary and not, so I think I’ll leave it at just those two.
#WordWeavers

2025-08-28 03:39:22 UTC

Chart just presented in a meeting had a beautifully smooth curve showing an accelerating decline in a particular measure.
The curve was built from exactly two data points.
🤦‍♂️
#LyingWithCharts #CorporateLife

2025-06-19 12:10:00 UTC

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@nprofile…ucc3 Oh, that's a really good suggestion that I wish I'd thought of!

2025-06-15 21:32:44 UTC

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@nprofile…8ewh @nprofile…ucc3 there's always time for a status update!
Q: How is your current WIP going? Anything you'd like to share about it?

2025-06-13 00:39:47 UTC

WordWeavers for 13th June, 2025
13. If your MC magically became a dog, what breed would fit them best?
There are some very unusual questions this month, that have asked me to think about my writing in ways that are completely alien to me. I like that, it stretches the mental muscles… 😁
As for the answer – I genuinely don’t know. It's really not something I've ever thought about - I'm not the kind of person who looks at someone and says "Oh, they're such a chihauha!" 😆 So I’m going to fall back on ‘dalmatian’, for no other reason than that I grew up with a dalmatian.
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2025-06-11 22:56:08 UTC

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@nprofile…ucc3 I had that feeling when I came up with an alternate ending for one of my stories. In the end, I went for a hybrid that (mostly) ended up in the same place as the original - mainly because I already had ideas for more stories that built upon it!

2025-06-11 21:18:45 UTC

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@nprofile…ucc3 yes and no - I only re-write when I think the first version doesn't work. Maybe I'll like the second version better. Or maybe writing it will give me the insight to figure out how to fix the first version. Or maybe I'll write a third version. 🤷‍♂️

2025-06-10 23:07:47 UTC

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@nprofile…jcdj It's certainly been a popular genre for many years! I've read very little of it, though.

2025-06-10 06:46:31 UTC

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@nprofile…jcdj apparently there are a few in folklore that date back at least hundreds of years (there are references in Icelandic as well as Transylvanian folklore, both about a school run by the Devil). The Murphy & Rowling versions are based on mid-20th century English boarding schools, of course.

2025-06-09 22:53:58 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 10th June 2025
10. Where is the line between homage and theft?
It’s not a bright hard line. For me, homage is “using your own ideas and story, but emulating the style of someone you admire”. Theft, in this context, I interpret as “using someone else’s story or ideas or characters, changing them a little bit, and claiming them as your own”.
For example, if I wrote a story using characters and setting I made up, but emulating Sir Terry Pratchett’s style (very badly, I’m sure), that would be homage.
On the other hand, if I were to write a story about a child from our world who learns there’s a secret hidden magical society, and that they actually have the ability to be a witch or wizard, and are subsequently enrolled in a boarding school to learn how to use magic, and have lots of adventures involving defeating evil characters, playing sports on broomsticks, and getting into trouble with the potions teacher… then I’d *clearly* be writing a rip-off of “The Worst Witch” by Jill Murphy. 😉
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2025-06-01 23:10:44 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 2nd June 2025
2. Do you write linearly? Why or why not?
Yes and no. When I’m in the early stages of developing a story, I will write notes & draft scenes for whatever parts catch my imagination and attention. I will jump all over the place here (sometimes including writing the very last scene, sometimes the very first). When it comes time to join the dots, I tend to move linearly through it – at that point it helps mould it into a coherent single story.
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2025-05-29 23:12:01 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 30th May 2025
30. Who do you write for?
Me, my family, and anyone else who likes a good story.
I know not everyone will like my writing. I’m fine with that – tastes differ. If some people like it, though, that’ll make me happy.
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2025-05-28 10:45:21 UTC

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@nprofile…gk57 it's standard reference levels from a German noise assessment standard, I think.
They really need to add cicadas for Australia, they're horrendously loud! 😆
(We see much quieter ambient noise levels when temperatures drop below about 15°C, because they stop singing then - at least in this part of the world)

2025-05-27 01:05:09 UTC

I have just discovered that the reference library in the noise modelling software includes a "sound power level for one chicken".
It's 47.6 dB(A), in case you were wondering, and the spectrum peaks at 2kHz.
A goose is 65.4 dB(A), and cows are up to 70.9, but the peak level gets up to 112.

2025-05-25 23:14:02 UTC

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@nprofile…6php @nprofile…9ruv ...as a cis-het male, I can honestly say that "Olympus Mons looks like a nipple" is not a thought that had entered into my head before today. 🤔
It just always looked like a mountain to me. More evidence of how differently we all see the world, I guess. 🤷‍♂️

2025-05-21 23:01:48 UTC

WordWeavers for 22nd May, 2025
22. If you could magically write a new genre really well, which genre would you choose?
I write fantasy, which covers just about anything you could imagine, by definition. It is often associated with ‘swords and sorcery’ type works, but of course there are many variations. I like the freedom it gives to do just about anything.
Can I please magically write in *this* genre really well? I don’t need a new one… 😉
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2025-05-09 21:38:02 UTC

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@nprofile…ucc3 nah, I don't think they need any training for that. 😆

2025-02-23 23:07:52 UTC

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@nprofile…8ewh @nprofile…ucc3
What gives your characters a sense of self-worth or meaning in their life?
What superpower would best suit your MC, in the context of their story?
What do your characters get nostalgic about? What triggers that?

2025-01-17 23:27:03 UTC

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@nprofile…ucc3 it's interesting, because I primarily write single-POV. I find it more interesting to explore the story from the POV of one character, and how they experience it.
My last WIP did have a long section (~5 chapters?) where I switched POV to a different character - primarily because I wanted to tell the story of what happened during that time period, and the MC was just sitting at home (for good reasons, but it still would have been a bit unexciting, to say the least 🙄)
And I've also written a number of vignettes / short stories looking at particular scenes or events from other POVs.
One of these days I'll write an actual multi-POV book. 😏

2025-01-05 23:12:53 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 6th January 2025
6. What’s your current writing project? How’s it going?
I have four novels and a novella I would like to polish to the point where I’m happy to release them to the world. I’d really like to revisit book 1, with the hindsight of another three novels and a novella set in the same world, and make sure it’s consistent with the world-building and character development I’ve done since then.
But I’ve also been impatient to write book 6 for some time now! I’ll probably dive into that sometime very soon. I have about 20k words of notes and draft scenes already, so I guess you could say I’ve already started on it? 😉
Update: I started on the prologue over the weekend (after I wrote the above), I couldn’t resist! I’ve written the first draft of the prologue and about half of chapter one so far, and a number of my vague ideas for minor characters and secondary plot lines for this story are crystallising nicely. I shall have to apportion my writing time between revision, editing, and writing new stuff - try to get a pipeline going.
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2025-01-04 00:34:06 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 4th January 2025
4. As a writer, what do you get from social media?
I love seeing the comments from other writers on mastodon. The diversity of opinions and ideas is just breathtaking and cannot but be inspiring!
It’s also really encouraging. I don’t usually get much feedback (if any) on my posts, but what I do get is really supportive, and it helps to see how other writers are tackling the same issues I’m facing.
It’s also quite humbling at times, which I see as a good thing – it helps to ground my writing a bit more, I think.
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2024-12-30 23:55:45 UTC

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@nprofile…ucc3 @nprofile…009v small USB battery packs FTW. I lost count of the number of times I sat down to read the kids a bedtime story off my e-reader, only to discover it needed recharging.

2024-12-15 21:52:25 UTC

WordWeavers for 16th December, 2024
16. Does charity exist in your world and do any characters participate in it or support it?
Yes, it does – organised and run by the religious orders. It’s not overly generous, but the goal is that nobody should want for basic food or a roof over their head. Most of the protagonists absolutely support it, and provide help and resources when they can. The antagonists, on the other hand… despite being a religious order that (nominally) is charged with aiding those in need, they tend to hoard their wealth, and leave others to fend for themselves.
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2024-12-07 06:00:52 UTC

Writers’ Coffee Club for 7th December 2024
7. What do you think is the most critical element in storytelling?
The story. You need to have a coherent plot that tells a story. The rest is just window dressing… critically important window dressing, mind you, and the quality of a narrative depends strongly on the clothes it’s dressed in, but it all hangs on the frame of the plot.
It doesn’t have to be an earth-shaking plot that changes the world, or even the characters, but there needs to be something that starts *here* and goes to *there*, narratively speaking – else you’re not telling a story, just some random vignettes about some characters.
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