Nostr notes by Elyse M Grasso

#ScribesAndMakers 28. I never expected ... that my cat would just ...

2026-10-29T02:02:21Z

#ScribesAndMakers 28. I never expected ...

that my cat would just vanish. I still don't know how she got out, but it has been more than a month and she is just... gone.

Alas, on about September 18, 2026, 2 years after joining the ...

2026-09-30T02:31:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…rv49
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Alas, on about September 18, 2026, 2 years after joining the household, Nyx somehow must have slipped out of the house. I have found no sign of her and the house is far too quiet and empty.

We have hawks and eagles and vultures and owls and coyotes and bobcats in this neighborhood, and I think I found some bear scat at the end of the driveway, so I do not have much hope left.

I might need to look up snuff in early modern central Europe to ...

2026-09-26T03:00:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…98yl
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I might need to look up snuff in early modern central Europe to answer that. And even then, there might be regional and class variations between worlds. And stories:
Franz-Karl's environment is basically imperial court Vienna and Liechtenstein-with-nukes.
Coenraad and Fourteen are from the lowest free class in a region where the German is so Low it's underwater at high tide.

(The underwater joke is not original: it's inspired by a memorable joke about Dutch)

I consider QR codes an untrustworthy abomination and contrary to ...

2026-09-26T02:45:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…dyr8
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I consider QR codes an untrustworthy abomination and contrary to the proper philosophy and structure of the internet because they are not human readable. (I've been on the internet since before the World Wide Web was a gleam in Tim Berners-Lee's eye.) I was already planning to include the URLs for the books2read sales link pages.

I might include one QR code for the Superior Magpie Press website... I'll think about it.

Tobacco was was introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the early ...

2026-09-26T02:34:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…s0dy
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Tobacco was was introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the early 16th century in our world, and was an early driver of the introduction of African enslavement in North America.

In Franz-Karl's world both colonization and the African slave trade were muted compared to ours: his father was an envoy to a native polity in West-Over-Sea in the late 1680s(ish). So I assume the tobacco trade was also muted, or possibly smoking was very expensive and upper class in some parts of not-Europe.

#WordWeavers 25 (cont) drugs etc. One thing I'm finding I ...

2026-09-26T01:33:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…y06a
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#WordWeavers 25 (cont) drugs etc.

One thing I'm finding I need to be careful about is smoking. Traveling Fast is derived from the pulp traditions of mystery and adventure and westerns (despite the climatic sogginess) and my MCs are reflections of Clint Eastwood/Toshiro Mifune character facets, but the effective time period is early enough and the western hemisphere history is different enough that there is little or no smoking. The lack does odd things to mannerisms and body language rhythms.

A question for writers who have created marketing materials for ...

2026-09-25T23:46:13Z

A question for writers who have created marketing materials for author tables and freebie tables at conventions. (US)

What are good sources for printed bookmarks on cardstock? (And what are usual prices for a print run?)

Are there other materials you have found useful for advertising/handouts?

(I will also have author copies for display and sale, and only have 1/2 table for a few hours: I'm just dipping a toe into live selling.)

#WritingCommunity

Have you ever heard the phrase "the whole is greater than the ...

2026-09-25T21:54:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…rxc8
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Have you ever heard the phrase "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"?

Arrangement (and the accompanying shifts of focus and emphasis) matters.

Underneath, everything is made of particles and gauge fields, but so what? A rose is still different from a tiger, or a star.

Land use in the western US can be strange. If the 'town' ...

2026-09-25T20:20:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…edce
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Land use in the western US can be strange. If the 'town' was legally incorporated in the past, it may be a valid political entity retaining the right to enact taxes and fees or apply for state development funds, etc.

Dis-incorporating an abandoned town probably needs lawyers, and possibly action by the state leg, and someone to advocate for the action. That might get messy if the town was never entirely abandoned.

#WordWeavers 25 Do illicit drugs or alcohol play a role in your ...

2026-09-25T15:53:15Z

#WordWeavers 25 Do illicit drugs or alcohol play a role in your story?

Everyone drinks alcohol except a few religious sects (and people in parts of the world that have not developed brewing and/or winemaking, of course).

People in Traveling Fast drink wine and beer and occasional spirits because you really don't want to drink most of the water.

There are no drugs that are illicit, but possibly some substances that are reserved for ritual purposes in some settings. None in the story, so far.

#ScribesAndMakers SE 25: Our next featured creator uses a ...

2026-09-25T15:43:22Z

#ScribesAndMakers SE 25: Our next featured creator uses a separate Fedi account dedicated to their book. Do you use different accounts for different creative purposes?

The one account is enough to keep track of.

I always had the impression that Alaskan mosquitos have no fear ...

2026-09-25T06:53:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…6ryw
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I always had the impression that Alaskan mosquitos have no fear of anything under 50 cal. unless it was belt-fed.

US I currently (as of this month) have 3 books for sale through ...

2026-09-25T06:30:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…cqls
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US
I currently (as of this month) have 3 books for sale through my own imprint. I sell through all of the D2D channels except Amazon, which I handle separately, and buyer links through Books2Read.com
When I have 4 or 5 titles to offer, I may add direct online sales on my imprint website: at my sales levels the business overhead for retail for a couple of titles is not worth the time it would take from writing..

When I was in Boston about 20 years ago I heard some of the ...

2026-09-25T05:53:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…k8qr
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When I was in Boston about 20 years ago I heard some of the people I was working with talking about driving in the midwest and marveling at the way people took turns going through 4-way stop signs. I don't think they were joking about finding that an alien concept. I HATED having to drive in the Boston area. (And the problem seems to be localized: I grew up and learned to drive in CT, and we were trained and tested on proper behavior at lights and signs.)

#ScribesAndMakers 24 Have you ever put proceeds from sales ...

2026-09-24T04:25:38Z

#ScribesAndMakers 24 Have you ever put proceeds from sales towards a cause you believe in?

My sales income doesn't cover my writing/publishing overhead. Both ''causes' and writing/publishing are subsidized out of my personal funds.

#WordWeavers 24. If your MC made a grand entrance, what fitting ...

2026-09-24T04:06:20Z

#WordWeavers 24. If your MC made a grand entrance, what fitting song would accompany them?

I'm not sure about a grand entrance... unexpected appearance on a ridgeline, maybe.

The music would be written by Ennio Morricone and probably from one of the Man With No Name films. (But soggy instead of dry, though that might not affect the music.)

Not Amazon... D2D. The packages that have received USPS tracking ...

2026-09-23T16:12:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…hh9e
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Not Amazon... D2D.

The packages that have received USPS tracking numbers should contain 15, 5, 3 and 2 books respectively, according to the notices I received.

It looks like the author copies I ordered a few weeks ago are ...

2026-09-23T15:06:44Z

It looks like the author copies I ordered a few weeks ago are being shipped, so I should have them in plenty of time for the convention in October.

What makes no sense is how they are being shipped:
I ordered a total of 25 physical books spread across 3 titles, in a single order for efficiency.

Are the books being shipped in a single package? Apparently not.
Are they being shipped in 3 packages, 1 per title? Also, apparently not.
They are being shipped in 4 packages. Four.

#WritingCommunity

#ScribesAndMakers 23. Choose a noun that is representative of you ...

2026-09-23T06:07:09Z

#ScribesAndMakers 23. Choose a noun that is representative of you as a creative person.

weaver

#WordWeavers 23 Have your characters' journeys affected your ...

2026-09-23T06:00:23Z

#WordWeavers 23 Have your characters' journeys affected your own life? If so, how?

Not particularly. But my 4th walls seem to be stronger than some writers'.

#WordWeavers 22. If you wrote a memoir on your writing journey so ...

2026-09-23T00:28:01Z

#WordWeavers 22. If you wrote a memoir on your writing journey so far, what would it be called?

The point of the writing is the stories, not 'my journey'. Writing a memoir would not be getting the stories written: it would be diverting attention and effort to the wrong level of things.

Writing is like driving standard shift: it goes a lot smoother when I pay attention to the goal, and do not get distracted by the details of HOW I am moving the shift and clutch from moment to moment.

#ScribesAndMakers 22: Promotion day. Self The Elderkin Chronicles ...

2026-09-22T21:57:11Z

#ScribesAndMakers 22: Promotion day. Self

The Elderkin Chronicles Trilogy is now available in ebook and paper.
Heir of the Bindings
https://www.books2read.com/HeirOfTheBindings
Broken Oaths & Boundaries
https://books2read.com/BrokenOathsBoundaries
Duke of the Elderkin
https://books2read.com/DukeOfTheElderkin

I will be attending MileHiCon next month and should have paper copies for sale. More info to follow. https://milehicon.org/

Forthcoming: the first Tale of Cold Iron & Hot Lead, an adventure set in the world of the Elderkin: Traveling Fast.

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed them!

2026-09-22T14:57:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…5d36
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Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed them!

much higher price, since there is only one of it, signed and ...

2026-09-22T01:04:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…8vuc
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much higher price, since there is only one of it, signed and personalized.

food inside yes, catfood outside may be contra-indicated: I found ...

2026-09-21T23:04:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…pt5d
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food inside yes, catfood outside may be contra-indicated: I found what I'm pretty sure is bear-scat at the end of the driveway.away from the house (part of why she has been an indoor-only cat since I got her 2 years ago.) I'll try to figure out something moderately safe.

congratulations on your new place

2026-09-21T21:29:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…ppg8
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congratulations on your new place

Still no sign of Nyx in the house. Food, water and kitty box, ...

2026-09-21T14:42:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…deju
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Still no sign of Nyx in the house. Food, water and kitty box, untouched over night. No recent suspicious noises.

I have asked my human neighbors if they have seen her, in case she did somehow get out, with no luck.

Unfortunately, the non-human neighbors include eagles, hawks, owls, and coyotes, one neighbor has mentioned seeing a bobcat on his trail-cam, and I think my birdfeeder was taken out by a bear.

#ScribesAndMakers 21. What character from one of your own books ...

2026-09-21T05:08:59Z

#ScribesAndMakers 21. What character from one of your own books or someone else's would you want to spend a day with? What would you do?

My tolerance for spending a full day even with a person I know in real life is very limited. I cannot think of a stranger, fictional character or otherwise, that I would want to try it with...

Simultaneous hanging out at one of the more literary SF conventions might work...

I owned all of Neil Diamond's albums in highschool and ...

2026-09-21T04:50:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…wpaa
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I owned all of Neil Diamond's albums in highschool and college up through about Jonathan Livingstone Seagull (which kind of cured me: I don't think I had the Jazz Singer soundtrack) but some of his earlier stuff was pretty good

#WordWeavers 21. In your current WIP, which character do you ...

2026-09-21T02:04:41Z

#WordWeavers 21. In your current WIP, which character do you relate to the least and why?

I haven't really figured out the antagonists in Traveling Fast yet, and many of them end up dead (for various values of 'dead') before we really get to know them, but one of the leaders is a book-burning, necromantic cult leader who is nominally a Pristinist (and therefore racist, classist and misogynist).

I think he's going to survive the current story, and may be an ongoing foil for Coenraad & Fourteen

My mattress is not the kind that uses a box spring, and ...

2026-09-21T00:33:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…g2x6
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My mattress is not the kind that uses a box spring, and considering how heavy it is, there may not be much empty space inside. The bottom fabric looks intact, what I can see of it...

The great room, which has no useful place to put ducts that wouldn't disrupt the insulated shell, has a splitter up in the roof peak. The rest of the house seems to have firmly affixed grills on its ductwork.

The sectional pieces (technically ''Sactional", they ...

2026-09-21T00:14:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…3ppa
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The sectional pieces (technically ''Sactional", they sort of clamp together into a seating configuration) all seem intact.
I have survived getting down on the floor to look under the bed (and getting back up again, which was the tricky part) and if there is a hole in the mattress cover it must be right up by the headboard where the viewing angle was bad. It's a single-piece mattress without a separate box spring and I don't think there is much empty space in there..

No recliner, no lounge. The sectional sofa pieces only have about ...

2026-09-20T23:53:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…3tee
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No recliner, no lounge. The sectional sofa pieces only have about a half inch (1 cm ish) of floor clearance, and I poked the dusting wand in there just to be thorough, when I was poking under the dressers, etc.that I know have enough clearance for a cat to fit under because I've seen her come out of there.

If she did not manage to leave the house, she must be in a really ...

2026-09-20T23:13:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…hkl6
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If she did not manage to leave the house, she must be in a really obscure nook or cranny. I've opened and tidied cupboards and closets and opened and probed furniture. But I've assembled most of this furniture myself or watched it being assembled by pros... there aren't many places that might be hidden but accessible for her that I haven't checked, though apparently there is at least one.

The doors were closed from a time on Friday well before she went ...

2026-09-20T22:31:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…mnnr
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The doors were closed from a time on Friday well before she went missing until late Saturday, well after I noticed I had not seen her in a while, and I was careful. Outdoor cats don't last here: too many predators, so I try not to let her out. I use filtration, not open windows, due to rampant allergies, and I don't think she could reach or fit through the kitchen vent..

Thanks.

2026-09-20T16:15:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…7vjz
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Thanks.

I have not found her... neither living nor dead, which is a bit ...

2026-09-20T16:02:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…690y
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I have not found her... neither living nor dead, which is a bit strange. One result of having my house burn to the ground a few years ago is that the new house has not had time to become very cluttered. And she is not a small cat.

Early this morning I heard a brief rustle, but that might have been things resettling in one of the closets I have rummaged through looking for her. The cathedral ceiling in the great room does odd things to the directionality of sound.

#ScribesAndMakers 20: Repossess? When a summoned revenant (the ...

2026-09-20T04:13:35Z

#ScribesAndMakers 20: Repossess?

When a summoned revenant (the Called) is broken loose from the control of a necromancer (a Caller), it is wise to take precautions so the corpse is not repossessed and returned to the control of either the same or a different Caller.

Which precautions will be useful will depend on the specific circumstances of the the corpse and the necromancer(s).

#WordWeavers 20. How do your characters access water or whatever ...

2026-09-20T03:37:07Z

#WordWeavers 20. How do your characters access water or whatever they need to drink?

Breweries, vineyards and wine-cellars and the equivalents for ciders and perries.

Wells, springs and various bodies of surface water: there's a spectrum of desirability, but it does not necessarily correlate to our ideas of water safety. (Heinrich Halsbogen chooses the site of his new brewery because the Guild says the water is better than at another available location, but I'm not sure what that means...)

Nothing yet. I have all of the closets and undersink cupboards ...

2026-09-20T02:39:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…c0ev
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Nothing yet. I have all of the closets and undersink cupboards open, and food and treats set out, and I've been checking every hour or so to try to guess where she might be hiding. I've used mirrors to look under furniture that's hard to see under directly.

I will be so annoyed, but glad, if I wake up tomorrow to find her on my bed as usual...

Cats are so liquid, they can fit into absurd hiding places.

#WordWeavers 19. What are three personality strengths your ...

2026-09-19T18:05:29Z

#WordWeavers 19. What are three personality strengths your antagonist has?

Charisma
Focus (the polite way to describe fanaticism)
Callousness (considerations for others don't get between hm and his goals)

Nothing says the strengths need to be nice

#ScribesAndMakers 19 My mistake was... feeding the critter after ...

2026-09-19T16:58:09Z

#ScribesAndMakers 19 My mistake was...

feeding the critter after midnight.

Yeah... I've opened the walkin closet and pantry and linen ...

2026-09-19T14:04:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…5nmg
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Yeah... I've opened the walkin closet and pantry and linen closet in case she snuck inside one of them and found a back corner to nap in. And opened all of the closets that have sliding doors, too. But she doesn't seem to be in any of the usual napping places.

The access panel to the attic is 9 feet up in the hall ceiling, ...

2026-09-19T13:47:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…6099
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The access panel to the attic is 9 feet up in the hall ceiling, and needs a a long hook to open it and pull down the ladder, and the crawlspace hatch has been shut for months and is much heavier than she is, (it is a 30x36 inch section of the utility room floor) and the lifting loops are farther apart than she is long. I don't think she could have gotten through them.

Thanks...I got a covid booster on Wednesday, so I've been in ...

2026-09-19T13:31:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…xh6c
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Thanks...I got a covid booster on Wednesday, so I've been in zombie mode yesterday and the day before and not paying proper attention to things. (Nyx approved of how much of Thursday I spent in bed: I think I was being properly cat-like)

Thanks

2026-09-19T13:24:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…8rzu
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Thanks

I'm worried. I have not seen Nyx kitty since the middle of ...

2026-09-19T13:22:46Z

I'm worried.

I have not seen Nyx kitty since the middle of yesterday, and her food has not been touched. I heard a couple of thumps yesterday evening, but I'm not sure from where.

There is no way for her to reach the attic or crawlspace, and the front and back doors to the outside have not been opened since I last saw her, so she has to be here somewhere, but this is very odd.

I've opened all of the doors to closets and such: she has a bad habit of just waiting instead of meowing if shut in.

18. What are three personality strengths your MC has? Coenraad -- ...

2026-09-18T19:29:50Z

18. What are three personality strengths your MC has?

Coenraad -- compassion, cleverness, loyalty

Fourteen -- compassion, cleverness, wariness

#ScribesAndMakers 18. Change one word in the title of a famous ...

2026-09-18T18:30:26Z

#ScribesAndMakers 18. Change one word in the title of a famous book, a movie, a song, and a play to create four new titles.

The Return of the Ring
Fistful of Pennies
Ramp to Heaven
Death of an MBA

#WordWeavers 17 2/2 The immigrant transition: In the early 20th ...

2026-09-17T07:51:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…k7yw
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#WordWeavers 17 2/2

The immigrant transition:
In the early 20th century, a lot of European peasants and urban poor showed up at Ellis Island who were short and wiry and sort of light-boned... and proceeded to father sons who grew up 6 feet tall and heavier boned. (It was kind of like Steve Rogers/Captain America, but generational). There's a metabolic development path that gets switched depending on protein (and maybe calcium?) intake during one phase of early childhood.
Coenraad is short/wiry

#WordWeavers 17. By the end of your story, how many injuries has ...

2026-09-17T07:42:06Z

#WordWeavers 17. By the end of your story, how many injuries has your MC had?

I don't know. I haven't written Traveling Fast yet.

Both Coenraad and Fourteen are marked by past damage: mangled TMJ for Fourteen, wrong side of the immigrant transition for Coenraad (but local people say he's built like a peasant, not an aristo).

Just before or just after the beginning, (depending on whether the cold open decides to be violence or creeping dread) Coenraad takes a beating. After that? We'll see.1/2

RE: https://wandering.shop/@ElyseMGrasso/117278809252568868 ...

2026-09-17T07:19:43Z

RE: https://wandering.shop/@ElyseMGrasso/117278809252568868

#ScribesAndMakers 17 Link to or summarize yesterday's poll and reveal the answer.

I'm not good at setting up these polls because the world and story in y head is so much bigger than what has been published.

The musket with the rifled barrel has not been featured in my published work... Yet.

quoting
note15t9…6xer

#ScribesAndMakers 16. Create a poll listing 2-3 objects that have featured in your work and one that hasn't. Ask people to pick the one that hasn't.

I got both (one in each arm) a few years ago and decided that I ...

2026-09-16T23:45:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…pxzx
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I got both (one in each arm) a few years ago and decided that I was not going to do that again... definitely a drama queen immune system

Got the new Covid vaccine (Costco finally got a supply)... ...

2026-09-16T22:41:03Z

Got the new Covid vaccine (Costco finally got a supply)... I'll do the flu vax in a few weeks: I have a drama queen immune system and I'm missing a couple of lymph nodes on one side, so the logistics of multiple shots at once gets tricky.

#WordWeavers 16. If your MC was elected mayor of your own town, ...

2026-09-16T04:40:35Z

#WordWeavers 16. If your MC was elected mayor of your own town, would you stay or move? Why?

False assumptions:

Coenraad and Fourteen don't live in our world, and I live in the ungoverned wilderness without the benefits of mayor, town council, HOA or other form of local community authority (or taxation).

Unincorporated Boulder county: There are regional tax and service districts between me and the county: fire, library, transit, etc. but people in the towns with governments are in those, too.

#ScribesAndMakers 16. Create a poll listing 2-3 objects that have ...

2026-09-16T04:23:31Z

#ScribesAndMakers 16. Create a poll listing 2-3 objects that have featured in your work and one that hasn't. Ask people to pick the one that hasn't.

Thanks. It looks like the next one will be Traveling Fast, a ...

2026-09-15T21:08:03Z

Thanks. It looks like the next one will be Traveling Fast, a chunk of Coenraad and Fourteen's backstory which -- hopefully -- will be a lot shorter than Duke of the Elderkin. (I''m going to need a new title font: the Black Chancery capital T is horrible. But it is arguably a separate series)

By then I may have decided which faction are the bad guys in the next Franz-Karl story... Maybe the not-Lutherans instead of the not-Calvinists next time. His Excellency's court is like peeling an onion.

As a native of a region where what some people call sub ...

2026-09-15T20:28:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…danj
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As a native of a region where what some people call sub sandwiches are called by their proper name (grinders) I approve of the idea of regional variations.

A lot of the prompts are rather casual about breaking the 4th ...

2026-09-15T19:51:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…glan
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A lot of the prompts are rather casual about breaking the 4th wall in one direction or the other.
I don't write mysteries (yet?) but the action in vol 3 got complicated enough, and involved limited communications methods enough, that I needed to be careful about who knew what when,, and how they knew it.

I'm glad you are enjoying it. There are more stories ...

2026-09-15T19:10:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…yr57
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I'm glad you are enjoying it.

There are more stories sprouting, but it may be a while before the next one is ripe for showing to people.

There are 2 complete paper sets of the Elderkin Chronicles ...

2026-09-15T17:20:58Z

There are 2 complete paper sets of the Elderkin Chronicles trilogy in the world at this point, that I know of. I do not own either.

My faithful beta reader turned 80 this weekend. Since I have not received my author copies yet, I gave her the proof copy of volume 3, signed.

I knew there was one other full set out there, based on my statements from D2D. My eldest niece just sent me a picture of all 3 books sitting spine-out on her bookcase.
#WritingCommunity #ScribesAndMakers

#WordWeavers 15. Your characters get one completely ordinary day ...

2026-09-15T14:46:42Z

#WordWeavers 15. Your characters get one completely ordinary day with no villains, quests, murders, wars, prophecies, romantic disasters, or impending apocalypses. How do they spend it?

An ordinary day is ordinary. (The prompt says nothing about them knowing there won't be disasters to deal with: such knowledge would make the day non-ordinary).

Coenraad and Fourteen would be on the road, driving their freight wagon, transporting something moderately expensive and/or dangerous between cities.

#ScribesAndMakers 15. What's a situation where you feel a ...

2026-09-15T13:52:53Z

#ScribesAndMakers 15. What's a situation where you feel a ';' definitely works better than a '.' ?

When it's needed and the text wants it.

The house style for orthography for the Elderkin Chronicles trilogy came out a bit odd. There's a strong preference for em dashes vs. parentheses, and I'm not sure I used semicolons much, if at all. The new story is set in the same world, region, and time period, but a very different social class, so the voice may include semi-colons, once I find it.

#ScribesAndMakers 14. What's your favourite type of story ...

2026-09-14T05:25:43Z

#ScribesAndMakers 14. What's your favourite type of story setting?

Internally consistent ones.

#WordWeavers 14 Your MC is offered exactly what they've ...

2026-09-14T05:18:09Z

#WordWeavers 14 Your MC is offered exactly what they've always wanted-but accepting it will cost them something they love. What do they choose?

Coenraad and Fourteen live in a world where the fae are real (to a reasonable approximation) and the dead sometimes walk, and they have already lost too much. Their answers to that kind of offer are more likely to involve cold iron or hot lead than polite words.

oh. 'Cold Iron & Hot Lead' might work as a sub-series title. Cue theme by Ennio Morricone.

#WordWeavers 13 Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent ...

2026-09-14T04:47:42Z

#WordWeavers 13 Share a line of dialogue that sounds innocent without context but absolutely isn’t.

Traveling Fast has no dialogue yet.

I can't think of any relevant lines in other stories that have dialogue...

#ScribesAndMakers – 13 How pedantic are you? I prefer to think ...

2026-09-14T02:06:22Z

#ScribesAndMakers – 13 How pedantic are you?

I prefer to think of it as an appetite for precision.

It seemed reasonable..., he's an echo of a Habsburg, his life ...

2026-09-13T23:39:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…5hgj
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It seemed reasonable..., he's an echo of a Habsburg, his life has been shaped by a political marriage that was fairly happy personally but moderately disastrous in the political aftermath, and he's surrounded by women who are the survivors of political marriages. And he's smart enough and getting old enough to pay attention to things, especially since all the history and geography lessons are talking about his family, and half the folktales do as well.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Oh, excellent. That's good to hear.

2026-09-13T04:00:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…8q75
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Oh, excellent. That's good to hear.

#WordWeavers 12. If you removed one supporting character from ...

2026-09-12T22:20:42Z

#WordWeavers 12. If you removed one supporting character from your story, whose absence would change the plot the most?

For Traveling Fast, most of the supporting cast are still place-holders and walking dead of various sorts, and very few of them have names yet. But removing Coenraad's friend/business associate van D<something> would disrupt things pretty thoroughly.

Honestly, I'm more worried about getting the ballot to vote ...

2026-09-11T19:13:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…pn3k
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Honestly, I'm more worried about getting the ballot to vote with than I am voting... mail delivery has been erratic, while I always use the dropboxes and have never had a problem on that end.

What happens if the ballots just don't arrive to be voted with?

#WordWeavers 11. What does your MC believe about themselves at ...

2026-09-11T05:48:17Z

#WordWeavers 11. What does your MC believe about themselves at the beginning of the story that turns out to be completely wrong?

The MCs' problems come from accepting other people's beliefs about them.

Elderkin cannot speak false words, but are tangled in legends and illusions..
Coenraad and Fourteen, with fewer constraints and protections, have been hiding in variations of a long con for half their lives.
Florian is an opera singer buried in drama.
And the limits on women are just a mess.

#ScribesAndMakers 11 Our next featured creator is a group of ...

2026-09-11T05:00:12Z

#ScribesAndMakers 11 Our next featured creator is a group of three collaborators. Have you ever been part of a collaborative group for your creative work?

40+ years of software engineering was largely collaborative.

Before that, I sang in church choir in high school and Concert choir in college.

#WordWeavers 10 Additional info: the text is currently the first ...

2026-09-11T01:30:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…5sj3
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#WordWeavers 10

Additional info: the text is currently the first paragraph of Traveling Fast.

#WordWeavers 10. Share an atmospheric description The spring ...

2026-09-10T17:24:28Z

#WordWeavers 10. Share an atmospheric description

The spring rains came early that year, and stayed late. When the rain paused and the clouds thinned, the low flat lands that flanked the great river on its short remaining journey to the North Sea threw the light back at the sky’s glare like sheets of polished grey metal laid across the land. As the days passed and the rains continued, the market town, set back from the river on a rare rise within the sodden fens, gradually became a refuge.

#ScribesAndMakers – 10. Our next featured creator is an ...

2026-09-10T04:55:50Z

#ScribesAndMakers – 10. Our next featured creator is an acronym. Do you use acronyms in your work?

I'm not aware of acronyms being in general use in central Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Even if they are period accurate,, I suspect readers would consider them anachronistic.

#ScribesAndMakers 9 Share something you've been working on ...

2026-09-09T02:31:28Z

#ScribesAndMakers 9 Share something you've been working on this month.

I have been setting up publication of Duke of the Elderkin,, which went live on September 8.

I have been learning the framework of Traveling Fast,, a side story in the Elderkin world that is not quite ready to come out of my brain into the computer but is blocking other stories.

I have been poking at the structural frame of the next Franz-Karl story. I know a lot of stuff that happens but need the politics and antagonists.

#WordWeavers 9: What secret would cause the most damage if it ...

2026-09-09T02:20:07Z

#WordWeavers 9: What secret would cause the most damage if it were revealed in your story right now?

Define 'right now'? The end of the trilogy? The beginning of the next Tale of the Elderkin? Or somewhere in Traveling Fast, which takes place a few years before the beginning of the trilogy?

Not that it really matters, since I don't write sequentially to any major degree.

I don't (yet?) know any secrets that matter in the way the prompt implies. The Antagonists may have some, whoever they are.

#ScribesAndMakers 8 Gauge. Unlike shotguns, blunderbusses -- ...

2026-09-09T01:54:15Z

#ScribesAndMakers 8 Gauge.

Unlike shotguns, blunderbusses -- which filled approximately the same tactical ecological niche -- did not have specific gauges. For them, the term 'gauge' referred to a measurement, or the act of measurement, not necessarily to any predetermined values. Consistent manufacturing did not come in until late in their history.

first someone needs to invent a script that works for left-handed ...

2026-09-08T22:27:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…7z2q
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first someone needs to invent a script that works for left-handed people

#WordWeavers 8: Which character would be the worst person to get ...

2026-09-08T22:24:47Z

#WordWeavers 8: Which character would be the worst person to get trapped in an elevator with?

If invention history tracks our world, my characters are about half a century from encountering anything recognizable as an enclosed elevator (stage machinery probably does not fit the intent of the question).

Of characters we've met who are alive after vol 3, Arch-Hierophant Ambrose is self-important and whiny enough to be really annoying. The cathedral might even get an early elevator installed.

I used to tell people that I moved from Connecticut to Boulder, ...

2026-09-07T19:48:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…snlj
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I used to tell people that I moved from Connecticut to Boulder, Colorado for 2 reasons: August and February. The humidity differential was definitely a factor in both.
(The average daily temperatures when I moved -- in the 80s -- were about the same for both places as long as you stayed out of the actual mountains, but the weather details were very different.)

#ScribesAndMakers – 7. What 'character' (letter, ...

2026-09-07T05:41:41Z

#ScribesAndMakers – 7. What 'character' (letter, number, symbol, punctuation, space) would make a great main character?

None. Designing characters based on Glyphs as names is starting from the wrong end if you want them to live, unless you want to get into nominal essentialism, like some Victorian moralist plotter.

I usually name characters after they wake up, and they often remain 'younger brother' or '3rd footman' or 'Treasury official' until well after they develop personalities.

#WordWeavers 7. Describe a moment when one of your characters ...

2026-09-07T05:07:08Z

#WordWeavers 7. Describe a moment when one of your characters realizes they’ve made a terrible mistake.

This requires a character to make a 'terrible' mistake, realize that it was a terrible mistake, and acknowledge that it was a terrible mistake, where the reader can see it.The narrative structure of the trilogy, which generally provides access only to Franz-Karl's interiority, is not really amenable to reporting that kind of situation,, even if it occurred.

I'm a writer. Modern mysteries aren't my genre or time ...

2026-09-07T02:00:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…jm85
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I'm a writer. Modern mysteries aren't my genre or time period, but that doesn't stop the habit of chasing the ripples of stories.

(Duke of the Elderkin, Elderkin Chronicles vol 3, releasing Tuesday Sep 8 on most publishing channels in ebook and paper)

Cut your words or letters out of Junk mail. Newspapers and ...

2026-09-06T23:32:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…5fql
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Cut your words or letters out of Junk mail. Newspapers and magazines may come and go (and need subscriptions), but I fear pre-printed advertising materials are forever.

For extra credit, use clippings from begging letters from causes or political parties you don't approve of... let the TERFs or book-banners explain why their materials showed up in a ransom note, in the unlikely event investigators get that far..

Tell her you will be glad to offer advice once she has acquired ...

2026-09-06T19:46:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…khms
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Tell her you will be glad to offer advice once she has acquired her sewing machine and fabrics and other materials and tools?

#WordWeavers 6. What is your MC hilariously bad at? ...

2026-09-06T02:30:40Z

#WordWeavers 6. What is your MC hilariously bad at?

'Hilariously bad' is not a term I would apply to any person, not even some of the antagonists that I truly despise.

Coenraad and Fourteen (MCs in Traveling Fast) grew up in a household where music was strictly forbidden, so they never learned to sing.

#ScribesAndMakers – 6th Have you ever listened to an audiobook ...

2026-09-06T02:06:19Z

#ScribesAndMakers – 6th Have you ever listened to an audiobook where the reader had a good voice, but not the 'right' voice?

Yes. I tried audiobooks for a while before deciding they were not really for me.

Despite rave reviews about the reading, I found the Murderbot audiobooks just... wrong. To the point of being distracting. Too much bass or something.

I much preferred Alexander Skarsgard's voice on the TV show.

Yay. Take care of yourself during the recovery.

2026-09-05T23:35:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…75le
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Yay. Take care of yourself during the recovery.

#WordWeavers Sep 5. If your antagonist could justify their ...

2026-09-05T22:54:20Z

#WordWeavers Sep 5. If your antagonist could justify their actions in one sentence, what would they say?

I don't know the main antagonists in the two active WIPs yet. (There's a macho jerk in Traveling Fast, but A. I think he's technically on the side of the good guys, and B. I think he is 1st rider, so won't last long.)

The main antagonist in the Elderkin Chronicles trilogy does not justify his actions: there is no need, since he is one of the Select and an instrument of the will of Heaven.

#ScribesAndMakers September 5: From a purely aesthetic ...

2026-09-05T22:24:15Z

#ScribesAndMakers September 5: From a purely aesthetic standpoint, what is your favorite color of ice cream?

It's been about a decade and a half since I had much reason to contemplate the appearance of ice cream. I don't remember ever thinking about the color separately from the taste. Even when I still occasionally ate it, I never worried about the color unless it was weird and artificial looking.

I'm honestly not sure what counts as being revealed that the ...

2026-09-05T05:46:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…u5fx
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I'm honestly not sure what counts as being revealed that the speaker did not intend in that one...

#WordWeavers 4 What seemingly insignificant object in your story ...

2026-09-05T04:28:49Z

#WordWeavers 4 What seemingly insignificant object in your story carries a lot of emotional weight?

Elderkin fill roughly the ecological niche of the Fae, and things around them run partly on fairytale rules. Only the antagonists think there are such things as insignificant objects.

#ScribesAndMakers – 4 Reverse of last month's question: if ...

2026-09-05T02:34:34Z

#ScribesAndMakers – 4 Reverse of last month's question: if e-books stopped being produced, how much would you miss them?

After losing my paper library, my emotional support e-library is very important. Especially given that even before the fire,,, much of my reading had shifted to ebooks.

I just got the notice that the ebook is available for pre-order ...

2026-09-04T17:22:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…3jme
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I just got the notice that the ebook is available for pre-order in Kindle.

Setting up distribution of the paper edition doesn't seem to be working the way it did last year...

The ebook edition of Duke of the Elderkin has been uploaded to ...

2026-09-04T16:56:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…f86y
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The ebook edition of Duke of the Elderkin has been uploaded to Amazon. Hopefully, it will be available on the release date on Tuesday.

I'm having trouble with the paper edition setup it seems different from what I remember from last year. But I will try to have it ready by next week.

#WordWeavers 3. Share a line from your WIP that reveals more than ...

2026-09-04T05:45:46Z

#WordWeavers 3. Share a line from your WIP that reveals more than the speaker intended.

Reveals to whom? And how do I know that it reveals anything at all? Or is not a complete spoiler?

I have 3 WIPs: one on the cusp of publication, one in a state of structural development that does not really involve lines yet, and one that needs to be updated to sync with the state of the politics and cast at the end of WIP 1.

I can't think of a line in any of them that would usefully answer this prompt

#WordWeavers 2 What would your MC notice first upon entering a ...

2026-09-03T03:13:46Z

#WordWeavers 2 What would your MC notice first upon entering a crowded room?

Coenraad scans the crowd to see who is present. Friends or allies? Antagonists or competitors? Strangers? Past or present or potential future customers? Familiar or unfamiliar waitstaff?

He doesn't insist on a seat with his back to a wall,, but will be aware of who is behind him.

How much attention he pays the crowd will depend on how unsettled things have been lately, and whether he has been in the room before.

#ScribesAndMakers – 3. Which ebook reader do you use? 95% ...

2026-09-03T02:43:08Z

#ScribesAndMakers – 3. Which ebook reader do you use?

95% Barnes & Noble Nook App (I like the way they display actual page numbers and give more of a representation of the book)
3% Kobo App
2% Kindle App

And occasional custom apps that university presses force you to use if they condescend to sell you their publications in ebook form... grr. (They don't even do a better job of handling footnotes, etc. so there is really no excuse.)