#writersCoffeeClub 6/5: Tell us about something you've read that made you think, "I wish I had written that."

"The Ides of March" by Thornton Wilder. In my view, one of the finest epistolary novels of the 20th century. His portrayal of Caesar through his letters is hugely impressive. A masterful mixture of philosophy and historical research.

#writerscoffeeclub 5/6: Talk about something you’ve read that made you think, “I wish I wrote that.”
If I’ve ever thought that, it was a long time ago. But there were times, for sure, when it was, ‘I wish I **could** write like that’. Going back to being an aspiring outdoor writer and looking at the work of Jim Perrin.
And then I discovered Ursula K Le Guin…
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#WordWeavers 5/6: What would your first chapter smell like?
Going right back to Book 1: mostly it’s the smell of the forest: pine-sap in midday heat; vast, slow, fertility; then a breath or two from a flowery meadow—and perhaps, right at the end, the acid scent of fear.
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#PennedPossibilities 690 — SC POV: What do you fear losing the most?

I'll stick with the secondary character in 687, Chrome. He is very aware that his country has just been invaded. He's a dragon, and it's because of dragons violating "international norms" that it was invaded, regardless of him siding with the oppressed daemon population and him having acted as a railroad engineer in the underground railway that sent women to freedom in the north. Still… invaded. He had also worked as a spy for the north, and now everyone knows it. Moreover, his scary northern contact has turned out to be Rainy Days herself. You know… absolute ruler? He's now been assigned to advise the military occupation governor, a kid genius daemon likely not even twenty years old. And she's coming on to him.

What does he fear losing most?

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Hey there, my two on-demand writing workshops are now pay what you like:

Writing after trauma: self care
https://innerworlds.gumroad.com/l/writingtraumaselfcare

Tools for writing about trauma
https://innerworlds.gumroad.com/l/toolsforwritingtrauma

After a couple of trips, word spread of an ex-bounty hunter bringing gold from the desert territory east of California.

That day, Frank gave up being a bounty hunter and followed a different kind of bounty.

He kept the discovery of the bodies and the gold a secret. He began traveling back and forth between the oasis and Lake’s Crossing (later known as Reno) with his gold, selling it for more money than he had ever imagined owning.

Check out CJane Elliott

MM M-NB M-F NB Comedy, Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Fantasy, Holiday, Interracial, New Adult, Paranormal, People of Color, Young Adult

After years of hearing characters chatting away in her head, award-winning author CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane writes ...

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From the British Fantasy Society:

With the first instalment in her new romantasy series looming large, Amy de la Force looks back at the genesis of A Kiss of Hammer and Flame and her Fated For Hael world - out next month through Canelo!

https://britishfantasysociety.org/from-pen-to-print-amy-de-la-force-on-a-kiss-of-hammer-and-flame/

#WritersCoffeeClub 4/6: Do you consider writing work? Would you say writing is your life’s work?
Yes, it’s work. It requires application, concentration, effort. But let’s not fall into the ‘binary trap’; work can be fun and fun can be work.
Life’s work? Writing is the only work I’ve done all my life. Guess that’s a yes.
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It had occurred to him that if a route could be mapped through the maze of rock, it would be the perfect hiding place for an outlaw.

For most of the time he had been searching for The Giant, Frank had been searching the mountain farthest from the oasis, as the stories told that was where the outlaws attacked. Frank had since searched the other mountain, but neither of their higher regions, which were too rocky to be safely traversed.

He ventured out to the flat desert valley between the two mountain ridges and built a long-term camp at the foot of the one closest to the oasis. That’s when he began his search higher up into the mountains.

A recent spate of op-eds on AI and the death of thinking convinced me to opine. Lacking the credentials to write something scholarly, I decided to do what I do better: being silly. Here's my latest blog post, a satirical take on the issue:

https://www.allandyenshapiro.com/post/listen-to-aristotle-motherfucker

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Today's harvest: #Strawberries

They look and smell delicious. More in the #AltText.

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#PennedPossibilities 688: What does your MC do for a living? Are they self-employed, or do they work for someone else?

Devil-girl: Her avocation is scholar (in something that looks like magic). What she ends up doing is being the very sharp tool of a succession of antagonists because she has talents, and at some level must be gullible.

May Ri: Design engineer. She works for the people of Mars building their future.

Streak Carryingaton and Thorn Rose: Rainy Day's students, later astronauts. Not something you work for yourself doing. Oh, almost forgot. Thorn did put in a two week stint as an Occupational Military Governor, which is too hard to explain, but stuff like that happens when Rainy Days is your teacher.

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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.03 — Have you ever done a writing challenge? How did it go?

In March, I took a month long set of 31 writing prompts as a writing challenge. I completed a novel: Mars Needed Women.

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#WordWeavers 2025.06.03 — Is your MC a good cook? Any special dishes?

None of the current crop of MCs are particularly exceptional cooks, though cooking and dishes are mentioned.

When Streak's uncle left them and at the age of 10, Streak became responsible for caring for his younger and older sister, which meant cooking for them and his mother. School had taught him to cook as part of Men's Studies. He never says whether he has any skill, but maybe that's one of the reasons his sisters dislike him?

The devil-girl never mentions it as part of the past she ran away from, but the estate had to have had cooks. They put on state dinners she had to host. Nevertheless, she is not snobby about food other than never demonstrating a skill or inclination. Early on, I have her eating her world's equivalent of a ramen cup, you know, the ones you pour boiling water into and wait three minutes? She is happy when a guy buys her something like a Philly cheesesteak, made with eggplant. They are vegetarian. At one point she dumpster dives…

May Ri in one sequence makes chicken soup, but from her tenor it seems like a strictly recipe type thing. With the help of a friend she gets a freshly dressed bird and collects the vegetables from the farm, carrots, leeks, napa cabbage, squash… Mind you, this happens on Mars inside a domed city.

There is a lot of restaurant food in the recent stories, otherwise!

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