#WritersCoffeeClub Sept 26: Have you used a MacGuffin in your writing? Be honest.
I don't think I have in any of my current Ruby Jones work. I maaaay have something of that description in the next Sussuran Chronicles book, but I kind of hope that by the time I come to write it I will have given the thing a decent in-world reason to exist beyond 'it's gonna make my MCs switch bodies'. At the moment, yeah, it's a MacGuffin.
Rest well, David McCallum. I had some of my earliest dirty thoughts about you, and I don't think I was alone.
I mean that the purest of complements. You were a skilled actor, a gentleman, and an unabashed scene-stealer. All eyes were on you, whether as the nerdy-but charismatic man from UNCLE or a mild-mannered scientist in The Invisible Man or NCIS.
The line stops here, but your memory doesn't. I'll always treasure it. #RIPDaviMcCallum #DavidMcCallum
https://files.smutlandia.com/media_attachments/files/111/130/937/610/792/979/original/b0f8dd5c27a9def8.jpg
In case you're wondering, I compromised by putting a scarf over Butt Sculpture's front bottom, but not the bum itself.
My lettings agent compromised by not coming at all.
Which meant I had to email her and ask her to arrange another time to disrupt my life.
I am now avoiding my email, because that sort of thing makes me very anxious.
Woah, I've been hiding from my Twitter for sheer anxiety reasons, and catturd got swatted? Like???
Got no love for catturd or swatting, but that sure sounds like an Event, you know?
Very crotchety about the entitlement family members feel to have sick people take care of their emotions about the sick person being sick right now.
You have been told that I need space and rest. Forcing a visit so you can give me a 'cuddle' (and telling me 'I know you don't like cuddles' - I do, but not from the person who never cuddled me as a child - that's weird) and make me take care of how upset YOU are that I'm losing my job (which is more important to you than my health) sucks.
#WritersCoffeeClub Sep 20: What fonts do you use for paperbacks or drafting/digital?
I draft in Arial because it's what I grew up with and feels friendlier to me. Changing font is the least if my problems when it comes to typesetting, so it's no big deal to change at that stage.
For publishing... it depends. For title pages at least I choose a title that suits the genre/feel of the text. If that font isn't too fancy/disruptive I might use it for the body text as well, but otherwise I default>
>to Garamond for paperbacks. IIRC, I keep things simple for digital and use what the publisher recommends/whatever easily adaptable to different systems.
Honestly surprised by how many people are out there saying they don't promote their work in Writers Coffee Club today (not tagging as I don't want to make ppl feel self-conscious).
If you're not trad published, with someone else doing your marketing, how do ppl even find your work? I don't think I could go to all the effort of editing/typesetting/cover design etc and risk that no one would ever find my book.
#WordWeavers 9/17. Do you mention makeup, hair and beard styles in your work?
Yeah, if it's relevant to the character and interesting to the reader. I find good hair pretty hot so that usually gets a mention at some point or other. See also clean-shavenness or stubble, both of which I enjoy as textual feels. There, uh, aren't a lot of beards in my works - sorry beard fans! I tend to write about what I personally enjoy in erotica and romance...
#WritersCoffeeClub 17/9. How do you promote your writing?
I post about it on here, Tumblr, Twitter, and Medium, although I'm rarely on Twitter these days and have been too sick to do much of anything lately.
I try to do more than just say 'buy my book!' I try to find innovative ways to give people a taste of what they're getting. That includes engaging with the community through tags like this (hello!), sample chapters, and creating images with the cover and tropes, that kind of thing.
#WritersCoffeeClub 9/16. Do you have prologues in any of your writing? How do you feel about them?
I'm considering whether the new scene I've added at the beginning of Too Hot To Handle should be a prologue or merged into chapter 1. I'm inclined towards a prologue, but awaiting my beta's thoughts as both the scene and chap 1 are short. It would be the first time in a long time I've used a prologue, but I have nothing specifically against them.
#WordWeavers
16. How are people like your antagonist viewed in your world?
Mixed. Despite android liberation, there are still a lot of people with anti-android sentiments, but few would support the actions he/they take. The sexual element in particular would probably be viewed with distaste even by those who don't see androids as people. Those who do would be disgusted and appalled.
Shout out to whoever bought An Unexpected Attachment earlier this month when I've been doing almost no promo at all. You're the best!
See also the kind souls reading and ordering Ruinous Attraction.
And An Unexpected Attachment is also available from many other online stores: https://books2read.com/u/bxJl2l
I need to re-up Oviposition somewhere that's not Amazon (it was too spicy for them). But life is *coming at me* at the moment.
I'm expecting that to ease up towards the end of next week, after which I will be able to devote a bit more time to my erotic works.
@9ef703fa So often when someone is like 'Hilarious old men's fashion!' I'm like... but this is really cool? Is it funny for men to have... options? I love these!
Just saw someone toot that catharsis was invented in the 'steam punk era' whatever that is.
I am not engaging directly with someone spouting such obviously nonsense, but in case you were wondering: catharsis is Ancient Greek and was identified by Aristotle and it's very much valid.
The whole thread reeks of puriteen nonsense, please do not engage.
@cfbb00e4 big mood.
I have a parent visiting next week followed by a house inspection. I'm trying to do a bit a day, but there was no getting around vacuuming and shampooing the living room carpet. It needed doing and it was exhausting. Done today, though.
Now onto the horrifying bitty task of Tidying Up.
@fe642545 TBF, I did think of it a bit in that period. But just the last month or so it seems to be everywhere. I feel like Gen Z may have just discovered it or something?
Still waiting for a fit note from my GP. I've requested it twice this week. I can only assume the receptionists aren't forwarding on my emails in the mistaken belief that it's what the GP wants (they have already admitted to this at least once) even though I am doing exactly what he asked me to do.
Now I can't look at my emails because of the stress. I hate this world and everything in it. The finite is officially overdue.
(Advice on this NOT welcome.)
OK. I obtained the fit note, although it was from a different doctor. There's a bunch of other emails there for me to read, but I just can't. That was the urgent thing I needed to do and it's done.
So Redbubble finally told me that I need five designs before I can make my store live. This is not what they say on the actual website, where they say I'm all done apart from some checks. Have made two more designs this morning, but now I'm exhausted.
I need one more before I can make anything live UGH.
I will NOT make something ugly just because, although it is tempting...
Fifth design highly likely to be butt-themed.
#WordWeavers 10. Is writing dialogue easy for you? Why / why not?
Easy. I often feel it's the best part of my writing and the part that comes most naturally. What I find hard is getting the dialogue tags and action that surrounds dialog to feel natural.
@36e1f877 That cat is visiting a friend of mine. I'm not well enough to keep a cat, but my friend sometimes looks after the cat and then we have Living Room Cat Cafe, in which I can spend time with both the friend and the cat and we can praise the cat and tell him what and excellent boy he is and pet him and listen to him purr.
He is elderly but friendly, has a big voice and a big purr and is very rewarding to spend time with.
@5b601993@81bf231d Yeah, I can't agree with that, sorry. Both university and offices are part of the 'real world'. There are problematic people everywhere. Dismissing other people's valid experiences as unreal isn't helpful.
Embracing the diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and needs is vital to support of wellbeing in the workplace. Blaming other employees for having different life experiences is shifting blame away from the capitalist, share-holder-pleasing forces that are behind this.
@81bf231d@5b601993 Having done the (unpaid) work of championing and supporting disabled people and people with mental health issues at work, the degree to which businesses want to be able to say they support the wellbeing of their staff while doing the polar opposite is pretty distressing.
@5b601993@81bf231d 100 percent!
And they Do Not Want To Hear from people who actually know things about mental health if brand of 'wellbeing' is harming people.
Literally have heard the word 'resilience' used to say people should not respond 'emotionally' at work. THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS.
@81bf231d A lot of people, when they say 'mental health is important' really just mean 'We need to make sure other people think and behave in ways I find comfortable'.
@49b232fb I turned to Argos in the pandemic for household items, and they were pretty good. But I did read recently that they did something shitty - I can't remember what, but I guess the big businesses always do something shitty. Probably still better than Amazon.
B and Q are also good for gardening, DIY and some homewards.
Books are easy. Almost any small bookstore can order you things, and Smashwords has ebooks.
I've also seen it suggested to use Amazon as a search engine>
@49b232fb >you can find the product and/or seller you want that way, and then search for the product or seller with a search engine to buy from directly for the seller and/or somewhere better.
For search engines, I recently started using Start Page, and it has made it so much easier to find shops and businesses that have what I want and not what Google has been paid to sell me.
@49b232fb I turned to Argos in the pandemic for household items, and they were pretty good. But I did read recently that they did something shitty - I can't remember what, but I guess the big businesses always do something shitty. Probably still better than Amazon.
B and Q are also good for gardening, DIY and some homewards.
Books are easy. Almost any small bookstore can order you things, and Smashwords has ebooks.
I've also seen it suggested to use Amazon as a search engine>
I'm failing a bit at promotion right now, I know. Life is A Lot atm. I should at least get some answers for some of it on Tuesday.
My books are great, though - you should check out my pinned toots and read them, if you haven't already.
I think I need a guided meditation read by a progressive comedian who spends half the time distracting me from my bad thoughts so I can focus on the sleepy ones.
John Mulaney telling me to think about my right thumb, my index finger, my middle finger, cracking a joke about giving the middle finger to a horse, cracking a joke about fingering, now think about your little finger. Oh, did I miss one? You have, like, 10 fingers (and do the thumbs even count?) - we don't have time for all THAT!
Now think about your wrist, your elbow, your shoulder...
@5075130e 😂 I have never heard the Tube described as clean and safe before! But I'm glad you found things to like after going through our terrible immigration system!
Thanks to everyone who didn't spoil this movie for me. I'm a little annoyed about the bits that were spoiled, but thankfully they seem to have only been minor.
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