@2433bcdf *hugs back* She really was a sweet natured little monster, except when it came to trying to punch smol dog... Apparently smol dog was fair game.
#WritersCoffeeClub 7: Have you ever seen a TV show or movie so close to one of your ideas you wished you'd written it?
Sort of, and sort of not. As a kid I was a voracious reader at the local library, which had a lot of fantasy and sci fi anthologies. A couple of decades later, I had the idea for The Night Fair.
Then watched Stardust and went, oh, wait, this seems a bit like my idea? I suspect the opening chapter was in one of the anthologies.
Still wrote the story anyway.
#WritersCoffeeClub 6: Are you self-published or trad-published? How's it going?
Self-published. I throw books on KU and run away, which should probably tell you how it's going too.
(To be fair, most people who read my stuff are very disappointed, so I'm just saving people the time. 😜)
#WordWeavers 5: How often do you discuss your writing with your real-life friends and family?
Well... I post here, and some of you guys are my friends?
#WordWeavers 4: Character development, world-building, plot — how much attention do you pay to each?
I write, and stuff happens. 😅 Current projects are mostly modern day, so most of the worldbuilding is done for me. The plot usually turns up in my head early on (not always at the start) and character development happens as the plot goes on, if it goes on long enough that you'd realistically get some. So... there's always some in longer stories, but much less in short ones.
#WritersCoffeeClub 3: Should a writer have a face shot on their book cover or within their book?
I don't actually care what authors look like, honestly. When I'm reading, I want to be imagining the characters, not them.
A while ago someone posted something similar to the Romance Reddit sub, about how they loved seeing authors / face reveals and did others think so too? Almost everyone said they didn't care what the author looked like, which was a relief as I'm never posting my face in a book.
#writerscoffeeclub 29: How do you format scene breaks in your writing?
In Scrivener, it's usually double-return, * * *, then another double return... or sometimes just double return. Sometimes both in the same file. (I forget which I'm using at any given point.)
In ebooks, always * * * and formatted for spacing in the stylesheet.
In print, usually just a space unless the scene break is at the end of a page, when I'll use * * * or a symbol.
Sometimes when smol dog sees other dogs, she decides they need to know that they are Wrong. I can't really tell her off when she gets this into her head because she's too busy standing on her back legs and building up to a shout, so I have to warn her that I will publicly embarrass her if she carries on.
If she does carry on, then I pick her up and noisily kiss her head.
She's usually so embarrassed by this when I put her back down that she decides the other dog can go and be Wrong after all.
#WritersCoffeeClub 26: Have you used a MacGuffin in your writing? Be honest.
Weirdly, not often. At least, in terms of objects. I don't know if murderers and potential-murderers count. Or souls. *eyes Lucius*
In terms of objects, the last one I remember off the top of my head was many years ago, when Kse and Paradigm were looking for the Architect of Light (I love misreading/hearing things, it gives me the best names) for an AI called Maxim who wanted a human body.
Unfinished, unsurprisingly.
What did the Architect of Light do (other than apparently have the power to wipe out worlds)? I don't know. Luckily I ran out of energy before I really got that far. There's a random snippet of Kse and Paradigm finding the... thing (it looked kinda like a large and fancy white backdrop stand folded up 😅), and then some stuff from afterwards where a bunch of murderous androids wanted to know how Maxim had got his AI self into a human body.
I'd love to know that too!
#WritersCoffeeClub 25: What keeps you striving concerning your writing goals?
I don't really have any... I only write because my head gets a bit cluttered otherwise. There's no room for random facts AND characters AND where I last put something down. Clearly the characters come first... and then the facts. I will never remember where I put things down.
Basically I just... write? Sometimes? When the brainweasels let me?
#WordWeavers 26: Is your antagonist or protagonist more fashionable?
Probably ALL of the antagonists are more fashionable than Caeso. It's hard *not* to be.
Caeso mostly lives in jeans, T-shirts and sweaters because for the majority of his life he just wore what everyone else did, and now in these last handful of centuries normal people suddenly have *fashion.* He says he's still taking time to adjust.
Kita, who likes modern fashions a lot, quietly despairs.
#WordWeavers 25: Your antagonist gives a spontaneous speech. What is it about?
Main story: Probably about how some people go around not knowing the damage they cause and how it makes reasonable people react. (Pot, kettle?)
Sequel story: I don't think they're the spontaneous speech type.
Lee's story: He's a university lecturer, so it'd probably be something relating to his topic that would in some way circle around to how great he as a person is.
#WritersCoffeeClub 17: How do you promote your writing?
...I don't. I don't really write the 'right' stuff, and it's only been since I joined here that anyone's even said they enjoy anything I've done. So it's not really worth the time or effort for me.
I have a website and that's about it.
(I really can't seem to phrase this in a way that doesn't sound like I don't value so much the lovely comments I've had from people here!)
I do find it interesting that in The Devil Judge, the Korean president is a narcissistic former actor who forments hatred against foreigners... and they start out every episode with a note that this is a dystopic work of fiction.
#WordWeavers 16: How are people like your antagonist viewed in this world?
What, dedicated boyfriends who take care of their partners after an accident leaves them with amnesia? They're practically lauded. And in most cases they should be.
This one is a... special case.
As to Lee's antagonist, he's viewed like most university professors in the early 2000s. Even if the hint of doubt clings, no one says anything, for fear of reprisals... After all, everyone's heard *that* rumour, right...?
#WordWeavers 15: Is your MC neat or messy?
Caeso's neat because moving around a lot over two thousand years taught him not to keep things he didn't need. It's not so much he's neat because he's neat, it's more... he's neat because he doesn't have much of anything. (Sometimes Kita despairs.)
Lee (who technically isn't an MC yet *glares*) is a lot less neat. Stuff ends up on the floor, but then at least he knows it's for the wash, right?
#WordWeavers 14: Does your antagonist have any likeable or redeemable qualities?
Oh, the main story antagonist is likeable, for sure. He's a loving boyfriend who supports his partner, and he's romantic and charming. Redeemable? Well, he says he's doing it all to avenge his brother, so 'redeemable' is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.
Lee's antagonist? He's a family man who gives every impression of being a dedicated husband, and he's a good teacher who connects well with his class.
@b7ab5d68 🤣🤣
Ironically, I've always been lucky with cats. Ancient cat has always been too airheaded to be malicious, and her sibling confined his maliciousness to attacking ankles and trying to bite my hand. I've never had a cat as horrible as my muse is. 😂
#WordWeavers 13: What animal would you like as a muse and why?
I think I already have one, and it's a cat. Independent, goes missing for long periods of time before wandering back in like butter wouldn't melt in its mouth, and occasionally says, "nice plot, be a shame if something were to... happen to it" and then pushes it off the counter with one idle paw.
#WordWeavers 11: What would you do if you met your antagonist?
I don't know. Maybe I already have? *spooky finger gestures* Seriously though, even the demi-god antagonist... they all seem normal and blend in. If I met the demi-god from Caeso's main story, I'd maybe ask him if he thinks this is all really worth the risk... but I know he'd say yes. Even an eternity in Tartarus would be bearable if he can see Caeso break.
(Also, he'd blame me, since I'm the writer.)
#WritersCoffeeClub 16: Do you have prologues in any of your writing? How do you feel about them?
I don't think I've ever really felt the need to write one, but I don't mind reading them.
#WritersCoffeeClub 15: Which conjunctions do you use the most? Does it matter?
I don't know, and I've never really paid attention. As long as the sentence makes sense and flows well enough, I don't really care.
People say that 'said' vanishes into the text; so do most conjunctions. The words you SHOULD be looking out for are like the one I heard in an audiobook this morning: the author used the word 'stand' some six times in three or four sentences. No amount of 'and' is as jarring as that.
#WritersCoffeeClub 14: Have you ever written about an ex-partner?
No. I hate to say it, but he just wasn't that interesting.
I turned a pest from a women's forum I moderated into a character though. He used to post, initially normally, and then got increasingly offensive about how evil women were, then got banned. A couple of weeks later, new account, same IP, same cycle. We could've IP-banned him but the ladies found him funny (they didn't even provoke him!).
I enjoyed setting my MC on him.
#WordWeavers 9: MC POV: What do you hate most about the author?
Caeso: At this point, I'm starting to compile a list. *glares and makes a throat-cutting gesture while mouthing 'give him back'*
Alex: Not enough sex scenes.
Milos: Too many sex scenes! *laughs as Alex sticks an elbow in his ribs*
Lee: I'm still waiting for my story to get written. How much help do they want? Should I start writing it myself? I can, if it'd get things started...
#WritersCoffeeClub 13: Do you derive joy from writing? In what way?
When it's working and I'm just writing down what I can see my characters doing, then yes. When my characters are being stubborn and just stand there refusing to play, needing to prodded through every scene, not so much. When I finish a chapter I'm happy; when I finish the whole story I'm generally thrilled.
Unfortunately life's been a bit crap for the last couple of years, so it's a lot harder to enjoy writing at the minute.
#WritersCoffeeClub 8: Did you like to read as a child? Which books were your favorites?
I was lucky enough to grow up in a house full of books and I learned to read before I went to school (to the horror of the school). I can't remember most of the books I enjoyed when I was very young, but I used to read a lot, and anything I could get my hands on. My secondary school had a well-stocked library too so I used to spend lunch breaks reading books by Louise Lawrence and Dick King Smith. 1/2
It's a pain to read the first couple of chapter of something, enjoy it, then realise that if you want to read more then you have to sit your arse down and write it because it's your own damn book.
*prods Blake and Marcus* Do something interesting...
@68a44c70 She was clearly working on the theory that you never know, and you might all have been murdered in your beds by this interloper if she wasn't careful. 😂
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