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#rsdiscussion

19 posts7 participants2 posts today

#ScribesAndMakers 2025.06.09 — Tell us about the book that received the fewest votes yesterday.

Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell.

Clare Bell is an emotive and talented author of a number of what might be considered YA books. Ratha's Creature fits my description of science fiction as a story about how technology affects people. In this case, it's the discovery of how to use fire. The people here, however, are sentient leopard-like cats, but make no mistake, they are human stand-ins with a different biology and a very different society. You know you are no longer in Kansas, Toto, yet the main character is very accessible and easy to empathize with. A lot is said about fearing change, about being female, and about abuse. The latter is devastatingly subtle and you might find yourself not noticing it, but the author realized it in a sequel, which is well worth reading, also. The story is poignant and a good, fast read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#PennedPossibilities 695 — Do you enjoy the process of worldbuilding?

The question seems to imply it might be a separate step. For me, it's rarely a distinctive process. Rather, I start with a vague idea or premise and let the character(s) flesh out their story, with their interaction with their environment both generating a local history and details of the world, and what might be a magic system. It might be more properly stated that I modify the environment and the history in the story to get the resulting interaction. I then backfill details and manipulate plot as necessary to make it work.

Do I like discovering how the world works? Yes.

Do I like rewriting bits to match my little epiphanies? Not so much, sometimes.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#PennedPossibilities 694 — MC POV: Do you have siblings? If so, what are their names and ages?

[Streak, male day angel] I have two sisters and they dislike me. With my uncle gone, I've been tasked with raising them since I was 10. My younger sister [unnamed sister 1] is 16 and she's a prat. She forgets to do homework, ignores curfew, and I've had to sweet talk the principal a couple times out of suspending her. I worry she'll never graduate. My older sister, [unnamed sister 2] is a jackass who thinks she owns mother's business already and takes pride in criticizing everything I do at the warehouse. She even berates me when I don't cook her favorite meals at home. She's 20. I'm still very annoyed that they cheered and teased me when Mom demanded I attend to Stone Fruit [a female saint] despite my relationship with Thorn Rose. She's the daughter of one of Mother's more profitable clients and mother had no intention of the denying the 25-year-old's uncomfortable passion for me. She expects me to bring in new business.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WordWeavers 2025.06.08 — If you have more than one story, what’s your best one & why? If only one, what’s the best part?

A question like that makes you realize what you should concentrate on an get out to readers.

Through Blood and Tears is unpublished, and it is a side story to a fantasy trilogy that has the MCs as supporting characters, which I need to rewrite and get published. I've been thinking of it as a teaser or a promotional novella, but on reflection I think I need to release it on its own. The story is a coming-of-age lesbian love story but with a real R.S. twist on the meaning of the word lesbian. It comes across as pure and innocent, with things like social class, the taint of one's profession, strange gender norms, and parental drama playing a role that the two principal characters fight or acquiesce to in their own very emotional way. The pair are truly in love and they literally (not figuratively) fight through blood and tears to be together.

Also, there's a R.S. twist on vampires…

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#ScribesAndMakers 2025.06.08 — Create a multiple choice poll listing 4 books you've read, then ask “Which of these have you read?”

Sorely wanted to include a book from me. In any case, please boost for a larger sample size.

Which of these have your read?

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.08 — Talk about something you wrote and later removed, and why.

It surprised me upon reflection that I sometimes remove tracts. I looked and found examples.

  • I removed a scene between the praetorian Cyanic and Thorn. It wasn't that it showed her acting sexist (it's established as a facet of the gender reversals in the story), but it was totally gratuitous. I saved the scrap for her mentioning the best details to Streak to wheedle him.
  • I removed a large one paragraph epigraph that essentially explained the background for the Reluctance Series in Rainy Day's POV. There are too many stories I could generate from that infodump, and Rainy Day's origin story is just one of them!
  • I jettisoned the "Jacket Blurb" chapter from Mars Needed Women. Even though it was half a page, it read like… wait for it… a jacket blurb. It set the wrong tone for the story. The actual jacket blurb on the actual cover art is copied from an inner chapter and is far catchier.
  • I cut a Ramen-eating food court scene because I'd written it in Streak's POV. I wrote it again from scratch in Thorn's POV because her mildly sexist salacious talk comes across better with her POV thoughts backing them.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.07 — Describe some facet—hidden or overt—which can be found in each and every one of your works.

Women succeed or you're outraged that they're prevented from doing so. It can be very subtle, or in your face like in Mars Needed Women. I even got a beta reader to gasp reading the story, but I think he got that thinking you're a feminist doesn't mean there isn't parts of you that won't be offended when certain patriarchal programming we get from living in our society is violated. While that story wasn't subtle, I think I achieved a minor paradigm shift in that reader.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.06 — What are the conventions of the genre in which you write? How strictly do you follow them?

I follow the conventions of SF, even when writing fantasy.

  1. The posited science (or magic) has discernible rules and limits.
  2. One or maybe two things are different from normal reality (with FTL being a freebie if you need it). Otherwise normal reality and physics apply.
  3. The reader should be able to deduce what could happen next if they are paying attention, or in retrospect think I should have figured that out.
  4. The story is about the effect of technology (which may be magical) on the lives of people.

I follow all these conventions. I will admit in the Reluctance Series deriving everything (from flying Day Angels to a type of necromancy) from a single added force of nature is difficult and convoluted, and much won't be explained unless the series goes for a long time, but I am trying to follow convention 2.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#PennedPossibilities 693 — Tell us about a terrible injury your MC had in the past.

The assassin attacked with knives. When the devil-girl (then a bodyguard) shoved the Doña away, she got sliced all the way down her back—not deep, but still! During the subsequent fight in a boardroom full of the Doña's lieutenants, she ended up thrown into a bookcase in the (magical†) altercation that knocked out the assassin. A shelf shattered her fibula in 63 pieces; bone shards cut skin, nerves, and blood vessels. She passed from hemorrhaging and ought have died. Surviving that, she was told she'd never walk, let alone fight again. It took her six months to recover, thanks to artificial bone surgery (paid for by the Doña) and grueling hours of daily therapy to compensate for nerve damage. She wears a special shoe to the current day because she can't feel parts of her foot or leg. She only drags her foot when she isn't paying attention, but she keeps up her training and therapy and is again a formable fighter. Mind you, she fights both physically and magically, and fights smart; you do not want to tangle with her.

=-=-=-=
† It's not actually magic, but it is too technical to explain in a brief discussion.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WordWeavers 2025.06.07 — Antagonist POV: If you were an animal, which one? CW: Spoilers

[Rainy Days, female:] Human. I'll stick with human. Humans are animals.

Something different than what I am?

Right. But you have to understand I already have ibex horns like a crown of thorns on my head. They grew in by the time I was two. I've since acquired day angel wings—yes, I can fly—and feline legs that end in hooves. Didn't ask for either, but immortality tech sometimes runs amok when something kills you, ya know. I'm alive. That's good.

Not what you meant?

This is me sighing deeply.

All right. I'd like to be a cat. I'd be able to sit in a handsome guy's lap any time I wanted and be petted all day long. I like being petted!

Meow.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#ScribesAndMakers 2025.06.06 — What’s your best dish? What are the ingredients and how do you make it?

Not going to say it is my best, but it is a new favorite invented by my spouse. It's super easy super tasty, and I want to share it with y'all.

Soufflé Hamburgers 🤤😋

This recipe creates fluffy tender moist burgers that almost fall apart. It is not suitable for the bbq grill. I've only pan cooked them, but the recipe might work in the oven. Practice raw meat and egg safety when making this.

Makes 4 large burgers.

Essentials:

  • 2 eggs or 3 egg white portions (see criteria below)
  • 20 oz of ground meat: beef, chicken, or turkey
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese; more to taste. Substitute similar cheese if desired

Add ins to taste:

  • Your usual burger seasoning if not wet, or add salt and pepper being aware the cheese is a source of salt

Or mine:

  • Fresh torn basil leaves, 6 or more
  • Fresh chopped oregano, about a tsp minced or more
  • Rosemary leaves chopped, 1/4 tsp or more
  • Cloves of garlic minced fine — I use a tsp (1 clove) freeze dried, ground in a mortar
  • 7 Black peppercorns ground in a mortar, or more

Preparation:

  1. Mix (by hand recommended) ground meat in a bowl with egg
  2. Mix in seasoning
  3. Mix in cheese

This makes an intentionally soupy mixture (like a thick pea soup, but it mostly holds shape). If your meat is very dry, or your mixture isn't soupy, you may need to add more egg. For this reason, a carton of egg whites might be easier to work with.

Because of the soupiness, we often freeze between parchment paper 4 large burgers, then cook from frozen in a ceramic surface pan with a tiny bit of olive oil (enough to prevent sticking). However, you can ladle or spoon into a hot pan immediately. If so, you'll need slightly more oil. Be careful when turning to wait for the burger to harden on a side first.

These burgers cook much faster than you expect! Use your food thermometer.

Extra credit:

Place a bottle of cooking sake, red wine, or large glass of hot, preferably boiling, water together with a silicone cooking brush beside the stove. As the burger cooks, the fat browns and burns on the surface of the pan. This is part of the taste produced by the Maillard reaction, lost! Pour in at least an ounce of liquid (do not drown pan) and brush the pan as if deglazing, scrubbing up and dissolving all burnt or browned juices. Add enough that it doesn't boil away. Once the burger has a hard shell on top, brush the glaze on the burger. Repeat while flipping until the meat reaches doneness. I often start with the wine then when there is a few ounces in the pan, I switch to water. Brush flipped burger on plate with any remaining liquid.

Serving Suggestion:

On a bun or toasted low carb bread (I recommend Inked Bread Co. Keto), lightly slathered with brown or Dijon mustard. Extra decadent? Top burger with a medium fried egg and squash the bread down so the yolk runs!

Bon Appétit!

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#PennedPossibilities 691 — MC POV: Have you traveled to other lands? (Or planets, even?)

Yes. And yes.

Oh, you want an enumeration? I've been told I can admit I was with Rainy Days when she conquered the northern prefecture of the dragon lands. She'd decided I was her new favorite student and she fetched me during my math class, in front of everyone, and took me away to teach me "lessons" that in retrospect that were very important but a bit too nerve wracking for my taste. I learned what the phrase "grew up fast" meant, learning by doing as it were.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WordWeavers 2025.06.05 — What would your first chapter smell like?

The primary scent would be more of a taint that would likely manifest as a taste: Rust.

The story takes place on Mars. The scene in question (the chapter has only one) takes place in an underground construction tunnel between habitat domes that was bored out from the bedrock, is rough looking, and is colored orange and dark red. Perchlorate (scentless) on Mars makes the surface dust toxic to breathe, so no chance is taken that some has leaked or seeped underground. Every surface is sprayed with a myco-epoxy (derived from fungus) which makes everything look wet. If the tunnel is new (never stated) it would have a funky chemical scent also.

The secondary smell, however, would be human sweat; in a more a refined sense, fear. A man tried to kidnap his daughter and beat his wife to do so. A vigilante group of women being led by the main character, a woman engineer wearing an exoskeleton, has cornered him. He is not happy.

That rust sent might be blood.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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Replied in thread

@sinabhfuil

"writing" doesn't just mean sitting there and having a little think then scribbling lovely words

Awww.

Actually, that's what I do. (Not saying it works for anyone else, or I recommend it, simply that it is what I do.)

it means serious research

If it did, it would be work and I wouldn't do it. I write mostly fantasy or SF fantasy and never hard SF, histFic, or even mainstream, because actual facts are an important part of the story and researching them is boring. (Sorry all you research fiends reading this, but for me it is procrastination.) I rely on my knowledge to understand what I can use for plot and what to have experts in the story lampshade to ensure verisimilitude. My research is typically verification or elucidation, sometimes after the fact, to clarify I got the concept right, to find meat to make the stew more savory. I will admit to writing things I later had to redact, though as I recollect never to the point of destroying the story.

That said, I put a lot of thought (daydreaming) into my magic systems. With the help of my characters, I generate a lot of history that fills the story and gives it depth, which in turn sometimes generates side stories.

followed by stringent editing

Since I enjoy the stories I write, and often have them read to me (or read them aloud) to edit them, this is never work. I often have to say enough is enough!

BTW or is it PS? Petrichor is a favorite scent of mine and why I love to go outside after the first light rain.

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.04
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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.05 — World Environment Day. Talk about something you’ve read that made you think, “I wish I wrote that.”

World Environment Day is a day to become aware of the environment and people's impact upon it, so one particular book comes to mind, John Barnes' 1994 novel Mother of Storms. This is an environmental disaster novel where atmospheric heat and moisture spawns a super hurricane so powerful even crossing a landmass doesn't break it up. It goes around and around the Earth… Did I wish I wrote that? I can't rightly remember, but I certainly don't have the scientific chops for it. It impressed me and is appropriate for today specifically and a warning for our future.

Another that comes to mind, which I feel speaks to our short sightedness as a species toward ourselves and our environment is Greg Bear's Blood Music, an SF novel that's a stealth horror story. Having lived through COVID, the story resonates even more. The effects on the environment are incidental, and more scary I think. Again, I don't have the science chops to have written it even if I might have wished I had that idea.

I could have found stories I'd wished I'd had to idea for, but they would not fit the theme.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2025.06.04 — Do you consider writing work? Would you say writing is your life’s work?

In the sense the work is used by most people, by definition, no. I'm retired.

Is it in the physics sense? Yes, it takes effort, consumes calories.

Being an author is my avocation.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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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.

My country (alright, autonomous region) was invaded yesterday. I'm a dragon, and it's because of dragons violating "international norms" that it was invaded, regardless of me siding with the oppressed daemon population and me having acted as a railroad engineer in the underground railway that sent women to freedom in the north. Still… invaded. I worked as a spy for the north, helped track the movement of the dragon lords, and now everyone knows it. Moreover, my scary northern contact, who taught me to use my horns [to do magic] has turned out to be Rainy Days herself. You know… The Director of Home. The absolute planetary ruler? I've 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 me. It's been suggested (loaded word, that one) I acquiesce. Wanna guess by whom? Hint? Her initials are RD.

What do I fear losing most? If nothing else, my mind.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WordWeavers 2025.06.04 — Describe the mood of the opening paragraph of your story using 3 adjectives.

Intense, bloody, infuriating.

Because of feedback from the beta readers, this prompt is both a timely and useful exercise. I may have to add it to my bag of tricks for during revision. What was in my mind included angry and outraged, but rereading the paragraph, the MC strikes me as detached. I might even characterize it as her acting like a superhero. I need to fix that for the v3 beta reader…

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#PennedPossibilities 689 — What does a perfect world look like to your MC? Your perfect world may not be their idea of a perfect world, so let's pry into their brain and discover the lens they choose to view the world through.

This answer delves into spoilers territory, but only in a wide angle sense. The story arcs are barely started in the SF version, so it won't matter much unless you are reading this reply a number of years from its original posting date.

Her off-the-cuff answer would be that the world is perfect, it's simply all the people that keep her from studying her books that make it less than perfect. Delving deeper, there's more. She doesn't understand people and she's looking to explain the confusing parts as much as how the natural (and from our POV, magical) world works. She suspects there's something in people that's broken, but it's actually her reaction to having been betrayed when very young by a friend—although, let's not discount that her parents were killed when she was 5 and her actual subsequent guardian, Rainy Days, set her educational / social responsibilities bar intentionally way too high. I conceived this character as a study in how a good character can become evil (in a very reasonable, trying to save people, sort of way). Were she to find that something that affects most people that she could fix—and in the reluctance universe, it exists—she might fix it to make the world perfect. Discovering love and friendship ought (but won't necessarily) change her quest for perfection.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#PennedPossibilities 687 — How much does your SC value communication in their relationships with others? Are they prone to being misunderstood?

Chrome, short for Chromium, is a dragon who looks like a daemon because he only has horns. He is a secondary character who plays a role defining Thorn Rose's heritage, bringing on her epiphany about her teacher's motivations, and is a minor love interest. Note, despite the terms, these people are human.

His history, which he relates, peripherally intertwines with Thorn's mother. He helped run the underground railway which smuggled people out of the dragon lands. Communication is his specialty. Being a dragon raised as a daemon, he can pass a daemon (who are oppressed and sometimes enslaved, especially if they are women) or as a dragon to deal with authorities. Because he could go where many other "railroad engineers" could not and not be caught, and helped transport many people to a better life. He's too young to have been there when Thorn's mother as a little girl was packed in a crate of onions and garlic.

Chrome and Thorn have a misunderstanding, especially since her teacher, Rainy Days, arranged for them to… well, you know…

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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