#talesfrom — Public Fediverse posts

#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?

Although I write contemporary urban fantasy I like to read outside of my genre.

I find it’s a great way of coming across ideas which might not crop up in fantasy fiction.

I can then adapt them and, with a little reworking, hopefully come up with something fresh.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?

Although I write contemporary urban fantasy I like to read outside of my genre.

I find it’s a great way of coming across ideas which might not crop up in fantasy fiction.

I can then adapt them and with a little reworking hopefully come up with something fresh.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?

Although I write contemporary urban fantasy I like to read outside of my genre.

I find it’s a great way of coming across ideas which might not crop up in fantasy fiction.

I can then adapt them and, with a little reworking, hopefully come up with something fresh.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?

Although I write contemporary urban fantasy I like to read outside of my genre.

I find it’s a great way of coming across ideas which might not crop up in fantasy fiction.

I can then adapt them and, with a little reworking, hopefully come up with something fresh.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#WritersCoffeeClub – 3rd Sept. How does what you read influence what you write?

Although I write contemporary urban fantasy I like to read outside of my genre.

I find it’s a great way of coming across ideas which might not crop up in fantasy fiction.

I can then adapt them and with a little reworking hopefully come up with something fresh.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@inventingreality.bsky.social

Hi Rob, I got an email which I think might be part of a scam. Someone commenting on one of books and saying:
There are currently three separate paperback listings for this exact book, not editions or formats, three different ISBNs, three different page counts, 162, 202, and 205 pages, each with its own Goodreads record and its own slice of ratings. A reader who finds one of the three has no way of knowing the other two exist, or that reviews on this book are split three ways instead of gathered in one place.

Do you want that pulled together into a single listing instead of three?

What do you reckon?

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@inventingreality.bsky.social

Hi Rob, I got an email which I think might be part of a scam. Someone commenting on one of books and saying:
There are currently three separate paperback listings for this exact book, not editions or formats, three different ISBNs, three different page counts, 162, 202, and 205 pages, each with its own Goodreads record and its own slice of ratings. A reader who finds one of the three has no way of knowing the other two exist, or that reviews on this book are split three ways instead of gathered in one place.

Do you want that pulled together into a single listing instead of three?

What do you reckon?

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@inventingreality.bsky.social

Hi Rob, I got an email which I think might be part of a scam. Someone commenting on one of books and saying:
There are currently three separate paperback listings for this exact book, not editions or formats, three different ISBNs, three different page counts, 162, 202, and 205 pages, each with its own Goodreads record and its own slice of ratings. A reader who finds one of the three has no way of knowing the other two exist, or that reviews on this book are split three ways instead of gathered in one place.

Do you want that pulled together into a single listing instead of three?

What do you reckon?

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is NATANT. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Borrowed from Latin natāntem, accusative of natāns, floating or swimming.
An alternative term for buoyant.

The picture shows a duck, species unknown, doing what comes naturally to ducks, floating serenely on water whilst its legs are paddling away like crazy beneath the surface to propel it forward.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is NATANT. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Borrowed from Latin natāntem, accusative of natāns, floating or swimming.
An alternative term for buoyant.

The picture shows a duck, species unknown, doing what comes naturally to ducks, floating serenely on water whilst its legs are paddling away like crazy beneath the surface to propel it forward.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is NATANT. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Borrowed from Latin natāntem, accusative of natāns, floating or swimming.
An alternative term for buoyant.

The picture shows a duck, species unknown, doing what comes naturally to ducks, floating serenely on water whilst its legs are paddling away like crazy beneath the surface to propel it forward.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is NATANT. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Borrowed from Latin natāntem, accusative of natāns, floating or swimming.
An alternative term for buoyant.

The picture shows a duck, species unknown, doing what comes naturally to ducks, floating serenely on water whilst its legs are paddling away like crazy beneath the surface to propel it forward.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 3 - Which ebook reader do you use?

I choose not to use an ebook reader.

I prefer to read as nature intended, from a physical book.

A timeless device which has the advantage of never needing to be recharged.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 3 - Which ebook reader do you use?

I choose not to use an ebook reader.

I prefer to read as nature intended, from a physical book.

A timeless device which has the advantage of never needing to be recharged.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 3 - Which ebook reader do you use?

I choose not to use an ebook reader.

I prefer to read as nature intended, from a physical book.

A timeless device which has the advantage of never needing to be recharged.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 3 - Which ebook reader do you use?

I choose not to use an ebook reader.

I prefer to read as nature intended, from a physical book.

A timeless device which has the advantage of never needing to be recharged.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 3 - Which ebook reader do you use?

I choose not to use an ebook reader.

I prefer to read as nature intended, from a physical book.

A timeless device which has the advantage of never needing to be recharged.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday

Now there’s a thing, apparently it’s National Welsh Rarebit Day today.

It’s dish of hot cheese sauce, often including ale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce, served on toasted bread.
The origins of the name are unknown, though the earliest recorded use is 1725 as "Welsh rabbit", a jocular name as the dish contains no rabbit; the earliest documented use of "Welsh rarebit" is in 1781.

To quote Ambrose Bierce (1911): "Rarebit n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humourless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad in the hole is really not a toad, and that ris de veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."

Although my favourite quote when talking about what is essentially grilled cheese on toast comes from Ben Gunn in Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Treasure Island, “Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese - toasted, mostly.”

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday

Now there’s a thing, apparently it’s National Welsh Rarebit Day today.

It’s dish of hot cheese sauce, often including ale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce, served on toasted bread.
The origins of the name are unknown, though the earliest recorded use is 1725 as "Welsh rabbit", a jocular name as the dish contains no rabbit; the earliest documented use of "Welsh rarebit" is in 1781.

To quote Ambrose Bierce (1911): "Rarebit n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humourless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad in the hole is really not a toad, and that ris de veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."

Although my favourite quote when talking about what is essentially grilled cheese on toast comes from Ben Gunn in Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Treasure Island, “Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese - toasted, mostly.”

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday

Now there’s a thing, apparently it’s National Welsh Rarebit Day today.

It’s dish of hot cheese sauce, often including ale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce, served on toasted bread.
The origins of the name are unknown, though the earliest recorded use is 1725 as "Welsh rabbit", a jocular name as the dish contains no rabbit; the earliest documented use of "Welsh rarebit" is in 1781.

To quote Ambrose Bierce (1911): "Rarebit n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humourless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad in the hole is really not a toad, and that ris de veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."

Although my favourite quote when talking about what is essentially grilled cheese on toast comes from Ben Gunn in Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Treasure Island, “Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese - toasted, mostly.”

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday

Now there’s a thing, apparently it’s National Welsh Rarebit Day today.

It’s dish of hot cheese sauce, often including ale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce, served on toasted bread.
The origins of the name are unknown, though the earliest recorded use is 1725 as "Welsh rabbit", a jocular name as the dish contains no rabbit; the earliest documented use of "Welsh rarebit" is in 1781.

To quote Ambrose Bierce (1911): "Rarebit n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humourless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad in the hole is really not a toad, and that ris de veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."

Although my favourite quote when talking about what is essentially grilled cheese on toast comes from Ben Gunn in Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Treasure Island, “Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese - toasted, mostly.”

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#onthisday

Now there’s a thing, apparently it’s National Welsh Rarebit Day today.

It’s dish of hot cheese sauce, often including ale, mustard, or Worcestershire sauce, served on toasted bread.
The origins of the name are unknown, though the earliest recorded use is 1725 as "Welsh rabbit", a jocular name as the dish contains no rabbit; the earliest documented use of "Welsh rarebit" is in 1781.

To quote Ambrose Bierce (1911): "Rarebit n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humourless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad in the hole is really not a toad, and that ris de veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."

Although my favourite quote when talking about what is essentially grilled cheese on toast comes from Ben Gunn in Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Treasure Island, “Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese - toasted, mostly.”

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

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

Nathan can be paranoid at times, whenever he enters a room, crowded or otherwise, he scopes out the exits, especially if it’s somewhere familiar.

His next step is to find a table at the very back of the room so he can see everybody who enters the place.

Then, if he’s with Vicky and they’re discussing anything to do with magic, she’ll raise a cone of silence so they can’t be overheard.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

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

Nathan can be paranoid at times, whenever he enters a room, crowded or otherwise, he scopes out the exits, especially if it’s somewhere familiar.

His next step is to find a table at the very back of the room so he can see everybody who enters the place.

Then, if he’s with Vicky and they’re discussing anything to do with magic, she’ll raise a cone of silence so they can’t be overheard.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

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

Nathan can be paranoid at times, whenever he enters a room, crowded or otherwise, he scopes out the exits, especially if it’s somewhere familiar.

His next step is to find a table at the very back of the room so he can see everybody who enters the place.

Then, if he’s with Vicky and they’re discussing anything to do with magic, she’ll raise a cone of silence so they can’t be overheard.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

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

Nathan can be paranoid at times, whenever he enters a room, crowded or otherwise, he scopes out the exits, especially if it’s somewhere familiar.

His next step is to find a table at the very back of the room so he can see everybody who enters the place.

Then, if he’s with Vicky and they’re discussing anything to do with magic, she’ll raise a cone of silence so they can’t be overheard.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

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

Nathan can be paranoid at times, whenever he enters a room, crowded or otherwise, he scopes out the exits, especially if it’s somewhere familiar.

His next step is to find a table at the very back of the room so he can see everybody who enters the place.

Then, if he’s with Vicky and they’re discussing anything to do with magic, she’ll raise a cone of silence so they can’t be overheard.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#PennedPossibilities 1116: What does your antagonist fear?

If the enigmatic Noone can truly be considered an antagonist, something Nathan and Vicky aren’t entirely sure about, we know he’s scared of something, but what exactly remains a mystery.

He’s paranoid for sure and is rarely seen without a couple of bodyguards hovering around him. You know the sort, big and beefy, suited and booted, and ready for trouble.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#PennedPossibilities 1116: What does your antagonist fear?

If the enigmatic Noone can truly be considered an antagonist, something Nathan and Vicky aren’t entirely sure about, we know he’s scared of something, but what exactly remains a mystery.

He’s paranoid for sure and is rarely seen without a couple of bodyguards hovering around him. You know the sort, big and beefy, suited and booted, and ready for trouble.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#PennedPossibilities 1116: What does your antagonist fear?

If the enigmatic Noone can truly be considered an antagonist, something Nathan and Vicky aren’t entirely sure about, we know he’s scared of something, but what exactly remains a mystery.

He’s paranoid for sure and is rarely seen without a couple of bodyguards hovering around him. You know the sort, big and beefy, suited and booted, and ready for trouble.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#PennedPossibilities 1116: What does your antagonist fear?

If the enigmatic Noone can truly be considered an antagonist, something Nathan and Vicky aren’t entirely sure about, we know he’s scared of something, but what exactly remains a mystery.

He’s paranoid for sure and is rarely seen without a couple of bodyguards hovering around him. You know the sort, big and beefy, suited and booted, and ready for trouble.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#PennedPossibilities 1116: What does your antagonist fear?

If the enigmatic Noone can truly be considered an antagonist, something Nathan and Vicky aren’t entirely sure about, we know he’s scared of something, but what exactly remains a mystery.

He’s paranoid for sure and is rarely seen without a couple of bodyguards hovering around him. You know the sort, big and beefy, suited and booted, and ready for trouble.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is CORTICOLOUS. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Corticolous, Living on tree bark. From cortex, borrowed from Latin, cortex, cork, bark +‎ colous, from Latin -col(a), inhabitor + -ous, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns to denote possession of.

The picture depicts a clump of what appears to be a combination of moss and lichen cuddling up to tree.

I guess you could say they’re liking their home...

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is CORTICOLOUS. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Corticolous, Living on tree bark. From cortex, borrowed from Latin, cortex, cork, bark +‎ colous, from Latin -col(a), inhabitor + -ous, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns to denote possession of.

The picture depicts a clump of what appears to be a combination of moss and lichen cuddling up to tree.

I guess you could say they’re liking their home...

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is CORTICOLOUS. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Corticolous, Living on tree bark. From cortex, borrowed from Latin, cortex, cork, bark +‎ colous, from Latin -col(a), inhabitor + -ous, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns to denote possession of.

The picture depicts a clump of what appears to be a combination of moss and lichen cuddling up to tree.

I guess you could say they’re liking their home...

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is CORTICOLOUS. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Corticolous, Living on tree bark. From cortex, borrowed from Latin, cortex, cork, bark +‎ colous, from Latin -col(a), inhabitor + -ous, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns to denote possession of.

The picture depicts a clump of what appears to be a combination of moss and lichen cuddling up to tree.

I guess you could say they’re liking their home...

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

2nd Sept 2026. What was the last thing to interrupt you while writing?

Mrs Author.

It seems to be almost inevitable that as soon I’ve really gotten into the groove, and the words are flowing onto the page that she comes along and asks me a question.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

2nd Sept 2026. What was the last thing to interrupt you while writing?

Mrs Author.

It seems to be almost inevitable that as soon I’ve really gotten into the groove, and the words are flowing onto the page that she comes along and asks me a question.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

2nd Sept 2026. What was the last thing to interrupt you while writing?

Mrs Author.

It seems to be almost inevitable that as soon I’ve really gotten into the groove, and the words are flowing onto the page that she comes along and asks me a question.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

2nd Sept 2026. What was the last thing to interrupt you while writing?

Mrs Author.

It seems to be almost inevitable that as soon I’ve really gotten into the groove, and the words are flowing onto the page that she comes along and asks me a question.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

2nd Sept 2026. What was the last thing to interrupt you while writing?

Mrs Author.

It seems to be almost inevitable that as soon I’ve really gotten into the groove, and the words are flowing onto the page that she comes along and asks me a question.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 2 - How do you think where you live affects your creative work?

I live in a semi-rural area so I’m able to go for a walk in the countryside any time I want to.
Going for a walk is part of a long-standing literary tradition, so I guess that helps.

I’m also fortunate enough to live near Lichfield, Staffs, which has resulted in me becoming a member of the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum writing group and in my forthcoming light novel, The Secret Life of Books, being set almost entirely in the local Wetherspoons.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 2 - How do you think where you live affects your creative work?

I live in a semi-rural area so I’m able to go for a walk in the countryside any time I want to.
Going for a walk is part of a long-standing literary tradition, so I guess that helps.

I’m also fortunate enough to live near Lichfield, Staffs, which has resulted in me becoming a member of the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum writing group and in my forthcoming light novel, The Secret Life of Books, being set almost entirely in the local Wetherspoons.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#ScribesAndMakers Sep 2 - How do you think where you live affects your creative work?

I live in a semi-rural area so I’m able to go for a walk in the countryside any time I want to.
Going for a walk is part of a long-standing literary tradition, so I guess that helps.

I’m also fortunate enough to live near Lichfield, Staffs, which has resulted in me becoming a member of the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum writing group and in my forthcoming light novel, The Secret Life of Books, being set almost entirely in the local Wetherspoons.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@AverageS

My Word of the Day today is SEPULCHRAL. Share YOUR words to describe this picture in the comments!

Learned borrowing from Latin sepulcralis. From sepulcrum, grave, tomb, + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

Relating to a grave or to death; funereal. Suggestive of a grave or of death; gloomy; solemn. Having a hollow and deep sound.

As far as the picture goes, I reckon it’d redolent of gloom, making it a gloomy sepulchre. Which, on reflection, kinda goes with the job.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@arstechnica

I'm looking forward to seeing this one, I might save it for a birthday treat.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

@Ardeija

Funnily enough, I'm in the middle of writing a short story where one of my secondary characters is being helped by a ghost.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel

#WordWeavers 1/9: What is something your MC desperately wants but would never admit to wanting?

Funnily enough, Nathan and Vicky are secretly at odds with each other when it comes to how they view their adventures.

Nathan would like nothing more than to stay out of harm’s way whilst Vicky finds it all tremendously exciting and stimulating.

#WritersOfMastodon #TalesFrom… #SecretLife… #HowtoSucceed… #Author #Novel