@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

Kasseh made a deep inward struggle, then she looked at Cecelia with the utmost gravity.
"Promise me something."
"What? Anything!"
"Look me in the eyes," Kasseh said. 
Mystified, Cecelia met her gaze.
"Promise me that you'll never ever tell anyone what you see next."
"I promise!"

#LesFicFri from Lady Cecelia's Flowers, Part 1 of Lady Cecelia's Journey

The Favala Jazz Quartet performs as part of the Sunset Thursdays for Summer at the Carle Museum. I know Michael Favala from the Straw Dog Writers Guild. #WesternMass

Boxer dogs are the best, because of course they are! https://stevendbrewer.com/boxer-dogs-are-the-best/ #DogsOfMastodon

Tanuki-chan does not approve of your shenanigans. #DogsOfMastodon

Waiting in line, Totemo Isogashii reached into her pocket to get her device, but found one of Lambda's fightin' balls. She pulled it out and then, holding it with her other hand, reached back in for her device.
"Tennis?" said a voice behind her. "You play tennis? You!?"
"No," Totemo said, turning. "This isn't..."
She found herself face to face with Sugoku Uttoshii, her high school nemesis. Her stomach clenched.
"Ha! I'll bet I could #ace you every time!" Uttoshii laughed. #wss366

It's astonishing how many AIs have marketing plans for my books.

RE: https://mastodon.sprawl.club/@ludicity/116939432745772414

This article has some great one-, two-, and five-liners. It's hard to pick a favorite, but…

"If your manager is responding to you with clearly AI-generated text, use AI to respond to save your sanity and then look for a new job. Many people assume they will get in trouble for being that obviously rude. You will not, this particular behavior is exhibited only by true believers, and they actually like that you’ve clearly not bothered to engage with them. I know, it’s fucking wild."

Revin's Heart is my steampunky fantasy adventure with pirates and airships and a trans protagonist. https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/revins-heart/

Momo folded her hands and waited.
Revin hurried back to his office and then returned a few minutes later. He leaned a corkboard up against the wall. It had a piece of paper that featured a crude caricature of the King with his tongue sticking out. He handed five darts to Momo.
She burst out laughing. "Does this really help?"
"Not really," he said. "But it's still kinda fun." (3/3) #wss366

"Are you ready to…"
"Speak!" she barked.
Revin approached her chair and then knelt down to bring their eyes to the same level.
"Your Majesty…" he said, quietly. "Is there anything I can…"
"It's not your fault," she said, quietly, placing a hand on his arm. "It's Stewart. By the skies, but that man tests me."
"Ah," Revin said. "Do you want to do what I do?"
She looked at him questioningly.
"I'll be back in a moment," he said, heading for the door. (2/3) #wss366

Revin got up at first light and, after a quick breakfast, spent the next two hours reviewing the Queen's correspondence. He sorted out those he could summarize in a brief and those that required the Queen's personal decision. At 8 bells, he was ready outside the Queen's audience chamber and knocked respectfully as the bells chimed.
"Enter!" the Queen shouted.
Revin paused with his hand on the door handle and swallowed. Then he composed his features carefully and stepped inside. (1/3) #wss366

Today, I performed what may be my last official duty as a faculty member before my retirement: https://stevendbrewer.com/another-retirement-milestone/

#WritersCoffeeClub Do your works contain erotic elements? How far do you go?

I write romantasy that often has erotic elements. But I generally "fade to black" rather than describing sex scenes directly. I made an exception in *A Familiar Problem* where I felt the sex scene added to the story. The protagonist, a young man who was made a familiar by a powerful demon, is about to fight for his life in a tournament. I decided it was important to show the scene where she takes his virginity.

Happy Marine Day! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Day

Racy Reckless, sitting with David in the audience, screamed with laughter and nudged him with her elbow, saying, "This is my favorite part!" (3/3) #wss366

Next, Princess Siegfrieda (Sisi) used a croisé to try to stop the Baroness von Rothbart's (Rara's) relevé as she sought to ensorcel Odette (Zaza). Odile (Tutu) and Banana (Bebe), flanked by black swans (Mumu and Lala), performed an #arabesque to play fetch with Wolfgang (Tau).
A cat dropped onto the stage and Tau began to chase it, barking. The Angels started screaming and running in circles, as the orchestra came to a crescendo. (2/3) #wss366

The audience quieted as the house lights came down. There was polite applause as the conductor walked to the podium and bowed to the audience. Then he turned, raised his baton, and the opera began. The hall filled with the strains of the overture. Finally, the curtains were drawn back, the stage lights came up, and the Better Angels began to perform Swan Nebula.
Princess Odette (Popo) and the Queen (Nene) ran to the center, performed a plié then circled each other on pointe. (1/3) #wss366

I was striving to achieve some level of gender balance in the queries I'm sending to agents, but there are about 7 women to each man. #Writing

She got out of bed, lit a candle, and pulled out her sketch book. She flipped to the page and studied her drawing. Normally prostrate, the tree had a delicate umbrella of branches standing on a grafted trunk, so you could walk underneath. Then it hit her. The imported vines were unaffected by the parasite! She could use their roots and #graft the native vines onto them! In her nightgown, she ran breathlessly out of her room and went in search of her host. (2/2) #wss366

Cecelia went to bed discouraged. She lay awake for hours remembering everything she'd seen over the day and trying to think of a solution. The native grape vines were dying due to parasitic insects infesting their roots. Within a month all of the native grapes on the island would be dead. The wine industry of Woodseer looked doomed. She sighed. For some reason, the image of the camperdown elm came to mind. (1/2) #wss366