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When they finally stood up, Totemo glanced outside.
"Hey, look! It stopped raining!"
Lambda ran over and began to paw frantically at the door.
"Shall we just go for a walk instead?" Totemo asked.
Lambda barked agreement. (5/5) #wss366

Lambda snorted.
"Oh, come on. It's not *that* bad. Do you have a better suggestion?"
Lambda barked again.
"Now you're just being silly. It's not raining on the Salt Flats, but there's nothing to sniff either."
They argued and argued until they finally compromised on Beryl Island. (4/5) #wss366

"Do you want to #go somewhere?" Totemo asked. "We could catch a SkyJumper and go someplace where it's not raining."
Lambda perked up. She barked.
"That's a thought!" said Totemo, bringing up a new window to check the weather. "But wait… Look. It's raining there too. How about Novosaka?" (3/5) #wss366

Lambda heaved a big sigh and laid down on the sofa with her head on her paws.
"It could be worse," Totemo said. "We could be still out in the field."
As if to emphasize her point, there was a flash and roar of thunder. (2/5) #wss366

Lambda restlessly paced in the small apartment. She went to the patio door and looked out.
"Sorry," Totemo said, "It's still raining." She was sitting on the sofa with her screen on a small table, analyzing data from their recent field studies. (1/5) #wss366

#WritersCoffeeClub What’s a service or skill you’d like to offer your fellow writers?

I provide a number of services to build a stronger writing community. I serve as Secretary of @SFWA which is a community of professional genre fiction writers that offers many services to the writing community. I am on the Program Committee of the Straw Dog Writers Guild which organizes craft workshop for writers. I also run Straw Dog Writes, a weekly online writing group. And I created @wss366.

RE: https://wandering.shop/@stevendbrewer/115329216408871436

For people just now visiting #TheForkiverse, here's a post I wrote recently to help newcomers think about how to get started with Mastodon.

This is what I was doing when I was listening to #TheForkiverse episode. Note: I had pulled over to the take the picture. I wrote a blog post to talk about why I like Mastodon (i.e. The Fediverse) not long ago: https://stevendbrewer.com/weirdos-posting-stuff-to-social-media/

The podcast was good. Likening it to old Twitter when Twitter was still good is pretty accurate. Personally, I think that *is* good enough. Twitter really was good enough at one time, but they made it worse and worse to increase revenue. Mastodon doesn't need to.

From *A Familiar Problem*, a cozy, dark fantasy available now from Water Dragon Publishing: https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/familiar-problem/

"Why do you have to hold my hand when we go through a dimensional portal?"
"To protect the familiar #bond," Tseluna said. "As long as we're in the same dimension, I can just teleport you and we'll stay connected. But if I were to leave the dimension without you… Well, it would be bad."
Rory swallowed.
"Would it kill me?"
"Oh, probably not *that* bad," she clarified. "It would just be inconvenient because I'd have to find you and catch you again."
"But… But I want to be caught!" #wss366

#WritersCoffeeClub How do you get to know your characters before you start writing?

I almost always get to know them *by* writing. I often have only a sketchy idea about their backstory when I start, but details emerge as I write. I often write story fragments (frequently using @wss366) to develop characters, as I'm getting started. Eventually, I develop a text file to record details about characters, but rarely try to make decisions about characters separately from storywriting.

People stood under the night sky, silent, watching streaks of fire pour out of the heavens. They came constantly — more than a dozen visible at any one time.
"What's it mean, Dad?" asked a boy.
"It's the Kessler syndrome," he said. "It's the end of an #age."
"What age?"
"The space age." #wss366

I've not posted much this weekend because my son is in the hospital. And I've had to cancel my panels at Arisia. That's the bad news. The good news is that I've been spending most of my time with Ta-taso, keeping her company and taking long walks to take our minds off things. ❤️ #DogsOfMastodon

"Well? Well? Did your fortune come true?" Brunhilde asked, smugly.
"Yes, it did," the bear admitted, munching on the honeycomb. "But how did you get Forrest to cooperate?"
"It's a secret!" Brunhilde said. (4/4) #wss366

Brunhilde closed her eyes and brought her fingers up to her temples. "You… You're about to have a pleasant surprise."
At that moment, a honeycomb fell out of the sky and landed in the bear's paws.
"What? Where did this come from?"
There was a screech as Forrest flew off into treetops. (3/4) #wss366

The bear looked at the palm of his massive paw and said, "Maybe you should tell my fortune, because if you try read my palm, we'll be here all day."
"Ha, ha. Very funny," she said. "You're not taking this seriously!"
"Alright, alright," the bear said. "Go ahead." (2/4) #wss366

"Hey! Hey!" Brunhilde said. Today, she was wearing a strange, multi-colored dress with a blue vest and a belt made of small coins. "Would you like me to read your palm? Or tell your fortune?" (1/4) #wss366

Totemo and Miss Dairy ate and then relaxed for the last few minutes of their lunch break. The sun was warm. Miss Dairy started to nod off.
Lambda sprang from under the bench. She began jumping up and snapping at the air.
"What's with her?" Miss Dairy asked, concerned.
"A #bug," said Totemo. #wss366

As a motif, all of the covers in my steampunky fantasy adventure *Revin's Heart* books feature windows (and airships). My favorite cover is the one for Part Seven, *Rewriting the Rules*: https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/rewriting-the-rules/ #FensterFreitag

Totemo rolled her eyes. "Someone," she said, pointing down, "sheds."
Lambda, with her eyes closed, growled quietly. Miss Dairy snickered.
"Once!" Totemo snapped. "One time one of my hairs got in your food. Only once!" (3/3) #wss366