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Wow! Clarion is going online! I've already applied for a writing retreat during the same time for this year (Lambda Literary Emerging Writers), but maybe next year I'll think about applying to Clarion. https://file770.com/clarion-wests-2025-six-week-workshop-goes-online/ #WritingCommunity

He went to flick the butt out into the rain when a shadow passed over the entrance to his cave. A pack of smokes flew in and smacked him in the muzzle.
His spirits soared, in spite of the rain. Who? Only one person could have done this.
"Thanks, Ranger!" he called.
"Don't mention it," he replied. "I mean literally. Don't tell anyone."
The bear picked up the pack, tapped it respectfully several times, then tore open the top and fired one up.
It was going to be a good day.

#wss366

The bear glumly sat in the cave and took a puff from his last cigarette. The rain wasn't letting up any time soon.
Normally, the park would be flooded with people by now. And he'd be making his rounds, warning about fire safety and trying to cadge a few smokes. But the park would be empty today. He took another deep #drag, relishing the flavor. He always saved one for the next morning, but this was it. After this, he was out. When he reached the filter, he regretfully snubbed it out.

#wss366

I hate Google's "Cope and Seethe Pilot"…

Google Maps wants to know, "How was the Montague Plains WMA Parking Area?" I'm not sure what to say. "My car didn't get stuck and wasn't vandalized?"

Read more about Bebe and David in *Better Angels: Tour de Force*, only at the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy. https://truckstop.waterdragonpublishing.com/product/better-angels-tour-de-force/ #books #bookstodon

"Bebe wants to know if we're there yet!" Bebe said.
"We're not there yet," said David.
"Bebe wants to know how far it is!"
"You can see it in the display."
"But how far is it?" she said, cocking her head over to the side.
"It's a little complicated due to the curved nature of space-time this close to the gravity well," David explained. "The distance is the #norm of the translation vector between the two points in Euclidean space."
"Are we there yet?"
David sighed.

#wss366

On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Governmental Pension Offset, provisions that penalized people who had earned a Social Security pension, but had it stolen by the government because they had also earned a state pension. Now it goes to the Senate.

I sometimes wish I was organized, and not a lazy slob.

Ooh! I'm in the spotlight at Liminal Fiction! https://www.limfic.com/2024/11/13/author-spotlight-steven-d-brewer/

Veronica arrived at the Geomancers' Guild to check messages. Some men were standing to the side talking. She knew several, but one was a stranger. He was tall and well dressed with blonde hair.
"Would you look at that!" he mused, watching Veronica walk. "What a saucy #dish!"
The others, who knew her, tried to quietly shush him. But he didn't take the hint.
"Are you the receptionist?" he said to her. "If you're not busy later…"
She slugged him in the jaw. He fell, stunned, to the floor.

#wss366

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing has mistakenly accused me of opening a second account. Currently, my self-published books of Esperanto haiku are unavailable as I push back against this false accusation. It's a nightmare trying to deal with these big platforms that use automated tools that generate false positives.

#PennedPossibilities If your MC had a picture frame with slots for 3 photos, who/what would be in there?

Revin would have pictures of his wife, Lidja, Queen Momoire, and his brother Marek.

The Better Angels would have pictures of David, Tau, and Sssindy.

Read more about Riva in *Riva's Escape*, a "side quest" in *Revin's Heart*. https://waterdragonpublishing.com/product/revins-heart/ #books

"Run!" yelled the boys, and all three took to their heels.
"Look at you!" Riva's mother said to her. "I can't even let you wash clothes without you getting into a #scrape."
"But I didn't do anything!" Riva cried.
"If you didn't tease the boys, this wouldn't happen," her mother said, savagely. "I'm sure your father will have something to say to you when he gets home. Now quit just sitting around and finish the laundry!"
Riva clenched her fists, but then, sullenly, went back to work.

#wss366

She was nearly finished when someone snuck up behind, dunked her head in the water, and held her there. She struggled frantically to escape. She had nearly passed out when suddenly, she was thrown to the side.
"Don't kill her!" one boy said to the larger boy that had been holding her down.
"I ain't gonna kill her," he snarled, still holding her arm. "Yet."
Riva sputtered & gasped, her eyes burning with the soapy water.
"Hey!" yelled Riva's mother, coming around the corner of the house.

#wss366

After cleaning up after breakfast, Riva spent the rest of the morning washing the family's clothes while her mother weeded in the garden. She had to pump water to fill the tub, scrub the clothes on a washboard, pump yet more water to rinse the clothes, and then hang the clean clothes on the clothesline. She washed her and her mother's more delicate clothes first and then her father's and brother's work clothes, which were filthy from their days in the mines.

#wss366

#WritersCoffeeClub How many times do you edit?

My first draft tends to be pretty rough: mostly just the events and dialog, with little description or embellishment. I then have my trusty alpha readers look at it to make comments about the story structure and pacing. Next, I revise it and flesh it out more thoroughly. I make a final pass where I read it aloud and look for any infelicitous places where my tongue stumbles over the words. Finally, it goes to the editorial team for their review.

This morning, I spotted this little piece of bark from a locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), covered withh moss and lichen, that had come down with the rain last night. #mosstodon #lichensubscribe

While the Queen was on her shakedown flight, Revin walked the streets of Balarae. Back from the boardwalk, there were many small workshops that made finished goods for the airship factory. It reminded him of the warehouse district in Devishire. At the end of one street he found a vacant lot choked with unkempt weeds. A small marker stood there with a #plaque: "Site of the Kalanova Distillery. Founded in 98. Destroyed by fire in 285." It had burned down ten years before Revin was born.

#wss366