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#PennedPossibilities Has anyone ever read your story(ies)? Have you shared them yet?

I have two books and several short stories out. A third book is coming in January. I have several beta readers that provide input on my rough drafts. And my mom reads everything I write, if only to tell me how perfect it is. ❤️

#Wordweavers Do your characters do any spiritual practices?

In *Lady Cecelia's Journey*, they stay with a farm family. Here's a short passage:

The chatter died down. Then everyone stopped talking, folded their hands, and turned their eyes upward.
"We thank the skies for the bounteous feast that is placed before us," Rudy intoned. "We're grateful for the sun and the rain in good measure that bring forth a rich harvest from the blessed soil of Butterfield.
"Now, let's eat!" he finished.

#WritersCoffeeClub Do you ever move characters between stories (if, for example, they don't fit into one plot) or are they intrinsic to their story?

I've never done that. I can't imagine doing that. That idea seems utterly incoherent to me.

I guess it's the last time I'll see one of these…

#EngenderedWriting Do you ever play with gender in your writing? Tell us about it.

"Have you ever been a man?" Rory asked. Tseluna nodded.
"Would you like it better if I were a man?" she asked. 
"No," Rory said. "I like you fine the way you are."
"I know," she said, grinning. "I read your mind before I presented myself to you, you know. If you were more interested in men, I might have done that."
"What do you look like as a man?" Rory asked, now irrepressibly curious.

(from A Familiar Problem)

I set up Wandering Shop Stories at the beginning of the year. Last week, I met with the curators, migrated to a new instance, and we should be set for the rest of the year: https://stevendbrewer.com/wandering-shop-stories-meetup-and-migration/

Read more about Popo and Bebe 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

The next morning at breakfast, Bebe said to David, "Bebe has a question."
David, sighed, knowing the kinds of questions Bebe always asked. "Yes?"
"What are limpets?"
David looked at her with surprise. "Limpets?"
"And why do limpets have pools?"
Popo glared at Bebe.
"You were spying on us!"
"Bebe was curious!" Bebe said.

#wss366

Prince Philip and Popo were sitting alone on a bench in the dimly-lit observation deck of the Truck Stop at the Center of the Galaxy looking out at the stars.
"But, Miss Popo! Your eyes are like limpid pools!" he said.
Popo rolled her eyes.
"My eyes aside… You know that I'm never going to grow or change." She gestured disparagingly at herself. "Don't you want someone with a more womanly #figure?"
"No! You are perfect just as you are!" He kissed her hand. "Now will you marry me?"
"No."

#wss366

#WritersCoffeeClub Share a snippet of what you've most recently written.

The Chief was waiting at the gate with a party of constables. His expression was grave. He looked at Veronica's face.
"It's bad," he said.
Veronica's heart came up into her throat. Her vision narrowed down and she felt like she was going to faint. He put a hand under her elbow.
"Sophie?" she whispered.
"I don't know," he said.

(from *The Ground Never Lies*.)

"What did you mean when you talked about the physical #plane?"
"Huh?"
"You said something like how demons materialize if they want to take action on the physical plane. What does that mean?"
"Oh. Hmm…" she mused. "How to explain it… If you don't materialize, you can't visualize differences in space: it's like everything is in the same place."
She clapped her hands.
"Here! Try this: close one eye & try to touch your finger tips together."
"Oh! It's like depth perception!"
"Yeah. Kinda."

#wss366

Ha. I'm very familiar with manga and anime that describe cultural festivals in Japanese schools, but I had never made the connection with Culture Day (文化の日) which is Nov 3, but observed this year today. (I have my calendar display the Japanese holidays which is often interesting). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_Day

#WordWeavers Describe a cozy memory your MC has.

Revin replaced his sodden menstrual pad with a fresh one. He hated this particular aspect of his body, but it was simply a fact of life. He was just grateful it had waited until after he had finished on Havelock. He remembered visiting the baths with Lidja & smiled in spite of himself — it would have been a lot less convenient to visit the baths if his period had started just a few days earlier. (The End of His Rope, Part Five of Revin's Heart)

For Writing Month, I'm working on *The Ground Never Lies*. So far, I've written 3333 words, 1856 of which I wrote today. Of those, I wrote 1202 during the SFWA Writing Date.

I'm steven_d_brewer at https://writingmonth.org if you want to follow along.

This looks about right.

#PennedPossibilities 140. Do you agree with the choices that your characters make?

In most of my writing until now, I would say that I (generally) do, although some of my protagonists (cough Revin cough Cecelia cough) are rather naive and make foolish choices sometimes that I probably wouldn't do — at least now. But in my new WIP, *The Ground Never Lies*, the protagonist is a bit of an anti-hero. She's a geomancer with an anger problem, and she does some pretty vicious, hateful stuff sometimes.

"Did you park the car?"
"I got some guy to do it," Mary said. "He seemed really happy to help."
I really looked at her for the first time since the accident. She was wearing a white sailor shirt with blue trim, a short blue #skirt, thigh-high stockings, and black, patent-leather shoes.
"I'm sure he was," I said. "But I must ask: Why are you wearing a… Japanese school-girl uniform?"

#wss366 (from *Not a Wolf*)

Wandering Shop Stories has migrated from botsin.space (which is shutting down) to — wait for it — wandering.shop! https://wandering.shop/@wss366 #wss366 Thanks to @proprietor and the rest of the wandering.shop staff. And thanks also to @muffinista for supporting botsin.space for so long. And, of course, thanks to the curators of wandering shop stories: @asakiyume @philipbrewer and @tobadzistsini

Here's an article about the guy: https://libraries.smith.edu/news/local-artist-aaron-wood-creates-colorful-designs-libraries

I saw a local artist at a craft fair yesterday who makes WPA-style posters of science fiction and fantasy destinations. I wonder if he makes book covers… https://www.etsy.com/shop/Justonescarf