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#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

Miss Dairy looked over at Totemo, who was wearing her khaki shirt and trousers.
"Are you going into the field this afternoon?" she asked.
"No," Totemo said. "I'm working on reports in the office."
"Why are you wearing your field clothes then?" (2/3) #wss366

Totemo Isogashii met Miss Dairy for lunch at the park. They sat on a bench eating their bentos while Lambda lay underneath in the shade, snoozing. In point of fact, she had joined them for lunch too, but had eaten hers in less than 30 seconds. (1/3) #wss366

Adhorbs: adorable and horrible at the same time.

After a half hour, she stood and stretched. She inspected the results critically.
"On the way home, I need to buy a new drawing notebook and some charcoal," she thought. "Or maybe pastels." (4/4) #wss366

She turned the page, and began to sketch a rose blossom. At first, her movements were uncertain and shaky. She made a couple of false starts, but then began to regain confidence. But the pencil was frustratingly pale and imprecise. (3/4) #wss366