@stevendbrewer@wandering.shop

What better way to test a new HDMI cable than with a Pretzelle video? Ta-chan is unimpressed with my technical acumen.

#WritersCoffeeClub Name a non-anglophone writer who has really lit you up.

Julio Baghy. He was a Hungarian actor who wrote in Esperanto about his experiences in WWI and as a Russian PoW. He also wrote poetry, fiction, and essays. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Baghy

#FensterFreitag Jones Library Atrium (with a dirigible composited in to promote my book Revin's Heart.)

Tanuki-chan "sitting up like a regular person." (That's what @philipbrewer and I called it when were kids and our boxers sat like this, often in the car.) #DogsOfMastodon

#WritersCoffeeClub How human are your protagonists? What about your antagonists?

The Better Angels are non-human biological androids. They are a clean-room re-implementation of the human genome. They mostly act human, but their programming modules govern their behavior. Other non-human biological android protagonists include the bear, Forrest the Owl, and Sssindy Ssserpent. I also write about NeoBoxers, like Lambda and Tau that are cybernetically-enhanced, genetically-engineered dogs.

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