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#WritersCoffeeClub Which facets of your writing only work in the language in which it was written?

I speak two languages fluently and have studied several others, so I'm sensitive to idiomatic expressions and generally try to say what I mean directly. But I don't shy away from using some language-dependent expression when it seems fun or useful.

For year's I've written haiku in Esperanto with English translation. But sometimes you just can't translate them effectively. That's OK too.

#ScribesAndMakers What sort of environment makes you feel the most creative?

I have a truly magical place to write: https://stevendbrewer.com/a-truly-magical-place-to-write/

Posts like this make me furious. All of the AI models just generate bullshit. Expecting any of their answers, especially with respect to their own internal processes, to be anything other than bullshit is a first-order mistake. There is no intelligence or intentionality underlying their answers. There is no "there" there. It's just bullshit, all the way down. Don't use words like "admit" or "promised" or "claimed." Don't project humanity onto them. Stop it. Just, stop it. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/to-avoid-admitting-ignorance-meta-ai-says-mans-number-is-a-company-helpline/

#WritersCoffeeClub What's the most you've written in a single session? What made it possible?

I don't generally track my writing output closely enough to know how many words I wrote in a particular session. I did write ~1800 words in a single @SFWA Writing Date (two 45 minute sessions.) At the time, I had recently hacked together a system to make wordcounts visible during writing sprints: https://stevendbrewer.com/making-writing-sprints-more-exciting/

But I am mostly uninteresting in quantifying anything. I just like to have fun.

The ranger tossed the bear a pack of cigarettes.
"Here ya go, Stogie," he said. "I thought maybe cooling menthol might be good for today. It's going to be a hot one."
The bear caught the pack of smokes and tapped them reverentially against his palm. It was going to be a good day. (5/5) #wss366

"I got you!" Forrest screeched. "You should have seen your face!"
The bear sighed, defeated. Then the ranger stepped out from around a tree.
"I heard that, Forrest," the ranger said. "You don't joke about fire. You can spend the day in the petting zoo today."
Forrest screeched with rage. (4/5) #wss366

The bear salivated imagining the delicious smells of cooking meat. And s'mores.
His moment of quiet reflection was broken when someone started yelling.
"Fire! Fire!"
He rushed toward the picnic ground, but there was no-one there. Then he heard mocking laughter from the treetops. (3/5) #wss366

The bear hated the summer heat. Fall was probably his favorite #season. Summer was too hot, spring was too busy, and winter was so dead he questioned the value of his very existence. But fall was perfect: people sitting around carefully-managed fires in the early evening. (2/5) #wss366

The bear leaned back against a tree in the early morning, before any visitors arrived, and fired up his last cigarette. He always tried to save one from the night before. He closed his eyes and blew out a cloud of smoke.
Summer was just beginning, but it was deliciously cool this morning. (1/5) #wss366

They warned it might rain, so we're sitting just inside the door at BBC with a Foxglove DIPA. So far so good! #WesternMass

#WritersCoffeeClub June 19: How would you describe the theme of the whole of your œuvre?

I'm pretty sure I don't have an œuvre anymore. I had it surgically removed. Unless it's somehow grown back…

"Shake what?" Bebe said, looking down.
The Mean Girls all laughed.
Zaza pushed Bebe toward the stage.
Captain Tau, who had dropped them off at the door and then parked, came in from outside, totally drenched. He shook off by the door as the Mean Girls passed, showering them with water. (2/2) #wss366

David hustled the Better Angels into the venue late. Heavy rain had delayed the SkyJumper and the Mean Girls were coming off the stage as the Angels arrived.
"One minute, Angels!" said David.
"Don't forget to #shake it!" said one of the Mean Girls, demonstrating as she passed by. (1/2) #wss366

#PennedPossibilities 704 — Share a scene with us that you’re proud of.

Panting with tension, Captain Tau maneuvered *Angels' Wings* delicately, orienting the cargo hatch toward the flare stack. Bebe blasted the climbing 'pedes with her plasma rifle to keep them from reaching the top while the recon team climbed onto the railing, 30 meters above the ground, and leapt through the air into the cargo hatch. Bebe slapped the hatch control.
"Angels aboard!" she cried. "Bebe has sealed the hatch!"

This is a new sound in #kpop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxNNGLlKeNQ

The cat glared at Lambda for a moment, but then sauntered off as though nothing had happened. Its tail lashed back and forth, however, which gave the lie to its disinterested air.
"No barking!" Totemo snapped at Lambda. "Do you want to get us thrown out of the park?" (3/3) #wss366

Lambda saw a cat begin to #stalk a fledgling in the grass. The cat moved slowly, low to the ground, as it approached its quarry. It twitched its tail and, when its tail stopped, Lambda sprang to her feet and barked. The fledgling took off just before the cat pounced. (2/3) #wss366

Totemo Isogashii and Lambda sat in a park near the office during lunch hour. After quickly finishing her bento, Totemo was reconciling species counts until she could go back to her office. Lambda sprawled on the bench, watching the lively activity in the park. Then her ears perked up. (1/3) #wss366

US Representative Jim McGovern at the Amherst Jones Library ground breaking: "I don't know who said it, but I've heard that libraries are like a hospital for the mind… And I know some people who need to check in." #WesternMass

Brunhilde's mother dragged her away.
"Hey! Hey! Are you going to go on #strike?" the owl said, from a tree.
The bear stood and scraped his back against the trunk, shaking the tree.
The owl clamped his feet on a branch until hornets, disturbed from their nest, began to swarm around him. (3/3) #wss366