“Books are probes sent into deep space, seeking other sentient life; readers are the sentinels watching the night sky, like huge radar complexes, but with eyes and ears and feelings" (Janna Malamud Smith).
(I know I'm a little late for SundaySentence, but I really meant to post this yesterday. Really.)
A fight with bird-men and a Minotaur leads to tragedy in chapter 43 of The Errant Apprentice: "The Bird and the Bull".
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/129777/the-errant-apprentice/chapter/3004424/chapter-43-the-bird-and-the-bull
#writing #novel #fantasy #ModernFantasy #IndieAuthor #RoyalRoad
Need a push to finish that book? Not only healthy, exercise sparks creativity!
The Writer’s Secret Weapon https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/01/writing-exercise-movement-creativity/685634/
Solifan the wizard yawned in the darkness and uttered an unwilling grumble.
"Mrp." said the weight on his chest.
"No. Psh." Solifan gently pushed the weight off the bed, and tried to fall asleep gain, which worked for about thirty seconds, then the weight returned and started purring.
"I liked it better when you went out at night." Solifan sighed. A subtle glow filled his eyes and the candle on the nightstand began to burn. Píp the cat was sitting on his chest, intently staring at his face. Now that she had his attention, she repeatedly bumped her head onto his nose.
"Fiiiine, I am getting up." Solifan pushed her off his face and sat up. Píp was already sitting by the door, waiting patiently, and purring.
Solifan shuffled to the door in a drowsy stupor and opened it just wide enough for the cat to fit.
Píp sat in the gap, relishing the fresh air streaming into the room, and looked out onto the street.
"In or out." Solifan grumbled, waited five seconds, then gently pushed the cat through the cracked door out on the street.
"There you gooouow." he yawned as he turned to go to sleep again.
"Thanks." a tiny voice whispered through the door.
The Greenland Diaries: Day 43
I thought exploring outside the neighborhood would cheer me up a little bit.
There was nothing, just more of the same.
I didn’t see anyone, not a single person out wandering between the green buildings. There was just emptiness, loneliness, a jungle where homes used to be. The asphalt and cement that peeked out from the driveways and roads seemed lonely, like it didn’t know what to do with itself.
I imagine the homes are as lost as the people who are forced to hide in them.
Houses were layered in ivy and flowers. They looked like ramen noodles thrown over a fork. Trees were overburdened with thick leaves, to the point that they had tipped over, crashing on cars and walls.
On one road, which looked like it had been traveled recently due to the fresh tread marks on the mossy ground, Snowy and I hid below a shattered car that was covered in ivy. I wanted to make sure nobody was watching or hunting me. I don’t know why I was so worried. It just felt like someone was following us. I wish I could read or call someone to confirm if I’m being paranoid or not.
I listened and watched the wind as Snowy, and I hid beneath the car. Cotton willow seeds and the petals off those purple flowers have flushed the air with debris. They waver and spiral on the breeze, like an invisible hand was shaking them back and forth. The leaves boil restlessly.
I’m tired of the roar. I’m tired of all of it.
My sister used to like weather like this. She really loved it. She’d sit on the screen porch at my parent’s house and talk about it. I miss her.
#apocalyptic #books #fiction #horror #journals #monsters #novels #reading #writing
The days keep plugging along. Enjoy the monsters. They're only going to get better. Thank you for reading my work.
#writing #reading #fiction #books #horror #apocalyptic #journal #monsters #novels
https://patrickwmarshauthor.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/the-greenland-diaries-day-43/
If Kali had a theme, this would be it
https://youtu.be/lgnTW1l-mwI
Good morning, today is a #writing day, and that will continue all week.
Last week I submitted my raccoon short story to a few places and worked on my adventure novel edits, and this week will be much of the same.
I've also quietly launched my Patreon account. There isn't much there yet, but I'll be posting blog entries and excerpts from fiction I've written each month and that's a place to find out if I have any stories coming out anywhere else.
It's a learning curve, so only subscribe now if you want to watch me make disastrous formatting decisions and misunderstand how patreon works. In between that I'll have essays on my writing process, books I'm reading, that sort of thing.
It's a snow storm outside my window right now, so my only plans today are writing and staying warm. I hope you're able to do art wherever you are, and that you're at a comfortable temperature, too.
"On what grounds did you alter the spell?" Agatha's voice was piercing and sibilant, while she wagged my grimoire in my face. Some loose notes fell out, and I dreaded having to sort them again later.
"Well, I ran statistical analysis on..."
"You WHAT?" Agatha looked even more mad, and a touch confused.
"I scanned all the books in the coven library, ran handwriting recognition and made a database of all the spells and their ingredients, then I wrote an algorithm to look for patterns and statistical aberrations." I held up my phone. "I even made an app."
Agatha stopped wagging and stared at the screen.
"Go on." there was still a little ice in her voice.
"From the data it seemed highly improbable, that aunt Elsbieth meant a dozen dried dungbeetles, I'm pretty sure three are enough."
"Well then, show me how it works." Agatha held out her phone.
#wss366 #ground #microfiction #writing #smallstories #tootfic
#ScribesAndMakers Feb 2: Do you have any annual traditions not tied to holidays?
None that I can think of. I haven't really kept up with any holiday-associated traditions, either. A lot of traditions people around here cling to seem to be just an excuse to avoid or ignore progress.
#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 2: How satisfied are you with the rhythm of your works?
Pretty satisfied, I guess. I try to make sure every chapter moves the story along and tend to not spend pages and pages detailing the history and detailed construction of a coat a minor character is wearing. If a scene makes me envision a crowd from Monty Python shouting "Get on with it!" then it's gone on too long.
If you enjoy my stories, recommend them and leave a review!
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=QfTqEAAAQBAJ&rdid=book-QfTqEAAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_atb&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_atb&pli=1
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christine_Munroe_The_Mashed_Potato_Fight?id=FiZqEQAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christine_Munroe_Easter_Fun?id=GXdREQAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christine_Munroe_Christmas?id=qzidEQAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=QDVqEQAAQBAJ&rdid=book-QDVqEQAAQBAJ&rdot=1&source=gbs_atb&pcampaignid=books_booksearch_atb
#author #books #book #writing #reading #selfpublishing #fantasy #christinemunroe #christinemunroeauthor
New and updated edition now available!
Story is in English.
Click play.
NSFW/explicit sexual content
#Whowantstobemyvalentine
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Yolanda_King_Who_Wants_To_Be_My_Valentine?id=wA-2EQAAQBAJ
#erotica #eroticfantasy #eroticromance #sex #lust #love #desire #passion #book #books #reading #writing #selfpublishing #snow #winter #valentine #NYC
#ScribesAndMakers Day 2: Annual traditions not tied to holidays?
My husband and I celebrate two anniversaries. Our first date (in June) and our actual wedding anniversary (in October)
ice rising
full moon, with werewolves
and the rain
#DailyHaikuPrompt #haiku #poem #poetry #PoetryCommunity #writing
#WordWeavers Day 2—Do you enjoy writing "good", "bad" or morally gray characters more? Why?
To be honest, morally grey characters are the most interesting. Everyone is wholly 'good' or 'bad', just varying degrees of it, some more than others.
#WordWeavers Day 1: Who is your most despicable character and how do you feel about them?
In a (now abandoned) project, I had Kinsella, who was a "Morality and Ethics Officer" whose job was to sit in the back of my main character's classroom and observe and report how she taught.
Not my most favorite secondary character, but she was written that way.
#WritersCoffeeClub Day 2: How satisfied are you with the rhythm of your works?
For my poetry, I'm pretty satisfied. Prose...could be better. I usually write the first draft then go back and tighten things up. That takes the longest time.
Intent for the Week - Keep a Balance: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/mon-feb-2-2026-intent-for-the-week-keep-a-balance/
Hello people who enjoy #writing! I've had some interest in a 5 week course for adult non-coders to try their hand at #interactivefiction - i.e. stories that include branching narrative based on the readers' choices. The course would cover some of the mechanics, but also advice on structuring interactive plots with managable complexity, looking at emotional hooks that work better or worse when readers have active agency, using interactive fiction tools to capture options to show editors and beta-readers in non-interactive works, and some examples of expanding existing writing into an interactive experience.
If you like this idea, I'm putting together a mailing list of potential course members who are keen enough they'd like to have a voice in the scheduling of the course. Send me your email via DM or email me at michael@mavnn.eu and I'll let you know when there are updates on the course and nothing else; this is not a general purpose "get spammed by Michael" email list. Costs will likely run at around 55 GBP per person.
