@neve
My name is Priya Sridhar; I am a speculative fiction and nerdy nonfiction writer. You can find me at http://priyajsridhar.com

Medium
Thoughts on the YouTube Channel LRR Videogames and Its Show Checkpoint: https://medium.com/counterarts/thoughts-on-the-youtube-channel-lrr-videogames-and-its-show-checkpoint-d63f4eeaa509

Five Picture Books About Real Creatures and Imaginary Ones: https://medium.com/permanent-nerd-network/five-picture-books-about-real-creatures-and-imaginary-ones-a3ca70539e5f

Superjump:
Palmon Survival Needs Less Building, More Story: https://www.superjumpmagazine.com/palmon-survival-needs-less-building-more-story/

#Writephant

@neve
I'm Elektra Hammond. Find me at https://untilmidnight.com

See me talk about SF/F, RHPS, comics, TV, and Supernatural at Con-Tinual (the Con that Never Ends) on FB and Youtube.

My next convention will be Balticon at the end of May. Until then, I'm on social media and writing and worrying about my friends.

#writephant #WritingCommunity #amwriting #amediting #alternatehistory #writersofmastodon #ConTinual #supernatural #comics #ZNB

@neve
That final episode of Newhart was bloody genius. I couldn't stop laughing.

#Writephant

@neve
Do my characters ever appear in my dreams?

Not yet. But a couple of times I've had dreams that inspired ideas . . . I haven't finished writing one up yet because they're mostly horror, which isn't my fav to write, but one day I think I will. So, yes, in a backwards way.

#writephant #WriterCommunity #WritersofMastodon #dreaminspiration

#Writephant promotion time!

Tongues of Serpents https://archiveofourown.org/works/16125740/chapters/37673537 is a story set in the #MarvelMultiverse about #Loki and a shapeshifting dragon navigating the events of the movie "Thor" and coming to a rather different conclusion. it's a completed novel-length fic, 31 chapters and 61k words. (cont)

@troodon that's so cool!

#writephant

#writephant #selfpromo This time-travel promotion is still ongoing!

https://books.bookfunnel.com/time_travel_ku_mar2026/45ev8bx0oe

#timetravel #sciencefiction #sff #scifi #bookstodon #books #fiction

#Writephant We’re nearing the end of the live portion of the chat, which means it’s self-promotion time! Feel free to link to your author website, book retailer, etc!

#writephant Q4 Do your characters ever appear in your dreams?

and now, the meat of the questions: all three of my longfics are the products of dreams.

the kernel at the center of Tongues of Serpents is one scene in the story that is pretty much *exactly* a dream I had. when I woke up, I wrote it down, then had to construct a setting for it, and next thing I knew it was 60k words. (cont)

@Priyajsridhar That's pretty cool!

#writephant

@neve Sometimes that's how I get inspired to write them, as a matter of fact! #Writephant

#writephant Q3 Which feels closer to your writing process: Daydreaming, where you consciously imagine and guide the scene? Or lucid dreaming, where the story unfolds around you and you try to influence it from inside? Neither?

hm... all of the above? XD when I'm outlining/planning, it's like I'm having a vivid daydream that sometimes veers over into lucid dreaming, but when I'm actually writing it's not really dreamlike at all. hard to explain?

@troodon That seems to be the theme tonight -- pretty much everyone who responded has said the same, sleep is a challenge (or can be)

#writephant

#writephant Q2 The common advice is not to start a story with a dream sequence. Aside from that, do you use dream sequences in your writing?

hm... having to think about this, and I think the answer is no. although I have written several times about my characters having dreams of various kinds, I don't write their actual dreams; I write their descriptions or memories of them after they've woken up, or how the dream affects them later. (cont)

RE: https://wandering.shop/@neve/116201880175214452

#Writephant A4. Only in that many of my stories start with dreams and the characters are often the key part.

#writephant Q1 Do you usually sleep pretty well, or is it sometimes a challenge?

ooooh it's a challenge for me. I had very bad insomnia for years, before I learned the elaborate combination of preparation, isolation, and OTC and prescription medications that usually do the trick, and sometimes it still doesn't work. that said, I generally get at least 8 hours these days and when I do sleep it's usually pretty high quality, though there are exceptions. >__<

RE: https://wandering.shop/@neve/116201824335669691

#Writephant A3. Both? It feels like the scene unfolds around me, but I can do some guiding.

first, how I'm doing today is pretty good, actually! it might snow a bit today or tonight or tomorrow, which would be neat! also I just woke up from a nap, also incidentally to the subject. XD #Writephant

@neve I think lucid dreaming, though I don't lucid dream well. Things get out of control quickly lol unless the dream involves flying or teleporting. #Writephant

oh hey, this week's #Writephant is on a subject that's one of my Special Interests--dreams!