IOC.exchange

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WCC</a> 2025.06.18 — The eye of the duck: Share a ‘nonessential’ scene in one of your works that ties the piece together. CW: Uncomfortable fictional discussion about women being oppressed.</blockquote>I didn't know I do this Eye of the Duck thing, but apparently I do. A lot, apparently. <blockquote>The Eye of the Duck is a scene - often flashy or surreal - which is NOT essential to the general action or plot of the film, but which reveals a key theme or element of the film more succinctly than the actual plot. —<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueFilm/comments/4m3vii/the_eye_of_the_duck_david_lynch/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueFilm/comments/4m3vii/the_eye_of_the_duck_david_lynch/</a></blockquote>This is a great question for assessing the texture of a novel.This surreal scene is from Mars Needed Women. As the narrator puts it, "Five sols later, Stan's wife, Gwen, and May Ri got to talk. Somehow it turned into an interview." The whole chapter is an interview, the same way another chapter is an op-ed. Sometimes different formats better express major themes in a story. If the reader hadn't gotten that the story is about women fighting oppression, learned what oppression is often disguised as, and what it makes women do, this sequence ought clear up that misunderstanding. May Ri is the protagonist. Gwen, 45, is married to Ezekiel Stan, the in-person villain in the story. There are other villains, but none this in-your-face. I added gloss in brackets for outrages established at the top of the scene.<blockquote>May Ri: You're a first contract colonist. What made you sign-up?Gwen (sighs): Naïve? Heard Mars "needed women" in a sermon about brave men. I'd be 14 in two weeks, but rushed out into the fields to record an application. I tugged up peanuts setting flowers in the ground, got sweaty under the sun, got mud on my big sister's flimsy top and shorts and paid hell for that. The shoulder kept sliding off, and I kept pulling it back "barely" in time. I giggled. I made sure the wind pressed the cotton against my chest. The shorts rode up into the crack of my butt when I bent over. I smiled and wriggled it. Father served an elite niche farm-fresh clientele; I got to be retro-exotic! I lied about my age. Ezekiel liked them young. (Waves a thumb at the 16-year-old nisei [1st generation Martian] co-wives behind her [both pregnant].)Our town's minister okayed my EM Corp. contract when I promised to pay for church repairs. I also paid off father's mortgage. Nine months later I landed at Elysium. Nine months later I bore Gabriel. Good enough?Now tell me, how did you meet Ezekiel?May Ri: He tried to rape me.</blockquote>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/feminist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#feminist</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/s" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#s</a> ff <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.06.11 — What color do you associate with your current story?</blockquote>I would choose Dark Red for Mars Needed Women. It's a dystopian novel where the fight for women's self-agency takes place mostly on Mars and in near Earth space, including on the Moon. Red is the color of Mars and of blood, which has plenty of connotations for women. In that context, dark is a necessary adjective.FYI: I don't normally associate a color with a story, but this was fun.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WCC</a> 2025.06.08 — Talk about something you wrote and later removed, and why.</blockquote>It surprised me upon reflection that I sometimes remove tracts. I looked and found examples.<ul><li>I removed a scene between the praetorian Cyanic and Thorn. It wasn't that it showed her acting sexist (it's established as a facet of the gender reversals in the story), but it was totally gratuitous. I saved the scrap for her mentioning the best details to Streak to wheedle him.</li><li>I removed a large one paragraph epigraph that essentially explained the background for the Reluctance Series in Rainy Day's POV. There are too many stories I could generate from that infodump, and Rainy Day's origin story is just one of them!</li><li>I jettisoned the "Jacket Blurb" chapter from Mars Needed Women. Even though it was half a page, it read like… wait for it… a jacket blurb. It set the wrong tone for the story. The actual jacket blurb on the actual cover art is copied from an inner chapter and is far catchier.</li><li>I cut a Ramen-eating food court scene because I'd written it in Streak's POV. I wrote it again from scratch in Thorn's POV because her mildly sexist salacious talk comes across better with her POV thoughts backing them.</li></ul>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mystery</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thriller</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#romance</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSReluctanceStory</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.06.05 — What would your first chapter smell like?</blockquote>The primary scent would be more of a taint that would likely manifest as a taste: Rust.The story takes place on Mars. The scene in question (the chapter has only one) takes place in an underground construction tunnel between habitat domes that was bored out from the bedrock, is rough looking, and is colored orange and dark red. Perchlorate (scentless) on Mars makes the surface dust toxic to breathe, so no chance is taken that some has leaked or seeped underground. Every surface is sprayed with a myco-epoxy (derived from fungus) which makes everything look wet. If the tunnel is new (never stated) it would have a funky chemical scent also. The secondary smell, however, would be human sweat; in a more a refined sense, fear. A man tried to kidnap his daughter and beat his wife to do so. A vigilante group of women being led by the main character, a woman engineer wearing an exoskeleton, has cornered him. He is not happy.That rust sent might be blood.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.06.04 — Describe the mood of the opening paragraph of your story using 3 adjectives. </blockquote>Intense, bloody, infuriating.Because of feedback from the beta readers, this prompt is both a timely and useful exercise. I may have to add it to my bag of tricks for during revision. What was in my mind included angry and outraged, but rereading the paragraph, the MC strikes me as detached. I might even characterize it as her acting like a superhero. I need to fix that for the v3 beta reader…[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScribesAndMakers</a> 2025.05.29 — What is your proudest or best moment with your creative endeavor this month?Got the novel out to beta readers and an author associate has agreed to also look at it.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a> and <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/CommentingIsCool" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CommentingIsCool</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.05.28 — Would your story still work in a vastly different location? Why or why not?</blockquote>Reluctant Moon: The story is nominally about a moonshot and the lives of the two astronauts (friends and then lovers). In a sense it is an allegory for 1960s America with the prejudice, racism, and sexism; it even has a JFK character (if you squint). It would not work because my world allows me to scramble gender roles throughly and allows the story to be appropriately racy.Mars Needed Women: Takes place on Mars. It must because the E.M. in EM Mars Colonization Corp is the basis for the satire of the times we are living in and changing that would lose impact and the story's raison d' être.The Reluctance Series stories featuring the devil-girl are conceptual rewrites, as in the basic plot and character-building is somewhat preserved, but the universe is totally changed to create SF stories the earlier "location" could not support.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mystery</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thriller</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#romance</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSReluctanceStory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.05.23 — Have you made up any swears or unique sayings for your characters? CW: Crude Language, duh.</blockquote>There is almost never an opportunity to use conventional or "modern" foul-mouthed language in any of my stories because there is no connection to 19th-21st century Earth. In Mars Needed Women, one character just uses the word asshole; his using it comes off as very quaint since he's a rough character now in his early fifties (but still sexy), talking about how awful he was when young. There are plenty of other made up or repurposed words, but no defined martian "swears." Instead, here is May Ri listening to her daughter:<blockquote>The teenager, her green eyes sparkling with the same fire her father's eyes often evidenced, explained what she meant in great unvarnished detail. The words "hypocrites" and "misogynists" featured along side martian swear words that made May Ri's ears burn. Mari had studied her father's "situational" rhetoric thoroughly.</blockquote>In the Reluctance Series, I make up "words." But first, for those who have followed me long enough to have learned about the devil girl, she's funny in that if someone is about to swear, she warns, "Language!" In most contexts (mob, prizefighter, "princess"), whomever she says this to abides, or regrets it if they don't.The following words may seem like cheats, but give them a moment to sink in before you conclude that. It's amazing how quickly a reader can get used to even nonsense when it has a definite context.While these are day angel slang, Thorn Rose uses them without much situational awareness (she's a daemon). Day angels have feathered wings and control surfaces, double-shoulders and extra joints to make it work, and use reluctant forces to let them fly. There's also night angels—too many spoilers there—but day angels so far are portrayed as lower class. These "swears" come from them; bear in mind, these people are very human.Flap v. as in, "Are you flapping crazy?" or intr. "Flap it all!" Not a synonym for sexual intercourse, but it does imply getting hit up side the head with a feathered wing. It serves the purpose. I originally used in a teen-rated YA!Flap and fluff n., NSFW originally involving wings and someone male, but you can use it generally for what's implied. Yes, the novel is "racy."[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mystery</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thriller</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSReluctanceStory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSReluctanceStory</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WCC</a> 2025.05.16 — International Day of Light/Peace. Tell us about your favorite use of symbolic imagery.</blockquote>If I understand correctly, plenty of it in this passage. <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a><blockquote>May Ri didn't seethe for long. A woman, especially, couldn't fight the male-dominated system. She knew to grab opportunities. Five days later she found herself outside, tethered, magnetic shoes clamped to the spine of the ship. Behind, aft, she saw the black radiator plate beyond which lay the nuclear rocket. A totally reflective, totally misnamed "starship" shuttle stood as a fat needle at the bow. A clip from an ancient vid called 2001: A Space—May Ri couldn't remember what—had featured in EM Mars propaganda. The four rings looked like that, but silver. The stars, though: Static, unmoving, except as reflected in the rotating rings. Enthralling.Still…She regarded herself in the mirror-sheened stainless steel cladding of the transit vehicle. Her tools? She could easily mischaracterize them as a mop and a wash bucket (they weren't), and herself as an exhausted housewife with a sweaty brow (it was) left home to do worthless work. Yet… she could properly characterize it as removing rocket burn debris and polishing out micro-meteor gouges. Most of all, she was doing it in a spacesuit, not Mom's kitchen apron."Kind of exciting," she had to admit."May Ri?" a comm duty officer asked.She smiled. "Nothing."</blockquote>[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mystery</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thriller</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/romance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#romance</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.05.16 — Antagonist POV: What do you like the most about yourself? CW: Zealotry</blockquote>Ezekiel Stan managed to get a number of townships to form a coalition with him, even though that got them isolated from the rest of the planet. Turns out he got interviewed once and answered that question."I stood up. I will do the hard thing, like I did building the first settlements on Mars. When the colonization company went bankrupt, I recognized the opportunity to fashion Mars into a perfect Kingdom of God and took that opportunity despite pushback from the other directors. The ungodly are easy to intimidate because they fear death, especially if you back up your words with action, when you get the job done and ask permission later, if then needed at all. I found men that were able to take up the good cause, to fight—modern Zealots willing to shred the bounds of our corrupt society, to whip the misguided until they see the light or cower, to gag the voices of the harlots and perverted, so that we can raise generations of children protected from hearing other than the Good Word, never sullied by the temptations and demonic ways of the unfortunates left behind on Earth. What I do is noble and shows the worth of a man."BTW: He's the villain.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<a href="https://mastodon.nu/@nemorosa" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@nemorosa</a> <blockquote>Blurbs? Why are they so difficult? Advice, please? Where do I even start?</blockquote>Think about the story. What comes to mind? Write a few sentences about the event that makes it special, or that person, or that mystery. Don't even worry about spoilers.Keep it short.If no ideas come to mind, try answering the writers challenge prompts, you know, the ones you mentioned in your hashtags but thinking you want to say something about a specific story or the characters in that story.I recently wrote a novel and I spent much of March and a lot of April answering prompts with <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a> as the subject. A lot of those turned out to be great blurbs. Write a lot of them. You'll find your blurb.A piece of advice: A blurb doesn't have to summarize a story. It doesn't even have to give major plot points. What it has to do is say something compelling about the story that's in or about the story. A tidbit. An earworm. A scent of rose that makes you look for the bush. HTH.<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PennedPossibilities</a> 668 2/2 — Tell us how self and socially aware some of your [supporting characters] are. Are these two things connected in any way for them?</blockquote>Ezekiel Stan is a villain, no mistaking this. He is very self-aware. He knows what he is doing, and understands he is both tyrannical and hypocritical—but he thinks he is carrying out God's will, is willing to accept judgment for his methods when he faces eternity. When EM Mars Corp. goes bankrupt, is cut off from Earth, and EM corporate governance continues on auto-pilot, Ezekiel, one of the seven Martian in situ board of directors, sees an opportunity to turn Mars into a religious utopia. He wants to fight the liberalism imported by contract colonial women who helped settle Mars after he helped complete the original settlements. He sees no role for women other than to support the men in their lives, to bear children, and to obey. He assumes the people he rules through intimidation and swift retribution share his values; he corrects those who don't. He corrected his son's girly-ness by breaking his arm when he found him helping out with women's work. His lack of social awareness when it comes to educated and martian-born women is an epic blindspot. He doesn't care what they think, or think that they can. Reina and May Ri (the MC) take advantage of this when he works to thwart progressive change.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mystery</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thriller</a>#sf <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PennedPossibilities</a> 668 1/2 — Tell us how self and socially aware some of your [supporting characters] are. Are these two things connected in any way for them?</blockquote>Reina Īto gives off an air of not being very self-aware, a sometimes sexy sometimes silly ingénue, but this isn't the case. It's an illusion she projects because she's very socially aware, empathizing with people and generally understanding what motivates them well. She often modifies her behavior to defuse situations or to scramble the preconceptions of others, to get them to think instead of react. Most people like her. She takes her position as the first child born on Mars, as the Big Sis of all those born after her, very seriously. Sometimes brusk, sometimes silly, and at least a few times coming off bloodthirsty, the O-nēsan-ue [it's Japanese] of Mars is treated as the de facto royalty of Mars. She often sets policy when older.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/mystery" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mystery</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/thriller" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#thriller</a>#sf <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.05.08 — Would your MC agree with the SC’s (May 7th) description of them?</blockquote>For review: <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/114473765155346073" translate="no" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/114473765155346073</a>May Ri would scoff. People keep mischaracterizing her, even her daughters. She knows that she's selfish and arrogant, prone to acting out of temper. She sees herself as self-centered, and has made all sort of bad decisions that frankly, she doesn't understand how she survived. She does love her daughters, but Mars with the crèche system has meant she didn't always have to be raising them, not at all like motherhood on Earth where women do it alone without any schooling. She's surprised and somewhat guilty the five turned out so well, but then they are nisei, the first generation born on Mars, with their own developing communal society—and very alien in that; she tries not to worry about the ramifications because they're always happy. She loves all five of them intensely. She'll accept that she's a good engineering designer, but it's her teams and her self-centered love of taking things apart and putting them back together in working order that has gotten her to where she's at. That "Princess of Mars," thing. Ugh. She earned that one because her husband and her first lover didn't realize they were talking about her on an open line on deep space network across the solar system when they discussed her being an animal in bed. Soooo embarrassing![Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.05.07 — Let your SC describe your MC.<blockquote>My mother is like a beaten down alpha wolf. Each battle lost only makes her stronger for the next. When the religious men talk about Job in idealistic terms, they do not mean to describe her. Her life? Bad things, over and over, until she shows her outrage at the unfairness of having been born on Earth—a man's world shaped by men, controlled by men, power jealously guarded by men—and demonstrates her temper, making snap decisions often for the benefit of others, for the benefit of Mars. She forgets at times she's on Mars, that her generation's children offer a way out, thanks to her work, her engineering brilliance, and the fights she's picked. When they call her the princess of Mars and she gets all It's really just a joke gone wrong, not a title! she misses the whole point. People look up to her. She'd rather be working on her projects. I get that. She hums when she works, happy. Her happy is best. Though she can fight well, so she can hum all the time she needs protecting. My four sisters and I all agree on this, which is why we all watch out for her in our own way.</blockquote>—Marisela about May Ri[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 2025.05.06 — Describe the way your MC walks.</blockquote>I have two disabled people in the novel. Because of shifting POV in 3rd person, one such SC gets promoted to an MC by the end of the story.She was born on Mars. Like other native Martians, her hip has grown differently angled than those in higher gravity. It's evident when she's wearing the minimal clothing typically worn. Additionally, her legs are bowed (like the other natives) because of the ease of squatting in the lower gravity, primarily due to habitually moving in a squatting position in lower gravity. Children are referred to as frog-hoppers, and as pre-teens they seem truly frog-like. The condition is far less pronounced in adults but, compared to Earth imports, their gait and leg placement is instantly recognizable. This MC is an amputee. The lower part of one of her legs is replaced by a wearable prosthetic. She wears prosthetic feet on both legs. The advanced cybernetic gear is built of spring steel and powered by a radioisotope battery. She's undergoing intense therapy, and is determined to walk, run, dance, jump, and climb on Earth when she is done. Her right hand is prosthetic also. When she walks, it is clear she's dragging and compensating, and that moving takes effort and thought. In weightlessness, it's less evident.Another character is paralyzed. He wears braces (a partial lightweight cybernetic exoskeleton). If it weren't for the bulk of the gear over his clothes, you would never know he was so paralyzed that he otherwise requires crutches, even in Mars gravity.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/disability" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#disability</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/disabled" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#disabled</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist<blockquote><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/WCC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WCC</a> 2025.05.03 — World Press Freedom Day. How has journalism influenced your writing?</blockquote>Generally, no, it hasn't. Mars Needed Women? Yes. Definitely. I even included a journalistic chapter in the story.I've (sadly enough) become an expert in electoral politics and how the US Congress is supposed to function, with a minor in Presidents. Until the current one, I'd have willing met any of the former office holders because of my fascination. I have to give Bill Maher props for his moxie. In any case, whilst having written extensively on site about how the novel came into being because of 31 women's rights prompts and the French word for March (when they were published), namely Mars, it was journalism that drove the story forward, providing infinite fodder for what felt like a horse race. My interest in the fall of a powerful country in realtime reported in the news greatly influenced the book. Who? Who in the news is famous for shiny spaceships misnomered starships, and for an obsession with Mars? One newsworthy person's infamy is clearly evident in the first lines of the futuristic feminist SF novel. It begins with:<blockquote>May Ri bought into the hype and the spiel, not realizing it was the last gasp of a long dead oligarch's dream. When the money dried up, nobody would finance the supply missions. Who cared about the ten thousand up there [on Mars] when you could outrage the millions down here with something less expensive?</blockquote>There's a lot of satire in the story, dystopian backstory predicated in the news of today being the beginning of permanent change, and another generation fighting back having learned what had been written and then censored over a century before their time.Yes. I was influenced by the result of many people's journalistic pursuit, for without their effort we would know none of what's happening today.[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]<a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/BoostingIsSharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BoostingIsSharing</a><a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/gender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#gender</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writer</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/author" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#author</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/journalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#journalism</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sf" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sf</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sff</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/sciencefiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writersOfMastodon</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/writers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writers</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSdiscussion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSdiscussion</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSstory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSstory</a> <a href="https://eldritch.cafe/tags/RSMarsNeededWomen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RSMarsNeededWomen</a>

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