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• Post #3640502

  @Emmacox desperate and lost in the dark. Great opening.

• Post #3640501

  #WritersCoffeeClub 6 Jul: Do you offer critique to your fellow writers? Why (or why not)? I do, yes. I write reviews on BookRoar.com and I also do beta readings occasionally. The BookRoar reviews are entirely selfish. I get credits for them, and those I can offer in exchange for reviews of my own works. The beta readings are reserved for authors that resonate with me, so I simply wish to support them.

• Post #3640500

  #ScribesAndMakers 6 Jul: Share the first sentence of the last chapter of one of your novels. I'll share the first paragraph of the last chapter of Child of the Moon, since the first sentence alone doesn't say much... "James saw the expression in Lachlan's eyes and it reminded him of Samuel. Two men who had become more similar through circumstance than James had wished upon either of them. It wasn't merely nihilistic bitterness. It was something well ben...

• Post #3571610

  #WritersCoffeeClub 24 Jun: Must you know the ending before you write the first line? Nah. I do try to determine _some_ ending before I get too far in, but that’s more for a sense of direction than a definite ending.

• Post #3571609

  #WritersCoffeeClub 25 Jun: Share a passage you’ve written containing onomatopoeia. The heavily rusted axe was raised into the air and came down on the first piece of wood with a mushy chop. The branch split, limp and soft. It must’ve been lying there for God knows how long — seven years? — and would hardly make for a good fire, too wet to catch and if it did, too rotten to last. The newly released convict didn’t care. He moved the remainder of the branch onto the block and raised the axe again...

• Post #3571608

  #WritersCoffeeClub 26 Jun: Have you ever included subtle (or unsubtle!) homage? Mainly little nods to other books and poets, yeah. For instance, in Child of the Moon, the antagonist had books from H.P. Lovecraft in his attic. The least subtle I can think of is a “self-homage” where Mrs. Cleyton is briefly reading a copy of Child of the Moon, which I did to establish that even though the stories are disconnected, they still take place within the same universe.

• Post #3571607

  #WritersCoffeeClub C&R: Describe your opening scene. Everyone: What mood does it set? Mrs. Cleyton has her morning breakfast on a Saturday like any other. It’s Spring and a goldfinch graces her garden, distracting her from the contemplations brought upon by her empty house. She had a family, but since 7 years, she doesn’t anymore. Instead, she only has her two dogs now. When she arrives at the animal shelter where she volunteers, an English Mastiff is brought in that bites her superior...

• Post #3571606

  #WritersCoffeeClub 1 Jul: Recently, how excited have you been to sit down to write? Tough question. I've been excited about the _idea_ of writing, but there's been plenty of distractions, and the actual execution has been hit and miss.

• Post #3571605

  #WritersCoffeeClub 2 Jul: What are the limits of critique? They should focus on the work rather than the artist.

• Post #3571604

  #ScribesAndMakers #TTMD 2 Jul: Talk To Me Day, Featured Creator: @ElyseMGrasso So I gather it’s your birthday? Congratulations! And thank you so much for all the boosts! What is your motivation for writing and being active in this community? Hope you have a nice day!

• Post #3571603

  Booked myself another research trip. Late October I'll be digging around Edinburgh for my upcoming novel, Elise 👩‍🦰🩸🗡️ 🌑 #WritingCommunity

• Post #3571602

  "Was Duncan a mistake? I knew it was an escalation, but a mistake is something you regret, and I still wasn’t sure yet if I ought to regret what I had become." -- Excerpt from Elise, #WIP #Psychological #Horror

• Post #3571601

  #WritersCoffeeClub 3 Jul: What's the sign of a good critique? It explains not just how it made the reader feel, but also why they felt that way. This allows the author to understand where the feedback comes from, and whether they would want to change anything based on that or not.

• Post #3571600

  #ScribesAndMakers 3 Jul: We have some new people in the community. Re/Introduce yourself and tell us about your creative work. I'm Aron (pen name) and I write psychological horror and thrillers, with a dash of historical and mystery, and a weak spot for anything Scottish. I'm stubborn and persistent, which is why I'm still aiming to become commercially successful with my writing... it's still a long way off, but I'm inching closer :) I've publis...

• Post #2890096

  #WritersCoffeeClub 18 May: With whom do you wish you could share your work but can't? The TikTok generation. I think literature is quite a universal human gift, but how do you reach those without the attention span to finish reading the back of a carton of hagelslag? 🤔

• Post #2890095

  #ScribesAndMakers 18 May: If someone were to write a character based on you, how often would exclamation marks be warranted in your dialogue? Ouch, probably more than I’d dare to admit. I don’t think I’m a big shouter, but between raising a rascal and regularly stubbing my toes, you’ll already get quite a few in. Also, I don’t drink so much anymore, but when I do I often get jolly in a loud way.

• Post #2890094

  #WritersCoffeeClub 19 May: How would changing genre change your current WIP's plot? I don’t think it would meaningfully change the plot itself, but I do take genre into account as I’m not writing _only_ for myself. What would happen is mostly that I would (de)emphasise certain parts over others. Minor parts might even fall off, depending on whether it’s appropriate for the genre. But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t suddenly change the genre to romance, so don’t expect too big changes. Fwiw,...

• Post #2890093

  #ScribesAndMakers 19 May: You get locked in Ikea for a week. What will you build? Hah, I think I’d primarily hang around the kitchen area 😅 Maybe build some hotdogs for those that are hungry too.

• Post #2890092

  #ScribesAndMakers 20 May: You have 100 EUR to spend on something to support your creativity this month. How are you spending it? Probably getting myself an extra session with my editor.

• Post #2890091

  #WritersCoffeeClub 20 May: If not your current genre, what genre would you write? I’ve said at some point that I’d still like to write a fantasy book one day. It’d still be a very dark fantasy, I believe, practically horror as well, but no, it would definitely be a different genre!

• Post #2890090

  #WritersCoffeeClub 21 May: What targets do you set for yourself? To what frequency? I want to have my next novel available next year, so I’ve set a word count of about 2K words per working day to make that feasible. But I am happy to let things average out over time, and I tend to be not too strict when it comes to deadlines. By which I don’t intend to imply that I’m a slacker… rather the opposite.

• Post #2890089

  #ScribesAndMakers 21 May: What medium would you choose to depict a visual image of a lake? Words on a page. Sorry, but that’s what you get for asking a writer trying to focus on writing 😆

• Post #2890088

  #WritersCoffeeClub 22 May: How well would your current WIP work as a play? I saw @JonSparks suggestion for a radio play, which I think would work quite well for my WIP, since despite the different POV characters, one of them acts as narrator for all of them, so the entire thing could easily be recorded as essentially one giant monologue. As a theatre play? I suppose it should be possible. There’s dark and graphic themes, so I imagine great atmospheric lighting and a lot of play with red cotton...

• Post #2890087

  #ScribesAndMakers Which book world would you like to live in for a week, and why? I’d sign up for a week in the Shire, thank you very much. No fireworks. No unexpected visits, please. I’ll be back to writing after that week.

• Post #2890086

  #WritersCoffeeClub 23 May: C&R: Share a current creative frustration. Everyone: Prescribe a 'creative antidote', not as a solution, but as a disruptive exercise. Logistics and marketing eating away at my writing time.

• Post #2890085

  #ScribesAndMakers May 23: If you were going to tell a story about a cryptid, which would you choose? Seeing how they’re not scientific anyway, I’m allowed to make up my own right? I’m imagining owls whose feathers are almost stone-like so they can camouflage as gargoyles. You understand they will always be watching you, as owls are wont to do.

• Post #2890084

  #WritersCoffeeClub 24 May: What do you need in order to finish your current WIP? Nothing much, just a bit of everything.

• Post #2890083

  #WritersCoffeeClub 25 May: Share a late-stage change you made to a work. Mrs. Cleyton’s story is very much about a descend into madness, and one of the things that contributes to said madness was her conversion to Christianity after her family died. Christian themes were getting interwoven into the story, but I didn’t know how to resolve that part of her story until very late when I was writing the final version of her last two chapters. She was a horrible character, deeply narcissistic, but I...

• Post #2890082

  #ScribesAndMakers 25 May: Stella had been dreading this moment... Mark had always been hers, and she hated sharing with her parents. But she knew she couldn’t separate them forever… #WritingCommunity feel free to continue the story 😉

• Post #2551275

  A little message while I enjoy my holiday in #Paris 😊 Are any of you registered on #AllAuthor ? If so, please vote for #mrsCleyton in the Cover of the Month contest 🙏 https://allauthor.com/cover-of-the-month/20741/ #WritingCommunity