@Bern@aus.social

Bern @Bern@aus.social · Aug 01, 2026

#WritersCoffeeClub for 1st August 2026

Firstly, a very big thank-you to @paris@wandering.shop for pulling these together - your efforts are greatly appreciated!

1. What are your goals for the month, writing-wise?

I would like to make some progress on the ‘business’ side of writing – figure out what I need to do, and actually do it – so that I can progress toward self-publishing some of my works. I’ve been putting it off for far too long because it all seems too hard, and writing new stories is much more fun!

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Aug 01, 2026

#PennedPossibilities 1087 — Friday Edition: In honor of a friend (@thatwriterellie), we’re using a word once per week. Write or share something from your WIP pertaining to: “struggle.”

This is from an earlier WIP, near the end, and describes the MC's reaction to some very bad news:

“I’m so sorry, Aelyn,” she dimly heard Sen say. Her despair was so deep that no tears came. The colour seemed to drain from the world, and sounds barely came to her ears. The cold wind blowing over the mountains seemed to pass her by, leaving her skin untouched. The reins held between her fingers lost all texture. Even Meryn, wriggling a little in the sling, seemed something distant, otherworldly.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jul 31, 2026

#WordWeavers for 31st July, 2026

31. Does your MC have a role model they look up to? If so, who?

Yes indeed! Illara looks up to several people. She has an enormous respect for the Queen, who she got to know quite well during the events that took place at the capital a few years back. She also looks up to the Duchess Eolan of Kara, and Countess Idela of Firnesse – they both seem so confident and even-tempered, and she aspires to be like them.
(spoiler: *they* admire *her* ability to remain so self-possessed, even under very trying circumstances)

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jul 31, 2026

#WritersCoffeeClub for 31st July 2026

31 End of the month roundup: What will you do differently next month?

I *hope* I will put a lot more effort toward the ‘business’ side of things: set up a website, perhaps, pull some earlier works into slightly better shape, maybe do something at long last about covers, and progress toward self-publishing… (I’m a terrible procrastinator when it comes to some things!)

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jul 31, 2026

#PennedPossibilities 1086 — How do you find your inspiration? (Do you enjoy nature, books, games, films, shows, or all of the above?)

Yes.

To elaborate: inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere. All of our experiences go into the great mixing pot in our minds whence inspiration comes.

I do agree, though, that quiet thinking time is the best time to synthesise all these inputs into new ideas. Time spent away from the attention-consuming reality of modern life, even if it's only a few minutes.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jul 31, 2026

Someone posted on the work bulletin board asking for help with a script not writing to a file on SharePoint.

The very first response: "Have you tried asking Copilot?"

🤦‍♂️

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jul 04, 2026

Visiting my parents, and this is still lurking in the fridge! My last photo of it was many years ago, good to get some updated snaps! 😆

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jun 27, 2026

Bought a new mug yesterday, so I can have a decent cuppa at last... 😁 #tea

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Jun 04, 2026

Replying to @AlinaLeonova@wandering.shop

@AlinaLeonova@wandering.shop @BranwenOShea@writing.exchange Thank you so much for your efforts with these prompts. Coming up with my own answers, and reading others' responses, has really helped my writing over the last few years. And, of course, it's been a lot of fun! 😀

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 18, 2026

Replying to @NewtonMark@eigenmagic.net

@NewtonMark@eigenmagic.net I dunno, I mean, who *hasn't* set fire to their mates while pissed as Barnaby? 🙄

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 16, 2026

Replying to @decryption@aus.social

@decryption@aus.social Meh. Talk about sport all you want! People have the interests they do, and you don't owe anyone any apologies for that. The only caveat I'd give is to ask you to use hashtags when you do talk about sport, so those of us who aren't interested in it at all can just filter out those particular posts. A few people I follow also post a lot about particular sports, and the filters work just fine.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 14, 2026

Writers’ Coffee Club for 15th May 2026

15. Follow-up: and how little is not enough?

When the reader gets frustrated that they’re not getting more of that element (plot, characters, setting, etc) or if they feel that something is missing. If your story hinges on a particular aspect, then you need to make sure you give the reader enough material that they can appreciate that part of the story, or it will feel hollow or incomplete.
#WritersCoffeeClub

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 11, 2026

Replying to @NewtonMark@eigenmagic.net

@NewtonMark@eigenmagic.net that's Paris, Texas, of course... 😏

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 09, 2026

Replying to @Firlefanz@writing.exchange

@Firlefanz@writing.exchange it makes me think something bad is about to happen, and Moon is being either very brave, or very foolish. A solid opening. 👍

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 09, 2026

Replying to @JonSparks@writing.exchange

@JonSparks@writing.exchange It makes me wonder if Fedwyn is going to be a character with a sharp, sarcastic wit, or a complete prat. Either way, the next few pages are likely to answer that question one way or another, so I'd be reading them.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 09, 2026

Replying to @aronsilver@indieauthors.social

@aronsilver@indieauthors.social The "Again." really makes that line. It just *begs* all sorts of questions that I hope you answer in the rest of the story! 👍

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 07, 2026

Replying to @David_Hollingworth@mastodon.social

@David_Hollingworth@mastodon.social they're all annoying, but the one that really pissed me off was being required to give permission for kidlet to use generative AI. 🤬

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 07, 2026

Replying to @David_Hollingworth@mastodon.social

@David_Hollingworth@mastodon.social I'm really not surprised by that - it was bound to happen eventually. Our kids' school required us to give permission to provide PII to more than two dozen external vendors, for various bits of software and services that they use. I'm just surprised that it didn't happen sooner.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 06, 2026

WordWeavers for 6th May, 2026

6. What writing-related challenges have you encountered recently?

Lack of motivation. I’ve wanted to write, but when I get a chance to sit down at the PC, I’ve just not had the energy. I’ve enjoyed it when I’ve worked on it, and I’ve had some good ideas, but it’s the actual getting started that’s been difficult.
#WordWeavers

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 01, 2026

Replying to @bastardsheep@aus.social

@bastardsheep It's the usual thing where most of the drivers of that make are fine, but the bad ones stick in your memory when they do stupid shit, like a three-point turn on a busy sub-arterial road in a school zone at 3pm...

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 01, 2026

Replying to @bastardsheep@aus.social

@bastardsheep I just double-checked the Qld road rules, and it's the same here. Most people just give way to buses any time they indicate, though. There are always the dickheads, though, of course. In the past, it was often BMW drivers, but I'm noticing such behaviour from Tesla drivers a lot lately. 🤔

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 01, 2026

Replying to @bastardsheep@aus.social

@bastardsheep up here in Bananaville cars are required to give way to buses with their indicator on. Isn't that the case down south of the border?

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 01, 2026

Writers’ Coffee Club for 1st May 2026

1. Workers' Day: What can we do to support and protect other writers, not only now, but in the future as well?

We can fight against the automatic plagiarism machines, and their callous disregard for authors' copyrights. We can make human-written prose worth something. We can encourage people to read, to take pleasure in the slightly-less-frenetic pace of life that is the written word.

I’m not ruling out dropping nukes from orbit on AI datacentres, though… 😏
#WritersCoffeeClub

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 01, 2026

Replying to @decryption@aus.social

@decryption@aus.social yeah, I must admit I accelerate harder than I used to in previous cars. The acceleration is just so effortless and smooth with electric motors, though!

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · May 01, 2026

You know you're in trouble when the progress bar percentage complete number goes negative... 😑

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 30, 2026

WordWeavers for 1st of May, 2026:
1. How long have you been working on your WIP?

I started making notes for this story a couple of years ago while writing the previous two novels featuring this MC. A few scenes that came to mind, but I had nowhere to plug them into the stories I was writing at the time.

I began concentrating on this WIP at the beginning of 2025, after completing the previous novel I was working on. Last year was pretty bad for my writing productivity, though, so it's taken me ~15 months to get it close to completed. Glacially slow, compared to my previous efforts.

#WordWeavers

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 30, 2026

Replying to @decryption@aus.social

@decryption@aus.social unusual for the rears to wear faster than the fronts. Unless it's rear-wheel drive and you've got a *very* heavy foot on the accelerator! 😏 Soft compound tyres will give much more grip, but at the expense of wear life. And, yeah... Wife drove over something yesterday that had fallen off another vehicle, and ended up with a screw and a bolt through the tyre. $384 later... 😞

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 30, 2026

#PennedPossibilities 1001 — Is your MC confident or not? Tell us why.

Illara is full of self-doubt. She doesn't believe that she is capable enough and deserving of the trust and faith that people put in her. It comes of the sudden changes in her life that accompanied the adventures I have written about. Illara is a fish out of water, in many respects, though she's gradually becoming accustomed to her new surrounds. Perhaps her self-confidence will return in time.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 29, 2026

WordWeavers for 30th April, 2026

30. What unhealthy beliefs are held by your MC?

I’ve not really considered that. I know she’s unfairly biased against goblins, based on some experiences when she was young (and she's going to have to work hard to fix that in the future). She doesn’t like spiders AT ALL, for a similar reason, but that’s not really ‘unhealthy’.
#WordWeavers

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 29, 2026

Writers’ Coffee Club for 30th April 2026

30. How was this month for you, in terms of writing?

A bit ‘meh’.

I made some progress at smoothing the rough edges of my current WIP. I sent a few chapters to a friend for some feedback. I realised I still have a couple of plot threads I need to do some significant work on, so they feel like part of the story.

I also wrote a few thousand words of draft scenes / notes for future projects, too.

And I continued to lack the self-discipline to actually spend the time working on my writing, rather than falling prey to the many distractions that haunt our existence...
#WritersCoffeeClub

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 29, 2026

Writers’ Coffee Club for 29th April 2026

29. Share the best sentence you wrote this month.

Context is everything. Isolated sentences are often robbed of their meaning.
But here’s one, anyway:
“It was a bittersweet sort of smile, but a smile nonetheless.”
#WritersCoffeeClub

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 29, 2026

WordWeavers for 29th April, 2026

29. Can you describe your current WIP in three words?

Woman, dragons, demons.

#WordWeavers

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 29, 2026

TFW I revisit some code I wrote ten years ago, and when I figure out what it does and why, think, "Ooh, that's quite clever!" 🤔

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 29, 2026

Currently sitting at a desk in the office, and there are four people within five metres dialled into Teams meetings. 🙉

*So* conducive to concentration... 🙄
#CorporateLife

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 27, 2026

Replying to @stilgherrian@eigenmagic.net

@stilgherrian IMHO 'thought leader' is a self-assigned title, like 'futurist'. People who decide that their opinion is worth more than that of others, and they should be getting paid for it. And they're usually full of shit. ETA: I have some nice dutch smoked cheddar in the fridge that is now calling to me... time for a cuppa!

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 23, 2026

Replying to @decryption@aus.social

@decryption yeah, the biggest problem would be finding somewhere to put them! Is folding@home still a thing?

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 23, 2026

Replying to @X31Andy@mastodon.green

@X31Andy I had an itch in the back of my mind ever since that previous post this morning, so thought I'd scratch it. Either that, or the fairy tunnel has reached the house... 😏

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 23, 2026

That ad I posted online offering to take surplus-but-still-functional solar panels was providing me a steady supply. Half a dozen panels one week, a dozen the next, as people around town upgraded their home solar setups.

And then I got a call, asking if I was interested in SawShed's panels, as they were upgrading to the new 40% efficient ones. I mean, I couldn't pass it up, especially when they offered me an at-cost-price discount on the hardware I needed to support the panels and wire them up (they still saved nearly a hundred grand on disposal fees!)

I have now set out on ground frames enough panels to cover a hundred and thirty-seven houses and another forty-three SawShed stores - yes, they had a *lot* of panels! - and I reckon I can fit plenty more on the back lawn.

Only...

I live on a 400m² lot. 🤔

(previously: @Bern@aus.social )

#tootfic #microfiction

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 23, 2026

Replying to @elebertus@eigenmagic.net

@elebertus @Unixbigot @abstractcode @futzle and by 'heavily maintained', of course, you mean 'visited recently by the flamethrower squad'...

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 19, 2026

Replying to @blogdiva@mastodon.social

@blogdiva@mastodon.social Well, that's another amazing thing I have learned today! Thank you for the informative thread.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 18, 2026

Replying to @NewtonMark@eigenmagic.net

@NewtonMark It seems that some people have been doing just that. This paper has some discussion early on about in-situ measurements in northern high latitudes, suggesting metallic aerosols are floating around in the upper atmosphere for quite a while. They've also done some comprehensive modelling that suggests this increased aerosol load may actually increase atmospheric ozone near the south pole - decreasing the infamous 'ozone hole'. But it may make the problem worse in the northern hemisphere. Still an awful lot of "little is known" and "not well understood" qualifiers, though. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JD042442

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @NewtonMark@eigenmagic.net

@NewtonMark IIRC that's only grounds for a judge-only trial, rather than before a jury, not to have the charges dropped. IANAL, though...

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 09, 2026

#PennedPossibilities 980 — Have you ever had your work plagiarized or stolen?

Not that I'm aware of. I'm sure it'll happen as soon as I publish anything. Someone will upload it to one of the pirate sites and the AI techbros (being such sticklers for the rule of law and the sanctity of intellectual property) will siphon it up to feed their automatic plagiarism machines...

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 08, 2026

Writers’ Coffee Club for 9th April 2026

9. What is your favourite way to introduce a character's appearance?

Through the eyes of the beholder.

I generally don’t describe what they look like – I describe what another character sees, or how they react, or how *they* describe them.

Not always, but I also tend to be a bit light on description, unless there are specific characteristics I want to convey (such as a character having a particular hairstyle or colour, or a beard, or some other distinguishing feature).
#WritersCoffeeClub

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @davidrevoy@framapiaf.org

@davidrevoy@framapiaf.org I love it! That last panel could make a great t-shirt. Change the wording to "You had to roll a one!" and it'd be nicely self-contained.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 08, 2026

WordWeavers for 8th April, 2026

8. Do you characters tell jokes? If so let them tell us a joke, please.

They do joke around a bit, but mostly snarky comments about things going on around them – not ‘jokes’ per se.
It’s hard to share one of those without the context that makes it funny.
#WordWeavers

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @static@aus.social

@static @Salvo Our work blocks Reddit. Because, you know, people waste too much time on there. Facebook is fine, though, apparently. And LinkedIn, of course... 🙄

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @static@aus.social

@static @Salvo Ah, that reminds me of the time sometime at work asked the boss if they could put some music on their PC to listen to. Boss said yes, so they tried to install Kazaa...

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Apr 06, 2026

#PennedPossibilities 977 — Have your characters ever travelled outside their country of birth? If so, when and where did they go, and why did they go there?

My entire current WIP is about the MC travelling to a neighbouring country, on a demon-hunting expedition.

It turns out some of the demons are very good at finding places to hide, and the tallest mountain range on the continent is a great place for doing just that, with lots of caves in a few places.

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Bern @Bern@aus.social · Mar 29, 2026

Replying to @weirdestate@eigenmagic.net

@weirdestate IIRC, this is a legacy of business interests meddling with politics. There's a national hurricane insurance scheme in the US, that will pay to rebuild your house after it's destroyed by a hurricane. But *only* if you rebuild it in the same place. If you choose to build somewhere less vulnerable, you get nothing. Combine that with houses being built on barrier islands, which naturally move around quite a bit over the years, and you end up with absurd situations like this.

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