Caroline M. Yoachim

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Male mallard duck swimming in calm shallow water. The duck is facing toward the viewer, and is reflected clearly in the water, which has a bright blue tint from reflected sunny sky. The duck's head is catching the sunlight such that the feathers gleam in shades of purple and teal.

Somehow it is now December. The end of the year is often a time of reflection...

(Duck, reflecting)

#birds #photography #BirdSky #NaturePhotography #BirdPhotography #BirdOfTheDay #Reflections #PNW #duck

Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War - Uncanny Magazine Kestrel House  There have been portals to the Fae realm for at least as long as humans have had fairy tales, but the first one deliberately engineered by humans was opened in an abandoned amusement pa...

Curious about the examples I mentioned?

Vampire: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/colo...

CYOA: www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/welc...

Lovecraft + Little Mermaid: www.drabblecast.org/2015/09/13/d...

Fae Magic + Architecture:
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/unfi...

This thread brought to you by today's brainstorming session, which started with "there are so many multiverse stories" and has now progressed to "...but what ideas can I mash into it?"

#WIP #writing

One of my favorite strategies for making a story idea feel shiny is mashing together two (or more) elements (e.g., Lovecraft + Little Mermaid, or Fae Magic + Architecture).

One place I sometimes start from is "I've never written an X story." (where X can be content-related like "vampire" or structural like "choose your own adventure")

Then the trick is to make it different enough to be shiny and interesting to my brain :)

A big part of my brainstorming process is "UGH, this has been done so many times, how can I make it different?"

#writing

Thank you!

We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?

The most precious commodity you have is your attention. You don’t have to waste it on poor-faith debates or arguments with strangers if you don’t think they’ll be productive. You can prioritize the things that matter to you and make your life richer.

Two loaves of banana bread on a cooling rack. They are a little flatter than they should be, but are nicely golden brown with a crack along the top to reveal the lighter interior of the loaf.

They are not quite as tall as they should be, but I am cautiously optimistic that I mostly fixed the issue. Hopefully they taste good!

I am making a double batch, but managed to not double one step and did not catch it until after I'd poured the batter into pans and it was flat out the wrong consistency. Attempted to fix it at that point, but we'll see how it comes out.

Now feeling like a Great British Bake Off contestant.

I had six overripe bananas, so I am making banana bread. After all, we need to have *something* for breakfast when the pie runs out.

And how much you ask of your readers can vary wildly from one story to the next. I've got stories that guide the reader into the world gently... and stories where I try to get the reader to do a thing that human brains don't really do.

Thank you!

It isn't imposter syndrome, though I suspect that feeds into it. The passage of time is just tricky to internalize sometimes. 1975 was 30 years ago, right?

Milestones like this are a bit odd, because when I'm not paying attention I still sometimes think of myself as being new here... which is increasingly ridiculous as time passes. This summer it will be 20 years since I was a student (and actually new to writing SFF!) at @clarionwest.bsky.social.

Interviews Archives - Uncanny Magazine

The archive of past @uncannymagazine.bsky.social interviews is here:

www.uncannymagazine.com/type/intervi...

Reading stories for print interviews in the Jan/Feb issue of @uncannymagazine.bsky.social...which kicks off my 9th (!!!) year as Uncanny Magazine's interviewer!

Grateful to have had the opportunity to chat with so many fabulous authors about ideas, influences, & writing process over the years! :)

Two slices of French toast, stacked, with a pile of sugar coated cranberries on top.

Sourdough French toast, candied cranberries. #breakfast

Introduce yourself with 4 animals you've seen in the wild (photo edition):

Great Blue Heron
Gold Dust Day Gecko
Green Sea Turtle
Rufous Hummingbird

A white flower in bloom, starting to wilt slightly, with a prominent pistil that has a few tiny water droplets on it. Parts of the stem and the bud of a second flower are visible on the left side of the photo. Black background.

Daylily, B&W. #bloomscrolling

#photography #BNWmacro #ArtYear #ClassicMono #PNW #flowers #B&W

Closeup showing the center of a daisy and a a little less than half the petals, off center such that the yellow center of the flower is in the lower right corner of hte photo. In the background, blurry dark greenery with pops of bright yellow from other flowers.

And a daisy to close out the thread. #bloomscrolling

#FlowerReport #PNW #garden #macro #nature #flowers

A pink rose with most of the petals still tightly closed in the center, but a few petals at the edge starting to open. The petals are dotted with raindrops, and the background has blurs of light and shadow.

Rose, with water droplets.

A yellow flower glowing in the sunlight, with additional yellow flowers and dark greenery blurry in the background.

Nasturtium.

An orange flower with delicate petals only partway open, illuminated in bright sunlight. Dark greenery blurry in teh background.

Calendula, with water droplets.

A flower with a red center and pink daisy-like petals that droop somewhat downwards, illuminated in bright sunlight. Blurry greenery in the background.

Photos from today's walk (thread): echinacea #bloomscrolling

Slice of almond cream pie, side view. The filling is a buttery yellow custard, topped with a generous quantity of whipped cream and sprinkled with slivered almonds.

Traditional post-Thanksgiving breakfast. Pie is good with coffee, and is therefore a sensible breakfast choice.

Thanks, I hope you have a good weekend, too!