P.S.C. Willis 🌈🖋️ Crying Out for Magic - Out Now!

Quote reads: "Tell me you have hot gossip or I will be forced to throw this flapjack in your face, and that would be a criminal waste." Ellen dropped into one of the blue plastic chairs of the college snack shop. [Underneath, a picture of a rectangular baked oat bar].

American readers... I need you to know that in the UK, a 'flapjack' is not a pancake thing, but a syrupy, buttery baked oat bar.

That way, you can fully appreciate and visualise this moment from 'Crying Out for Magic'...

#writesky #writingcommunity #quotes

A picture of the above named pastry along with a cup of tea

Writing café didn't have what I wanted, so I was forced to try something new and it was 😋

Outcomes of today's session:
- ate tasty pistachio and yuzu pastry
- finished fixing annoying find/replace errors
- wrote 565 words on a short story and decided the overall plot arc (probably ish)

#writesky

Haha, I love it but the last thing I need is encouragement to add MORE ellipses.

Yes, I am a real writer and I have read over this MS.

...which somehow still included the line 'they again dismiss it again.'

#WriteSky #AmEditing

Chapter 15 - answers in a teacups. Fun fact: in my drafting process, chapter 15 was one of few chapters with an actual title. I never thought up enough to make it worthwhile, but I was sad to let this go as it was SO perfect. The chapter features both characters finding answers in cups of tea in different ways.

Title - Crying Out for Magic Read Along in Real Time. Picture of a Hallowe'en mug with a teabag tag hanging out of it reading "Let's Par-TEA." Labels read Hallowe'en all year long, rooibos and puns. Caption asks what is one of your regular mugs and what's in it?

The cover of Crying Out for Magic, captioned 'Available now. Happening now. Grab a copy and join in the read along in real time.'

I forgot to post on Monday! Chapter 15 is one of my favourites. Is it because it has satisfying plot progression? Is it because 'tea solves everything' is one of the main messages I want to give?

Little of column a, little of column b.

Share your mug photos below!

#readalong #amreading #writesky

a woman wearing glasses is waving her hand while sitting in front of a window . Alt: a woman giving herself a high five

Is there anything more satisfying than hearing readers comment with the exact themes and tone you hoped to convey in your story?

NAILED IT!

#writingcommunity #writesky

Title: Crying Out for Magic - Read Along in Real Time. Large central text 'TFW you bring the 'you hang up'/'no you hang up' energy to a hug. Arrow points onwards.

Chapter 14: He kind of wanted to pull back enough to be looking Draven in the eyes. To be face to face, so they could… But hadn’t he put the brakes on that? Wouldn’t it be confusing to unbrake it right now? “Bye then,” Niall murmured into Draven’s hair, making no move to break away from him. “Yeah, bye,” Draven echoed, pressing his head against Niall’s chest. “K… Bye,” Niall said again. It would definitely be confusing. Right?

Will Niall do what needs to be done? Find out by joining the read along in real time of Crying Out for Magic.

What do you reckon? Does Niall go for it or bottle it? Comment below with your guess, or get the book and find out.

#writesky #readalong #portalfantasy #cosyreads

Mess #WIP progress continues - I have a version of my opening scene that I am happy with! (For this draft).

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity.

Developmental - zeroth draft up to first.

A journal titled 'Editing Progress for Welcome to the Mess.' The journal is decorated with doodles of lightning, a trash can, a laptop and soup. It appears on a purple lightning background. This aesthetic continues throughout.

Notebook reads: It's hard to know how it's going. I find editing progress so difficult to measure. Do you measure in time? But then there's no end point. Scenes edited? But there's so many other things, and I need to celebrate my wins to keep going. A to do list seems like the best way but...

...I'm never sure what to put on it, my brain jumps about, doing multiple steps at the same time, and for some, I don't know when I've done enough to call them "finished." (This is followed by a list reading: read through, make notes, redraft plan, start rewriting scenes - these are checked, marked with a question mark and with a 1/2).

But today was a pretty exciting day* (Image of a folder for the first draft above the folder for the zeroth draft). *explanation that this was the folder being created, as some of the drafting had already started elsewhere in a random document.

Editing progress is much harder to measure than drafting progress. But this edit now has... ITS OWN FOLDER. Truly, a milestone.

#WritingCommunity, do you struggle with any of thes? How do you track your editing progress? Especially if you’re more chaotic.

#writesky #amediting

Protest banners displaying 'duck ice' and standwithminnesota.com which is a site for donations.

Reading is political. Writing is political.

Flood the world with art about love, kindness and fighting for good.

To celebrate getting to the part of the book where my characters finally meet, I did a little read aloud. It's too long for here but you can see it on 📸 (same handle).

#readaloud #writesky

Crying Out For Magic

My debut novel was published last year by a queer SFF press!

An overly optimistic mage and an awkward fantasy nerd could be all the love and magic the other needs, if they can bring both their broken worlds together.

#QueerWritersChat #writesky

www.spacewizardsciencefantasy.com/book/crying-...

'How Not to Drown' by CHVRCHES feat Robert Smith. Which is ironic, cos it's a song about having the joy of art sucked out of you by becoming part of the corporate machine.

I have a few songs that don't have specific writing attached, but they stir BIG FEELS, and deserve stories to spring from them

I'm P. I write cosy, queer SFF

My current (main) projects are querying a gentle book about befriending trees and taking up crafts, and 0th to 1st draft on 'Legends and Lattes X The IT Crowd.'

With lots of short stories and other ideas getting occasional headspace.

#QueerWritersChat #Writesky

Ash trees, please, not trees of ash.

#7SyllableSentence

Thank you! I still keep going to look at the list to check it's real!

A picture announcing Crying Out for Magic as a finalist in the categories: - best light read - best friendship - best setting - gay or lesbian rep

A thank you message: sometimes this feels like shouting into the void. It helps so much to be proven wrong, and to feel like I have a community behind my boom. It's WILD to me that I'm a finalist at all, let alone in four categories. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

Clip art compilation of a cartoon person with a megaphone shouting 'Hey, um, I wrote a book.' A swirling black void replies 'Heck yeah! I got you!'

So hyped that Crying Out for Magic is a finalist in not one BUT FOUR categories in the Indie Ink Awards! This really is 'pinch me, I must be dreaming' stuff. Thank you so much to everyone who supported me!

#indieinkawards #writingcommunity #indieauthors

Read a snippet from a writing exercise at workshop yesterday, which prompted the question "Is James alright?"

To which the answer was "No, James is not alright. James continues to be not alright. This entire book is basically James not being alright."

This is now the book's unofficial subtitle.

Great hosting! Wish I could have got to more of them. Maybe I'll go back and try and a few more.

It was quiet last week in read along land. This chapter opens with a couple of weeks having gone by, and some increased antagonism.

I'm excited for the bumper group at the weekend.

#AmReading #lbgtqbooks #writingcommunity #fantasy

A beautiful dream.

I just got to use a new keyboard key! Submitting to a magazine that asks for subject info to be separated by a |

This makes me oddly and nerdily delighted. I also researched it - it is called a vertical bar and is a style element not a punctuation mark.

#WritingCommunity #GeekingOut

The unbelievable pride I feel in myself that I guessed Jamie's pun at the start of an episode of 'World Gone Wrong.'

#Podcast #AudaciousMachine

First day in a while that I've done over 500 words. Feels good to have some semblance of rhythm back, even though it feels precarious.

#AmWriting #WriteSky

Mutants help us to evolve.

#7syllablesentence

A quote from chapters 8 of Crying Out for Magic: It could be magical, said the back of his mind, as he ran a thumb over one of the symbols. That was the part of his brain that he wasn’t supposed to be listening to anymore. He was supposed to engage with reality, or whatever. But something about the symbols drew him in. He’d memorised a few different symbol systems (another side-effect of not having a life) and he didn’t recognise these. They were a mystery to throw himself into, even if that was the opposite of what he was supposed to be doing right now. And they only wanted £1.95 for it. And he didn’t want to have bothered someone for nothing. “Sure. I’ll take it,” he said.

Sat 10th. Crow brain says collect shiny treasure. What was in your hoard of possibly magical treasure when you were a kid?

I was obsessed with fifty pence pieces after reading The Queen's Nose.

#writingcommunity #writesky #readalong #amreading

Plan with wiggle room, joy, and rest.

#7syllablesentence

Snowdrops bloom anew on graves. #7syllablesentence

A calendar for the read along in real time of 'Crying Out for Magic' with Chapters 6 and 7 on Monday 5th, and chapters 8 on Sunday 10th

Ch 6 quote: “Not that…not that I want to seem like I…” He floundered. Like he what? Was ungrateful? Like he was questioning everything? He was questioning everything. He was lost and none of their ways of doing things meant anything to him, and this was the one thing he’d thought he wanted to do with his life. How did you sum up having got to that point but with “but I’m not questioning your authority, ma’am” tagged onto the end?

Ch 7 - Question. What's something you've overheard in public that piqued your curiosity?

To find out how these are relevant to Crying Out for Magic, grab a copy and join the read along. But whether or not you're reading, share your answers below.

A quiet week this week, apart from the crushing of some childhood dreams.

Answer below - what's something you've overheard in public that piqued your curiosity?

#writingcommunity #readalong #lgbtqbooks