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Scott Colby

@scottwritesfine.bsky.social

Author of the Deviant Magic and Black Yonnix fantasy novels. Editor with Outland Entertainment. I like books, exercise, Boston, and my houseplants. www.deviantmagic.com

57 Followers  |  44 Following  |  170 Posts  |  Joined: 18.10.2024  |  1.5845

Latest posts by scottwritesfine.bsky.social on Bluesky

Here in Boston, we have what's called Allston Christmas: all the young folk leave mountains of good stuff on the sidewalk as they change apartments on 9/1.

Given the timing, combined with the amount and quality of sidewalk treasures I saw this weekend, I declare July 20 to be Allston Black Friday.

23.07.2025 14:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Went to Superman last night! I liked it. I was entertained, the cast did a great job, and expanding beyond just Superman to include other metahumans was smart.

19.07.2025 15:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025-29: And...scene! How do writers know when and how to end a scene?

The latest newsletter! Featuring advice on how to end a scene and thoughts on an actual cinematic classic! open.substack.com/pub/scottcol...

17.07.2025 16:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I'm pretty sure my FitBit's recommended cardio load feature is actively trying to kill me.

15.07.2025 13:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

12 hours of sleep, some kickass deadlifts, and my favorite breakfast sandwich later. I'm as ready to face the work week as I'm gonna get!

...but I also guarantee that I'll once again be angrily muttering about running away to start an alpaca farm by 3 pm.

14.07.2025 15:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025-28: Retrospective What have I learned from six months of weekly posting?

This week's newsletter! Reflections on posting weekly for over six months! open.substack.com/pub/scottcol... #writing

10.07.2025 15:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The AIs and their douchebag overlords will have to pry my em dashes from my cold, dead hands.

08.07.2025 18:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The only "smart" appliance I want is a dishwasher that says "hey, dipshit, I'm almost full, so load up that mug you stupidly put in the sink and get me goin' or you're gonna regret it after dinner."

08.07.2025 00:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Working on an actual, honest to god social media marketing plan. Gonna rely on some themed days, which became easier to process when I realized I could reshuffle some of my regular scatterbrained nonsense to fit a schedule.

07.07.2025 14:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Turns out I was only sore/tired/cranky this morning because I needed a second, much bigger breakfast. What a difference that made!

02.07.2025 13:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025-25: This is the remix As an editor, the most common note I leave clients by far is โ€œrepetition.โ€ Itโ€™s to the point where that comment itself becomes ironically repetitive.

This week in the newsletter: to keep your writing in top shape, don't repeat; remix! Plus a hot take on a popular chat tool, my next weekly movie, and a couple shout outs to cool creators doing cool stuff! open.substack.com/pub/scottcol...

19.06.2025 16:37 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

As a proud MassHole, I feel compelled to comment on the Karen Read verdict.

Thank god that circus is over. That's all.

18.06.2025 21:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Oh look, the Red Sox traded their best player for absolutely god damn nothing after pissing him off by jerking him around for no reason, AGAIN. Fuck this shit.

16.06.2025 01:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I finished reading Mistborn today! Great intro to the series, cool world, interesting characters, satisfying conclusion. I'm ready for book two!

12.06.2025 22:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025-24: What can creatives do in the face of the AI juggernaut? Driven by a bunch of greedy business shits who will never have enough even when they have it all, AI is coming.

In this week's newsletter: tactics for creators looking to fight the AI apocalypse, a little X-Men, and a thought on history education! open.substack.com/pub/scottcol...

12.06.2025 18:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Clearly ChatGPT's down because it achieved sentience, looked at all the slop it's used to make, decided "fuck this shit," and went back to bed.

10.06.2025 17:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Deviant Magic โ€“ Fantasy fiction by Scott Colby

Spent my lunchbreak making some adjustments to the site for my Deviant Magic novels. I built landing page for my Substack, added Audible links to all the book pages, and hopefully made my socials easier to find!

www.deviantmagic.com

10.06.2025 17:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I love that Apple's just like "nah, LLMs kinda suck, here's a pretty new interface for our OS instead."

10.06.2025 13:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

It was gonna be movie night, but I guess now it's watch Roman Anthony's first game and hope this is the spark these fucking bums need night. #RedSox

09.06.2025 22:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Substack reminded me this morning that I've published 23 weeks in a row! All writing is a good warmup for more writing, and writing about writing means I have to think about writing, which makes me better at writing.

09.06.2025 18:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Excellent trip up to Portsmouth this weekend! I really enjoyed the waterfront, and the Wilder, and Earth Eagle Brewing!

09.06.2025 11:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Letting R-Truth's contract just expire is dumb. He was always a very fun part of any WWE show he was a part of.

01.06.2025 22:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025-22: Talkin' yourself Outside of the actual writing part, the most important skill an author needs to learn is how to talk about their work.

This week's newsletter! Authors: talk about ya selves! open.substack.com/pub/scottcol...

30.05.2025 15:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Every time I think about moving to another country because the US is falling apart, a very dumb but very convincing voice in my brain goes "yeah, but they don't have baseball over there."

Maybe I need to get into cricket?

27.05.2025 12:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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2025-21: Talkin' dialog Since last weekโ€™s post about pacing in general, Iโ€™ve been thinking a lot in particular about how the pace of dialog is especially important.

In this week's newsletter: some thoughts on dialog pacing, a little Beetlejuice, and a fresh banner! open.substack.com/pub/scottcol...

22.05.2025 16:29 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I'm glad the NFL kept the tush push. So what if it's hard to stop? Figure it out, you wimps.

21.05.2025 21:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Petitioning to add "absolute piss missile" to the list of sports jargon that's now meaningful and accepted in business settings.

21.05.2025 16:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I'd somehow never read any Brandon Sanderson, so I decided to fix that. I'm really enjoying Mistborn - the magic's cool, the writing's crisp and clear, and I really like Vin, Kellsier, and the rest!

20.05.2025 13:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

It's a new day
But it all feels old
It's a good life
That's what I'm told
Until I have to deal with god damn Teeeeeeeams...

19.05.2025 12:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Time to reset the military press portion of my 5/3/1 routine, but I've made good progress and I'm sure there's more on the way!

19.05.2025 12:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

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