Alexander Thomas

Was it 3 lines at 12K each?

Plotting is good so far! I did more planning ahead of time to keep the word count down (at least, by my standards) and I've managed to not introduce any new major loose ends :)

Did it! Hit my word count target.

Unfortunately (of course) the book isn't done. Still several chapters to go, plot-wise.

But this time I purposely set a word count so that even if I go over, the manuscript will stay well under 100K. Bitter experience finally pays off!

#amwriting #WriteSky #sff

Me: I won't write much today, I'm away from home, and this is a hard chapter...

Also me: wow, 2000 words written? Somehow I got to the downhill part.

Also me: tearing up in the restaurant because I had to kill off a favorite character. The baddies are closing in, after all.

#amwriting #sff

Great to see all the pitches and inspiring manuscripts during yesterday's #QuestPit! Hope you all had as much fun as I did.

Now, back to it: the writing. I mean, after I distract myself with another cup of coffee and liking more amazing pitches.

Stay awesome.

#amwriting #WriteSky #sff

Milky Way over jungle, public domain, courtesy of Luz Calor Sum (pexels.com)

WORLDKEEPERS

Who is chasing Juan Ramirez today?

1. Hungry predators.
2. Ruthless kidnappers.
3. Killer drones.
4. Loan collectors.

And he thought a corporate retreat on a remote planet would be relaxing.

Of course, things are about to get much, much worse…

#QuestPit #SF #W #A #YA

Medieval City on a River (wikipedia)

THE PROSECUTOR’S AEGIS

Emilia Leftraro protects her abbey from forbidden magic.

So she won’t fall for an evil warlock, no matter how hot, even if he breaks her out of prison, or if only they together can defeat the unholy creatures invading the country.

Right?

#QuestPit #F #RF #W #A #YA

Trifid Nebula (from Wikipedia, Deddy Dayag, photographer)

WORLDKEEPERS

Not all posh corporate retreats on remote planets go to plan. On this one, Juan Ramirez and other employees are chased in the rainforest by wildlife and kidnappers alike.

And ancient hunters within the planet may join the pursuit.

Time to ditch the champagne.
#QuestPit #SF #W #A #YA

Pisano and Imogen (Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 3, Scene 4)

THE PROSECUTOR'S AEGIS

Emilia Leftraro never expected to hide her identity in a performance troupe, acting in a romantic comedy opposite a convicted warlock. Her abbess would be horrified.

But then again, Emilia never expected to be hunted by marauding armies, either.

#QuestPit #F #RF #W #A #YA

CALLING ALL FASHIONISTAS: I need advice for a character.

You're going on a luxury retreat in a remote rainforest. What do you take with you?

Boots: check.
Bags: check.
Sun hat: check.

What else? And how do you make them not just apparel, but STATEMENTS?

#amwriting #writesky #sff #fashion

That's illegal in several countries.

Or should be.

QuestPit writers hype event

Pitch event! Official site with rules: questpit.carrd.co

And their BlueSky account: @questpit.bsky.social

strike poster

‼️IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT‼️
In solidarity with the general strike happening this Friday, we’re postponing this week’s event by ONE day. The event will now take place January 31st on Saturday. This strike is important to the both of us and we would appreciate you joining us.

I only had one job today. I was supposed to help my protagonists escape.

Instead, I made things worse. That's kind of my other job.

Cheers to all the authors out there making your characters' lives miserable. See you at #QuestPit tomorrow!

#amwriting #writesky #sff

Got to the "Bad Guys Close In" part of the plot, and amped up all the baddies. It's getting intense now!

Did I overdo it? I don't see how the protagonists can escape.

But hey, that's a problem for tomorrow me.

#amwriting #WriteSky #sff

Currently rolling with a major character named Priscilla Lastname. I really hope I remember to change it.

No plan survives contact with the enemy?

But: same. Same.

Also better than "glided!" (I was thinking slide-slid, but "glode" works too).

I've had it up to here so I'm just going to say it:

THE PAST TENSE OF "GLIDE" SHOULD BE "GLID."

Right? I cringe every time I write "glided."

#amwriting #WriteSky #sff

The good news: I'm over 90% of my target word count!

The bad news: I'm going to go over the target word count again :(

I missed my #NaNoWriQ4 goal, but should have the first draft wrapped by by February, and I'll take that.

See y'all at #QuestPit!

#amwriting #writesky #sff

Latest #NaNoWriQ4 update: work kicked my butt this week, and I only wrote 2500 words (vs 5000 target). I'm still targeting completion of the first draft by the end of the year! But I'll need some epic writing sessions.

Send cookies and caffeine. #amwriting #sff

My #NaNoWriQ4 idea is taking off like wildfire! Thanks to all who support! (both of you)

For my part, good progress so far. I'm projecting to complete on time, unless I write too much, in which case I'm going to slap myself with a wet noodle because I WANT A SHORTER BOOK.

#sff #WritingCommunity

Got caught up with editing and planning passes. And now...

NEW GOAL: Complete the next book by the end of the year! I call it #NaNoWriQ4. (Like NaNoWriMo, but my day job means writing a book over all of Q4 rather than just November). Who's with me?

#sff #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

I had a long slog through a revision. But suddenly, I'm done! I'm always surprised at how quickly the revision is completed, once the thorniest problems are solved.

On to Beta Readers! They'll tell me if anything I did was actually effective or not :)

#amwriting #sff #romantasy

I re-read Ready Player One over the past few days.

It's #LitRPG, isn't it? Of course it is, but I didn't notice until I read it *after* reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. Then it was blindingly obvious.

Normally I don't read #LitRPG, but those two books were super fun.

#sff #WritingCommunity

#pretendpanel 8/2: How much wider do you read compared to what you write?

I mostly read outside of genre! I read in genre occasionally, both for fun and to stay current. But I read a LOT of non-fiction.

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

Felt that!

Just submitted the first query for my 3rd book!

Maybe a bit early? But remaining edits are small, and this is an agent I love who closes to queries soon.

I've been planning on querying for months, but it's always eye-opening to actually submit. More to polish!

#amwriting #WritingCommunity

Alexander Thomas - Author Alexander Thomas, author of Princess of Prophecy (fantasy book). Fantasy & Science Fiction author.

July/August newsletter just went out!

www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

If you'd like to sign up for the emails (very infrequent!) please subscribe to the mailing list on my website:

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#amwriting #sff #WritingCommunity

#WordWeavers 11/7: How is your current WIP going?

Just finished collecting a second round of beta reader feedback! Book feels close now, I'm hoping to query soon.

Good: readers love the pacing, romance, plot.

Bad: not enough empathy with the MC.

Onward to editing!

#WritingCommunity #amwriting