Phi at the Long Way Down book series

Congratulations!!!

February has proven to be more difficult than expected financially and emotionally

And so we crawl towards the spring sun, hoping to March forward

My positive writing group experiences have been 1) group RPs, 2) 1x1 for content editing and proofreading, and 3) writing out a thing with another person. I really like the idea of being a part of a writing group or a writing forum or discord, but I haven't found any success yet #PretendPanel

7 Books That Reveal How Capitalism Is Coming for Your Corpse - Electric Literature These authors examine the absurd, expensive, and tragic reality of navigating the death industrial complex

7 Books That Reveal How Capitalism Is Coming for Your Corpse
⚰️💰These authors examine the absurd, expensive, and tragic reality of navigating the death industrial complex

electricliterature.com/7-books-that...

YouTube video by Siliconversations The AI Safety Movement Is Finally Changing

Are you in London (UK)? Do you hate AI? Consider going to this protest!

youtu.be/nA6Oithqh8g?...

A question, friends of Bluesky:

We (Nefarious Bat) are keen to reduce our dependence on Lord Bezos - & sell more ebooks direct at our site

(As @qospress.bsky.social has noted: it's not great on AMZ for queer presses right now)

So: what might induce you/people you know to shop direct for ebooks?

Did it require a research binge too, or was there another reason for it?

one of those days when you randomly come across a fact that results in an hour-long research session that may or may not result in changing the name of a character

I wonder, if I emailed a scholar about this, if they would be help me out...

Oh, tons of times. There are so many characters that have revealed parts of myself that I hadn't been able to look at before. Thank goodness!! #PretendPanel

I love it when my cat sleeps in my lap at my desk but I also miss having 2 hands

Fandom not only gave me practice, it gave me confidence. I have thousands of individual instances of positive feedback over the last 25+ years from fic + RPs. I'm not perfect, & some people will hate my writing, but I know I'm not terrible to everyone, and that's enough! #PretendPanel

Keep doing what you're doing. It will change your life for the better. #PretendPanel

When the characters surprise me.

When I finally hit a scene I've been waiting a long time to write.

When the characters make me cry by doing something lovely.

When I write my way through some real world thing that makes me angry and afraid, and by getting the characters through it, derive hope.

I love the emotional connection! I love connecting with the reader, I love connecting with my co-writer, and I love connecting with the story and the characters. Co-writing in particular is magical because when we both click in, it's like piloting a Jäger

#PretendPanel

I am one of the most published academics on the childhood social transition, with 5 peer reviewed articles that relate to the topic.

There is so much evidence of benefit of social transition.

There is no evidence of harm. Not one jot.

This will literally kill trans kids. No exaggeration.

We are trying to move away from Google Docs! For reasons I'm sure you can guess

I will look into OnlyOffice, thank you!!

I've done some research into this, but additional help would be greatly appreciated!!

Help! We are looking for software that allows 2 different devices to simultaneously edit files. We've been writing in Ellipses, but need stuff like spreadsheets to be accessible by both of us as well. Any note-taking apps like OneNote that allow for multiple users would also be extremely beneficial

Nothing makes me feel good like scrolling through multiple TikTok videos of medical school students going through their newly minted AI generated textbooks and making slideshows of all of the errors including completely made up muscles and tendons - can’t wait to age in this hellscape

I tried to take a photo of a grasshopper on my windshield, but now it looks like a gigantic bug destroying the town.

Thank you! The car is 12 years old already, so the hope is that we can get at least another 5 years out of these repairs. The mechanic seemed confident that these would be lifetime repairs (though he also didn't think the car could live to 20, but 5 years is still something)

Sigh I thought we were doing okay to climb out of my loss of work in November and now the car is basically on its way cost another month's rent to repair

It's all necessary repairs (and we're putting off tires because eek) but it's also just a disappointment and another weight

Have you ever felt like perhaps there was another story in them? Even if it was a short one, just to explore something

Ugh, the pain of ending a story 😭 ngl though, I don't think I ever leave characters behind, they just get an apartment in my head and I use them again later for things like D&D 👀

Romance and relationships and sex are inherently political and I don't care what anyone else says!! Your pirate ladies just include an extra dose of anti-establishment too heh

They're pulling those faces for all of us!

I’m not arguing with no account defending AI. My grandmother lives in an area being environmentally compromised currently by an ai data center. I remember the color of the lake before they built it and the sludge I see in it when I go to see her. Shut the fuck up about “the benefits of AI” forever.

Tons! Death, love, belief, religion, & culture all have political currents through them. We are trying to step carefully through research.

Characters can have different opinions from me, so I strive to understand their POVs so I don't suggest opinions they don't actually have, either #PretendPanel

I enjoy reading them, but not always. If I need an escape, I'll seek out other kinds of plots, and if the politics get too complicated too fast, I might bow out. I've finished some high fantasy stories, but not all.

I don't often write "Politics", but everything is political #PretendPanel

I know some of the appeal of working at night is that it's quiet and people won't bother you, but I also wish I had more people to chat with while I'm up :(