Emily Mulholland Merriman is querying Rootfall

Hey that's great! Congrats!

I know it's a weird question on here, but like...have any of you been a successful (whatever your version of that is) indie author without much if any social media presence? Even people who share most of my views here talk about things that trigger my mental illness and trauma.

No new pictures, where are you mentally?

I like this take. It should be a last resort, but as a last resort, it could be useful to some people. Even vital, if it saves a book those people care about.

There are three sort of half-gods. There used to be five before the Apostasy. Now only one is left, and he has far less power (he also isn't worshipped anymore, not formally). A piece of another god's essence is still left in a pair of magic items. And there's a human who's amassed godlike power.

#PlotTober 4

The story couldn't work in a contemporary world. I have a secondary world planned out, complete with important history.

I know! That was the most fun boss fight I'd done in the game up until the end and then it turned into the worst 🫠

I guess I'll jump on this train cuz I'm plotting this month anyway.

Teen Titans and New Mutants were huge inspirations. The main city, Bastion, has a lot of Urithiru vibes from Stormlight, but the continent outside it is dark and shattered like a lot of FromSoft worlds.

#PlotTober

Six anus-shaped pieces of chocolate.

This one?

Charlie and the Anus Factory

#QueerWritersChat Ha. Haha. Hahahahahaha.

A few hundred years ago, something called the Apostasy happened. The gods died, and the whole continent fell into darkness and chaos. Only one city stayed mostly untouched. It's the last free city in the known world.

#QueerWritersChat they are! One of the Paladins (the adult team of superheroes) is a ghost. One of the setting's big bads is his mortal nemesis from when he was living, who's now a psychic amalgamation of two different spirits.

#QueerWritersChat

Two of my MCs are haunted by things that happened to their parents. One of the others is haunted by past trauma. The last is haunted by his parents' disapproval of the thing he's passionate about.

Hiya #queerwriterschat, I'm Emily! I'm working on planning a YA fantasy superhero novel! (heck of a mouthful)

I'm looking forward to starting that. I'm also looking forward to a couple get-togethers I'm going to and a couple chances to fix some chronic health problems.

If I could get out of the US and move to a less awful country, I would love to. Unfortunately I am Very Stuck.

#WeeknightWriters I finished planning Act 2, so now I'm thinking about Act 3. How do the MCs pick up the pieces from the midpoint and become better? What lessons do they learn? I might not do any actual plotting tonight, but my brain will be doing a lot of whirring.

Hey. Stuff sucks, the suits behind this app are terribad, and shit just isn't gay enough

Now's a great time to support your indie trans authors

4/4

What it boils down to, imo, is this.

Right: There will be bad people no matter what society is like, but society can keep those people in check. (Some) people are the > problem.

Left: There won't be (a significant number of) bad people if society doesn't create them. Society is the > problem.

3/?

The left, in my experience, feels that most people are inherently good, and society's job is to enable them to flourish. People are corrupted by a society that conditions greed and consumption, and if society didn't do that, people wouldn't have those urges and create those problems.

2/?

This idea ties into the question of whether people as a group are inherently good. I think the right feels that most people aren't, but with the right society, these people can be kept in line anyway. People are corrupted by their innate desires and society must check those.

1/?

Something I've noticed is that the right (and center) seems to believe problems are eternal. Not all problems, but many. We can't prevent homelessness, we have to persecute it. We can't prevent assault, we have to persecute it. Etc.

While the left mostly believes problems don't have to exist.

Finished plotting Act 2 for #FirstDraftFall! Halfway through plotting, which means like 3/4 of the way through planning. This story is gonna be FUN to write.

We're trying to solve what's entirely a consumption problem with only innovation. Not that innovation can't help, but the truth is that innovation AND sustainability have to meet partway. And solutions have to be sustainable for the environment and for people. Can't help one by exploiting the other.

My #FirstDraftFall project is gonna be the first book in a series! Some of the books will hopefully be able to be read in a variety of orders, but there will be a few big milestone books that will advance the story and the world significantly (just like other superhero stuff).

Breakfast? Eaten.
Hair? Brushed.
Board game turns? Taken.

Time to work on my #FirstDraftFall story's plot. I'm working toward the end of act 2 (so, the midpoint).

As always, today is a great day to support artists, writers, creators of all sorts. If you have the means, buy a book, sign up for someone's Patreon, commission an art piece. It's also a lovely day to leave a nice comment, post a short review, spread the word about someone's work. Everything helps.

Esmond sleeps soundly because he trains so hard, but he doesn't get enough.

Friede sleeps for exactly seven hours a night and sleeps well, again because training.

Wynne gets up in the middle of the night to write down ideas. Only half make sense in the morning.

Ainsley has trauma nightmares.

It's the first time I've ever really written one, but I'm excited to fit everything together.

When their adult counterparts are waylaid, four teenage superheroes must work together to defend the last free city in the world from the machinations of an immortal wizard and his henchmen.

#WeeknightWriters

This sounds fascinating!