t-lane-writes

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My brain is getting increasingly incapable of choosing between Things To Do (tomorrow i switching to a new medication and then, maybe as i increase the dose, it will be able to do what it's supposed to be doing? please, brain?). I'm kind of floundering between projects, like a floundering flounder that i am.

But I'm also adding words here and there? So at some point I'll maybe look at the things and see they are closer to being done than I thought they were? It's a good thing I have that spreadsheet of goals and stuff. Yup, gonna go stare at it now for a few minutes. ;)

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Neve and Noel [Specters MCs]

These my unfinished sketches of Neve Kailash and Noel Anaher.

They are waiting in my folders for when I finally get myself that IPad, so I can draw them properly. Those drawings were made on my Little Girl's device, but I don't get much chance to return to this work since she's moved out. I tried drawing on Windows tablet, but... it's not the same.

So. I figured I'll post them, for inspitation, lol. I'd rather you didn't reblog this post, though, because, well. They're unfinished. ;p

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Me thinking, that I had The Triad Short Story No. 6 on my to-do spreadsheet since January. Progress was made, not as awesome as I hoped for, but I can't keep it front-and-center (2nd tier) and do... well... not as much as I should, anymore. So. It goes to backburner. For a month at least.

Specters is front-and-center tier 1 and it stays. What was I supposed to do in the last days of May and didn't? Ah! Write corrections to the Worldbuilding file. Hm. I didn't, but. Maybe I'll add more notes while I work on the plot? Idk. But that's what I'm planning to do over the next ten days. Work on the plot. Then I'll have to actually start to edit.

Also. Do I start a re-read of Crystal Spring Valley? I want to, but it's a big thing. Not a small thing, like the short story. Will I be able to tackle two big things at the same time? And fanfic? Because I want to keep up with fanfic. Hmmm...

That's a lot. But yeah, that's the plan.

Also, I have to go VOTE (for the President) today. Sheeeesh. Keep your fingers crossed world.

Wake up, brain. Sheeesh. It's June, I have do a thinking.

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Wake up, brain. Sheeesh. It's June, I have do a thinking.

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I finished reading the Worldbuilding of the Specters. It is very coprehensive. History, technology, and down to the each individual character's private views on religion (it's an important theme of the book), and parts of their backstories.

I like keeping that kind of separate file for each novel, because it helps me keep track of the ideas and how they are implemented throughout the story. Helps me to not get lost.

Now, I'll have to fix some inconsistencies, but they are minor, and add things that have only came up now, that will be helpful with the plot changes that I'm planning.

I thought I would be done with the plot change by the end of May, but it looks like I have to plan starting the plot rewrite for the beginning of June. Perhaps even give it two weeks. I'm starting to miss Crystal Spring though. And I want to write that short story, dangit. Hmm, I'll have to consider putting short story on the shelf for a while, but. I dunno.

I have a couple of days to decide. Sure can't work on three things at once. Even fanfic suffers from being third on my priorities list.

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I was asked recently, whether I wouldn't want to make Specters into a two-part story and... Um, no. It's growing longer with each draft, but given how long fantasy books tend to be, 100-120 k is not that much. I think that's what it will end up being.

As I'm re-reading my Worldbuilding file (15k words, ha!), I'm thinking I might want to write a prequel. Maybe. Not so sure about it, but maybe I might be persuaded.

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I finally wrote that character-centric storyline for The Triad Short Story No. 6, WoW!

The character's name is Lethabo Ferran, btw. I think I will stay with this one. The storyline is supposed to be about 300 words long, but this one turned out to be ~1300 words, lol. Well, good, now I have a solid foundation for the detailed plotline. :) Yeah, it needed to be longer, because there's so much I don't know about what's happening there and I'm building it up as I go. So. Good.

I wonder if I'll manage to make this story be under 5k. Pfffff. Mayhaps? I'll have to try, yes? ;)

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OK Tumblr Geriatric Ward, let’s talk about your posture-

there are things you should be doing now to prevent yourself from starting to look like 🥀

Why does it matter? Future you would like to avoid the pain, limited motion, and fall risk that goes along with worsening posture.

What’s the focus?

1. Keep the flexibility in your spine

2. Stretch the muscles in the front

3. Strengthen the muscle in the back

Here are some simple things you can do daily while sitting and when you get up to go into the bathroom or the kitchen

Keep the flexibility by doing these repeated movements: 10 repetitions several times a day

The goal is to give yourself a double or triple chin. Keep your nose pointing forward, don’t let it tip up or down

Thoracic extension- use a chair with a seat back that comes up to the level of your shoulder blades. Try to bend back over the top of the chair without arching away from the seat back and without extending your neck. If the pressure from the top of the chair is uncomfortable you can place a towel there

Stretch the muscles in the front by using a door frame. This one will feel good afterwards

If this isn’t enough of a stretch you can do one side at a time. If you have the right arm up step forward with the right foot and turn slightly to the left. Then do it on the other side.

Strengthen the muscles in the back by squeezing your shoulder blades together for a count of 10 and then repeating 10 times. You can do this several times a day Hint: Don’t lift your shoulder blades up

There are lots more exercises for strengthening your back muscles but this is a good starting point and easy to do. I like doing it while driving

Tips:

Do the best you can

If it hurts stop

Envision future you saying thank you each time you do one of the exercises

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My planner says I'm supposed to continue working on Helena Reeves's characterization today. I re-read her character baseline yesterday. It's not awesome, but I didn't see a lot I could change. Maybe at a later time. It's long, so I could cut this and that, but for now it's better if it stays the way it is.

I wrote her backstory. It clarified some things for me, mainly about her family and why she's *like that*. I know her MTBI personality and enneagram. I also know (I knew earlier, but now I have it written) what's the beef between her and Anaher. Now I have to make it more obvious in the text of the story. Yep.

Not today, that. Today more of Helena's plot in the story and her character sheet, with fears, flaws, desires and all that.

Other than that I have to finish the storyline of the MC of Short Story (he's name is still changing, hmm) and maybe start the full story plotline. Although that will probably happen tomorrow, not today *sigh*.

And, I have "Inconsistencies" planned for today. Which, yeah. Should happen eventually. We'll see if it does...

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Did you fall in love with the sky, Icarus, when you flew away? Or did you do it all for the love of one bird?

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I'm mostly done with Step 7 of story analysis--character sheets--for the four MCs of Specters. Here's the short version:

Neve Kailash (22)

petite, very dark (graphite) skin, long, braided and dark (night blue) hair, dark eyes.

Fear: being overlooked Secret: no particular secret--she's just not very forthcoming with details about herself Flaw: impatient, insensitive to other people and social norms Quirk: observant

Desire: having people who would get her, or becoming someone important, recognizable Strength: bold and direct, ability to make quick decisions in critical situations Conflict: desire (ambition) vs. desire (need) Theme: [haven't figured that out yet]

Noel Anaher (34)

tall, broad, brown-gray skin (driftwood), dark eyes, long dark hair tied in a bun.

Fear: helplessness? Secret: having any problems at all (what? his life is Flaw: complacency, pettiness Quirk: doesn't talk much--prefers to use sign language

Desire: protecting other people (to "earn" their love); also--a quiet life Strength: charisma, ability to see beyond his private problems Conflict: desire (quiet life) vs. strength (leadership) Theme: Opening yourself to risk brings unexpected blessings.

Emma Lee (27)

tall, thin, pale, long fingers, black shoulder-length hair, green eyes

Fear: becoming evil Secret: she's Zane Lee's (story villain?) daughter Flaw: anger, irritability, unpredictability Quirk: autistic, rigid idea of good vs. bad, easily overwhelmed, but also extremely patient when she deems it necessary

Desire: clear her father's name Strength: passionate, accepting, curious, objective but needs proof Conflict: desire vs. world Theme: [haven't figured that out yet]

Nersan Ziya (27)

tall, lanky, warm brown skin, curly black hair, black (very dark brown) eyes

Fear: being controlled Secret: he participated in the creation of the Extremist movement (story true villains) Flaw: arrogant, disorganized, impatient, manipulative Quirk: rambles when nervous

Desire: honesty, protecting self and those closest to him Strength: compassionate, sensitive, approachable, fun, not afraid to venture beyond his comfort zone for others Conflict: desire (honesty) vs. secret and flaw (manipulative) Theme: [haven't figured that out yet]

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12 Great Reads for Agender Pride Day

May 19th was Agender Pride day, and while we are a couple days behind on posting our rec list, we are no less proud to share these books with explicit or implied agender representation! Note that as very few books have explicit agender rep, we (as we always do) have allowed our rec list helpers to suggest books that served agender vibes as well, so if you read/have read some of these, you may feel differently about the gender representation in the books…and that’s okay! All readers bring and take away different things from their readings, and we support you, as we hope you’ll support us. These recs are from E. C. and several anonymous contributors. This list overlaps a little and adds some new titles to the eleven recs we had for Agender Pride Day last year!

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries series) by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries series) by Martha Wells

How Your Garden Grows by Nicola Kapron in the anthology Aether Beyond the Binary

The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta

Fortune Favors Felines by R. L. Houck

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot series) by Becky Chambers

RG Veda by Clamp

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Breaking Bread by Beth Lumen in the anthology Add Magic to Taste

Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa

The Left Hand of Dog (Starship Teapot series) by Si Clarke

Love Me for Who I Am by Kata Konayama

On Not Going to Parties by Stephen G. Krueger in the anthology He Bears the Cape of Stars

You can view this list as a shelf on Goodreads!

Looking to buy one of the above books? Set us as your bookshop.org affiliate and browse this and our other rec lists as shoppable lists!

We’d LOVE to read more books with agender representation – do you have any recommendations for us?

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Step 5 of the Snowflake, as in personal synopses of the main characters' storyline (in 300 words or less) are 75% done. Maybe 85%.

I might add Helena's storyline actually, hmmm. But not right now.

I haven't finished Neve's storyline, because I feel there's a huge general plot rewrite necessary half-way through her story. So, I'm going to work on step 6 and 8 now. Or maybe 7 first? The character sheets? Yeah, I think character sheets need to be done before I get to rewriting the plot yes.

And I have to do the Helena thing. Step 3, step 5 and step 7, yeah. I have to know exactly what her thought process and motivation are throughout the story. I know where she is, and what she does, but I need to dig deeper.

'kay then. Step 7 + Helena this week, methinks.

And hey-ho, just like that I made a plan of what I should work on each day until the and of May. :) I need to have a plan, so I don't spend half a day trying to figure out what I should do, lol.

And hey-ho, now I also made plans on what to do with the development of the Short Story, and which fic/meta to try and figure out any given day until the end of May.

Oh, gads, it's so good to have plans like that, seriously. I think I need to insert some real life shenanigans into those plans as well, but let's say I'll do as much as I can regarding RL on Tuesday next week. Yep, that's a solid plan. *grin*

Gah, I needed this.

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Your OC’s Backstory Week One prompt is: FAMILY

@yourocsbackstory

It was supposed to be a drabble, but turned out to be a short story (1,7 k). The OC is Noel Anaher [character intro], in this story only four-years-old. The PoV character is his father.

A moment in the past where OC’s family member influenced their life in a significant way.

Mawrenn Anaher was proud of his achievements. He bore a title of Authority and a high ranking one at that. In his Enclave his word carried weight and he was well regarded by Communities of other Enclaves as well. It was only natural that he expected his first born son to make him proud too.

Keep reading

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So I wrote Specters' synopsis (in 300 words or less). It's actually 302 words long, but I consider the challenge met. ;)

I'm proud of self. :)

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It's this #QuestPit event on Bluesky today, and I posted my character storylines.

Posting them here too, because why not, yes?

Text from the images:

SPECTERS

character storyline: Neve Kailash Neve Kailash is an orphan and she believes that if she weren’t, her life would look completely different. She undertakes a search of her mother and instead gets thrown into other peoples’ quests, that take them—and her with them—into undiscovered territories, deathly dangers, friends turned enemies and secret knowledge that will turn their entire world upside down. As Neve discovers her power and is recognized for it, her voice is finally heard. She uses it to encourage her newfound friends to stand up against their enemies and save the world.

character storyline: Emma Lee Emma’s legacy haunts her, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. When an opportunity arises to chase her dream, she drops everything and follows the call. The conflict with the man she loves makes her realize that she was looking at the secrets of her past from the wrong angle. Separate from him she finds the right path and, in the end, fulfills her destiny.

character storyline: Noel Anaher Noel Anaher leads a quiet life, he has high social status, friends, and a brother who is his closest family. He thinks he likes his life. When he decides to use his status to help a Stranger, his world unravels, and he realizes that he lived an illusion. Friends were keeping secrets from him, and his brother had serious problems that he ignored. Now the brother is in even more trouble as he’s literally taken by the Extremists. The rescue mission forces Anaher to mentally relive the tragic incident from his past and realize the impact it had on his whole life. He has to re-evaluate his priorities, and when faced with final big decisions he’s able to recognize what he really needs and fight for it.

character storyline: Nersan Ziya Nersan supports his girlfriend wholeheartedly. When she embarks on an adventure of her lifetime, Nersan doesn’t think twice before following her. They encounter people who used to be his friends, but had disappointed him in the past. Emma, dealing with her own problems, refuses to understand Nersan’s inner conflict regarding his former friends and the pair ends up separated. Once left on his own, Nersan has to admit that what his former friends did was a betrayal, on a very deep, personal level. Only then he’s able to fight his way back to those who truly love and care about him.