Alexander Corby 🇵🇷

#ScribesAndMakers 8/27 Tell a story, real or fictional, about an object on your desk.

The damn 3D printer is not working again.

Here I am working through lunch, my tuna sandwich off to the side of my desk, barely touched while I tinker with factory settings, filament sizes, pre-heating temperatures and every fine-hair piece of technical minutia the stupid machine can throw at me.

I'm just trying to print out a dinky keychain. But it's no use. I run the calibration sequence one more time, watching the gears whirl and lift the printing nozzle up and down, deciding if it will throw me a bone and print already. I coat the work pane with purple Elmers glue in case it decides to actually print something this time.

Before I can find out, the phone rings. It's Mrs. Soto again telling me I'm late for the faculty meeting. I put my sandwhich down in frustration and hurry out the door, leaving the machine running. Who knows? Maybe it will work this time.

I come back an hour later. The machine is running, but it's not printing a key chain. I watch the robotic arm wizz back and forth, side to side as it lays the blue plastic filament onto the pad, spelling out two bulky words.

FEED ME

I look down at my desk. Half of my sandwich is gone.

#ScribesAndMakers 8/29 Did you know what you wanted to be at 11?

At that point, it was either a scientist (so I could blow myself up in wacky explosions) or it might have been the period I was looking to be a doctor. I was set to go into medicine for a bit until I realized how much squick I'd be looking at.

In retrospect, I might have enjoyed getting a medical degree. I've met some pretty rad doctors who travel, are politically active, and have their own music careers on the side.

#WritersCoffeeClub 8/29
Share some of the last things you looked up for what you’re working on now

What's that spinning wheel game you see in casinos? But not roulette. The vertical wheel with the double stars?

(Looks it up)
Oh! It's just called Wheel of Fortune...

(stares at computer screen for a few seconds)
New search. How old is Vanna White anyway?

#ScribesAndMakers 8/28: Our next featured creator is a pun-slinger. Share a pun.

True tales from the science classroom:

“Hot dog, class! We’re having a Catch-up day!”

Class groans

“I knew you’d relish that!”

More groans

“Hey! It takes a lot to mustard up the courage to say these puns.”

Groans with chuckles. Student 1: “That’s awful, Mr. Corby!”

“Don’t be sauerkraut about it”

OOOOOOhhhhh!!

Student 2: “You on a roll, Mr. Corby!”

“I’m not on a roll, I’m on a bun!”

WHHHOOOAAAA!

#ScribesAndMakers 5/21 What medium would you choose to depict a visual image of a lake?

Why not sidewalk chalk?

(Note: I can’t actually do this, I just thought it was neat)

When I'm not feeling rushed, I like to use my morning recess time to walk up to the small cafe on top of the hill near my school for a coffee and biscuit. It's about a five-minute walk through the Puerto Rican campo.

Sometimes I see the look on some of the students and faculty's faces and I'm pretty sure most of them think I'm eccentric and insane for not driving there and back.

Well, today I got to see this beautiful egret snap up a foot-long lizard for breakfast right in front of me. It just eyed me as I passed by and wished it buen provecho (bon appetite).

I would not have had that experience driving around in my car.

#WordWeavers 5/21 How do you make your MC likable or relatable to in the first chapter?

Simple! Just remember these easy conversions and mix and match accordingly

1 Nazi punched in the mouth = 3 kittens rescued from a tree.

1 sandwich given to a hungry orphan = 4 times they stood up to the school bully.

2 cyber trucks hacked and lit on fire = 1 miracle cure for cancer.

This came in handy while I was writing my historical fiction of Hypatia.

Self portrait drawn in pencil and charcoal

#Art #PencilCharcoal #Sketch #Selfie #Pencil #Drawing

#WritersCoffeeClub 5/9 Share the first line of your current WIP. Everyone: Are you engaged?

"The fires never died in the halls of the king of Cantre’r Gwaelod. From midwinter to the summer harvests, Gwyddno Garanhir ensured that every feast was celebrated to the fullest, demanding that his braziers were kept full and roaring to match his toasty generosity.

Every night of the year, except one."

(This counts as a single line if your monitor is wide enough.)

#ScribesAndMakers 5/26 Favorite vampire?

He's a complicated character, but ya gotta love Cassidy from Garth Ennis' The Preacher series. Who wouldn't want to party with an Irish punk vampire?

Good morning! Lovely day for running 15K

#PuertoRico #Running

#ScribesAndMakers 10 May: If your project will be part of a series, do you know that before you start?

I always had an idea that Taliesin would turn into a series. But I didn’t really think it through completely before starting book 1 so I’m not sure I’ll be able to pull off long term set-ups and plot twists really. We’ll see.

Plenty of other stand-alone short stories I wrote turned into series by popular demand.

#ScribesAndMakers 5/25 Stella has been dreading this moment...

That moment when she finally worked up the courage to grab that last slimy hair poking out of the shower drain. She twisted it around her fingers, choking back the rising tide of revulsion in her throat, and gave the cord of hair a solid pull.

The scummy clog dislodged with a wet pop. Stella cringed as the mass of hair squirmed, twisted around, and opened it's gunk-rimmed mouth

"Aw crap! It's hella bright out here!"

Stella dropped the ugly thing in the glass specimen jar and sealed the lid, placing it in her tray lined with a dozen others, each with a blob of hair, all of them complaining and shouting obscenities.

Stella washed her hands and gathered her things. On to the next house!

#WritersCoffeeClub 5/23 Share a creative frustration you have. Everyone: Prescribe a 'creative antidote' not as a solution, but as disruptive exercise.

I'm frustrated that I'm slogging so long through editing this one portion of my story. If it's so tedious to edit, it must be slow and boring to read, right? That's my concern.

Antidote: Clearly this story needs more action, so let's insert an invasion of an underground mole society. Yeah, that'll spice things up. A mole society sent from another dimension at the hands of the Illuminati.

Who has time for character arcs or tension? More explosions!

#ScribesAndMakers 5/24 Warp?

Now y'see, there are good kinds of warped such as:

"My mind is a conduit to another dimension and it is my purpose in life to channel it through my writing and art for the sake of humanity!"

And then there are bat-shit crazy kinds of warped, like this gem taken from the journal of none other than US Health Sectretary RFK (JFC):

“I was standing in front of my parked car on I-684 cutting the penis out of a road killed raccoon, thinking about how weird some of my family members have turned out to be,”

#writerscoffeeclub 5/7: Do readers need to understand a character's motivations to understand the story?

I'd say not at first. It can be very intriguing to see a character make choices that we don't initially understand. It would probably be the most satisfying to see those motivations revealed as the story unfolds, but sometimes I like it when there's one or two unanswered questions about the characters.

Not everything has to be explained down to a tee.

#ScribesAndMakers 5/1 Are you starting any new projects this month?

I'm torn over trying my luck on a project that I'm %70 sure is probably a scam.

I got an offer to write interactive romance novellas that get aired on Youtube. They're luring me with a fairly competitive pay rate but I'm seeing some big red flags

1. I asked about their "AI" policy. They got back and said they don't accept AI (good!) but the artwork that goes with the stories seems pretty sloppy.

2. The author testimonials also give me cause to doubt that they're being truthful about not using AI. They all say the same thing, using the same phrases, just worded slightly differently. A clue, Watson!

3. Even if this is legit, and I end up making a few thousand a month, these are stories I'm not passionate about and my schedule is stretched thin as it is.

So why would I consider it?

Man, would it be nice to actually pull in a paycheck from my creative endeavors for once! I figure if I write the few sample chapters they're asking, the worse that will happen is I'll waste a few hours of my time. The best that could happen is I open up a decent revenue stream for myself.

The project is called Scripts: Episodes and Choices. Anyone have any experience with this?

#WritersCoffeeClub 5/22 How well would your current WIP work as a play?

As a good play? No. Not at all. My first book might have been more suited and had more personal tension and character to work with.

My current WIP has that as well, but there's way too much spectacle. Battles, and giants, and sea voyages would just be big distraction numbers on stage. It could make a decent movie if done well, but unless Broadway/Disney is doing another full spectacle, no substance cash grab, theater is not the medium for this story.

#WordWeavers 5/7 Does your antagonist have any redeeming qualities?

I'm trying to write Matholwch with as much humanity as possible. I want us to get the sense that he may, in fact, be a decent guy, a just king, and a caring husband.

However, like humans, he's prone to buck under pressure and it doesn't take much for his darker side to come out.

#WordWeavers 9/5 If your antagonist could justify their actions in one sentence, what would they say?

Matholwch: “I don’t care if she’s upset that I enslaved her countrymen wholesale, the Queen stepped out of line and I had to show her who wears the breeches here!”

** The High King of Erinne is seldom asked to justify his own actions and he’s (apparently) not very good at it. **