mastodon 4.7.3I like writing #SciFi and #fantasy stories. I write for pleasure.
I have simple tastes and write simple stories.
I'm German but write mostly in English for practice.
TERFs, fascists, antisemites get blocked. Overgeneralizing boomer-bashers too.
Twin account: @gahlearner@sunny.garden
Header: My mascot Spidrophant with snake by @saposcat@indieauthors.com
@gahlearner@sunny.garden@justmytoots.com
1 It's **Sept**ember. List 7 things about your creativity (accomplishments, goals, etc.)
1. I want to do so many things but life is short and I don't want to be a recluse without a life outside of writing etc., so I don't do creative things all day even if I'd like to.
2. I'm editing heavily lately, and, to my surprise, enjoy it. If only... see #1
3. Since it's not so hot any more, I could resume my needlework projects, but that would take time away from the editing, sigh, see #1
4. I doodle and draw in-between. Sometimes it turns out OK, sometimes it's horrible. I'd like to do more, see #1
5. For some reason I reread my portal fiction-on-ice recently and was surprised how much I like it. Can't wait to get back to it, but... see #1
6. I'm not going to sell my stuff. I do value my work but am not confident enough to ask money for it. Instead, I'll post it on AO3 and my blog. If I ever manage to finish something ... see #1
7. Helping with this hashtag, and participating in two others is so inspiring, but... see #1
1. What is something your MC desperately wants but would never admit to wanting?
The love of her mother at the beginning of the WIP. Later, she doesn't care any longer.
31. What's one thing you hope readers remember long after they finish your story?
Hopefully that it made them feel good and somewhat satisfied with the ending.
1114: On average, how long are your writing sessions?
When I'm in drafting mode, around 2 hours in the morning. Much longer and my brain explodes. But I can have more than one session when I have the time and am not too tired in the evenings.
Editing is longer with more interruptions.
1114. What sounds or smells remind your MC of their childhood?
The sounds and smell of horses. As a child and teenager, she spent every spare minute at the stables and with her friend Rosie, the groom.
5 You're whisked away by faeries to a woodland cottage for a weekend. Necessities will be provided, but for entertainment you're allowed 1 item of your own creation. What are you bringing?
Fairies. Woodland. Cottage. Wow!
What do I need entertainment for, I wonder.
I *assume* they won't eat me since it's only a weekend, likewise there won't be time warps, that'd defy the term weekend.
I'd talk to them. I'd wander the woods seeking for hidden fairy magic. I'd convince them that telling stories is a necessity.
And I'd bring a notebook to take notes, and maybe draw a few things.
It has to be my own creation? Yes, of course. I made my own notebooks, many of them actually. I've collected 'printer waste' paper where one side is blank, bound it with a spiral binder and voila. Tie a pencil to it with a string, and I have one item.
When, exactly, will they come? 🤩
6 Share the first sentence of the last chapter of one of your novels (or someone else's that you like if you don't have one of your own.)
It's still a WIP; from book/part 1:
“What?” I yell. “No, no, no!”
9 How likely are you to embrace changes to language usage?
In my own language I accept new words pretty fast. But not the punctuation and spelling reform that happened in 1996. Some of it made sense, but most of it caused even more confusion. I wholeheartedly refused it. Which led to me being at a total mess with punctuation and spelling even in my own language. Which was something I was really good at before.
I wouldn't notice changes in English.
5. What songs are going on your antagonist’s workout playlist?
Workouts and playlists are not a concept in the Silverworld. Skip.
20 Self-promotion day. Shame optional.
I write drabbles. They can be found on my blog.
30 Do birds ever feature in your work? Give an example.
They aren't featured like horses and dragons, and in one case dogs. They are there, in their natural habitat, doing their thing.
In the current WIP birds are used as messenger birds. People who don't use magic use bird species that behave like homing pigeons. Elfen can talk to animals and can ask all kinds of birds to carry messages to significant landmarks the birds know. The Elfen prefer crows and ravens for their intelligence and fierceness towards predators.
But these aren't features and I haven't put too much thought into it. Since it is a different world, it doesn't have to be pigeons that are, AFAIK; the only ones we have for that purpose.
25. Our featured creator does "a bit of educational activism on the side." Do you do any activism through your creative work?
I rein myself in to avoid preaching. But I try to show worlds where the 'isms' aren't a thing, where people fight oppression, and care for nature. I hope it reads natural and not constructed for a purpose.
But they usually have their own ways of scapegoating each other, not necessarily the 'fantasy stand-ins for racism' but more a kind of elitism and tribalism. That, on a large or small scale, is something that needs to be overcome in my stories. Parts of this are in my drabbles, too.
6. Which of your MCs would be most likely to win a dance off?
In their youth, Bella and her brothers often won in events that could be called dance-offs, they were good dancers, but stopped participating as they got older, because of course the king's children would win...
The Barrel Gang sometimes celebrates with lots of eating, drinking, song and dance. Carpe diem and all that.
Pepper and Brassic are absolute insance dancers and always are the ones who get the prize. Which is usually just a paper crown, but they love it.
Edit: I forgot that it was for MCs only, so: none. Pepper and Brassic are SCs.
20, Self-promotion day. Shame optional. Boost away!
This is the perfect day to shamelessly promote our own hashtag. If you want to know what we are all about, what the Talk-to-me-Day is, where the resources are hidden, and all our other little quirks, check out our site at: https://scribesandmakers.mataroa.blog/
18 If your creative work could speak, what would it say about you?
A chorus of writing, artsy, and craftsy projects sings:
Finish me, finish me!
Don't always leave me and start something new!
9. Our next featured creator is a professor. Does any of your work involve professors and/or universities?
My nonfic work involved professors and/or universities.
In my current fiction there are neither. Education past the school years is done with tutors, mentors, apprenticeships and guilds.
One of the MCs in my portal fantasy is a student at a university, and her mum was a professor, but that's not the focus of the story.
Edit: Forgot the teaser for Saturday's TTMD
993. As we are approaching Prompt 1000 and there’s been a lot of reflection on this project (for the host, floofpaldi), let’s reflect on our writing journeys, how far we’ve come, friends we made, what we’ve learned along the way, etc.
Finding the writing community and hashtags here gave me a huge boost, and talking to the mostly friendly and understanding people helped with my confidence (a little 😀 ).
It feels good to be part of this, to come here almost every day and know that there are people who understand how important it is to sit down and write even if it sucks and won't get published. Stories want to be told.
Thank you, everyone! Thank you @floofpaldi@mindly.social for keeping this fun game going.
These are the pinned April questions for the ScribesAndMakers hashtag game.
You also find the questions here on our new site:
https://scribesandmakers.mataroa.blog/blog/february-2026-questions/
And all the other resources too.
1062. MC POV: When was the first time you found the strength to walk away from something?
Bella says, "I was leaving my home and comfortable life because I thought I must save the world. But that's not really counting. It was hard, but I wanted to do it.
"When we found a way to deactivate the curse instead of breaking it, I had to leave my heart behind and walk away."
971. Where does your SC feel the safest? Is there a particular person or object that helps them feel safe?
Calanthe: in any library if she is there officially (as compared to sneaking in to steal something).
Rosie: when she is with horses
But there isn't much safety in their world.
995 — How do you balance making (emotional) demands on the reader with taking care of them?
I'm a selfish creature and don't think of readers when I write.
I think of myself and what I like to read, and I don't like one action beat after the other without pause. I want to read about quiet moments, moments of relaxation, and reflection of what just happened.
That's also why I like happy endings. They often don't end in 'boom, enemy dead, end of story' but go a bit beyond and leave hints of what a hopeful future looks like, despite trauma and destruction.
So, taking care of my own likes, maybe I also take care of potential readers who want similar structures.
(I hope I got them right, I'm more an intuitive grammar user...)