Annica 🇸🇪

#writersCoffeeClub 9/28: Could you work without the internet? What would change? Do you mean like I did before the Internet? I'd be a regular at the library again. And yes, younglings, I realise I just made myself sound ancient.

#ScribesAndMakers Day 28: How satisfied are you with the creative work you've done this month? I've finally made time for painting again, tiny miniatures and cats in acrylic. To someone with skill, it probably looks terrible but it's mine, and I'm proud. I've failed utterly at the piano, but I am not giving up. Failing is a part of the process. I'm typesetting my book now. Just when I thought I had reached the most painful stage of publishing, I discover a new way the process can torment me.

#WritersCoffeeClub 27/9: How much time passes between sitting down to write and actually writing? I am one of those unholy ones who writes in my head, not entire chapters but dialogue and short paragraphs. I try them out, see if it fits. Which means that I can sit down and start writing before my behind has fully settled on the chair. Other times, it turns into an editing process. Sometimes, I get distracted and begin a new project. And some days I just stare blankly out the window.

#PennedPossibilities 1137: Do you have an FMC, MMC, other gender MC, or more than one MC? Actually, I don't specify genders of my multiple Main Characters for a very deliberate reason: it doesn't matter. In this story, gender is the least interesting thing about them.

Writers, what's one piece of advice you'd give to another writer? I'm going to quote Sir Terry Pratchett: “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” Bearing that in mind: keep telling yourself stories that make you laugh, cry or fume with anger. Keep telling yourself stories that matter to you, about characters you care about, and tell them in a way you enjoy. The odds are pretty good there are people out there waiting to find stories just like yours.

#WritersCoffeeClub - 26 Sept.: How does your faith feature in your works? I'm not religious, so faith doesn't feature in my writing in that sense. But if faith includes hope, trust, or the belief that understanding ourselves can make even the darker parts of being human a little less frightening, then apparently it features quite heavily. I write about neuroscience and psychology disguised as satire, I turned anxiety into unsightly Runts so maybe I shouldn't be trusted with metaphysics.

@henriksundstrom@mastodon.nu Sounds like a win-win situation 🙂

@micke_noren@mastodon.nu Mycket märkligt beslut kan jag tycka som inte tycker om alkohol-smaken alls. Nåja, jag måste inte köpa, det är ju ganska lättlöst 🙂

#PennedPossibilities 1122 "SC POV: Do you have a favourite meal? Who makes it for you?" 'Darling, chocolate solves anything,' the goddess of Desire purrs. 'Don't underestimate the power of a rich, dark fudge or a steaming brownie. I don't care who makes it fore, me. Just give me the chocolate.'

To get the news first, join the mailing list. No spam. No strings attached. Just previews, sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes glimpses, the occasional oddity that won’t appear anywhere else, and the latest news about upcoming books: https://thementalmansion.com/sign-me-up/

Jag tycker faktiskt om vårt växthus nu. Gurkorna har börjat leverera, tomaterna växer så det dånar och jag tror vi får pumpa faktiskt. Hokkaidopumpan försöker erövra hela växthuset, den är verkligen entusiastisk.

Trädgården är full av nyckelpigor, jag har hittat så många olika former och fasoner! Men vad kan en sån här liten gynnare heta, den är mycket mindre än de jag vanligtvis hittar?

#WordWeavers 21. In your current WIP, which character do you relate to the least and why? I relate to all of them on some level, or I couldn't write them. But the least... the one farthest away from me... might be The Hamster, the indomitable, unstoppable golden hamster. I don't have that kind of tenacity.

@shaedrich@mastodon.online Like this 🙂

Enda stället som är drägligt just nu. Jag producerar min egen värme, tack så mycket.

#WordWeavers 29 Sep: Is your character more likely to enjoy a sunrise or sunset, and why? Which one of them? Because this question could start a fight in The Mansion: Hippocampus stands by the sunrise and Ventral Striatum by the sunset, and Herr Cingulate, Anterior Division, has enough conflict monitoring to do for today.

@sinabhfuil@mastodon.ie Valid point, I'm not writing anything that needs specific records or facts - the benefit of fiction - so I'm free to take my pick from the shelves; What will I let me be inspired from today?

@rollspelosofen@mastodon.nu Thank you, it's probably the most scary thing I have ever done 😄

@LeoR1010@mastodonsweden.se Tack!

Your editor wants you to cut a favourite chapter. How do you react? I cut it out and save it in a folder among all the other favourite chapters. Rereads the book once my hurt pride has calmed down a bit. If I still agree with the editor, it stays out. The chapter might find its way into something else, in one way or the other. Maybe it will be the start of a new, short story? But I'm not sacrificing the overall story for one beautiful chapter. #writersofmastodon #author #writing

Hittade ett angrepp av någon form av svampväxt på stammen. Jag tror jag stoppade det genom att torka av allt, pensla med rikligt med Atamon, och låta växthuset, och pumpan, torka ut lite. Nu ser den så där äventyrlig ut igen efter att ha sett lite moloken ut i några dagar. Jag klippte bort 10 småpumpor från den, lämnade 4. Den svarade med att skjuta ut nya rankor åt alla håll. Hokkaidopumpa, är det ett annat namn för 'hydra'?

#PennedPossibilities 1142: Does your MC care about vanity and their image? Nope, they're all about procedure and regulation, and image and vanity aren't measurable metrics on their clipboard. My side character Ventral Striatum, the Goddess of Desire, on the other hand, cares a great deal. She enjoys luxurious fabrics against her skin and feeling pretty.

@rollspelosofen@mastodon.nu Trust the editor? Uhm... Well I have sent the book to typesetting 😆

Having to trust the editor, and let the book go? It's a bit like watching the kids move out. You know it's time, but you'd still want just a little more time because even though you can always see them again, once you've let them go, they've entered a new phase in their life. One where you don't get to be a part of every single little detail any more. #author #writersofmastodon #writing

Tiny orc done. Small stabby tiefling next. I think I prefer Vallejo colours, but I'm still using everything acrylic. Still learning. #miniaturepainting #acrylic

#PennedPossibilities 1139: Do you have a ritual before you sit down to write? You mean like dancing backwards around the chair chanting ‘bestseller, bestseller’ before sitting down to write? No. I've got a schedule, though.

Say hello to The Hamster, one of The Mansion's smallest and cutes residents. In 'Management Apologises For The Inconvenience', the hamster has a lot to do, confetti to gather, cookies to nibble, and pockets to sleep in. Even the management acknowledges his important work in The Mansion. And soon, you'll be able to follow the chubby little rodent on new adventures and mishaps! #thementalmansion #author #writinghttps://thementalmansion.com/2026/07/16/the-hamster/

Would your main character be the type to tell themselves affirmations? That depends on what qualifies as an affirmation. Does clutching the clipboard and mumbling, ‘We can think our way out of this,’ count? #writersofmastodon #writing #author

#PennedPossibilities 1138: Tell us about a time your MC forged their own path. Prefrontal Cortex is not really one for forging anything, they love their rules and regulations and find their happiness in the predictable and routine. Their entire raison d'être is closer to “Could everybody please remain on the approved path, preferably in single file, and has anyone completed Form 7B?” They are happiest when they think they run the show, and everyone around them nods and plays along.

@Gurre@mastodon.nu Blank pages can be terrifying because all the options are still open. For every line one writes, doors close until there are only the ones leading to your story end left. I'm not convinced that helps.

#WordWeavers Sep 26: Authors talk about how smart their MCs or villains are, but have you ever written a slow-witted character? This sits a little ill with me, because someone can be ‘slow-witted’ in one area and bloody brilliant in another. I'm probably rather dimly lit compared with plenty of people in plenty of ways; everyone I meet is, in some aspect, my better. So no, I don't really write characters as smart or stupid. So no, I write people, with strengths and weaknesses.

@shaedrich@mastodon.online The characters are personifications of brain regions, so they've retained their proper names. Prefrontal Cortex doesn't really say male or female, so I use they/them. A few do have genders. Amygdala (the Security Officer) is female, as is Ventral Striatum (the Goddess of Desire), while Vagus Nerve and Herr Cingulate (conflict monitoring) are male. I have absolutely no idea why those four characters arrived with genders while the rest didn't. Apparently they had opinions on the matter.

Worth a try?

#WritersCoffeeClub 23. What "little thing" really helps you write? My husband. Though I wouldn't classify him as small. Or a thing. No, seriously, without him, I'd get nothing done. I'd still be trying to get the dishwasher to cooperate and yelling at the washing machine.

Dear indie authors: do you take weekends off from writing? Or do you find it’s when you have time to write because of jobs or whatever? I try to make the weekends all about my family. 'Try' is doing enormous work here. Inspiration doesn't always wait until Monday.

Det finns många anledningar till varför jag nästan inte kan gå, jag rultar fram. Oförskämt nöjd med att jag orkade.

#WordWeavers 22. 1f you wrote a memoir on your writing journey so far, what would it be called? My favourite title, 'Management Apologises for the Inconvenience', is taken, but 'The Art of Breaking Down' is not too bad either.