mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Author and eccentric
Dominated by horses and ships, 400 years in the future looks like 200 years in the past. School friends NutJob, KristalClear and MaxChaos grow up in a world with no oil, no cars and no internet.
Helped by the local community, they are making plans with HayWire, BarmyWaffle and TedTalker to counter the pirates from WorringFolk, aiming to stop them from disrupting trade on the Irish Sea.
Demi-real demi-dystopia with easy-going juvenile humour!
#ScribesAndMakers 27 Jul 'Do you feel your creative work leans more towards reflecting life as it is or as you would like it to be?'
wholly as I imagine it ought to be (without the #pirates obviously)
#scifi #SlenderWolf #demiPsychic #romance #LoveStory #philosophy #classics #psychology
#ScribesAndMakers 28 Jul 'How difficult is it for you to write characters whose taste in art/books/music/television etc are vastly different from your own?'
I'm not much of a landscape artist (but Kayt is). I'm more into portraits (like AngryBard).
But Kayt is going through her landscape phase, influenced by OddSox.
So I am having to learn more in order to write authentically about the emotions (and the paintings).
#scifi #SlenderWolf #WetPaint #romance #LoveStory #Lancaster #Art
#ScribesAndMakers 30 Jul 'Smol?'
They're together in #Douglas.
Kayt discussing her life as a 6 year old.
BTW AngryBard is smol, i.e. not as tall as his girlfriend.
They’re talking to the little people ( #Manx - #MooinjerVeggey )
#Wordweavers 28 Jul 'If you couldn't write, how would you tell your stories?'
I can remember poetry that I wrote at school more than 50 years ago.
And some dreary songs I composed.
My memory is weird.
So to answer the question, "verbally".
#Wordweavers 31 Jul 'Does your MC have a role model they look up to? If so, who?'
HayWire and MaxChaos both admire BarmyWaffle, one of a small cohort of people in Wolfland with a Diplôme Supérieur
They were experimenting with home made explosives, and were introduced to the engineer at the Garrison.
Max likes him as a father figure in place of the father he never really knew.
HayWire wants to invent stuff ... and study for a Diplôme Supérieur
#WipSnips 30 Jul 'Do the people close to you find your writing surprising?'
Surprise #1
I did not start writing fiction until I was in my early sixties.
I have been writing ad hoc non fiction on personal interests for over 15 years.
I started freelance journalism for a motoring magazine 40 years ago.
Nobody expected that I would write a novel (or plan a series of six).
Surprise #2
I am in training for my 4th marathon.
#scifi #SlenderWolf #IndieAuthor #dystopia #RunnersOfMastodon
#ScribesAndMakers March 11. Our featured creator does 3D printing. Have you ever? (Share a pic)
In June 2013 I bought a £500 RepRap kit and was planning to build one and use it
it's a lot harder than you think, and the plastic components (printed on a RepRap) were brittle and kept breaking
I gave it to my school, explaining that you need a decent workshop and tools to even assemble one of these things.
#ScribesAndMakers 20 Mar 'Self-promotion day. Shame optional.'
SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances
After polishing and fine tuning it's on Amazon
Paperback and eBook
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1068550910
It's being released daily online too, a slow drip feed!
Free!
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/02/01/chapter-1-connectedness001/
#scifi #SlenderWolf #FreeBook #writingCommunity #IndieAuthor #LoveStory #Lancaster #climatechange #sustainability
#writersCoffeeClub 14 Mar 'Do you think readers want new experiences in structure or narrative, or do they prefer what's familiar?'
I think our readers want to be entertained.
Predictability, with the odd surprise thrown in.
A bit like your favourite restaurant offering a normal menu and adding a highlight with "Today's Special".
I for one, do not want a constant progression of new experiences.
More about Magnum Opus
#ScribesAndMakers 31 Mar '31 Are you satisfied with how your creativity went this month?'
Fastyr Mie!
AngryBard has gone to visit Kayt (who's caring for grandpa) on the Isle of Man.
The only part of the British Isles with Mooinjer Veggey.
A long 6,300 word chapter which was fun to write (just now), but needs editing and needs to be two chapters.
Image files too! Only completed last week!
#scifi #SlenderWolf #romance #writing #writingCommunity #LoveStory #Douglas #Manx #MooinjerVeggey
#writersCoffeeClub 8 May 'What experience can you identify as having made you the writer you are today?'
In 1973 when I was aged 11 my school had us study #Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Not a good idea!
AngryBard shares my lack of enthusiasm for Shakespeare.
He needed to say sorry to Kayt so wrote her a letter.
I write for teenagers in plain English.
#scifi #CriticalThinking #romance #UKeduChat #IndieAuthor #LoveStory #Lancaster #literacy
#writersCoffeeClub 6 May 'Talk about something you've written which you expected would (or expect will) divide readers.'
In 2451AD there is no religion.
Shanti and Rishi run the Indian Restaurant in #Ulverston.
They explain to KristalClear and NutJob that there are no restrictions on meats, and how religion is now a historical curiosity.
#scifi #SlenderWolf #UKeduChat #writingCommunity #Indian #cookery
#Wordweavers 26 Jul 'If you were to metaphorically assign your non-culinary creative work a flavour, what would it be?'
machine oil - it's delicate, refined, scientific, and most assuredly purposeful
#ScribesAndMakers 3 Apr 'How do you answer if someone asks you what you do? Is your answer different in person than it is online?'
I'm a retired teacher who writes writes novels for teenagers aged from 9 to 99.
IRL and online.
https://www.scottrochester.com/scott_rochester_author_novelist_science_fiction_dystopia
#writersCoffeeClub 1 Apr 'What arrangement of plots do U have?'
Eleventy Billion plots!
A collection of 5 romantic couples & friends debating ethics, education, government, & raising their own kids in a mildly dystopian world after we nearly destroyed the planet, & 2 wolf families, some pleasant horses & police dogs, 1 chatterbox Maltese lapdog & a wizard who looks like a Goldfinch!
So nothing too complex
Oh & pirates
A 100,000 piece jigsaw puzzle
#writersCoffeeClub 7 May 'Do readers need to understand a character's motivations to understand the story?'
#SlenderWolf is a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle with 4 main characters, 20 secondary ones, and another 60 tertiary ones
It helps to have a patient mindset, because there is a lot of social cohesion going on
Understanding who the characters are and what they want makes it a lot more interesting!
#scifi #IsleOfMan #CriticalThinking #wolves #horses #pirates #IndieAuthor #LoveStory #Lancaster
#PhantastikPrompts 14.3. Was ist für dich ein No-Go, im Weltenbau, oder bei der Ausgestaltung deiner Geschichten?
Ich schreibe nicht über Religion. Daher vermeide ich bewusst Ausdrücke aus heiligen Schriften.
In meinen Büchern gibt es keine Kirchen, kein Weihnachten, kein Ostern und keinen Ramadan.
Ich wollte schreiben: “Mohammed must come to the mountain” habe mich aber zurückgehalten.
Two lost Doctor Who episodes from the 1960s found
to be screened soon on iPlayer
MAGAs Are Fuming After Email Confirms They Will Never Get Their $500 Trump Phones or Deposits Back
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/trump-mobile-t1-phone-scandal-1795914
SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances instalment
page 118 today
Chapter 15 A Barrel of Laughs
It was, without argument, the event of the week. Though, truth be told, it was the only event of the week, unless one counted Mrs Longbottom’s ongoing feud with the seagulls, which most did not, since the seagulls were still winning.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/05/08/chapter-15-a-barrel-of-laughs118/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
#Wordweavers 13 Mar 'Tell us about a quirk your SC has.'
DoveTail used to love carpentry (especially dovetail joints) and then a sawdust irritation led to his #asthma diagnosis. Instead he has taken up decorative wooden tiling for backgammon cases, and painting with watercolours. (portraits and landscapes)
He’s a 14 year old orphan who lives in the Noble Coliseum and is beginning to take an interest in the two room mates ClaireVoyant and RoughDi.
The novel SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances is being serialised
page 51 now available
Chapter 7 Floods and Famine
Franklin, the editor of The Lancastrian, has heard the news too.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/03/14/chapter-7-floods-and-famine051/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
I have questions
Like what did the *dark* cocoa powder actually do?
answers on a postcard please, to the usual address
The novel SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances is being serialised
page 48 now available
Chapter 6 Incursion
the people of the villages look forward to having their favourite newspaper first thing Saturday morning.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/03/13/chapter-6-incursion048/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
The novel SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances is being serialised
page 47 now available
Chapter 6 Incursion
About two hours ago the lieutenant at the outpost in Ormskirk put out a call for urgent assistance.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/03/12/chapter-6-incursion047/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
Oil crisis (Iran Crisis)
means
polyethylene is in short supply
Japanese hospitals report shortage of syringes
SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances instalment
page 116 today
Chapter 15 A Barrel of Laughs
If people want butter, they buy it on the day that they need it, because ordinary homes have limited access to electricity and nobody has fridges. Hence Saturday is cake day.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/05/06/chapter-15-a-barrel-of-laughs116/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
The novel SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances is being serialised
page 52 now available
Chapter 7 Floods and Famine
There is no separate Minister of Defence, so the Justice does that as well. In effect, the Garrison and the Constabulary are the same thing.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/03/15/chapter-7-floods-and-famine052/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
for the past two hours and continuing
nada on #bluesky desktop and mobile versions
SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances instalment
page 119 today
Chapter 15 A Barrel of Laughs
Sending her prized cabbages skyward like cannon fire. That made her really angry, because that’s a simile not a metaphor!
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/05/09/chapter-15-a-barrel-of-laughs119/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
SlenderWolf Conflicts and Alliances instalment
page 117 today
Chapter 15 A Barrel of Laughs
“OpenMike Night” is the city’s biggest multi purpose event, a variety show, with song, dance, music, stories, magicians, comedy skits or anything really.
https://www.slenderwolf.com/novels/2026/05/07/chapter-15-a-barrel-of-laughs117/
#SlenderWolf #freebook #serialisation #WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor
